Well this is depressing

(Side note: First post since 2011 on here... it must be really bad in Sabreland)

So this whole thing got depressing quick. We all knew the crossed swords weren't going to be very good this year, but this bad?

This is a sinking ships with so many holes it it, <insert any Sabre but Thomas Vanek here> could put the puck in one of them. I had expectations that we would be sailing along, sort of bad, but with youthful exuberance and some energy on the team, more likely to lose 5-3 than 4-1, 2-1, 1-0, etc. At least give us some entertainment factor to the season.

No, we are not.

We're already benching last years more hyped first round draft pick for not contributing offensively. Our European sniper Armia is out with broken bones, and our 2013-2014 version of Tyler Myers is playing like... well... the 2012-2013 version of Tyler Myers. Things are pretty bad in Sabreland when the return of Marcus Foligno is supposed to spark the entire team.

Of course this is where I start stating that the season is young, growing pains, and all the other garbage we have to tell ourselves about our constantly disappointing sports teams. The 05-07 Sabres teams were some of the most fun, easy to root for guys we've ever had, but they didn't even win a championship and we already look at that as the good ol' days. Its a sorry state we're in right now with this team, and really only a top to bottom shakedown will get the fans to not boo after every unsuccessful power play, and head for the exits 5 minutes early.

So, you know, there's always next year.

Sekera gets NHL's second Star

Reggie has been playing lights out the last 5 games (10 points) and has been recognized by the NHL as the second star of the week. If you ask me it should have been the first star, but With Iginla reaching the 30 goals for 10 years in a row milestone, he was the sympathetic choice.

Click here to read more!

Sabres best Grinch, beat Christmas

So this is what it feels like to be in the top 8 in the eastern conference. I feel like i should be drinkin crystal and honking my horn up and down main street.

Brief Recap:What an exciting and terrifying game that was! After the second sabres goal my thought was "don't let what you did to philly happen to you boys" so of course it did, but they pressured like no ones business in the 3rd, Enroth makes a couple of MONSTER saves, and Stafford has a Pomminville moment to win the game in ooooovertime.

The Full Monty: This game has a high energy, great start to it with plenty of punishing hits delievered by both teams. Hate to see Kaleta go down after blocking a shot. I have come to realize that kaleta is the type of player you're going to get 50-55 games a year out of. In those games he's willing to run thru the boards, throw his body in front of shots, and do everything you could possibly want.
but its also going to get him hurt. To be honest, im ok with 55 games a year of Patty, contract extention time!

Also hoping ennis is ok following that crash into the endboards, didn't look too bad on the telecast, but this is also coming from someone sitting on a comfortable couch just finishing up some Mighty Taco, so i might not be the best judge of "not too bad".

Overall, good going not letting the lead being blown throw them off, them turned it back on and Stafford ended it with a pretty little bull move. Nice job sabres.

- Mancari was alright. servicable, but nothing terrific tonight.
- Boyes with zero assists... oh for two Bob.
- Connolly no points. and that completes the hat trick of wrongness. thanks for coming!

A win in min?

Tonights game in the Twin Cities is yet another in a long line of very important games down the stretch. Its a game in hand on carolina, and if the rangers lose to the flyers in regulation today, they can skip up to 7th place in the east.

Minnesota currently resides in 11th place in the western conference, but that 11th place has 74 points, 4 points more than the 9th place sabres, and (for Minnesota) only 2 back of 8th and 4 back of 5th.

After the come from behind victory from the B&G yesterday, i am expecting a sluggish first period, much to the stress level of lindy, but a solid effort the rest of the way out, but will it be enough? I see an overtime game here, and wouldn't be surprised in the Wild pulled it out in a shootout/overtime.
Prove me wrong sabres (please!)

1 for the money:
-It pains me to type this, but Tim Connolly, come on down, you're the next person to get off the shnide and score a goal!

2 for the show:
-WHAT? Brad Boyes is scorless in one game, BAD TRADE REGIER! haha. Boyes picks up another assist tonight
-Mancari Scores, just because he wants to make it on the playoff roster and a good showing today will help that.

4-3 min win in ooooovertime/shootout.

3 minutes. 40 seconds.

Another back and forth, which sabres team per period will show up type game, but you know what? They beat the 1st place team in the conference.

Tell me before the game that the sabres would win 5-3 today, and i would never have guessed that they were down 2-0 to start the whole thing back, but in a span of 3:40 in the second period, they came roaring back and scored 3 goals.

Excellent game today, and the B&G are only 1 point behind carolina and 2 behind the rangers, with games in hand on each now.

Playoffs? Damn right playoffs.

And to add to the post from a few minutes ago...

For some coworkers of mine, who have been especially hard on miller recently (and deservedly so for the first half of the year), these are the last 5 sabre's game:

March 1^st versus rangers: 31 shots, 29 saves
Feb 26^th versus Detroit: 37 shots, 35 saves
Feb 25^th versus Ottawa: 31 shots, 29 saves
Feb 23rd versus Atlanta: 41 shots, 40 saves
Feb 20^th versus Washington: 39 shots, 37 saves

35.8 shots per game, 170 saves on 179 shots = a .950 save percentage and a 1.8 goals against average.

"Big time (so much larger than life)"

Tim Connolly admitted it. Thomas Vanek admitted it. Eric Staal admitted it.

Tonights game is big.

Not quite game 7 of the playoffs big, but "vault into playoff position or trail by two games" big. It's times like these that the Sabre's, in the past, have shrunk. Theres a new feeling around the team with the ownership change and the addition of Brad Boyes, and more "go for it" attitude, but tonight's game will tell me a lot about whether this team is ready to take the next step.

Will it be the team that dominated the rangers for the first 20 minutes tuesday night? or the scrambling, edge-of-your-seat, hold on to something team that needed big saves from Miller in the final 20 minutes.

or, as per the rest of the year, will it be both? All i know is that this game will go a long way in the mind of sabres fans as to what to expect for the rest of the season.

1 for the money:
-Drew Stafford, GET ON THE SCOREBOARD.

2 for the show:
-I expect Tyler Myers to have a big game tonight, i think the kid is getting better under pressure, and look for crisp breakout passes and a few good rushes down the ice.
- I'm feeling bi-polar today, much like this team this year. Win? 4-2 sabres. Loss? 3-1 Carolina. It's a coin flip.