Sabres Hold On Against The Blues
Nov 13, 2008 NHL
Buffalo chased Manny Legace with 3 goals in the first five and a half minutes, but had to hold on as the St. Louis Blues rallied but fell short, 4-3. The game started with a bang as Andrew Peters and David Koci dropped the gloves 2 minutes in. It was a marathon effort with both combatants landing hard shots. Hockeyfights.com gave the edge to Koci but the crowd was energized. Twenty seconds later, Adam Mair got one past Legace for the first goal of the night. Tim Connolly and Jason Pominville followed up with goals shortly thereafter, both appearing to be stopped but eventually drifting over the goal line or sneaking out from under Manny’s pads. Wasn’t all his fault, as the defense (including Jay McKee) did a great impression of traffic cones for the first 10 minutes. David Perron scored on Miller later in the period to make it 3-1.
By the second period, it was obvious that both teams were going to play a sloppy game. It seemed like every other pass was missing it’s mark, though some of it was the intense physical play that was moving players away from where they wanted to be. There was a LOT of clutching, grabbing and interference that was not being called, as well. Patrik Berglund scored his fifth goal to bring St. Louis back to within one.
All was made right in Heather B.’s world just a few minutes in to the third period, as Henrik Tallinder ripped a shot in past Chris Mason (the only goal Mason allowed in relief of Legace) which ended up being the eventual game-winner. Hank’s celebration was very animated, I’ll have video up later today. ;) West Seneca native Lee Stempniak had the final goal for the Blues.
Positives from the game: Though the Blues’ intent to pound the Sabres into submission was clear, it didn’t work. Having a three goal lead helped, but Lindy may have been right in starting Peters tonight. Tallinder’s goal is a rarity for him but happened at just the right time.
One troubling note, Tim Connolly (who played very well) left the game after a wicked hit that had him laid out. He had one more powerplay shift after it, but didn’t come out for any more shifts. Max had been nailed to the bench up until that point, possibly due to staying late on his shifts (most over 1:10). Next up is Columbus.
Tags: blues, buffalo, Chris Mason, connolly, David Koci, David Perron, Hockey, mair, Manny Legace, Maxim Afinogenov, mckee, NHL, Patrik Berglund, peters, pominville, Ryan Miller, sabres, st. louis, stempniak, tallinder
Gameday - Blues at Sabres
Nov 12, 2008 NHL
The struggling Blues come to HSBC Arena tonight to face the Sabres at 7pm tonight. Buffalo had a few days off after the back to back losses to end last week, and Lindy did the requisite line-juggling. Peters should be in, with Stafford and Kaleta out. The Blues have a few tough guys which probably explains (but doesn’t excuse) Petey. Kevin over at BfloBlog has a good bit on Jay McKee returning, check it out if you haven’t yet. Looking forward to the game tonight, and make sure to keep voting for Teppo (and Miller and Vanek).
Tags: blues, buffalo, Drew Stafford, Hockey, kaleta, mckee, NHL, peters, sabres, st. louis, the kaleta
Sucktacular Buffalo Sports Weekend
Okay, that sucked. Plain and simple. After the Sabres shuffled through both Friday’s and Saturday’s games, the Bills lose to the stupid Patriots. Some guy named Bryan Little tore up the Sabres in the Thrashers game (Vanek at least got his 12th goal of the season). Tim Connolly was one of the few bright spots last night, getting his first goal in the loss to Boston. The Sabres have until Wednesday to regroup, when St. Louis comes to town for a 7:00 pm start.
The I didn’t get to see the Bills game, but judging by the comments over at the BfloBlog open thread, it’s just as well. McKelvin had a big return to keep help keep them from not even scoring a touchdown. Next week is the Monday Night Football game against Cleveland…maybe a get-right game for them?
Tags: atlanta, bills, blues, boston, bruins, buffalo, connolly, football, Hockey, mckelvin, NFL, NHL, sabres, st. louis, Thomas Vanek, thrashers
Jay McKee IS Walking Through That Door…
…but he’s dressed as Marilyn Monroe:
If only the weird-o-meter stopped buzzing after the guy who played Andy Kaufman showed up dressed as a Communist dictator. As Hinote pointed out in his groom’s speech: “You must be a bunch of screwed up people to dress up like the ’50s, right? I have a teammate dressed as a woman.”
That teammate would be St. Louis Blues defenseman Jay McKee. Who showed up to the wedding in “a blond wig, ‘Seven Year Itch’ white dress and heels.” As Marilyn Monroe.
This was all from St. Louis Blues forward Dan Hinote’s wedding to Amy McCarthy, the Playboy playmate sister of former Playboy playmate Jenny McCarthy. The Communist dictator mentioned was Jim Carrey as good ol’ Fidel Castro. I’d make a joke, but I’m not the one who’s going to tell Jay McKee what he can and can’t wear.
Tags: amy mccarthy, blues, hinote, jenny mccarthy, jim carrey, mckee, st. louis
Random Buffalo Sports Stuff
Donte Whitner guarantees the Bills make the playoffs. Please do, while home playoff games are still played here, okay?
Steve Bernier, now of the Vancouver Canucks, signed an offer sheet with the Blues. The Canucks matched it, sparking, uh, nothing like the war of words between Lowe and Burke.
Jason Smith is off the list, and he’s with the Sens. Time to call Teppo! (my son is hopeful)
Tags: bills, blues, buffalo, canucks, Hockey, NHL, numminen, ottawa, sabres, senators, signing, smith, st. louis, Steve Bernier, vancouver, whitner
Deadline Day
Feb 26, 2008 NHL
Today is the NHL’s Trade Deadline, all deals must be consummated by 3pm Eastern time. Rumors are rampant (you can get most of them at TSN’s TradeCentre ‘08. There have been a few moves already, with Prospal going to the Flyers, and a few other guys getting extended (Comrie, Jackman for example). Sabres fans wait to see if Darcy will make a move with Campbell (he has to, right??), and to see if anyone else goes. Oh, and it sounds like the Sharks are going after Soupy.
10:34am: First move of the day, D Bryce Salvador to the Devils, F Cam Janssen to the Blues. I don’t think I’ve ever heard of Salvador to be honest.
11:20am: TOR player Belak to the Panthers for a 5th.
11:27am: Here it is…Campbell to the Sharks (edit: with a 7th rounder?). Sabres get Steve Bernier and a 2008 1st rounder.
11:45am: F Brad Richards and G Johan Holmqvist to Dallas for G Mike Smith, F Jeff Halpern and F Jussi Jokinen.
11:55am: G Huet from the Habs to the Caps for a 2nd rounder.
12:24pm: Avalanche get D Ruslan Salei from the Panthers for D Karlis Skratins and a 3rd.
12:25pm: Canes get F Tuomo Ruutu from the Blackhawks for F Andrew Ladd.
12:36pm: Senators acquire F Martin Lapointe from the busy ‘hawks for an ‘08 6th rounder.
Tags: blues, campbell, comrie, devils, flyers, Hockey, jackman, janssen, new jersey, NHL, philadelphia, sabres, salvador, san jose, sharks, st. louis, trade, trade deadline
Catching Up With The NHL
Nov 30, 2007 NHL
I missed posting after the Sabres loss to the Blues the other day, and there have been several big developments since then that need to be mentioned. The Sabres just were ready to play the Blues for a full game, and it showed. Miller tried to keep them in, but it was not to be. Sekera got the first goal of his NHL career to tie it up at 3-3, but a scramble in front of Miller with less than a minute to go got the Blues the game-winner. Next up tomorrow night is the hated (as per Paul Gaustad) Hurricanes.
The bigger news is that the NHL Board of Governors approved schedule changes to ensure teams play every other NHL club at least once per year. Under the new agreement, the division games drop to 6 per team (from 8), in conference games stay at 4 per opponent, but out of conference games go to 18. There will be 15 games either home OR away at each team, and then 3 more at-large games against the opposite conference to make up 3 home and home series.
That last bit is good news for the Canadian teams, as the league will be sure to pit them against each other in the home and home series. For the rest of the league, any existing rivalries will be honored (perhaps the “Original Six” will all play twice) and team requests will be taken as well. An interesting note is that the players are willing to play more regular season games (84) at the expense of a few preseason games if it meant they could figure out a way to play an entire out of conference division at least twice. That would be, in a word, awesome, GET ON IT.
At the same time, the sale of the Nashville Predators to venture capitalist David Freeman (Gordon Freeman no relation) was also approved by the Board of Governors. Pending still, however, is approval of a change to the arena lease deal in Nashville by the Metro Sports Authority and Metro Council.
Finally, Commish Gary Bettman noted that revenues are going up, which means that the salary cap should increase for next year as well. No way to know just how much it will increase at this point.
Tags: B-Lo Sports, blues, board of governors, david freeman, gaustad, Hockey, nashville, NHL, predators, Ryan Miller, sabres, salary cap, sekera, st. louis
Gameday - Sabres/Blues
Nov 28, 2007 NHL
The St. Louis Blues are in town tonight in a rare WNY appearance. The Sabres have struggled against them ‘recently’ but should have a better showing. Stafford is back in as Peters is out sick (maybe that’s why Brashear didn’t want to fight!). Jay McKee makes his first appearance back at HSBC Arena after signing a free agent deal with the Blues. West Seneca native Lee Stempniak is also making his first pro appearance in Western New York. Should be fun, let’s go six in a row!
Tags: B-Lo Sports, blues, Donald Brashear, Drew Stafford, Hockey, mckee, NHL, peters, sabres, st. louis, stempniak
