A View from the Roost: Wake Up

by Ryan



This is the song they play after the Sabres score goals at home games. It's called "Wake Up" and performed by The Arcade Fire. This is just a reminder for anyone who forgot, because they sure didn't play this song tonight.

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Lindy Ruff had two memorable quotes tonight; the first of which I completely agreed with, and the second I've grown to hate more and more as the night goes on. It's a rare night that Ruff doesn't give you a quote to work with, and tonight he had plenty to say.

"We did a great job of making their goaltender look good"

I completely agree with that. Marty Biron made some good saves, but he wasn't the spectacular 40-save goaltender the boxscore tells you he was. There were lots of missed chances tonight, and while "their goaltender" (I love how he didn't talk about him like a close friend) made some good saves it wasn't the shutout performance that should have been. Vanek missed a breakaway, Stafford missed pretty much everything tonight, and for every shot on goal was a missed shot, rebound, or someone out of position.

Don't think the Sabres didn't play a good game tonight. They did, but it lacked finish in every sense of the word. Vanek had a fantastic game again, but he didn't get the puck into the net. Mancari played well but didn't light the lamp. When you miss your chances it doesn't matter how well you play, it's just not going to happen. Which brings us to Lindy's second quote:

"We're closer to winning than we are losing"

Seriously? F#$k that noise. I'm so tired of this kind of thinking, and you know I'm one to look on the bright side of things. There is nothing about being close that counts unless you have more on your side of the scoreboard at the end of the game. You can take any "moral victories" you want out of a 3-0 loss, I'm going to take the scoreboard and standings, thank you very much.

Yes, Sekera had a much stronger game tonight. Yes, Mancari gave the team a bit of a boost. Yes, Kalata and the checking line had good energy. Yes, they got 40 shots on net tonight. But there was a man streaking out of the box no one picked up, a stoppable second goal, and two 5 on 3s no one could light the lamp on. That's a 3-0 final, and it outweighs anything positive you may find out there.

Yet another loss. I just don't even know what to feel anymore. If we make it to Monday without a win we may be finding bodies in the gorge on Thanksgiving. Here's a few other things from the game while I wait for someone to finish that joke in the comments.



- Looks like a home game for them, eh? Let's just say it was a buyers' market in front of the Arena tonight. I got off the Metro over an hour before faceoff and heard someone offering 80 for a pair. Not sure where they are, but that's under face for any seat in the house. Yeesh.

- So... Craig Rivet's hurt, right? I mean, he has to be ailing from that knee injury. He had no speed tonight and looked very tentative. I respect him if he's playing hurt, but I have to question if he's being all that effective.

- Give Lindy Ruff credit, he gave Mancari his shots and he delivered. He drew a few penalties and had some good scoring chances, even threw a couple of hits. I liked that Lindy put him on the power play immediately, too. If you're going to bring someone in for a spark, play the hell out of him. Hopefully he keeps pushing him and it pays off.

- I know Lindy said he liked Stafford's game, but missing those two open nets just can't happen. You're struggling, the team is struggling, and you're not going to get a better chance than you had tonight. Tie that game up either time and it's a completely different story I'm writing now.

- There were a lot of little kids in the crowd wearing orange Briere jerseys. These parents need to teach their kids that the team is more important than the player. Then again, maybe Lindy should tell some of his guys the same thing...

- The second goal was really unfortunate because Clarke made a pretty good play before the giveaway. It looked awkward, but he kept the puck from going into the bench in an effort to keep play moving up ice. Instead, the puck's coughed up and it's in the net. Those are the little things that really hurt a team no matter how good the intent. That's just the kind of night the entire team had, really.

- Do you think Hank knew he had the day off today and went to the midnight showing of Twilight? Somehow I think that's something he'd totally be into.



- Glen Metropolit plays for the Flyers. I had fogotten that, but I do like him for some reason. The kind of player the Sabres could use more of. Unassuming but does his job well and comes up with a few big goals here and there. I loved him in Boston and Chris makes fun of me for it all the time.

- Also, how the hell did they get a hold of Matt Carle? Bastards. I know they gave up a lot for him, but I would have loved to get him back from San Jose in the Campbell trade. Again, we got Rivet out of that deal in the end, but I wonder how things would have played out if the Sharks were willing to part with him at the deadline last year.

- The turnaround on this game is quick once again. The lack of travel means the Sabres have one less thing to blame tomorrow's loss on, but I'm sure if they get into the 89th percentile in the "victory" quotient we can pull some points out of this weekend yet.

Oh, and to the crazy drunk old man behind me: go to hell. Not in the mood, man, not in the mood.