Darcy Tucker is NUTS
Nov 7, 2008 NHL
And I’m glad he’s out of the Eastern Conference…check this out from the Avs/Wild game:
Late in the second period, Tucker and defenseman Nick Schultz clashed deep in the Wild’s zone. After the pushing match, the two lined up next to each other on a faceoff and Tucker began screaming at him as the Wild was on a penalty kill. Schultz was called off the ice on a line change and as he skated by, Tucker continued barking at him.
Then, 6:33 into the third, in a despicable act but one he’s done often in his career, Tucker came in way late on Schultz, bent down and went right for the knees. He was called for clipping.
First, an aside: clipping? I thought that was only called in the NFL? If you think Russo is a bit thick with the hyperbole, here’s a comment from Schultz himself after the game:
“My concern is at the end of the second, he tells me he’s going to come and take out my knees, and then he actually does it. It says everything you need to know about that guy.”
Emphasis mine. So according to Nick Schultz, this was an intentional attack at his knees (which Tucker has a reputation for). What happened in the game to take care of this, by the way? MATCHING MINORS. That’s right, since Schultz took exception to the hit (as he should!) he got a roughing penalty. But hey, we have to let the officials police the game, right? UGH. Thanks to Mike Russo at the Star-Tribune.
Tags: avalanche, colorado, minnesota, Nick Schultz, tucker, wild
Buffalo Escapes Minnesota With OT Win
Oct 23, 2008 NHL
The Sabres coughed up three straight goals after going up 1-0, but managed a late 3rd period comeback to set them up an overtime win. Drew Stafford scored that first goal, streaking in on net and getting a sweet pass from Derek Roy (who really seems to be picking it up lately). That was the only goal of the first period.
The second period was all Wild, as Benoit Pouliot tied the game halfway through. That was followed five minutes later by Stephane Veilleux’s first of the year. Things got a little nutty for the third period, however. The Wild were on a power play to start the period, and Miller went to send the puck behind his net. A Minnesota player seemed to tap Miller’s goal stick and the puck went into the net. Brent Burns was credited with the goal.
Things were looking rough for the Sabres until four minutes to go in the third. Adam Mair scored his second of the year thanks to some hard work by Maxim Afinogenov, who shot the puck for Mairsy to tip in. Thomas Vanek played the role of hero yet again, though, getting a feed from Andrej Sekera and putting it home to tie things up and send it to OT. Derek Roy ensured the extra session was short, stuffing home the loose change in front of Backstrom (the other one) just 44 seconds in to give Buffalo the win.
Max played well tonight I thought, more good Max than bad Max. He shot the puck, not just skating around with it all the time, which helped create the one goal. Stafford obviously had a good night, scoring for the second straight game. Vanek, of course, was clutch (told you so!). The one guy I’m worried about is Tallinder…again it seemed he just wasn’t getting it done. Still bears watching.
Next game is Saturday night against the Avalanche, 9:00 pm start. I wonder if we have another Lalime sighting? I’d want Miller fresh for the Ottawa game that follows up.
Tags: buffalo, Drew Stafford, Hockey, mair, Maxim Afinogenov, minnesota, NHL, Niklas Backstrom, pouliot, roy, Ryan Miller, sabres, tallinder, Thomas Vanek, veilleux, wild
Gameday - Sabres at Wild
Oct 23, 2008 NHL
The Buffalo Sabres face off against the Minnesota Wild in a matchup of unbeaten-ish teams. This will be the first game for the Sabres without Craig Rivet, out for 2+ weeks after getting his knee scoped. Nathan Paetsch steps back into the lineup across from Teppo Numminen. As Kevin mentioned over at BfloBlog, the Wild have had injury issues of their own.
Miller should get the start tonight, which is at 8pm. Also, if you are interested, RJ is featured on ‘Voices’ on the NHL Network at 7:30pm (in case you missed my post yesterday).
Tags: buffalo, Hockey, minnesota, NHL, numminen, paetsch, rick jeanneret, rivet, sabres, wild
Buffalo Sports Recovery Day
The Bills trailed the Rams 14-6 at one point, but came back to win 31-14. After struggling through the first half, the Bills showed their skill at second half adjustments, driving down for a Fred Jackson TD midway through the third quarter. It should’ve been tied, but there was a penalty on a successful 2 point try. Buffalo took the lead on the first play of the fourth quarter, with Jabari Greer returning an interception for a TD. A Bills field goal and a Lee Evans TD pass rounded out the scoring. Most troubling was Terrence McGee going down with a sprained MCL. However, as has been the norm for the Bills of the past 2 seasons, the next guy stepped in and played well. In this case, it was Leodis McKelvin, who had a forced fumble when he crushed Dane Looker. The Bills are now 4-0, with the Buzzsaw coming in, a team that just gave up 56 to Favre and the Jets.
Jochen Hecht has the Sabres’ only goal as the Wild beat Buffalo 2-1 in the shootout. Patrick Lalime was solid in the start, stopping 18 of 19 in regulation and OT. By the way, what happened with Gaustad/Paille/Bergeron? I only heard that part on the radio so I’m not sure how bad the hit on Key Lime was, but I’m glad Goose and Rivet are stepping up to protect their teammates. I wish Tim Kennedy had been able to score a shootout winner for the home crowd, but what can you do?
Tags: bills, buffalo, evans, football, gaustad, greer, hecht, Hockey, jackson, kennedy, lalime, looker, mcgee, mckelvin, minnesota, NFL, NHL, paille, Patrice Bergeron, rivet, sabres, wild
Pre-Season Gameday - Wild at Sabres
Sep 28, 2008 NHL
The Buffalo Sabres have their second and last home pre-season game tonight, facing off with the Minnesota Wild. According to Mike Harrington at the Buffalo News, there will be quite a bit of lineup turnover as the teams get some different folks in. Tim Kennedy and Nathan Gerbe are both in, I’m definitely interested to see how well they do. Hecht, Pommers and Paille get in, with the RAV line getting a break.
Tickets are still available (just able to check out a pair of them in the 300s) so if you are on the fence and want to see Gerbe and Kennedy, make it happen!
Tags: buffalo, gerbe, hecht, Hockey, kennedy, minnesota, NHL, paille, pominville, sabres, wild
2008-2009 NHL Schedule Out
Jul 17, 2008 NHL
NHL.com has the schedule for this season out, and this article highlights some of the interesting games (like the ones being played in Europe). Here is the link to the full schedule. First thing that jumps out, Buffalo plays a day game at the Islanders on October 13th. There’s an early western trip Oct 23-25, visiting the Wild and Avalanche. I’ll look at it more and post more later.
edit: Here is the Sabres’s schedule specifically.
Tags: avalanche, buffalo, colorado, Hockey, islanders, minnesota, new york, NHL, sabres, schedule, wild
Pre-UFA Player Movement
Jun 30, 2008 NHL
Free Agency starts tomorrow, but several names are already off the market. The rights to Gary Roberts and Ryan Malone were traded from the Pens to the Lightning, with both players signing new deals (Malone 7 years, $31.5 million, Roberts 1 year, $1.2 million). The Lightning also acquired the rights to negotiate with Brian Rolston of the Wild. Colorado re-signed Adam Foote and Jean-Michael Liles, taking away two more D-men for the Sabres to pursue. Lubomir Visnovsky was also traded to the Oilers, in exchange for Jarret Stoll and Matt Greene. I know there are still plenty of possibilities, but there are times I wish the Sabres were in the mix for some of this.
Tags: avalanche, buffalo, colorado, foote, greene, Hockey, lightning, liles, malone, minnesota, NHL, penguins, pittsburgh, roberts, rolston, sabres, signing, stoll, tampa bay, trade, visnovsky, wild
WJC - Canada And US Cruise
Dec 27, 2007 WJC
Team Canada, led by John Tavares’s 2 power play goals, shut out the host Czech Republic 3-0. The defending champs ran their win streak at the WJC to 19 games. Steve Stamkos, currently the number 1 prospect according to International Scouting Services, had 3 assists. Tavares would be pushing for numero uno but is not draft eligible this year. In a Buffalo connection, Tavares is the nephew of Buffalo Bandits lacrosse legend Johnny Tavares.
Team USA beat Kazakhstan 5-1, led by Kyle Okposo (former Gopher and future Islander). After giving up the opening goal, it was all USA. Russian and Sweden also won their opening matchups.
Tags: B-Lo Sports, bandits, canada, golden gophers, Hockey, islanders, john tavares, minnesota, new york, okposo, russian, stamkos, sweden, tavares, usa, WJC, world junior championships
