Thoughts on a young season

The Sabres are off to a sharp start (cue rimshot, sorry, I couldn't resist) with a 5-1-1 record and currently sitting in 2nd place in the Eastern Conference. The defense sounds like it is starting to lapse, however, so Lindy had better start cracking down. The biggest thing that stands out to me this early in the season are the first 3 games where the Sabres stayed in to grab at least a point in some close games. It seem like the kinds of games they lost last year they are staying in and battling through to victory this year.

BUT they also show signs of going back to their old frustrating ways. I haven't been pleased with what I've heard as far as the defensive corps goes for the last 3 games. Sure, they won 2 of the 3, but the Thrashers game shows how much they depend on Miller (who is off to another great start). Tonight's game and last Friday night's game both sounded like the defense went into a "Well, we have enough points to pull us through" coasting mode that just won't cut it. Sharpen up, boys.

I'm not sure what's up with this "condensed" schedule, but it doesn't seem that condensed to me. The sabres are playing 3 games a week until the end of November. That's right, every Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday are game days, and only those 3 days, every week until a Thursday night game sometime around 30 November. What is this, football?

In this early season we've seen one trade already because of our problems with extra wings. (Great, now I'm hungry for wings and there's no good places around here) I'd like to see a trade to get a better back-up goalie, but I don't think that will happen with the current cap conditions. We need to have someone we can trust when giving a much deserved rest, and I just don't have confidence in Lalime.

So here's the question: Who would you offer as trade bait for a back-up goaltender?

Well, I'm around for now with regular internet access! That means you get to read my ramblings on a more regular basis. I knew when I started this blog that I wouldn't have great access during the summer. But I figured if I could post relatively regularly through the summer then the season shouldn't be any problem at all. My summer plans did get changed, but I did an almost decent job.

Now onto some hockey related ramblings. As of right now both Teppo Numinem and Nolan Pratt are unsigned UFAs. Earlier this summer there was talk that Teppo was still interested in another season with the Sabres. I'd love to see him play as I think his veteran leadership will help the defense out quite a bit. Of course the is a bit of a question as to whether or not he'll be able to keep up since he missed all of the last season recovering from open heart surgery, but there are still the intangibles he brings -- after years of play he's got great instincts. As for Pratt I'm more ambivalent since I didn't actually get to watch a lot of games last season. (Although I did listen to many of them thanks to WGR's webfeed).

One of the many things I love about hockey are the goalies. Here in Buffalo we have been spoiled with great goalies for almost as long as I can remember. When I was in upper elementary and middle school, and even my freshman year of college one name was synonymous with the the Sabres -- Dominick Hasek. Even those of us who sucked at sports still would go outside in the winter and pretend to copy his moves. Although I have since learned that his style is not the norm, for those of us who grew up as Sabres fans the Dominator's style was the only style.

After he left Buffalo, causing many of us to hate him in process, Buffalo wondered who could replace his big skates. Marty Biron stepped up, though we still sucked. Yet not every year with Hasek was a play-off year as many of us remembered. After the lockout a young star decided to buck the trend, and we got to see the stylings of on Ryan Miller. For a while we even enjoyed two co-starters sharing the goal. Now we have pinned our hopes for the next 6 seasons on Miller.

So here's to Buffalo's goalies, past and present. I have omitted other great Buffalo goalies since they were really before my time.

Here's a little something else about me. I enjoy running sound. It's become a hobby of mine. I started my freshman year of college helping another guy run sound for a youth ministry, and eventually took over that position and I ran sound for my church in Scranton for a couple years. I'm even running sound for a friend's wedding later this month. (no pressure there, haha) I'm starting to buy my own sound equipment now, though I only have a mixer and some odd cables. I'd like to eventually own my a small sound system.

NHL on Hulu

So recently a friend of mine sent me to a website where one can enjoy TV shows with limited commercials for free (basically 4 commercial breaks in what would be an hour show, each with only 1 commercial). I was able to enjoy a show from when I was younger. (It got the ax in 2000) Recently on that site I found that the NHL posts some full games on there! Unfortunately when I went to watch the Derek Roy highlight (he was the only Sabres player I saw on there with a highlight) there was no audio. The website is hulu.com, and you can also watch some games on there, include a game from the '60s! Or perhaps you'd like to watch the Nordiques play the Candadiens from 1985. For those masochists out there you can also watch the agonizing shoot-out from the Ice Bowl! (I was there, and these pictures prove it!)







Oh yeah, one more thing -- Shootouts suck and should be eliminated.
(And since Ryan Miller must have enough time to read every Sabres blog out there and he's a member of the competition committee I'm officially tasking him with eliminating it from games.