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Come on boys, convince me!

Perhaps the sub-head should be; “Or how the mighty have fallen.” Two years ago, the Sabres raced out to the best record in the league only to fall short in the playoffs. We all know how they fared last year. Last year the Senators had all of Canada talking about if they could topple the Montreal [...]

WGR put up Paul Hamilton’s latest report from the Sabres’ practice. Let’s just say that it’s full of win: First up: Lindy Ruff says his captain will be back tomorrow as he’s recovered enough from a shoulder injury. So take the most spirited, complete effort from the Sabres in two months, and now we’re going to add to [...]

Saturday’s 4-2 win over the Bruins marked just the sixth time all year the Sabres have managed to string two or more wins together in a row. This week, the Sabres take on Ottawa and the Rangers at home, followed by a roadie to Detroit on Saturday night. Here’s how the boys have [...]

I had a hyper puppy and company in the form of my mother-in-law and brother-in-law today so I wasn't paying full attention to every part of the game but it certainly seemed like a good one. This game actually exemplifies one of my biggest frustrations with the Sabres this season: They've shown time and again that they are perfectly capable of playing with the better teams in the Eastern Conference. They seem to always get up for those games. It's the crappy teams in the bottom half of the conference that they struggle against. Still two wins are two wins. That said, I am curious to see how they respond against a struggling Ottawa team. If they follow their pattern for this season they'll let up after two good wins, lose to a team they should beat and return to their up and down routine. I hope that isn't the case. I hope they've finally (FINALLY) learned how important it is to show up and work hard every night. We'll see.

For all the complaining I did earlier in the season about how boring the Bruins are, I have to admit, I've almost come around to enjoying them. Before the season I had a preview entry that I ended up scrapping because let's face it, the hockey blogosphere did not need another preview from someone who watches one team, knows a little bit about a few others and nothing about anyone else. But in that entry - and you'll just have to trust me on this - one of the things I said was that I thought everyone was overrating the Flyers and underrating the Bruins. Which is not to say that I expected them to be at the top of the conference at this point in the season. No, I definitely can't claim that. But I thought they would be good. I find them to be a very appealing mix of skill and hard work. They are definitely a team where the sum is better than the whole of its parts and I do find those teams kind of appealing. And I like Zdeno Chara. That's right, I said it. I even like him beating up on poor little Roy-Z. Come on, it's not like he doesn't deserve a punch to the head every once in a while. You know he does.

The Boston player I really, really want however is Milan Lucic. Surely Boston will give him to us for Connolly, Kotalik, Afinogenov, and Paetsch? That's FOUR players and we're only getting ONE. That's more than fair.

One more note, a more serious response to a comment on the previous post. I am, by nature, a pretty optimistic person. I always try to see the good side of things. Heck, I spent almost all of last season insisting that no, the Sabres really can be good at hockey! Next year they'll be great! They will! If you haven't noticed, Buffalo fans tend to be a liiiittle on the cynical side. (With very good reason. If I'd been doing this for 37 years, I might be too. In the grand scheme of things, I'm still a rookie.) I do try to be a little different, a voice of hope and optimism if you will. However, if there's one thing that I want this blog to be, it's an honest reflection of how I'm feeling about the Sabres and recently that hasn't been very good. I always, always want and hope the best for them, just like every other Sabres fan in the world but occasionally I find them frustrating or discouraging or just plain unlikable. Despite that, I will keep watching the games, I will keep cheering for them and I'll keep falling for it when they start to actually look like they know how to play hockey. A week from now I might be loudly proclaiming how much I love them all and you know what? That's my right as a fan. There's no contradiction there, not as far as I'm concerned. For better or for worse, the Sabres are mine now. (Here's to hoping it's not all "for worse.")

I know that CIL is not the most popular thing around these parts, but WNYMedia has people up in TO covering the game, and I agreed to help out by putting it up on BfloBlog. Should I let this thing turn into the open thread for the hockey game as well? I am [...]

UB is popular. At least, their 1958 team is. BUFFALO, NY - On the eve of the University at Buffalo’s first bowl game, the team will be the subject of a feature on ABC World News with Charles Gibson. The show will air on Friday, January 2 at 6:30 pm. Reporter Bob Woodruff was in town [...]

You guys really f’ed it up. Time was, I used to be glued to the television all day long on New Years, watching great and meaningful football games until a national champion was determined. Today, I had the following tantalizing choices: Iowa vs. South Carolina - fun to watch Spurrier get his ass kicked, but really, [...]

Ryan Miller was much more solid, the team played smarter, they actually looked somewhat organized, they scored goals when they needed them and they didn't let the other team back in it at the last minute.

Woo-freakin-hoo. Call me when you've done this more than once or twice in a row, Sabres.

I commented on Kevin's Facebook today that my prediction was we'd win handily in Toronto, squeak out a victory in Boston and then promptly start playing like garbage again. We've done this "new start" thing a few times already this season and it hasn't stuck yet so... yeah, prove me wrong, fellas. Because I really, really wanna be wrong.

So, you all realize how much you’re sucking right now? Determined to fix it? Great, now prove it on the ice. Come on, it’s the Leafs.

It’s only minutes to go until 2009, and I can’t help but think of where I was just one year ago. On December 31, 2007 I could not wait to forget the entire year. My Mom had been sick, my Dad had passed away, and my sister and I were both hoping for [...]

So... here's where we're at, dear readers. I love hockey. I love writing about hockey. I love the Buffalo Sabres in theory. But in reality, I really, really dislike the Sabres. I do. I find them very un-fun to watch. I'm cheering for them because they're wearing Buffalo jerseys and I'm cheering for them because it's not enjoyable watching a team lose over and over but I'm not cheering for them because I'm invested in this particular group of players. I feel bad for me that they stink but I don't feel bad for them at all.

Last year I did feel bad for them so I'm not really sure how to explain the change in attitude since there wasn't much change in personnel and the changes we did make are ones that I'm absolutely fine with. I think maybe last year I was willing to cut them some slack. They were young and they were in new roles and there were a lot of changes that were very sudden. It was frustrating to watch but it made sense too. They didn't play well but they seemed genuinely dazed and confused and when they all stood in front of microphones at the end of the season and talked about how sad they were to not be playing in the playoffs and how they were going to really take it to heart, I believed them and I was willing to look ahead to this season.

Boy, was I a sucker. It turns out that the Sabres are just a bunch of whiny, entitled, lazy brats. Thomas Vanek can be excused from the discussion because he evidently meant it when he said he would be better this year. More often than not, he's played hard and it shows in his stat line. I don't even want to imagine what this season would have been like thus far without him since he's the beginning and the end of the highlight reel. Everyone else though? Can start walking out of Buffalo and not come back for all I care. Quit bitching about the media, put down your excessive beers, say goodbye to all the puck bunnies and start moving.

It's such a waste because I do still think this team has a lot of talent. Not enough to win a Stanley Cup which yes, should be the goal but certainly enough that they should be competing hard in the very average Eastern Conference. But no matter how many times they get knocked upside the head by harder working teams, the Sabres are bound and determined that they can win on skill and skill alone. They think they can float through 45 minutes and win in the last 15. Newsflash, fellas. It doesn't work. It didn't work well for the last half/postseason of 2006-2007, it didn't work in 2007-2008, it hasn't worked in the latter half of 2008 and I can tell you already (because I know you're not picking up on the pattern), it won't work in 2009. This is the NHL. All of the players are good. A lot of them are better than you. You have to work. You have to want to win.

That's the most frustrating thing about this, I think. I want the Sabres to win. You want them to win. A whooole lot of people want them to win. I don't think the Sabres really care if they win or not. As long as they can cash their paychecks and hit the bars at the end of the night, they don't care. We care more about them being successful on the ice than they do and that's screwed up because, as I'm sure you've all realized, we don't have any control over the situation. Only the players do. And the players suck ass. Even the players that used to work hard all the time have been sucked into a blackhole of lazy suckiness.

I'm tired of them. I'm tired of hearing, "We're embarrassed and things have to change." I'm tired of hearing, "We need to play better at home." I'm tired of hearing, "We have to hold each other accountable." I'm tired of hearing, "We've hit rock bottom and now we'll start fresh." I'm tired of hearing, "If you don't play hard, you're not playing." Hey, guys? I'll believe it when I see it.

This team has no maturity, no pride and no heart. What to do about it?

There were two things that happened in the first ten minutes of the Sabres game that reminded me that I was, well, at a Sabres game. Derek Roy took a stupid tripping penalty in the offensive zone. It was so obvious that David Patterson would have called it (and taxed it), but he still threw [...]

More later today, I promise. I have something half-written but I'm going to be up in a few hours with the animal pictured below so I need to get to bed.

Marlowe looks a little bummed about the state of the Sabres, doesn't she?

Marlowe after watching her first Sabres game.

So that means there is an extension. And knowing that an extension does indeed exist means nobody should be surprised that Jauron stays. It doesn’t mean anybody is happy about it, but we shouldn’t be surprised. What is a surprise is that Jauron’s new contract calls for him to have complete control over the hiring and [...]

Is it wrong that I don’t hate Ovechkin? I mean, Briere’s long gone, right?

Once again, we meet the Caps. And once again I have to admit that this is the hottest ticket among my group of friends. It’s all about Ovechkin, and everyone loves to see him. Before the last Sabres-Caps matchup, our old friend JP wrote the following: They’re the team that has won their last three [...]

I have a confession to make. I do not like blogging about things that have already occurred. It’s boring, it’s played, it reeks of 20/20 hindsight, and it’s not usually very much fun. Especially when it’s Buffalo. I do love to write about what could be. It’s speculative, you don’t have to [...]

Some friends and relatives of mine have been bugging me to join Facebook. So, I did. Then I saw that The Goose’s Roost had signed their blog up on Facebook. Being old and out of touch with all you youngsters, I didn’t even know what that meant. So I did that too. That. Just. [...]

Today is locker cleanout day for the Buffalo Bills. After a ninth consecutive season that ended without the Bills making the playoffs, and a third straight year of finishing with a 7-9 record, it is clear that the team has established itself as one of the most mediocre and irrelevant teams in football. [...]