I'm not going to lie. When the Sabres lost 4 in a row I was starting to worry they were falling into old habits, but they've pulled out. Kudos to LaLime for his win over Chicago of all teams. I have much more confidence in our back-up than I did before. I'd like to take a moment and reflect on back-up goalies. A few years ago I met John Blue, former back-up for the Sabres (and the Bruins) at a church-planting conference run by The Chapel. He is now working with a new church in Orange County, California. I definitely didn't expect to meet a former Sabre there, but it was cool. After one session which was held over Buffalo wings the guys from my church and I were talking with him. One of the guys from my church brought up hockey, and Mr. Blue mentioned how as a back up goalie they have to be ready for anything. They never know when they will be called up to jump in the middle of a game due to an injury or start with very little notice. Yet if a back-up loses a couple games then all confidence in them can be easily lost. I never really thought of what kind of nerves they must have to fight before that. But think about it -- a good back-up is easily forgotten. They come in for a game or too and if they are good they win them or at least keep it close, yet no one will remember the good back-ups because if they were really good then they'd be a starter. It is assumed that a back-up isn't that great. On the other side of the coin a bad back-up goalie is remembered for being, well, bad. Why did Lindy Ruff fide Miller so much last year? Because we had no faith in LaLime. I'm very glad that LaLime has improved and I think he can become a very dependable, (and, unfortunately, forgettable) back-up.
How great is it to see different guys stepping up? Hank has double his goals from last season already, which rocks. Who really expected Kaleta to have 2 goals in a game and get us a win the other night? Certainly not this guy. It's great to see our rookie defenseman getting in on the scoring action as well. Yes, I know, the top six need to contribute more, but it's refreshing for me to see more guys stepping up that Goose and Miller. Granted my perspective on last season is a bit skewed since I had very very limited internet access last season (it still blows my mind that I actually had a more dependable connection in Iraq than I did at the posts I was at for training before then). Mid-November to the week before Christmas last year was a total loss for following the team, but it seemed that when I would check in on the Sabres it was the same comments from bloggers (and at times Miller and Goose as well) about lack of effort and how 2 guys were carrying the team. This year more guys are stepping up in enough ways to pull wins out of games that would have been lost last year.
Finally the reason for the title of the post. I was looking up funny pictures today and this one just made me think "What in the world is going on here?" It's one of those 1 in a billion shots where you can't help but think "That is the most awkwardly timed picture ever."
That's certainly not how I remember Brad May. For more entertaining sports pics go here
