Another couple of things to get you through the late hours. I'm still working on a midseason report, so look for that tomorrow along with a Blackhawks preview and a little game we are making up on our own.
- I've decided that I need to watch more hockey, so I started last night with the Detroit/Dallas game on Versus. We play the Stars this week, and I figured watching the Wings dismantle a bad team would make me feel better about the Sabres' play on Saturday. Thing is, the Stars played a heck of a game, eventually knocking off the Red Wings in overtime.
It was actually pretty frustrating because they played the perfect style of hockey to beat Detroit. They forechecked like crazy and relied on a few chances taken by the defenseman to cash in. Both goalies played great, but it took a starter bringing his "A" game and a full team effort to take down the Stanley Cup Champions. If a team like Dallas can do it with all their injuries and problems, why can't the Sabres?
The good news is that we're one of the first hits when you Google search "Valedictorian of Awesome", so I guess everything's not lost.
- A few days ago Side of Pork mentioned that the Sabres' schedule doesn't list local TV channels for the West Coast road trip coming up. If the January 27,28,31 and February 2 game isn't on local TV I would be really surprised, but just in case my friend Dave found us a good place to find them. I'm not saying, I'm just saying.
- ESPN is already starting with the "Braketology"? Really? That's like saying Tim Tebow is one of the greatest football players of all time. Oh, I see what you mean.
- Miller had an interesting quote from the Sabres' site.
“It’s kind of like a golf swing. That’s how I try to explain things to people. You go to the range and you’re thinking about six different things: Where is the weight on this foot, back hinge, the elbow, all this stuff. Goaltending is a lot like that. My stance, my hand positioning, where I am in the crease, how much I challenge, my glove side not being too low or too high, trying to get dialed in. The last few games I’ve felt good… I’m starting to feel more like where I think I need to be.”
I've never heard goaltending described like that, but it does make a lot of sense. There are so many things that can go wrong for a goalie, and what may look to us as bad positioning may just be a glove an inch too high. It's good to hear that Miller is confident in what he's doing now to talk about it, because we need him to round into shape for the playoff run. Mike Harrington says Lalime gets the start tomorrow, but this road trip will be a busy one for #30.
- I'm debating how to handle the playoff push this year. I'm guessing we take each day and recap what the teams close to us did the night before, as well as keep the standings on the sidebar somehow. Does anyone have any requests or suggestions on how to handle it differently?
Posts
I knew there was a reason I love Miller's mental approach to the game. Never have I herd a better description of goaltending.
ReplyDeleteI recommed atdhe or justin.tv for watching games online. If one of their streams is lame, the other one will usually work. Justin.tv features a chat with each stream. That can be kind of annoying, but also can be highly entertaining. Although discovering these sites has seriously cut into my sleep since I started watching Canucks games this year.
ReplyDeleteSpeaking of the playoff push and teams around us in the standings, Ottawa is playing Carolina tonight and I don't feel at all ashamed to admit that I'm rooting for Ottawa to win. Ok, maybe I feel a little ashamed, but only because they're 29th in the league.
Longest comment ever? maybe.
Ha! I am rooting for the 'Turds as well... oh God did I just admit that free willing? I have it flowing collapsed...
ReplyDeleteI am unsure how I am going to handle the playoff push yet... I am still throwing ideas out... I may just keep the stats updated in the side bar... hmmm...
Those games definitely aren't on local TV - I asked someone who would know because I didn't believe it was possible - so I'm glad you told me (without telling me) how I could watch them. I was pretty bummed about missing the Calgary game.
ReplyDeleteOgre,
ReplyDeleteI loved the description as well. Miller is such a great quote, and he's sounds like he's always telling the truth. I'm curious if it's really the case, but he always seems willing to talk about his game no matter how he's playing.
Anne,
Atdhe has great picture quality, and it's pretty fast, too. And not longest ever, but it's getting there. Haha.
Jill,
To be honest I'm just excited that the playoff hunt isn't completely futile this year. The blogosphere is just so much fun around playoff time.
Heather B,
I can't believe they don't have all 82 on local tv this year. What is this, Chicago? Heck, they have all of them this year and it took someone to die to make it happen. I blame east coast bias.
And yes, the Calgary game is the one I'm most looking forward to as well. Phaneuf and Iginla are fun to watch.
there was an article on sabres.com in i think October that stated those west coast games WOULD NOT be broadcast on MSG, so you either have to stream wgr550 online or see if you can get the other teams network...that sucks bc i would have liked to DVR it and watch it in the morning...
ReplyDelete@ Anne, justin.tv usually is quite laggy on the feeds for me.
ReplyDeleteAnd yes, I as well have lost sleep since discovering the site, not that I sleep much...I have as good as sleeping habits as Ryan does...
Yeah justin.tv is really hit or miss. I just watched the Canucks game with a great feed but sometimes its literally someone pointing a webcam at their TV. That's what it was for one of the World Juniors games I attempted to watch, not so enjoyable.
ReplyDelete