Playing Catch-Up

Just to be clear, when I made my resolution at the new year to post at least once a week, I was intentionally vague about how a week was defined. Did I mean there wouldn't be more than a week between posts, or would I be going by the calendar week? Well, considering it has been more than a week since my last post, I'm going to define it right here and now as the calendar week. So since my last post was on the Sunday of the last calendar week, this totally counts. Just so you know.

There's been a lot to say about the progress the Sabres have made in the last few games, but I haven't really had a chance to write about it until now, so instead of writing a series of focused and more in-depth posts like a real blogger would do, I'm going to have to do a bit of recap style of the past five games:

1. Considering watching the Winter Classic made me want to listen to Elliott Smith and lament the sorry state of my hockey team, I thought the outcome of the Detroit game was pretty okay. Sure, it would have been great to have held onto that lead for two minutes longer and steal at least a point, but at the end of the day, we didn't really deserve it. Miller played just as out of his mind as he did in the game before against the Rangers, but the skaters were largely overwhelmed and openly scrambling for most of the game. Still, it was a far better effort than I had been expecting/prepared to see, and I'm willing to give them a pass for it. Maybe I'm being too soft of a fan, but the Red Wings are just so damn good, that I'm just happy it wasn't a blow out.

2. Actually, I was so pleased with the effort in that game that I came out thinking we had a legitimate chance against Chicago, even with Lalime starting. Which, once again, when you consider the way the Winter Classic made me feel, is kind of incredible. Well, I'm not exactly sure what happened. Maybe I tricked myself into thinking the team had started giving a damn when they actually hadn't, maybe Miller was the glue that held it all together, but one thing's for sure. That game blew. It blew so hard, I can't even remember at this point what the big picture of that game was like. When I think back on it, all I see is this one Numminen pass that happened, I think, sometime in the second period. There were at least three other Sabres around him as he was crossing into the neutral zone, in varying states of pass availability, and he chose to float the softest pass I've ever seen right between all of them for an easy interception. As I said to my mom, as we rewound our TiFaux to watch and wonder what the hell he was thinking, it was like he was trying to use his pass to describe the axis of the center of mass for all the players he could have passed to. (I'm so glad I took AP Physics in high school, so that I could use it to find new and creative ways to describe how my hockey team sucks.)

3. In any case, it's a good thing they won the Dallas game the way that they did, or they would have put me dangerously close to breaking out the Elliott Smith again. Truth be told, I didn't end up seeing the game in it's entirety. I missed the OT period altogether, and only saw the shootout the morning after, because I broke the cardinal rule of TiFaux and forgot to record the show directly after the game in case it ran over. In my defense, I was under the impression that we were going to catch up to the recording before it finished, and at the point in the game when it still would have been viable to record the next thing, the Sabres were looking so lackluster and destined to lose that it never even crossed my mind that it could be going past regulation. Anyway, it's been a while since we saw the team come back like that, and on a day when Mike Schopp's assessment of the team as "gutless" wouldn't stop running through my head, it was nice to see them gut out a win. To be sure, the Stars aren't as solid a team as they once were, and have apparently had trouble holding onto leads all season, no matter how cushy they might seem, but taking the momentum back when the other team is running away with it is something this team has done far too seldom lately.

And I know I might be biased, but while Goose definitely stole the show, I thought this was Hecht's best game in a while. Given the fact that I reacted to him getting the puck in front of a wide open net by wanting to shout "I cannot believe he missed that!" there's definitely room for improvement over his recent play. Even with the goal aside, he was hitting (well, what passes as hitting from Yo-Yo anyway), actively backchecking, and moving the puck well in the offensive zone, at one point laying a beautiful pass right into the crease that Pommers couldn't get to. Sure, he was his usual stone-hands self at a couple of points when shooting at the net, but he's sitting past the halfway mark of the season with 5 goals, so I'll gladly take normal levels of offensive dysfunctionality as long as he looks like he cares.

4. Those of you that read Top Shelf and The Willful Caboose (which should be all of you, if you know what's good for you) already know that I spent Saturday's game with the lovely and talented queens of the Sabres blogosphere, Heather and Katebits. That's right, I have star power. If you want to know how you too can lure famous bloggers to your house, apparently the perfect bait is a combination of HDTV, various kinds of wings, and, in Heather's case, an Andy Van Slyke baseball card.

Aside from the HD feed acting up, it was pretty much the perfect game to spend with people you've been in touch with for over a year, have a lot to talk about with, but have never met. As Kate said before she left, it's been a long time since the Sabres have had a game that they've just straight-up won, without much drama or fanfare, and that sets the perfect background for a "getting to know you" type situation. Not interesting or boring enough to be a real distraction, and a pleasant result for everyone, especially since I still have a healthy hate for Carolina.

The HD problems were kind of maddening, though. Since I'll be spending the rest of the season trying to stream the games online, this was going to be the last game I'd see that was even vaguely in focus, and I wanted it to be the best. Instead we got to hear the same obnoxious guitar riff over and over again most of the time, and when we finally did get RJ, the audio was a second or two ahead of the video, so that we already knew the outcome of every shot, sometimes even before the shooter had the puck. Which was very comforting when the Hurricanes were shooting and we already knew it was going high and wide, but it was kind of a downer to know that Kotalik's slapper wasn't going into the net like we hoped. It was definitely frustrating, but also kind of surreal and hilarious, and the high-five celebration of Connolly's second goal was tinged with me giggling about watching that move set to the soundtrack of what sounded like someone diligently practicing Guitar Hero.

In any case, it was definitely a blast to have Kate and Heather over to my house, and I know my parents and I all enjoyed it. I think the Sabres did as well, to be honest. The first few minutes of the game were a little hairy, and we all got ready to brace ourselves for an oncoming disaster, but as soon as we got really settled--I needed to put my jersey on, and Kate had to use the bathroom--they scored and never looked back. Also, the second Heather started to pull out of my driveway just as the third was starting (she had to leave early to pick up her husband from the airport) the Canes scored and Tallinder got called for a penalty. Coincidence? I don't think so. Clearly the three of us present at one time is a force to be reckoned with. Clearly we need to do it again sometime, for the good of the team.

5. In all honesty, I didn't see the last game against the Panthers. Aside from the fact that I was somewhat out of sorts moving back out to school and busy reuniting with my friends after break, I just completely forgot that the game was even happening. And since it seems the routine text I got telling me the outcome and goal-scorers doesn't even come close to telling the whole story, I'm not even going to try to pretend like I know anything about what happened. Suffice to say, those were two points we needed, and I'm glad we got them.

I'm having problems with the internet right now, so it's looking like I won't be able to watch the game tonight in Tampa. In fact, it's looking like this post won't even make it online until after the game, but trust me when I say I wrote this beforehand: This isn't a team we need to beat to keep our place in the standings, not like Florida, but I believe it's a team we need to beat to keep our honor. Hopefully the boys keep that in mind. In the meantime, I'll be keeping my eye out for a text.