Candid Camera

H/T to Sabres.com for posting the game night intro video on Sabres.com. I’m going to wade into the shallow end of the pool for a moment.

Look at their matching injuries – Stafford’s lip scrape and Gaustad’s beak scrape. It’s pre-season and these guys are already beat up.

- The #KyleWellwoodIsSoFat meme that broke out on Twitter was cracking me up for most of the afternoon. Could you imagine some of the ones that could be done for the Sabres?

1. Derek Roy is so fashionable that…
2. Tim Connolly is so injured that…
3. Ryan Miller is so skinny that…
4. Paul Gaustad is so environmentally conscious that…
5. Jason Pominville is so adorable that…

I promise some actual hockey content tomorrow as I recap the Battle of the Crunchies live from my very own sofa. (On a somewhat related note, it’s pretty hilarious that Tampa has pronunciation guides on their player roster for names as simple as Drew Miller. How the heck would you mispronounce that?)

Couple of Thoughts

- When Mike Grier and his hands of stone score your only goal of the night, you know you’re having trouble scoring. While it’s not for a lack of opportunity, as the Sabres have had plenty of shots, the lack of finish is what’s bothersome. I wonder if putting cardboard cutouts of foxy ladies in the net during practice sessions would help with scoring, as we know the Sabres do not suffer from a lack of hitting that.

- Check out this quote from Ryan Miller after last night’s game.

“Mike Grier, you are my hero,” Sabres goalie Ryan Miller said. “Mike does a lot of things really well on the ice. He kept on telling us to trust the system and that we would get a breakthrough.”

The quote is noticeable because I think this might be the first time Miller has ever referenced The System (usually that’s everyone but the goalie’s fallback comment) in an interview. Also, with Grier stepping into that on-ice leader role,  could it allow the Pommers, Roys and Vaneks of the world to just chill out, stop trying to do too much and just play some good old-fashioned hockey within The System?

- Timmy looks incredibly relaxed during this interview with Kevin Sylvester. And mother of pearl, Timmy’s gracing a smile at a couple points during the interview. Timmy smiles are incredibly rare, which makes them all the more special when they do come out.

- Please tell me that you all saw Stafford goofing around behind Kevin Sylvester during K-Syl’s postgame report last night. While I did Zapruder the footage of the moment (why yes, I am a dork), and am fairly certain that Staffy was shaking and choking Paille, I hope fun and frolic like that is exhibited after wins. If I ever see / hear about things like that happening after a loss, I will not be a happy camper.

- Continuing with the Staffy theme, he was the first guest of Kevin Sylvester’s new interview series held in the penalty box. Stafford again expresses his admiration of Zach Parise (c’mon, we all know they’re BFF) and shares that Chris Neil is the player he would most like to see take a stick to the bits. (Personally, I’d go with Ovie, but I think Goose took care of that a couple of seasons ago.)

- There’s a couple of 10-12 year olds outside playing with a football and I think it’s incredibly sad that they have nicer cell phones than I do. Why a 10-year-old needs a cell phone is another story, I suppose.

- With The Buffalo News confirming that Andrej Sekera felt shooting pains in his side, can we classify his boo-boo as a middle body injury rather than an upper body injury? I know his injury is north of the Maxon-Dixon line, so it technically is an upper body injury, but middle body is at least a little more descriptive. Also, can we cut the upper/lower/outer/inner crap until the playoffs come? Just say what the injury is an move on.  And if Sekera is going to be out for some time, do the Sabres play Patches or call up Weber? (I’m ignoring for now what’s going to happen when Lydman and Mair are ready to play again. The speculation and fan theories are making my head hurt.)

- Tyler Myers has been pleasantly surprising. I know he’s due for a speed bump in his career trajectory at some point, but management is going to have a very tough decision in six games.

- Check out the images on Getty from the Blackhawks red carpet festivities. I give Dustin Byfuglien a lot of credit for being able to pull off a suit in that shade of red.

- Who lit a fire under Tim Kennedy’s ass last night? He was all over the place and not afraid to take the hit or punch in order to make the play or drive the net. He’s proving he belongs up here.

Look! It’s Real Hockey(ish) Played By Real Hockey Players

I went to Puck Drop today, and this wordy, photo filled post summarizes my day. Carry on at your own risk.

Another Miller Interview

Ryan Miller did a call-in this morning with Janet and Nick of Kiss 98.5 fame. Some of the highlights:

- Miller and Kaleta are doing an “Iron Chef” competition tonight with two local chefs. It was one of the prizes offered at last year’s CFC, with a gentleman from New Era placing the winning bid. Miller hopes to not be a hindrance to his professional chef and hopes to pick up a tip or two in the process. Really though, his main goal for the night is to just not set himself on fire. I’d also like to add a secondary goal of not chopping off a finger, but that’s probably quite obvious.

- The portion of the interview dealing with the Olympic drug testing process was the most interesting part of the entire feature. He said that players on the protocol have to account for their whereabouts for a certain period of time each day from October on and if they don’t, they’re in a metric shitload of trouble. It sounds like a ton of work for the athlete, remembering to be responsible, but if that’s the price you have to pay in order to wear the USA on your chest, then it’s really kind of worth it, in my opinion. It’s this kind of insight and inside information that I appreciate during interviews, and you could really pick up on Miller’s slight feeling of overwhelmed-ness about the whole thing.

- The Catwalk for Charity is being held on November 8th this year and will have a 1950s theme. Ryan is thinking more “American Graffiti” 50s and not “Grease” 50s, for what it’s worth. I would love to see the guys Hand Jive down the runway, but that might be asking for too much. Then again, if Timmy can break out The Worm, I don’t think the Hand Jive is too far out there.

(I’m not going to tell you how much of a timeout I took on YouTube at this point to go watch some Grease clips. I got sucked into “Beauty School Dropout” and “Greased Lightning”)

- Apparently Derek Roy does one hell of a Soulja Boy dance, and Janet and Nick made the comment that Ryan has to stage an intervention with Roy. Ryan replied that there’s too many things that Roy-Z needs help with. ZING! (But he said it with real affection in his voice, which was nice).

- Gaustad and Miller went to Spain and missed a Kings of Leon show due to high winds canceling the show. In what was probably the stupidest question of the day (topping by a smidgen the question asking Paul Posluszny what he thinks of Dick Jauron’s hats),  Janet & Nick asked if he & Goose ran with the bulls during their trip, and Ryan SMARTLY replied that the bull running is probably in violation of an NHL contract. (Like, duh to the nth degree.) It sounds like they had fun on their trip, but I kind of wonder who would be more fun to watch frolic around Europe: Miller and Gaustad or Mario Batali and Gwyneth Paltrow?

- Miller took a training break in mid-summer, because if he spent every day in the gym, he’d probably beat his head against a wall. Hah. Along a similar vein, they also asked him if he takes any special nutritional supplements. He only occasionally throws protein powder into a shake at the end of the day, but tries not to do too many weird things, especially as the drug testing is so stringent, and so many supplements aren’t careful about their labeling. And the last thing you want to do is blow a positive on the drug test, especially so close to the games.

- Miller drives a 500hp car of some sort, as he did the interview while behind the wheel and on the way to a workout with the boys.  Hopefully he was using a hands free device so as not to be in violation of the laws of this fine state.

While that concludes the summary of Miller’s interview, I do have one more question.

Has there been any word on what is going on with Stafford? Sweet hockey playing deity, can Darcy and Staffy’s agent really be that far apart on terms? Like it or lump it, Stafford is a big part of the team, and the team is going to hurt without the uni-browed wonder in the lineup.

Since When…

- When did Hamilton become the latest new place to move a hockey team to? Couple years ago, the Predators were all but packed and on their way. Now, Balsillie wants to move the Coyotes there and a group out of Vancouver wants to move the Thrashers to H-town. There’s no way in hell that Bettman lets either team move. He’s bound and determined that hockey remain ensconced in the southern part of the US. It would be admitting failure if he let a team leave the south. The recent success of the Caps and Hurricanes is proving that hockey can succeed south of the Mason Dixon line. But then again, for every Washington and Carolina, you have an Atlanta or a Florida. It’s not good for the league as a whole when reports constantly surface that rich people want to move less successful teams to any area that waves a bright and shiny arena at them. (And that’s not even taking into account the rumors of Wang moving the Islanders to Kansas City if he doesn’t get his new arena on Long Island.)

- The photo accompanying TSN’s article about Gonchar’s injury is absolutely stunning. It completely shows the pain, anguish and heartbreak running through Gonchar as the trainer tends to him. I’m constantly in awe of the high quality of photos put out by NHL related photographers.

- Puck Daddy has a scathing indictment from Gonchar’s agent of the double standard potentially exhibited by the league in regards to the Gonchar/Ovechkin contact. Good read, as JP Barry has the balls to actually say what a lot of us have thought occasionally regarding the behavior of Crosby, Ovechkin and other “stars.”

- I’ve had Indy 500 qualifying on in the background while doing some work for a presentation, and the network is doing a pretty good job of promoting its hockey schedule. However, I do want to give Indy announcer Bob Jenkins a brief  pronunciation guide to the word “Canucks.” It’s pronounced “Ca-Nucks.” Not “Ca-Nooks.” Please work on this before I throw something at my TV set.

- We know that the NHL is one of the more savvier leagues when it comes to the use of the internet and electronic communications. However, I bet most of us had no idea just how in-depth the NHL’s email efforts are. Mediapost reports that the NHL has an email database of nearly 1 million names and sends 62 e-newsletter versions per week. That’s pretty darn impressive, but the media geek in me wishes there were some stats in there like open rates and click throughs.

- While poking around on the internets, I discovered that Derek Roy was a participant in Buffalo Spree’s bachelor auction that was held in February. I’m dying to know just how much our little Roy-Z was auctioned off for.

- And speaking of Roy-Z, here’s wishing him and Lindy the best of luck in the Gold Medal game at the World Championships. And best of luck to Stafford and Team USA in the bronze medal game. I just hope that when they come back to town, they don’t show off their medals in the locker room. Otherwise, they may have to keep sharp implements away from Vanek. Dude sounds extremely down about what happened at the WC’s, that it was just the icing on the crappy cake that was his past season.

- I really kind of want this USA Hockey T-Shirt.

Sabres v. Leafs: The Return of the Crunchy

- Glad to see ya back, Ryan! (Seriously, this is a nice shot of him. Lot of emotions running across his face.)

- CuJo looked rough tonight. Four goals on nine shots is not a good stat for any goaltender. On the other hand, Buffalo had four goals on only nine shots. How many nights have they struggled to get 2 goals on 40+ shots? Having such a high goal/shot percentage has to be morale inducing for the Sabres.

- Tonight’s interesting stat is courtesy of Greg W. at Puck Daddy: Ryan Miller was 10 years old during Cujo’s rookie season. I can’t believe that CuJo’s been in the league for 18 years already. Crikey. I’m feeling old, and I’m a year nine months younger than Ryan Miller. I can only imagine how CuJo feels.

- The first Toronto goal looked like it bounced off of Spacek’s knee. No wonder Miller looked so befuddled after it went in the net. He thought he had it.

- I spent a good chunk of the first period explaining to my mother that his name is Luke Schenn. Not Lou Chen.

- I hope the Rivet family has already gone to Sears Portrait Studio to have their Easter photos taken, as Mr. Rivet took a puck off the snout early in the third period. Even though it wasn’t bleeding too badly, he looked a little rough when he came back to the game with 8:00 left in the game.

- I think the Sabres got their bits out of storage tonight, especially where defending their goalie is concerned. Every time a Leaf so much as looked at Miller the wrong way, a Sabre was there to throw his two cents in. The biggest example was in the third period when Lori Peckorovsky Alexei Ponikarovsky stumbled over Miller. While Miller got a whack or two in with his goalie stick, Gaustad went after Ponikarovsky and eventually fought Kubina at center ice. I wonder if Lindy put a “do not let them touch Miller” edict into place for the remainder of the season?

-Tonight’s Sabres Trivia Question dealt with which Sabres have won the Masterton Trophy (Don Luce and Pat LaFontaine). The Sabres nominee will be announced Tuesday, and unlike last year where Teppo was a virtual lock to be nominated, I have absolutely no clear idea as to who would make a good nominee. Any thoughts?

- The Leafs made it a close game through sheer dumb luck (their second goal bounced in off Miller’s back and derriere) and mistakes by the Sabres (their third goal was a result of Miller making some great saves and his teammates not being able to clear the puck while he was down). They certainly kept the game interesting, that’s for sure.

- So Gaustad responds to his call out from Lindy the other night about being a -3 by picking up a Gordie Howe hat trick. Nice. Very nice. And once again, Gaustad and Kaleta continue to hit everything in an opposing sweater that so much as moved.

- And continuing with the “responding to a call out” theme, it seems that Stafford has removed his head from his sphincter and has started to play hockey again. Stafford was more physical tonight than we’ve seen in awhile, and he wasn’t hesitating to drop down and block shots. Where the heck has this Stafford been all season?

- I’m distracted from Ryan Miller’s postgame interview by Rob Ray’s antics in the background. First, he starts off by leaning nonchalantly against Peters’ locker. Then he starts fidgeting around like a five-year-old that needs to find a potty and quickly. I don’t know if Ray didn’t realize that he was on camera or what, but it was pretty comical. I did put the listening ears back on in time to hear Miller share some pretty positive thoughts about Gaustad, that Goose has been playing pretty well all season and is developing into a leader on the ice. Lindy also seconded these comments during his postgame press conference.

- Lindy also said during his press conference that Miller will play tomorrow, the only exception being if Miller is dying of death. Contrast this with Miller himself who said that Lindy still had to make the decision tomorrow morning. Memo to Crunchy: the decision’s been made. Get a good night’s sleep, some Tylenol and a healthy meal or two tomorrow and come out fighting.

- It’s not hockey related, but I’m really amused by the instafriendship that’s developed between Steve Wozniak and Steve-O on the Dancing With the Stars set. Talk about two polar opposites: the Jackass and the Techie.

The Boys Are Back In Town

- Who amongst us didn’t think that last night’s game had the potential to be a massive blowout? The Sabres were coming off the longest road trip ever in the history of road trips (if the media was to be believed) and Toronto games always have the potential to get out of hand in a hurry. However, the boys pleasantly surprised Sabre Nation by quickly getting off to a good start against the Leafs.

Timmy had a nice deflection off of the Rivet pass/shot to put the team up 1-0. (If someone can offer me proof that it was clearly a pass or clearly a shot, I will update with what it is, but to me, Rivet’s attempt at putting the puck on the net could go either way.)

And I agree with Miller. Staffy’s goal was just sick. Watch it on the game highlights here. That was a nifty move no matter how you slice it.

And Vanek just closed the door repeatedly on the Leafs having any chance of coming back. Not only was his hat trick his fifth in his career, it was his fourth consecutive natural hat trick. Only one other person in the league has accomplished that feat and he did it in the 1920s. (Thanks to the News for that bit of inane trivia.)

I’m really liking the Vanek / Stafford / Timmy line. They’ve clicked well these past couple of games, and Timmy has shown that when he’s healthy, he’s worth his salary. Then again, last time I liked a line together, Lindy broke them up the next game. That was the Ellis/Gaustad/Pommers line. Maybe Lindy needs to reunite them as well? Pommers has been all but invisible lately.

- Someone just turned the lights out on me. How nice. Thank you, friendly co-worker. Please to be putting them back on now.

- Why is it Lalime always looks happier than Miller post-game when Miller gets a shutout or has a kick ass game? Their little celebrations at the end of the game are absolutely adorable, though I do half expect Lalime to tackle Miller one of these days in a post-game hug gone awry.

- Lately I’ve been noticing that Gaustad has been dropping to his knees on face offs. Is he trying to shove the opponent off the puck? Look at last night’s opening draw for an example of what I mean? I don’t understand why he’s doing that. Anyone have any thoughts?

- And the lights are back on. Yay. Hooray for brightness!

- So glad to have RJ, Harry, K-Syl, Roby and Ray back for last night’s game. It really is true that you don’t know what you’ve got till its gone. (And in Buffalo, we probably will be paving paradise and putting up a parking lot.) Ray did not look happy about having to share his little office with Pierre McGuire during last night’s game. Then again, I wouldn’t be happy about having to share an already tight space, especially with a windbag like Pierre.

- I was also amused that Kevin Sylvester had to explain that Staffy likes to have fun with the media, especially after the little head shaking and sarcasm bit with the media horde in the locker room.Seriously though, who hasn’t realized that Staffy can come across as a bit of a wise ass?

Pigeons

- I’m really amused by the fact that Drew Stafford kept his pigeon perched on his shoulder during his interview after last night’s Sabres/Oilers game. But that he mentioned he would probably be sleeping with it was enough to give me pause. Who knows where that pigeon has been in the Sabres locker room?

- While I wasn’t terribly impressed with the Edmonton announcers during last night’s game, they did seem to have a really good understanding of and appreciation for the Sabres. They pointed out that Miller was playing some of the best hockey of his career, that Roy was coming on at just the right time and that Vanek was finally living up to the massive expectations put on him by the community. I can’t wait to see what’s in store from the Calgary dudes tonight. And here’s to also hoping for a less blindingly white ice surface tonight.

- Did anyone else notice last night that the cameras were positioned on the same side of the ice as the benches? That was the first time I’ve noticed this set-up in a game. It took a little getting used to seeing the players coming off the bench right in front of me, rather than from across the ice, as is the usual position in HSBC Arena.

- I cringed when I saw Rivet lying on the ice last night, but was happy (is that the right word?) to see that he only took a skate in the CraigBits and that it wasn’t a serious injury. The last thing the Sabres need is another defenseman succumbing to injury.

- Earlier today, Puck Daddy posted a great look at Tim Connolly. We all joke about Timmy’s fragility, but the guy is honestly one knock upside the head away from ending his career. The article also makes a good point that Timmy is tough, as he has played through a cracked rib, nausea and who knows what else that we in the cheap seats don’t know about. That takes a set of cojohnes the size of Syracuse.

- So the Red Wings signed Zetterberg to a 12-year contract. Eesh. Here’s to hoping for a long, injury free career out of Mr. Zetterberg. Otherwise, that’s a lot of money to have to finangle around in this fun salary cap environment.

- And to end on a lighter note, the Steadfast Foundation has posted the list of the auction items available at the Catwalk for Charity. I can’t decide what’s more awesome:

• the black lab puppy named Capone (early prediction that this puppy is again the hit of the event)
• the “take Andrew Peters to show-and-tell” experience
• Catwalk Cookout Challenge between esteemed Buffalo chefs and Ryan Miller and a teammate
• a Saved by the Bell DVD set autographed by Mr. Belding. (Seriously, all that cool stuff and you could win a DVD signed by Mr. Belding. But then again, there are those of us of a certain age who can quote Saved by the Bell episodes chapter and verse. So there is that quirky nostalgia factor there.)

What Was That?

It was entirely too cold in my house to even think about leaving the comfort of my warm blanket to blog during/after last night’s Sabres game. (Alright, the cold was more of an excuse to cover the “during”, and “sleep” is the excuse to cover the “after”.)

- Why did it seem like Derek Roy was the only forward out there who seemed like his give a damn wasn’t busted? Timmy would also fall a close second in this category. Both of them were extremely noticeable in a good way last night. I will also admit to being concerned every time Timmy went flying across the ice, as I envisioned him injuring himself while doing so. It’s going to take awhile before the Tim Connolly Cringe Factor calms down to normal hockey player levels.

- Let’s not even discuss the travesty that was the 6 minute power play. Six minutes and only one shot. One god damn shot (and yes I can say god damn on my blog, even if you can’t say it on the radio) in six minutes. Sheesh. A team of Timbits could have probably done better.

- Which also brings me to the debacle that was the four-on-one last night. Goose was leading the rush up the left side of the ice and can’t get the blasted pass off. I’m thinking that non-pass trumps any good that may have come from his scrappiness last night.

- I will also admit to wishing that I had my laptop open to play Pominville Bingo during Pommer’s intermission interview last night.

- At least the intermission feature on Tallinder was nice. Mrs. Tallinder and the Lil Tallinders looked absolutely adorable in the photos shown. It’s almost enough to make you ask why he almost threw that all away during his little third man in deal a couple of years ago.

- Stafford did have a nice clean check on Duncan Keith last night. About darn time the little punk hit someone. I also noticed that Chicago seemed to make it their personal mission to target Stafford after that hit. Where was the same spunk and determination out of the Sabres after Mair was cross checked into the bench on a line change? I realize Mair was giggling about it afterward, but where were his teammates to stick up for him? RJ was more incensed about it that some of the players on the ice.

- It may have been my poor eyesight, but was Miller not seated on the Sabres bench last night? Does the United Center require visiting backup goalies to be exiled to backup goalie purgatory? Based on what I read pre-game, I was half expecting Miller to pull a Marty and start trash talking from the bench.

I hope an entirely different team shows up against Dallas tonight. If not, the good people of Buffalo may revolt against this team.

Making Music

Last night I went to the Ronan Tyan / Buffalo Philharmonic concert at Kleinhans. I love going to Kleinhans. The building has this odd mix of rickety charm and history to it. And maybe it’s because I have no musical ability whatsoever, but I do like going to orchestra concerts. I like seeing the musicians wander out on stage and each start warming up individually, leading to what seems like a mass orchestral warm-up that summons Falletta on stage.

I went back and looked at what I wrote about Tynan’s concert last year, and this year’s show did include a lot of the songs he sang last year. “Hallelujah” was still uplifting (as much as that song can be) and the requisite Shrek jokes were cheesily funny. “All I Want Is You” by U2 was beautiful, as was Springsteen’s “Into The Fire”, which was dedicated to the 5 Buffalo firemen who died 25 years ago in a propane explosion.

The BPO had a chance to shine on “Danny Boy” and “The Last Rose of Summer.” In the second act, they really shone on “Sabre Dance.” You couldn’t expect a concert in Buffalo and featuring a Sabre to not have this awesome song played.

Drew Stafford showed up in the second act of the concert to play the Metallica version of “Whiskey In The Jar” and U2’s “I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For.” The Metallica really highlighted Staffy’s guitar skills and Staffy’s enthusiasm for the guitar, but the U2 seemed to be pretty basic for him (and it was one of the songs he played last year).

The U2 song with Staffy was supposed to be the last song of the night as Tynan made a comment that they were running close on time. However, the crowd’s standing ovation and some gentle prompting from Falletta caused Tynan to come back and sing two more songs. He finished with one Irish song and “God Bless America” which also included an audience sing-a-long at the end. Thank heavens Tynan came back to sing “God Bless America.” After he left the stage at the end of the U2 song, this woman in the next section over started shrieking in the world’s shrillest voice “God Bless America…God Bless America.” And she kept at it until Tynan came back on stage. I was ready to crack her upside the head with my purple NY&Co satchel, that’s how annoying she was.

In terms of the “celebrities” in the crowd, I only saw The LQ and Ed Kilgore. And of course, The LQ made it a point to stop by and schmooze The Kilgore.

Now, onto the important part of the evening…the fashion review. Let’s start with Stafford. He was wearing a white button front shirt, untucked, and a pair of extremely well fitting jeans. I was four rows from the back of the hall and even I could tell that the boy knows how to wear a pair of jeans. As I mentioned before, Staffy seemed confident while playing the guitar, but turned almost bashful when the crowd started applauding and he was entering/exiting the stage. He did this really cute little half-wave and bashful smile thing. All he needed was a “who me” to complete the bashfulness.

In terms of the audience members, there were really only three bad faux-pas that I saw:

- a satin dress three sizes two small. As we’ve all learned from Project Runway, satin is one of the most unforgiveable materials ever! Don’t try and jam ten pounds into a five pound bag is all that I am saying.

- a short sweater, leggings and Uggs, all topped off with a beret. I know it’s a trendy look, but it’s not one of my favorites and seemed out of place in the concert environment.

- denim capris worn with hooker boots (why? just why?)

If you want to read the professional review of the concert, Mary Kunz Goldman of the Buffalo News offers her two cents here.