Sabres season is history....Ottawa advances waiting for West

The Sabres season is over. Another year of advancing to the Eastern Conference Finals and another year of not making it to the big show, the Stanley Cup Finals. I would be lying if I didn't say it was depressing. A first place finish in the NHL, the Sabres won the President's trophy which meant that they had home ice throughout the playoffs no matter who they played. It also set them up as an elite team in the NHL. It's a huge accomplishment, but everyone always wants to go to the show. I am insanely proud of the team this year. Happy to support a team especially when they are playing well, but I really did believe that we had it in us to win the whole thing this year. It just wasn't meant to be.

Sabres played well on Saturday. Their power play still wasn't potent, but it was moving at least. It was too little too late I guess. They went into OT and ended up losing it in OT. I must say that NBC's decision to drop the game and send it to Versus sucked. Especially since I was watching the game on TiVo. I didn't have the opportunity to watch the OT since the game was over by that point. Preakness blah blah. I wanted to watch the Sabres. In fact, WGRZ- TV in Buffalo, New York was the only NBC affifilate who stayed with the game. There probably would've been a riot downtown if they had decided to show horse racing.

Anyway, my hat goes off to Ottawa. They played harder and more together than the Sabres did the entire series. The Sabres played the worst in game 3. By going down 3-0, I think that about sealed their fate. I think besides game 5, game 2 had to be the most heart breaking. Sabres at home, looking like they had come from behind lose it in OT. Devastating. I liked that the team didn't look like it was going to quit. I assumed we'd win game 5. It sure looked like it. And then the series would've been 3-2. Anything can happen at that rate.

I wish Ottawa good luck in the race for the cup. It's their first in their franchise's history. They will face a tough West Coast team. Anaheim is currently on top of Detroit, but only by 1 game. Anything can still happen.

I will be watching the Sabres in the off season. It's unclear how it will play out. They will have a tough time keeping the team together. Everyone wants to stay and hopefully they can work on deals for Drury and Briere and get them done before another team tries to lure them away with multi-million dollar dreams. The Sabres aren't a big time and can't afford to overspend, but keeping those 2 guys keeps the team strong and gives them another shot at the big dream of a Stanley Cup win in Buffalo. Here's hoping we can keep them. I'll be paying attention.

Sabres stay alive!!!

Sabres stay alive with a win tonight by 3-2 in Ottawa. This was an extremely important win tonight. They skated better, they passed better and they kept their composure. That's what I like to see. They play again on Saturday. Good luck! Keep up the good work buffalo!

Detroit is up in their series and Pronger is now suspended from the next game for Anaheim. Wow! That's big. We'll see what happens. It would be cool to see Anaheim win. I wouldn't mind Detroit advancing either. There's the old Hasek in net for Detroit.

Anyway, it's late. More later.

Game 4 tonight against Ottawa

Well, it's been a bit depressing for mre the last couple of days. I think the picture says it all. Sabres lost game 3 by a score of 1-0. UGH! They are now down 3 games to none. After the Cinderella season that the Sabres have had, it's hard to think of them not going to the finals. I believe they have a shot tonight and turn this around. I know it's a super long shot, but the Sabres have made those before. I'm keeping my fingers crossed and kind of afraid to look, but we'll see what happens tonight. LET'S GO BUFFALO!

Sabres down 2-0 in series

Well, it was a hard fought game. Buffalo came out swinging. There was an early goal, but that was disallowed due to it going in off the hand of a Sabre. Vanek scored on an excellent play and made his strong effort pay off. Sabres were up 2-0 in the first. I was excited. The wind left my sails when I saw Ottawa come back and score 3 times against my Sabres. Buffalo tied it in thrilling fashion with Briere getting a lucky bounce to him and he snuck it into the empty net. That was pure hard work by the Sabres. Unforutnately, they lost it in double OT to Ottawa. This is not a good sign.

Now, we have to go back to Ottawa having lost 2 games on home ice where we've been unbeatable. It's really disappointing. But it ain't over until the fat lady sings right? She might be warming up, but she ain't singing just yet.

Sabres looked powerful in the first period. Unstoppable really. But their power play has suffered for much of the season and hasn't been any better in the playoffs. Ottawa's power play has been truly amazing. Scoring tons of times and moving the puck well. Sabres moved the puck better on their power play, but still not enough.

I still think the Sabres are capable of playing better hockey. I don't think that they've been able to pull it together for a full 60 minutes yet in the playoffs. That didn't seem to matter until now. They haven't been down yet in the playoffs. All of the sudden they're underdogs again.

Let's hope the underdogs can pull it off. I'm rooting for you Buffalo! I believe! LET'S GO BUFFALO!

Sabres fall in 1st meeting with Ottawa

I'm a little depressed. Ottawa played really well tonight. We didn't play as well. Ottawa scored first and stayed in command from that point on. We need to bounce back in Saturday's game. I'll be watching with intense excitement. I'm a little nervous, Ottawa looked good and made us lose one on our home ice. That doesn't sit well with me.

Ryan Miller played very strong in goal despite the loss. Afinogenov looked good too. Of course, Drury and Briere were good, but everyone was all over them. Lydman showed why he's good to have around.

I believe in Buffalo and I'm looking forward to game 2 in the HSBC Arena. I'm chalking this one up to nerves for some of our guys. Bring it on Ottawa, bring it on...