He's carrying the wheel. [Sabres vs. Capitals 9/17]

Oh hey, let's talk about a game that happened three days ago! First home preseason game and I was able to attend so here are some thoughts.

Lots of regular forwards played - Vanek, Stafford, Pominville, Roy among them. I wasn't too happy with the offense in general the first two thirds of the game. Most of the defense was made up of younger guys - the most experienced one was Sekera, so that should tell you how young the D was that night. I like the Butler/Myers pairing, I would definitely like to see more of that combo in the future. Mike Weber...I would definitely not like to see more of the Mike Weber from Thursday night.

The problem with Thursday was that it seemed to be a bit too much like the same old Sabres. Too many pretty plays, too many defensive lapses. The good news is that it is still just the very beginning of the preseason so I won't read TOO much into it. yet. Of course there were bright spots as well - Tyler Ennis for example. I liked Tim Kennedy also. I was pleased with the goaltending as well. Jhonas Enroth played the least amount of all three goalies in the game (him and Lalime for the Sabres, and Varlamov for the Caps) faced more shots than all of them, and made as many saves as Varlamov saw shots.

Speaking of which....

Let me tell you about Jhonas Enroth.



I have been following this kid since the Sabres drafted him in the 2nd round (46th overall) in 2006. I have been waiting for so long to see him play in a game for the Sabres so when I found out he would finally be playing a preseason game at home I was so stoked. Yeah sure it was a preseason game that doesn't count but I really don't care! haha. This was only my second time seeing him playing a game in person, I usually have to watch online or something. Oh, and the Sabres finally gave him his #1 so that is super rad. That whole #31 deal last season was just not cutting it for me. haha.

I have his Tre Kronor jersey from the World Juniors so of course I wore it to the game (and since it's the yellow one everyone I knew who was also attending the game texted me telling me they could find me super easy "Oh hai I see Sweden!!!"). At random times throughout the night boys would tell me my jersey was awesome - some kid I walked by was like, "ENROOOTTTHH!!!" and raised his fist. \m/ Hardcore \m/

He got to go in during the second period, and for some reason this was when the Caps decided to start playing hockey. Seriously. Lalime saw 7 shots in the first period, and then played just over half a period in the second with no shots on him. Then Jhonas came in and BAM. 12 shots. 12 saves. I was so proud. The third period brought 13 more shots, but three Caps goals. I know I am biased but they were more a result of sloppy defense and the like. And one was definitely kicked in, but they don't worry about reviewing goals in the preseason so whatevs.

But then with about thirty seconds left in regulation they gave Jhonas a delay of game penalty for playing the puck behind the goal line to the left of the net. Once again I know I am biased, haha, and I only saw the replay on the jumbotron really quickly but to ME it looked like he brought it back and then played it just on the line and it was preeeeetty close. But WHATEVS. Then Mike Weber took a boarding penalty with about 15 seconds left, and well, the ending pretty much writes itself. The game goes to OT and the Sabres lose because well, if you don't score with a two man advantage in overtime you pretty much suck at life. And the Capitals unfortunately do not suck at life. So it was a sad ending (my poor boy! he played so well!) but overall the game was entertaining and it was fun being at a real game again. And hey, in the end, it doesn't count.

Last night the Sabres played in Detroit and surprise surprise they WON!! 3-1. I was unable to watch or listen because it was not home all night but from what I hear Ryan Miller basically stole the game. So great job Ryan. U is gud goalie!!!1111 I don't know why I'm typing like I'm on crack now, but it's probably a sign that I should be heading to bed. So good night. More tomorrow after Sabres/Capitals in DC!

How did this happen!

I'm pretty sure the preseason completely snuck up on me. With school and work and everything in between, it's been pretty insane.


I went to the Sabres/Capitals game on Thursday and at some point I will get around to posting about it (and the Sabres/Red Wings game, since it will be over by the time I get back to a computer later). They lost in overtime but it was definitely still fun to be at a game again!


And my boy got to play!!!




More on him later, he deserves a well written post.

So close!

Well tomorrow technically is the beginning of my hockey season - the first on ice day of Sabres training camp!

[I do not believe I have actually mentioned this yet - I am a Sabres fan! They are my team - the true loves of my hockey life! Yes I know the title of my blog is from an Ovechkin quote...so maybe I have a few on the side too, we'll get to that in later posts]

Can I just tell you that I love training camp? Everything is new and exciting. Even players that have been around for years, it's interesting to see how they look at the start of each season. I love watching the drills and the scrimmages. I love watching the young guys kill each other in an attempt to make the team. Call me a loser, but I would go every day if I could, it's one of my favorite times of the year. The rookies are already in camp and have been skating since the beginning of the week. I was able to catch some of their scrimmage on Tuesday before class at the Pepsi Center, it definitely got pretty intense at times. I would have seen more this week but the Sabres decided to move them to HSBC Arena [boo!] since the ice was down so unfortunately I can't give a better report.


I can however comment on some of the vets that I have seen recently skating at the Pepsi Center in preparation for camp. A couple thoughts:


Tim Connolly has some sick moves. Yeah yeah I know this is not new, but I feel kind of dirty saying that considering I get sick of these 15 year old kids with Connolly man crushes that tend to sit behind me at games the past few years who just talk about TC's "sick hands" all game. But he has looked pretty good from what I have seen and every time I saw him he looked like he was having a blast. So hopefully he can keep his head up and stay healthy and I don't have to spend all of my future posts complaining about him.


MIKE FREAKING GRIER....I love him. I am so beyond stoked he is back. He looked a little slow out there, but I mean, it's Mike Grier, it is what is it. haha. I am just relieved that we are slowly but surely, finally getting some toughness back into this team. Not to mention this is a guy the players already like and respect so his return should be huge in the locker room.

Oh hai.

Well hello there. I'm guess I'm going to try this crazy blogging thing and see how it goes. I decided I needed a place to rant and rave so here we go. Most of this will be about hockey but I'm sure some other topics will creep in here and there.



I suppose I should begin by explaining the title of this blog, "I Swear God," which, really has nothing to do with God, or swearing (well maybe some swearing)....unless you consider Alexander Ovechkin to be God. Which I'm sure some people do. ANYWAYS....the quote comes from one of his shining moments, not on the ice but on the green, in which he hit a hole in one in his first real game of golf. After doing this, he celebrated in true Ovie fashion and upon announcing his hole in one to the rest of the group he stated "I SWEAR GOD!" Actually it sounded a lot more like "I swear gah!" but you know. Later he proclaimed, "I swear my ma! My home!" The video can be found here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wylmOGotyvY



And with that I will leave you with this: