I've been morose about how the Sabres have been playing, and I'm thinking I jumped the gun a little bit. They're moving up in the power rankings with every passing week, and more than one of us have duly noted that the Senators came out of the gate this season very much like the Sabres did last year. We all remember how that turned out.

Eleven years after the old Jumbotron came crashing down after a Buffalo-Boston pre-game practice, the new high-definition unit is unbelievable. Every play is crystal clear, and it the replays are that much better with that kind of resolution. When I was home a couple weeks ago, my best Buffalo pal, Jason, and I watched the Habs get beat while drinking Blue on tap. It doesn't get better than that.

It was a near shutout last week against the Hurricanes, and unfortunately I was at the Panthers-Capitals game instead of at home watching the Sabres massacre the former Stanley Cup champions 8-1. The only thing keeping me awake at the Panthers game was the freezing temperature in the BankAtlantic Center and Alexander Ovechkin's penalties. But I'm not too upset about missing the near-shutout: The current Stanley Cup champs are on deck tomorrow night, and the tides are turning...

Habs been?

Rounding out the bottom of the Northeast division are my beloved Sabres, who now have the league's third worst record in the standings. When I made plans back in September to make this week's trip to Buffalo, I thought for sure I would be paying out the nose for Sabres-Habs tickets. Now I think I'll just take my chances and talk to the scalpers at HSBC. With the Bills playing the Patriots on Sunday in Orchard Park, there's sure to be extra seats for Friday night's matchup against the 9-4-3 Canadiens. Fair weather fans they aren't, but coming down from last year's magic season is more than just a little disheartening.

But the Panthers, despite losing last night to Carolina (in a good, close game), are actually looking as if they're coming together as a team. Vokoun was a great replacement for the belligerent Belfour. We can all do without chicken dances and the other antics Eddie was constantly up to.

Vacation's all I ever wanted...

And what a trip! We had so much fun and had a great time cruising the Mexican Riviera and hanging out in San Diego.

But I think the Sabres took a vacation also, as I'm watching the Bruins rack up the points against them right now. Lydman sacrificed his face to protect Miller, and they still lost. Admittedly, the game picked up in the last period, and definitely in OT. But they seem lethargic. Hmmm.

Hats off to WCI/ADT/AvMed/your corp. here club!

My favorite quote from club level is now "They'd sell their mother for a nickel." But you should also only pay a nickel for that hat. HELLLLLLO, dolly!

Oh for Two!

The Sabres, so far this season, suck. I don't need statistics to tell me that it's not a great sign when Spacek seems to be the only one getting pucks in the net. I am loathe to even speak the words, but Drury and Briere were both an aberration in their own right. They are now leading their respective teams, despite the lack of a 'C' on either's sweater.

There's a lot of yakking from the 'fans,' calling any criticism a sign of bandwagoning or fair-weather friendliness. I have been a Sabres fan since I was old enough to stand in line and wait for Alexander Mogilny's autograph at a sports shop in Lockport back in the day, and I sat in an empty HSBC arena the year before the Lockout watching Miro Satan and Max Afinogenov lose to mediocre teams.

But thinking that this is going to be as strong a team without either Drury or Briere (And, uh, folks? We're missing both) is wishful thinking, of which I'd love to be a part of if I could muster a false sense of enthusiasm. I, as much as anyone, want to see them do well this year -- but if this past weekene is any indication of how the season will go, then let's not hold our breath. We need our $50 million dollar man to step up, and the blue-liners to wake up already. I hope Ryan gave them a good ass-kicking after the game. All IMHO. Let's go, Buffalo...

A "Bloated" start to the season

Oh yeah!!! It was a bloated start to the season as Tick 1 and Tick 2 hit the club and enjoyed ALL its luxuries!!! :-)

I have to say it was a CRAZY night!! Pantherland was chaos!! We took the plunge and each purchased new blue jerseys and had Tick 1 and 2 put on them respectively. Of course, Tick took the role of Captain while Tick 2 took the assistant. Bottomline...WE LOOK AWESOME!

Crazy night of giveaway stuff, running up and down to the store, checking out the arena, etc... What a place!! I think I might actually purchase a thread on the floor and put a link to our blog spot on it.. Figure the arena can use more advertising dollars. Uh right...

ok, so the Stanley area of Lexus level is gone and AVMed is in. Hmm... wonder who's making money these days.. maybe healthcare huh? WOW... well I see Dunkin Donuts as a sponser on the side of the rink, maybe we can get dunkin in the arena! That would be SWEET.

Highlight of the game had to be the fight with Horton. At least he earned a bit of his money on the fight, but not on much else... these guys need to get themselves together.

Another highlight of the night was getting an autographed puck of Mike Van Ryn from my buddy Ryan. Need to score him some tickets to the club for that one! Keeping it on my desk - love it!!

ok, so I'll mention the obnoxious couple in front of us. even if its just for tick 1's benefit... this couple "looked" to have money. seemed like they were there with the "pediatric anesthesiologist". they first sat 2 rows in front of us, then RIGHT in front of us. I just have a feeling they are NOT season ticket holders, but that they are mooching of Dr. Kildare. We'll see if they're there next game. ALSO, I should add that I HOPE they're not there ever again, as they were totally out of control AND the husband caught MY Panera bread shirt.

ok, I think I've cleared my chest on all this. :-) keep ya posted on the details of the next game.

WAIT I cant forget the regular coke I got instead of diet... happened from 2 bartenders so maybe they screwed up what was plugged into what on the gun aparatus. who knows...

ok, I'm done NOW.
Peace
Tick 2

Buffalo - Philly rivalry heating up?

It would be no surprise if Buffalo fans take to loathing the Flyers even more than the Leafs, thanks to the loss of former (wow -- I still have to take a deep breath when saying that) Captain Daniel Briere to Philadelphia for big bucks. (That it was a bad business move by Buffalo's front office won't be forgotten anytime soon, but that's another story.)

Buffalo has always been a hockey city -- it's the thing to do in the winter -- and truly re-embraced its team after the Lockout. So to call any Buffalonian a 'bandwagoner' is asking to pick a fight (and we're nice people, ok, so don't do that). But we can be witty and clever also, as was seen in the YouTube response by a guy named Brian to this video of Buffalo fans taking over a Philadelphia bar:



"Bandwagon fans i do agree we have. they buy a teeshirt watch half of a period out of the whole game,and cant name more then the top 10 players. But let me tell you my friend. People that were spending 100$'s of dollars to travel to your city,take over your bars and then try to fill your arena because your own fans cant are far from bandwagon fans."

Ouch. But like I always say: It's not mean if it's true.