Categories
NHL General

Crashing the Zamboni: Can Anybody Stop the Sabres?


1. Briere Blitzes Tampa
Daniel Briere led the Buffalo Sabres to a 4-1 bashing of the Tampa Bay Lightning on Tuesday night, scoring three goals for the first Hat Trick of his career. It is hard to believe that he’s never had one before this, seeing that he’s playing in his tenth NHL season (perhaps this is because he spent his first six seasons with Phoenix). Chris Drury also netted a tally, extending his goals-scored streak to four straight games. (Tampa’s Vincent Lecavalier also scored to continue his own streak of games with goals to four as well). Ryan Miller had another solid game between the pipes for the boys in the yellow slug jerseys, stopping 29 of the 30 shots he faced. Buffalo holds an 11 point lead in the Northeast Division, and still has not been below the number two spot in Matt Jordan’s power rankings this year.

2. Fredrik Fantastik
A sign of the apocalypse: the Columbus Blue Jackets have won two straight games, and their opponents haven’t hit the net in two full games. Say hello to Blue Jackets’ goalie Fredrik Norrena, who earned his second consecutive shutout in a 3-0 effort over the last-place Colorado Avalanche on Tuesday (his other victory came in a 4-0 win over Edmonton on Saturday). Norrena received help from Anson Carter, who racked up a goal and an assist in the game to lead the Jackets to their first-ever victory at the Pepsi Center in Denver. Readers, take it from us: you might want to read this paragraph again, because it may be a long time before we see “Columbus” and “won two straight” in the same sentence.

3. Hull To Rafters
The Detroit Red Wings crashed a nice little pregame celebration at the Scottrade Center, winning over St. Louis 5-1– shortly after Brett Hull’s #16 was raised to the rafters. Hull played 11 seasons for the Blues, and was able to tally up some impressive numbers in 19 NHL seasons (we won’t count last year’s brief stint in Phoenix), scoring 741 career goals and falling nine points shy of 1,400. The celebration, which came before the Blues lost their fifth straight game, seemed fitting to come on a night which featured two of Brett’s former teams (he played three seasons with the Red Wings). We highly doubt they’ll be retiring his number in the Glendale Arena, where he played five games for the aforementioned Coyotes before packing his bags and announcing his retirement.

Check It Out
Tuesday’s meetings to discuss possible changes to the schedule and the playoffs worked to no avail. NHL officials are keeping the schedules the way there are for the time being, meaning rare trips for Western Conference teams to the east coast, and vice versa. They also decided on keeping the playoff seeding format untouched, though there were some rumors that the postseason would be changed to a bracket-style tournament.

Game of the Night: Nashville at Anaheim
Top two teams in Western Conference battle it out

The Last Shot
Who doesn’t like a good hockey fight?

Categories
NHL General

Crashing the Zamboni: The E-Train is still running


1. Stars Stymie Avs
In a crazy see-saw battle on Monday night in Dallas, the Stars defeated a stuttering Avalanche club, 5-4. Brenden Morrow scored two early goals for the Stars before leaving with an injury, setting up Dallas for what would be a satisfying comeback victory. After Marty Turco gave up two first period goals, he was unexpectedly pulled and replaced by backup Mike Smith, who stopped 16 of 18 shots on the night. An early 3rd period goal by John-Michael Liles gave Colorado a 4-3 lead, but it would not last long. Halfway through the frame, Colorado (back then Quebec) draft pick Eric Lindros tied it up with his fifth goal of the year. Less than three minutes afterward, Antti Miettinen got the puck by Peter Budaj to give the Stars the eventual 5-4 victory. For Colorado, it was their fifth loss in the last seven games.

2. Sabres’ Spectacular 2nd
Last night, Buffalo hosted another dominant Sabres victory as the guys with the ugly logo downed the Tampa Bay Lightning, 7-2. The night was highlighted by a bananas 7 goal 2nd for Buffalo, who received a nice 24 save performance from goaltender Ryan Miller on the other side of the ice. Offensively, Paul Gaustad and Thomas Vanek were hot, scoring two goals each (Gaustad also added an assist). Ales Kotalik also had a good night tallying a hat trick for assists with three. This was Buffalo’s fifth game in which they’ve scored six or more goals, so they certainly have everything covered on offense. If there was no such thing as the second period, Tampa’s Marc Denis would have had an awesome game between the pipes. Unfortunately, 22 saves was not enough to beat the Sabres, who still have not lost back-to-back games this season.

3. He knows it’s the Flyers, right?
One month after being booted up to the position of head coach for the Philadelphia Flyers, John Stevens has signed a two-year deal to remain in that spot (what was he thinking?). He replaced Ken Hitchcock as head-honcho 12 games ago, and has posted a 4-7-1 record. A coach cannot win the games for the Flyers– they have to get it done on the ice, and that’s what this team is missing. Their offense is defunct, and the defense couldn’t keep the other team away from the net if it were two states over. In goal, Antero Niittymaki has been anything but impressive since taking over the #1 spot, posting a 3-10-2 record this season.

Check It Out
Kevin Allen of USA Today takes a look at the youth of today’s NHL, and how it is impacting the game. It is clear that the kids have taken over… just take one look at the trio on the Pens (Staal, Crasby, and Malkin)–those youngsters are the new image of the NHL.

Game of the Night: San Jose at Anaheim
Sharks have won six of last seven games

The Last Shot
Pittsburgh defeated Philadelphia 5-3 last night, improving the Penguins’ record against Philly this year to 4-0.

Categories
NHL General

Crashing the Zamboni: Weekend Recap



Check out my ugly uni!

1. Awesome in OT
The Buffalo Sabres continue to take care of business, and look to be a Stanley Cup contender come playoff time. They racked up another win on Saturday night, drowning the already dead Philadelphia Flyers. The 5-4 overtime victory was the third straight win for Buffalo in the extra period. Daniel Briere had an outstanding game, scoring two goals–one to tie it, and another to win it. While the Sabres continue to roll along, the Flyers continue to fall to the pit of the NHL. The giant wing on their jerseys has been clipped this year; at 3-11-2, Philly is dead last in the Eastern Conference. Even Flyers fans are having a hard time remembering the times when team was actually good. That’s an unfortunate thing, since it really wasn’t that long ago. It doesn’t help that they’ve been without captain Peter Forsberg, who has been battling a nagging ankle injury and is listed as day-to-day.

2. Jinxed
Friday’s post on Crashing the Zamboni featured the Anaheim Ducks and their emergence to begin the season. With their 12-0-4 mark, they set a record for most games without a regulation loss to start a season. On the same night of the post, the Ducks suffered a 3-0 loss at the hands of the Calgary Flames–and it didn’t come in overtime or a shootout. Our apologies go out to the Ducks and their fans, who we’re sure were hoping to see their team go without a regulation loss this year. But don’t just blame us: Mikka Kiprusoff had a stellar performance, stopping all 37 shots that came his direction on the way to a shutout victory.
Anaheim would avenge the loss with another victory on Sunday night over the Wild, 3-2. Currently, their record stands at 13-1-2, by far the best in the Western Conference.

3. Preds Victorious
The Nashville Predator skated to a 1-0 victory on Saturday night, attempting to keep up with the Red Wings in the Central. Chris Mason was a brick wall between the pipes, saving his way to a shutout win with a career-high 42 saves. As a backup to Tomas Vokoun, it was his first shutout in the four games he’s started on the year. Scott Upshall scored the only goal of the game in the first period, but it was enough to fend off the Avalanche, who have slipped into last in the Northwest Division. This was the third 1-0 game in the NHL in the past week, which is exactly what the league is trying to stay away from with the rule changes put in effect last year (the other two games were a Dallas victory over Phoenix on Thursday and a Chicago win over Columbus last night).

Check It Out
SI.com’s Allan Muir looks into the struggles of the Columbus Blue Jackets, perhaps the most irrelevant team in the league. He suggests sniper Rick Nash is the problem, and if the Columbus Blue Jackets want to get rolling, then that is the guy that needs to put up numbers. Playing in the same division as Detroit and Nashville, it may be quite a while before the Blue Jackets actually have an impact on this league.

Game of the Night: Buffalo at Carolina
Rematch of last year’s Eastern Conference finals (Hurricanes won in seven games)

The Last Shot
The Chicago Blackhawks actually won a game on Sunday night. Oh, wait… they faced Columbus. Does that really count?

Categories
NHL General

Crashing the Zamboni: Early season payback


1. Sweet Revenge
In a rematch of last year’s Eastern Conference Quarterfinals, the Montreal Canadiens squared off with the Carolina Hurricanes on Thursday night. Goaltender Cristibal Huet was rock-solid in net, making sure that it wasn’t a playoff repeat for the Hurricanes. He lead them to a 4-0 victory, dropping Carolina’s record to an underwhelming 6-6-2. It was Huet’s first shutout of the season, and it couldn’t have come against a more ideal opponent. Coming off of their Stanley Cup season, the Hurricanes are now 0-3-1 against all of the Easterrn Conference teams they defeated in the playoffs.

2. #450
Florida Panthers coach Jacques Martin reeled in his 450th career victory on Thursday night, leading his team to a 4-2 win over the Toronto Maple Leafs. He became just the 13th coach in NHL history to reach the milestone. Martin, who also happens to be the General Manager of the Panthers, has worked for St. Louis, Colorado, and Ottawa in his professional career; he picked up a Stanley Cup as a member of the Avalanche organization in 1996.

3. Sabres Stay Hot
As the Boston Bruins found out last night, the Buffalo Sabres are never really out of the game. Buffalo overcame a 4-1 deficit with just 8:49 remaining in regulation to eventually win it in a shootout, 5-4. Maxim Afinogenov scored the second and third goals of the night for Buffalo, trimming the Bruin lead to one with only 2:30 left in the game. Less than a minute later, at the 1:35 mark, Ales Kotalik tied the score at four apiece. The Sabres would eventually roll out of Boston with a victory, improving their record to a miraculous 11-0-1 on the year. Even with the win, Buffalo’s Daniel Briere had his league high 10-game point streak snapped.

Check It Out
Former Islander co-owner Sanjay Kumar is not a happy camper right now – he’ll be spending the next 12 years behind bars for accounting fraud.

Game of the Night: Dallas at Edmonton
Dallas: Off to best start in franchise history (10-2-0).

The Last Shot
Last night, the Red Wings defeated the Blackhawks 2-1 for their fifth straight victory.

Categories
NHL General

Crashing the Zamboni: Early Movers and Shakers

[Editor’s Note: Welcome to the inaugural “Crashing the Zamboni”, a daily blog by Eric Caterina. Eric will be covering the NHL this year for Sportscolumn.]



Alas, poor Yorick! I knew him, Lindy.

So we’re just about a month into the NHL season, and already things have begun to take shape. Some teams have stormed out of the gates, firing on all cylinders — while others are still wondering where to find their helmets.

1. Ice Melters

Buffalo Sabres (10-0-1; 1st in Eastern Conference)
Buffalo is an obvious choice here. Sure, they finally suffered a loss, but after breaking a team record and tying an NHL record for most consecutive wins to open a season, they deserve some kudos. Looks like Lindy Ruff’s Sabres are well on their way to avenging last year’s loss in the Conference Finals.
Atlanta Thrashers (8-1-3; 2nd in Eastern Conference)
Call them the Hotlanta Thrashers. Scoring 45 goals in just 12 games (second to aforementioned Buffalo in that stat), the Thrashers are on their way to a stranglehold of the Southeast Conference. They are the only team to beat the Sabres so far this year, downing Buffalo 5-4 on Saturday night.
Minnesota Wild (9-2-0; 2nd in Western Conference)
Living up to their name, this team is going wild in Minnesota. Netminder Manny Fernandez is having a stellar year, only allowing 19 goals in 11 games (he is 8-2 in that span). Maybe the loss of Roloson wasn’t as bad as many people thought after all.
Anaheim Ducks (8-0-3; 1st in Western Conference)
They dropped “Mighty” from the name, but have kept it in their game. All is well right now in Anaheim, and they aren’t showing many signs of slowing up. Still undefeated in regulation play, the Ducks will have to hold on to the top spot in a tough Pacific Division.

2. Stuck in the Freezer
Philadelphia Flyers (2-7-1; Last in Eastern Conference)
Right now, the Philadelphia Flyers are in need of some brotherly love. Philly is off to an atrocious start, and it’s tough to say when things will start to look good again. GM Bob Clarke resigned, coach Ken Hitchcock was fired, and captain Peter Forsberg is fighting the injury bug.
Phoenix Coyotes (3-9-0; Last in Western Conference)
Their slogan this year is “A Decade in the Desert”, but the Phoenix Coyotes are anything but hot. Phoenix has been an ugly franchise seemingly ever since they made the switch to Arizona from Winnipeg. Head coach Wayne Gretzky’s job is in question, and like Forsberg on the Flyers, captain Shane Doan has been battling injuries.
Calgary Flames (3-5-1; 13th in Western Conference)
Even with the mighty Miikka Kiprusoff (try saying that five times fast) between the pipes, the Calgary Flames are struggling. In a bit of a surprise, Calgary is sitting last in the Northwest division, and need to do some work to climb back to the top. With guys like Alex Tanguay and Jerome Iginla, a comeback is not out of the question- but in a division that tough, it won’t be easy.
Boston Bruins (3-5-1; 14th in Eastern Conference)
Beantown is beaten up this year. With an abysmal offense (scoring only 19 goals thus far), Boston is reeling. Thanks to Buffalo, the Bruins have no shot at contending for the Northeast Division title. Looks like Boston just has to sit and wait until the next Bobby Orr comes around, which won’t happen for a long, long time.

Game of the Night: Atlanta @ Toronto

Thrashers look to snap seven game losing streak against Toronto.

The Last Shot
The reason for the Sabres’ early success? Of course, it has to be the new uniforms – ugliest in the league!

Categories
Buffalo Sabres

Buffalo Sabres to unveil new jerseys on Saturday



New Sabres jersey

The office Buffalo Sabres site announced that the team will take the ice in their new home/road/alternate jerseys on Saturday at at 10:30 and is inviting fans to come take a look at them. The only problem is that some industrious Sabres fans have already leaked the new jersey styles.

On top of that, it seems everyone in Buffalo hates the new logo. So far 30,000 people have signed a petiton to fix the new logo. Seems a little too late for that. Unlike the Houston 1836 name/logo which was offensive to the Latino community, the new Sabres logo is only offensive to our eyes.

Good luck Sabres fans, we’re sure you’ll get used to the new logo and jerseys sooner or later. After all, it’s nowhere near as ugly as the Sixers uniforms from the early 90s.

Links:

[Fark]: Sabres logo Photoshop contest

[Buffalo Geek]: This Logo Sucks

[Fixthelogo.com]: Someone who really hates the logo

Categories
MLB General

Odds and Ends (07.19.06): Oldest player in baseball history

From the “pretty cool” file comes the story of Buck O’Neil who became the oldest player in the history of professional baseball when he lead off the game in the Northern League All-Star Game. He was intentionally walked, pulled for a pinch runner, and then immediately traded to another team so he could lead off the bottom of the first as well. He was intentionally walked again. One of the first pitches almost hit him in the head. Yay Sports claims he was crowding the plate.

In other news…

[Buffalo Geek]: The ugly ass new Buffalo Sabres logo

[Seattle Times]: Courting a 10-year-old basketball prodigy

[Sportszilla]: Islanders = Idiocy

[Off Wing Opinion]: Sorting Out The Mess On Long Island

[Sportsline]: Butt men Zidane, Materazzi face sanctions (We didn’t make up this headline)

Categories
NHL General

June 19 in Sports History: Sabres get screwed



In the crease

In 1999: Brett Hull of the Dallas Stars scored the most controversial goal in NHL history. Hull whacked home a rebound on his third try past a sprawled Dominik Hasek in triple overtime. The goal clinched Dallas’s first ever Stanley Cup with a 2-1 victory over the Buffalo Sabres. According to NHL rules at the time, any goal scored with so much as an opposing skate lace in the crease would be disallowed. Video replays showed Hull’s entire left leg was in the offending area as the puck left the crease. The goal stood, and the Stars lifted the Cup, while Buffalo’s championship nightmares continued. The rule was changed the following season.

In 1943: The most bizarre franchise in NFL history was created. Due to a shortage of players during World War II, the Pittsburgh Steelers and Philadelphia Eagles merged their football teams to create the Steagles (which was an unofficial name). The teams split their home games between Pittsburgh and Philadelphia, were co-coached by Greasy Neale of the Eagles and Walt Keisling of the Steelers and finished 5-4-1. The marriage would only last one season, with the Eagles keeping their own team in Philadelphia and the Steelers merging with the Chicago Cardinals as Card-Pitt in 1944 (they were jokingly called the Carpets – because teams walked all over them). They went 0-10 before returning as the Steelers after the war.

Categories
NHL General

Lindy Ruff vs Ken Hitchcock


After getting pasted 6-0 in the first period of last night’s playoff hockey game against the Sabres, the Flyers started getting a little chippy as they say in hockey and took a bunch of penalties in the second period. Of course, Flyers fans will say they were just sending a message for the next game, which is one of the great things about hockey.

After the game, Sabres coach Lindy Ruff said that the Flyers were playing “like idiots”. When told about Ruff’s comments, Flyers coach Ken Hitchcock said, “That’s Lindy’s opinion. I’ve seen his teams do the same things. Lindy ought not to talk about that.” OK…no news so far… then as he was walking out of the presser, Hitchcock added:


Tell Lindy to fuck off, to mind his own fucking business.

Sure, it was a calculated move to deflect attention from his own team but you gotta love hockey coaches for saying stuff like this.

Links:
[Philly.com]: Ruffly speaking, Hitchcock offers fighting words