“I wouldn’t even be able to stop laughing to even throw a punch at him,” Miller said.
But remember the Marty / Emery brawl featured the two of them laughing hysterically at each other.
- Also, has Pat Kaleta never heard of a washing machine? He threw out all his bedding to remove any traces of the flu? Patty, honey, it’s called detergent, hot water and this fun little machine that you might have in your basement. Then again, if you need help picking out new bedding, I have the Ikea catalogue at the ready. Call me!
- Sully hops on the bring Marty back to Buffalo train. Also, I really don’t buy his hypothesis that Lalime cost the Sabres a playoff spot last spring. Lalime was just one of several issues last spring. It’s all water under the bridge now, but if Lalime continues to have a wonky groin and Enroth doesn’t play well while he’s up here, then something probably would need to be done. Despite popular opinion, Miller can’t play every night. The more he plays without rest, the higher his chances for injury get.
- The Sabres have recalled Jhonas Enroth from Portland as Patrick Lalime is battling a groin injury.
- Ralph Lauren is starting to reveal the US Olympic Team attire for the Vancouver games. What’s pictured in the below screen capture from my e-mail is the closing ceremony attire. Please try and imagine a certain goalie in said apparel.
The sweater looks like something my high school English teacher lived in.
- Marty Biron is back in town, and he reveals that he and his wife are expecting a little girl. There’s a joke about getting slipping one past the goalie here. I just can’t find it.
- Today is the 40th anniversary of Sesame Street. All together now…
Sunny day, sweeping the clouds away
On my way to where the air is sweet
Can you tell me how to get, how to get to Sesame Street?
First Period
- Whee! Bradley Whitford is going to be back on my television again. I f’love Bradley Whitford. Even with that unfortunate dye job he had in Billy Madison.
-It’s still early in the game, but so far it’s miles better than Saturday night’s fiasco. There’s an energy about the guys that wasn’t there on Saturday. Saturday felt like they were just doing a piss poor imitation of going through the motions.
- Gaustad apparently is feeling much better, as he’s back to his regular role as a dancing bear in front of the opponent’s net.
- Roy-Z finally scores…in the hockey arena that is. Roy fires a shot from the top of the faceoff circle while Vanek is playing dancing bear in front of Marty. In the celebration, the Sabres played Chelsea Dagger. Is every team going to be ripping off the Blackhawks now? 1-0, Sabres.
- Kaleta is the victim of a very nice hip check so he “retaliates” by shoving the Islanders defenseman into Marty who then comes out of his crease after Kaleta and tries to love him, hug him and call him George. When all is said and done, the Islanders are on the power play. Kaleta and Stafford are sitting in the penalty box, the latter looking very bumfuzzled as to why he is there. I wonder if he is the Sabres designated penalty bitch?
- The Islanders again send the Sabres to the power play, as Sim was a very bad boy and held, hooked or grabbed a Sabre. That vague description of the penalty was brought to you by our astute color commentator Harry Neale.
- Who peed in Marty Biron’s cornflakes tonight? He’s been a feisty little devil, going after Kaleta and then Rivet. Not sure what caused him to go after Rivet, as the camera was focused on MacArthur slowly getting up after he was clobbered from behind and into the goal post.
- The Sabres spent a heck of a long time on the power play. I almost became one of those people yelling “Shoot” while the Sabres put on a passing clinic during the power play.
- Random Sesame Street video to end the period with…
Second Period
- Both teams appear to be exceptionally chatty tonight as there’s a lot of chatter coming from the ice. Most of it isn’t fit for mixed company.
- So I think I left my iPod playing at my desk when I left for the day. I pray that it doesn’t shuffle to “Put It in My Mouth” or anything else controversial while the cleaning guy is in the area.
- The Sabres get a giggle out of me for playing the Miami Vice theme song during a stoppage in play. Miami Vice was such a good, cheesy show. They generally don’t make shows like that any more.
- Sekera gets out of the penalty box and tries to jam the puck past Marty on a mini-breakaway. Marty stops him cold. Meanwhile, Tyler Myers limps over to the bench after taking a shot off the foot in the Islanders end of the rink. It must have just been a stinger, as Myers is back out for his next shift.
- Oh eff me. I just read that Sandra Lee is looking forward to bringing great garnishes to the Governor’s mansion in 2010 once her sweet baboo wins election. As if NY isn’t in enough of a mess as it is, we now have to worry about her Semi-Ho’ing her way through Albany.
- Vanek feeds an absolutely gorgeous pass to a wide open Stafford, who then sadly misses the wide open net.
- Can we please stop with the live action Cellino & Barnes pop-up ads already?
- As Harry Neale is rattling off Enroth’s stats from Portland, the camera pans to the young Swede sitting on the bench. Maybe I’m just used to the jolly Lalime or the cranky Miller sitting on the bench, but Enroth looks like an overgrown five year old in full goalie gear.
- Witt is sent to the penalty box for hitting Grier from behind, sending Grier face first into the glass. Grier takes quite a long time to get up, collect his gear that went flying and make it to the bench. Even so, he doesn’t look like all his eggs are unbroken in the basket, if you know what I mean.Vanek manages to score on this power play, as he pokes the puck past Marty, who’s diving in the opposite direction.2-0, Sabres.
- That may be Vanek’s fifth goal of the year, but why does it seem like it’s his first? It feels like its been awhile since he last lit the lamp.
- Marty heads all the way out to the face off circle to stop the puck and gets badly, badly caught out of the net. The Sabres aren’t able to put the puck into the empty net. Though they sure did try hard.
Random Sesame Street YouTube to end the second period…
Third Period
- Roy is 8-0 on face offs tonight. I’d like to see that kind of consistency from him throughout the remainder of the season. It would be nice to have a second face off guru besides Gaustad (and his young padawan, Kennedy).
- Vanek gets a breakaway on Marty, but he gets slashed from behind and isn’t able to complete a solid shot, as he only has one hand on the stick. He does at least get an Academy Award nomination for trying to sell the slash to the refs (they didn’t think much of it).
- You can tell how exciting this third period is by how much I have to say about it. The Sabres have had several good chances, but Marty appears to have found his game again.
- A play is under review as the puck is in the net thanks to Gaustad’s stubbornness well before the whistle blows. The ref is taking his sweet time on the phone, which makes me wonder if he’s talking to the home office or ordering a pizza for after the game. It’s ruled a goal after the ridiculously long review, so HONHONKHONK for the Goose. 3-0, Sabres.
- Have I mentioned how much I love the Goooooooooooooooose chant after he scores a goal or whomps on someone?
- Who developed the schedule this year? The Sabres have already played 3 of their 4 games against the Islanders and by the end of the month they will have played 3 of 4 against the Flyers. Also, who is the genius that decided that the game on the day after Thanksgiving should be played at 1pm in the afternoon?
- The final 15 seconds feature Kaleta being a pest and half the Islanders on the ice chasing him around.
- RJ and Harry are getting slightly loopy and referring to the runway portion of the Catwalk for Charity as “walking the plank.” RJ informs us all that he would like to be referred to as a buccaneer and not a pirate or a privateer.
- The game is over, so I can say it now….SHUTOUT! I love when Miller gets a shutout. It’s such a confidence booster.
So this morning’s Buffalo News features an article where Ryan Miller and his teammates discuss the increase in goalie interference this season. In short form, there’s more interference, and most of the non-calls are a load of crap that should be called. However, this quote from Miller on what happened last season with Scott Gomez is priceless.
“I don’t have Scott Gomez’s picture up at my house, staring at it while I eat dinner, working up enough psychotic energy to go slash him in the throat. That’s not the case.”
Thank you, Ryan, for that amazing mental image. It’s not like you have Gomez locked away somewhere telling him to put the lotion on the skin or he gets the hose again.
After the drama that was the Bills game yesterday, isn’t it nice to have a hockey player bring a little bit of comedy into our lives?
- I’m happy this is a Doc-called game on Versus, although the HD picture is nowhere near as clear as the MSG HD feed
- I’m hoping that Roy-Z doesn’t try so hard to impress Yzerman and Babcock tonight that he forgets that he’s wearing the crossed swords and buffalo on his chest tonight and not the maple leaf
- Why is Doc re-hashing the final minute-and-a-half of Game 7 of the Cup Finals? Detroit lost, Pittsburgh won, let’s all move along now. But on a related note, how awful has it been to be a Detroit sports fan this year? The Tigers lost a 7-game division lead and lost in the play-in game, the Lions went 0-16, Michigan college football was a joke, and the Red Wings lost in Game 7. And that’s on top of all of the problems Detroit itself is facing (unemployment, decaying buildings, high unsolved murder rate, low high school graduation rate, etc).
- Breaking news: Tyler Myers is tall. I’m not sure if any of you are aware of that.
- Whoo! Stafford sweeps one past Osgood to make it 1-0, Sabres. It’s a power play goal.
- Boo. The Red Wings score on their power play and we’re now tied at one.
- Doc explains that if a goal is scored on the power play, that it does not count towards a player’s plus/minus stats. I did not know that. That’s my new fact of the day.
- I think we need to send the Versus crew one of twoeightnine’s Kaleta Collision shirts. After a tough Kronwall/Kaleta hit, the crew remarked they didn’t know that collision began with a K.
- I’m knitting while writing this post and I’m impressed that I managed to get all my dropped stitches back on the needle. Let that be a warning to always make sure your needles are in the up position when you set them aside.
- Toronto’s already had a bag skate this season? Is that some kind of record?
Second Period
- There’s a big kerfluffle in front of the net, and the play goes to review just to make sure the puck didn’t cross the goal line (as it was ruled on the ice). How the heck you can tell it went in or out through the mess of skates and pads and legs and whatevers, I do not know. I don’t envy the job of the goal judge, that’s for sure. (And Doc, don’t ever debate a Buffalonian about Brett Hull’s foot being in the crease. It’s like starting a land war in Asia or going up against a Sicilian when death is on the line. It won’t end well for you.)
- I get the 83rd degree when I cross the border to go to IKEA, but a gentleman takes an 8-foot tall woodcarving of a football hall of famer across the border with no questions at all? That’s a giant WTF, for sure.
- Did Doc just call someone currently on the ice Paetsch, or am I hearing things?
- Hee! The fans are already chanting Os-good! Os-good! I do so love a good goalie heckle. It’s one of my favorite things about hockey.
- Roy misses a shot and Vanek catches the rebound as he’s heading towards the net (and falls down immediately after he shoots the puck). 5-1, Sabres.
- Osgood gets pulled and Vanek heads to the dressing room. Maybe Vanek just lost an edge (hopefully).
- Kaleta already has a goal tonight. Would it be too much to ask if Kennedy were to get a goal in front of the hometown fans as well?
- Filppula gets a penalty shot as Myers makes his first real mistake and trips up Filppula on a breakaway. And Miller stones him cold. That was an eff this shizzle move if I ever saw one.
- Kaleta scores while I am looking my friend’s wedding photos on Facebook. On the replay, I’m shocked at the rush that Myers has as he stormed towards the net. 2-1, Sabres.
- Maybe I should spend more time on Facebook during a game, as Vanek gets in on a break, holds up, flings it towards the net and gets a lucky deflection off a Detroit defender. 3-1, Sabres.
- Awww, Versus pays tribute to RJ by showing the May-Day footage. That is such an awesome call and a reminder of how in the moment RJ gets.
- Doc’s rambling away about the Sabres ability to control puck possession and take shots when C-Mac just strolls calmly in front of Osgood and backhands the puck past the Detroit goalie. 4-1, Sabres.
- Second fun fact of the day: Lydman and Montador are a reunited defense pairing. They were a tandem when they played for the Flames back in the day.
- The crew shares a conversation that they had with Miller, that he wants to not just be a good goaltender, but wants to be an elite goaltender. He wants his name to come up in consideration for the Vezina. He’s pushing himself to be better, and if his teammates give him proper support, I think he can be better.
- When the buzzer sounds, the crowd rises and gives the team a standing ovation. That’s nice to see. Especially since at the last live sports event in Buffalo, the players were greeted with boos.
Third Period
- Vanek will not return for the third period, as he has some sort of upper body injury. With the game standing the way it is, there’s really no need to drill a blowhole or duct tape something so he can get back out there. Let him have a nice soak in the hot tub or a good massage. The next game is Friday night, so he’ll have a couple days to sit with the boo boo bunny without cause for concern.
- HONK! HONK! HONK! Gaustad connected on a Kaleta shot to make it 6-1, Sabres.
- Can we make a list of banned topics for national Sabres games? No Goal, Drury, Briere, Game 7 in Carolina, the amazingly dropping defense, The System…
- I kind of wish this was an MSG game, since you know the postgame interviews will be enthusiastic with the potential to be highly entertaining.
- A shot gets past Miller, as the puck hits both Holmstrom and Zetterberg before crossing the goal line. 6-2, Buffalo.
- So Lindy changed up his practice methods to include drills with pucks and less shots, but more realistic situations for the goalies? Interesting. If it’s creating more realistic goal situations and leading towards what we’ve seen on the ice so far this season, then it looks to be a change for the better.
- Drink! We just hit the Ryan Miller Versus Trifecta, as Michigan State, the family legacy and the Hobey Baker were all mentioned within seconds of each other.
- It’s amazing how my neighbor’s arrival home from work every night sounds like a wild rumpus is breaking out in the driveway next door. I don’t understand how so much noise is made.
- So that was a fun game to watch. Let’s do this again sometime.
- Ryan Miller’s blog is gone. Sadness ensues from those of us that enjoyed reading his cranky, yet fun, outlook on life. Although, now that the blog is no longer in existence, that means the most recent thing on his site is from November of last year. You may want to have your people get on that, Mr. Miller.
- When I read that the Sabres were blessed by their official team chaplain today, two thoughts ran through my head:
1. They *have* a team chaplain? Bless me father for I have sinned, indeed.
2. A Jesuit is probably the only one that could drink a hockey player under the table. (And note to Sabres.com, the abbreviation for Jesuit is SJ, not JS.)
- Whose bright idea was it to make the Team USA hockey players look like junior serial killers? I mean, we know it was Kane in the cab with the ice pick, but Miller looks like he’s going to be ready to use that ice pick on the first little punk that only gives forth 40 minutes worth of effort in a 60 minute game.
Although, does the fact that Miller is included mean he’s more of a lock to be the starting goalie over TimTom? Or is it that Miller just looks more menacing that TimTom?
- Lindy just threw the gauntlet down at Tallinder (which means Tallinder flubbed the catch, tripped, broke his foot and will be out for three weeks). If “Uncle Fluffy” Tallinder shows up to camp or the preseason games, I really think he’ll sit. If “NHL Caliber” Tallinder shows up, then I don’t know who sits.
- I know it’s only the first practice, but it will be nice to see the players on the ice again and who’s ready to play. With Lindy saying that there will be more scrimmages, it should be easier to keep track of what’s going on as opposed to when practice is mainly drills.
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.
Ater spending the past couple days at Camp USA in Chicago, Miller is back home and was out chasing his godson Riley – all of age “not even 3″ - around the “big boy golf course” (his words, not mine). They talked briefly about Hunters Hope and screening newborns for different diseases and how not all states screen for the same diseases. Miller was definitely emphatic that passing legislation is tough (like duh…makes me wonder what side he’s falling on in the health care debate), but that every American has the right to have a strong healthy family in these United States.
After the obligatory Hunter’s Hope talk, they moved on to discussing Camp USA. Miller reported that he had fun at camp and it really wasn’t about getting on the ice and showing off for the coaching staff, it was more about starting to come together as a group, having meetings and starting to develop that patriotic feeling before the February games.
Now this is where the interview got a little funny. They had to take a break so that Miller could go off and make a birdie putt. As Schopp and Bulldog pointed out, it wasn’t just any putt, it was a birdie putt. When Miller got back on the phone, it turns out that he missed the putt. That really didn’t matter, as the day wasn’t so much about golf, but more about teaching his godson golf etiquette. Schopp and the Bulldog did mention the irony of trying to teach someone golf etiquette and then talking on the phone during a round of golf. I’m willing to cut Miller a pass on the phone thing, as cell phones are an essential part of my company golf tournament, as gossip spreads throughout the course (who fell off a cart, who made a hole in one, who’s got the snacks, etc) and, when we’re lucky enough to have hockey in May, hockey score updates.
And now for the actual hockey talk. Miller launched into what seems to be his standard talking points these days: management believes in the group of guys that are assembled, Miller believes in the guys that are assembled. They’re going to miss Spacek, but really, they’re a group of guys who are growing together blahblahblahsamestuffdifferentdaycakes.
They talked about Grier coming back, and Miller was positively gushing (for him) about what Grier brings to the team and how much respect he has for him. Miller also made a comment about the “fan sites” speculating about the reasons Grier left Buffalo originally. Hmm. And what fan sites could those be? Inquiring, and slightly paranoid, minds want to know.
The interview came to an end here, as Schopp and Bulldog wanted to return Miller to his golf game. And it’s less than a month until the preseason starts. Yay!
- And Paul Gaustad hasn’t been hiding his light under a bushel lately, either. This article from Portland, OR discusses Gaustad’s recent involvement in promoting youth hockey in the Portland area. He’s excited to be involved with the group, as it not only will help introduce more kids to the sport, but also help develop a fanbase for his former junior team, the Portland Winterhawks.
He also had some nice things to say about the Sabres.
“I’ve been with the organization for seven years, and I’ve had the same roommate on the road (Jason Pominville) all seven years,” he said. “The Sabres have been a class act, and they showed a lot of trust in me to give me a long-term extension.”
I wouldn’t call it trust. I know what he’s trying to say, but that seems like the wrong word. I see it as the team recognizing that the guy works his ass off day in and day out and holds himself and his teammates to a high standard and isn’t afraid to call himself and his teammates out if they don’t meet those standards.
- Craig Rivet was on the news this afternoon, participating in an event at the Fair with Home Depot and Stone’s Buddies.
- What’s the deal with the “Sabres Road Crew” tab on the new and improved splash page on Sabres.com?
- I’m still undecided about hitting the Tent Sale on Sunday. Sure, there’s some good stuff available, but at the same time, there’s kids and parents to battle at the street hockey tourney, streets closed due to parking, and general chaos. Is it really worth it, is the question?
Imagine you’re a highly paid professional hockey player. You enter a photo shoot and are told to stand in a particular spot. Alright, you can manage that. Hold this stick is the next command. Still, not completely outrageous. Then, you are told to look off into the distance to your right.
All these elements are not bad when taken in isolation, but when combined with a faux glass block background and some blue lighting, this is what results.
The background kind of reminds me of the old elementary school picture background with the faux lasers. Everyone wanted the laser backgrounds because they were so cool. Now, when you look back at them, they’re really kind of cheesy.
Also, is that just a regular hockey stick (and not a goalie paddle) that Miller is holding? I need someone with better eyes than mine to confirm.
If you want to see more of the images from camp, go to Getty Images and search “hockey.”
And in other news, based on the photos on Puck Daddy, I kind of want a USA Olympic Hockey Sweater. (The ones that look like the retro 1980 sweaters) They look neat, but I really would want to see one in person to judge the quality before making a commitment of that dollar amount. I mean, it looks like I will need something to replace my Stafford sweater unless something gets done with him in the next couple of weeks.
