I heard about this a while ago… just saw it today on the Sabres website. Ryan Miller trash talking… in Chinese. 🙂
I heard an interview where the reporters asked him to say it again. It was funny. He said he just said it over and over about 50 times and just can’t forget it now. So he knows one phrase in Chinese. Pretty funny commercial. 🙂
Enjoy.
So, you just gotta love TiVo. It’s so easy. You watch what you want, when you want to (or can) and you can even fast-forward the commercials!
I love hockey! Versus carries at least one NHL game on Monday and Tuesday nights. I’m busy every Monday night, and somehow we are usually busy on Tuesday nights, so I have gotten in the habit of TiVo-ing them.
Well, tonight after recording the show, I picked up where I had left off when I went up to the office to record. Thing is, Jen was there, too. And, while I like hockey… I like talking with my wife more. So, we did.
At one point I finally noticed that the hockey game I had recorded was playing in the background while we chatted and snacked.
Do you find that odd too? Who records something in order to not pay attention to it? 🙂
Rumor has it that the Sabres/Penguins game scheduled for January 1st, 2008 in Buffalo could be held outdoors at Ralph Wilson Stadium!!! How cool is that?!? We would really like to be there, if that ends up being the case.
[Read the Buffalo News article that mentions this possible location for the game.]
The Buffalo Sabres today announced their 2007-2008 schedule. (Didn’t they just finish playing the 2006-2007 season??) 🙂 We were really hoping that the Sabres (1) would play the San Jose Sharks this year, and (2) that they would play IN San Jose, and then (3) that it would coincide with our trip out there this fall.
BUT, alas… they will be on a road trip during that week… and they do play in San Jose this year… just, not at the same time.
November 15th is already circled on my calendar. First game against the Senators. The first games against Drury and Briere’s new teams will be interesting as well. The season opens with a “home and home” against the NY Islanders, whom the Sabres ousted in round one of last year’s playoffs.
Bring on the hockey season! (Football first… but hockey a close second!)
As you most likely know by now, Chris Drury and Daniel Briere have moved on from the Buffalo Sabres to $$$Greener Pastures$$$. They were signed by two different teams (Rangers and Flyers) for a combined $84 million!!! Holy cow, that’s a lot of moola! The Sabres were unable and/or unwilling to match that, and in the case of Drury, he just chose to go to the Rangers (they were his favorite childhood team) instead of stay in Buffalo (who would have matched the Rangers’ offer.
So, good for those guys… at least financially. But this brings up yet again the sad state of sports with free agency and salary caps. There are many factors, and I really don’t want to get into it here, but I do want to say that I am not a fan of free agency.
I understand that it is very cool for the player. They get more money for sure, they also get the chance to determine where they will play (like Drury). But both Drury and Briere were captains on the President Trophy winning Sabres (for the best record in hockey) and they left that behind (understandably, in many ways) to pursue their goals. Not those of the team.
Does any player care about the game, or the team, or the city anymore? Perhaps that is unfair. Both of these guys said they would like to stay in Buffalo. Particularly Briere. But in the end, he was offered $25 million over 5 years by the Sabres, and the Flyers offered him $52 million over 7 years.
Yeah, I would too.
I think. Part of me says I wouldn’t. I would take the “paltry” $25M and stay with the team that I had helped build. I would not move the family and start over again… I would be OK with $25 MILLION DOLLARS. But, why take $25M when you can double it?!? So crazy.
It’s sad that this is hurting sports in so many ways. Small market teams are unable to keep up as they can not charge as much for tickets, and don’t have other sources of revenue to keep up with the larger salary caps. It’s also just raising the price of tickets in general across all the sports leagues. Many sports writers are prediciting we’ll just be seeing another lock out in the not-too-distant future if the NHL continues this way.
What if players decided they love the game, and love to win, and build a championship team. What if teams fairly compensated those players who made a commitment to stay with one team for their careers? We will likely never see a team that can repeat what the Bills did from 1990-1993, going to four straight Super Bowls … mostly due to free agency.
It might sound like sour grapes, but even before we lost Drury, Briere, and even Zubrus a couple days later, I was not a fan of free agency. Maybe it’s because my team is one of those “small market teams”, but I think it’s cause I love the idea of buildinig a team of guys you know and can root for for at least a good chunk of their careers. Now when you buy a jersey (like, #23 or #48) it’s obsolete in 3 years or less.
Too bad.
The Sabres did manage to hold on to Thomas Vanek last week, matching an offer that came in from Edmonton. They were not going to lose another one! Good for them.
I read a great article on this at NHL.com today. Check it out if you’ve got time.
The Sabres will go on. As will the Bills, and every other team. It’s the path that pro sports have chosen. I do wish there was some happy medium where players could be happy, not at the expense of the team, city, fans, owner… and vice versa. I don’t think we’ve found that just yet.
For those of you following along with all of my previous Sabres’ posts…
Last night was Game Five of the Stanley Cup Finals, and with the Anaheim Ducks leading 3 games to 1, it was rather shocking to see the game end with a 6-2 victory for the Ducks! It seems Ottawa, who had a very good season – certainly played fantastically against our Sabres!!! – and deserved to be in the finals, would have put up a bit more of a fight?
It was Anaheim’s series from the start.
So, we let the boys stay up last night for the whole game. Anticipating the conclusion of the NHL season. We were right, and it was fun to see all those guys toting around the most prized trophy in all of sports. Only one Anaheim player has ever been there before. Scott Neidermeyer has won 4 cups, actually (including this one). But everyone else, including his brother Rob, was experiencing the moment for the first time. It was fun to watch. 🙂
The only part that wasn’t fun was, as a Sabres’ fan, thinking, “This should be Chris Drury, and Danny Briere, and Max Afinogenov, and Ryan Miller, and Thomas Vanek…” But, it was not. Maybe we’ll get to stay up late to see that scene next season? Probably not with all of those same names, unfortunately 🙁
With the clinching of the Stanly Cup, the Ducks have ended the 2006-2007 NHL season. I miss it already! 🙁 But it’s not long till they lace up their skates again and the fast-paced action starts circling ice rinks near you.
For now, it’s time to focus on BILLS FOOTBALL! Whoohooo!! 🙂
Since the Sabres pulled off the win in Game 4 this thought has crossed my mind several times: “What a difference one of those first three games would make right now!” If the Sabres could have won Game 2, where they jumped out to a 2-0 lead, and even came back to tie the game with only 5 seconds left, but lost for the first time in 47 opportunities when they had a 2-goal lead. Or, if the Sabres could have somehow gotten any of those dozens of blocked shots through to the net in the 1-0 Game 3 loss. If they could have taken even just one of those, the series would be 2-2 headed back to Buffalo, instead of 3-1.
What a difference that would make, eh?
But, it’s not. It’s 3-1. And the Sabres have a good chance to make it 3-2. Just go out and win this game. At home. Crowd behind you. Ottawa is a good road team, but I do like the Sabres chances in this game. If they do pull off the victory, Game Six will likely be the biggest challenge they have faced all year. Ottawa fans want a trip to the finals bad.
But then… so do Buffalo fans. 🙂
Can’t wait for the game tomorrow! We’re TiVo-ing it to make sure we get to watch it… as we’ll be traveling back tomorrow from our awesome vacation! (And there’s a birthday party we want to attend right in THE MIDDLE OF THE GAME tomorrow. That should tell you how much we love these friends….) 🙂
Go Sabres!!!
The Final Four are set. Sabres vs Senators in the East, and Red Wings vs Ducks in the West. 1 vs 4 and 1 vs 2. I would love to see Sabres/Red Wings… just for the Dominik Hasek angle. But the Ducks are FAST (like the Sabres) and can score… would be an exciting Stanley Cup Final.
But wait… we have to beat the SENATORS first. 🙂
The Sens have been playing great. Great goaltending, great defense and they’ve been scoring. That’s about all you can ask. The Sabres will need to play at least at the same level they did since the last 10 minutes of Game 4 in round two. I think they know that now… so they just need to do it. They’ll need to improve their special teams as well. They showed flashes of great penalty killing but the power play was horrendous. (Save for a couple clutch goals in the last two games.)
Here’s the schedule for the Sabres series vs their hated division rival, Ottawa:
* – if necessary.
I see the series going at least 6 games… though it wouldn’t surprise me if the Sabres won in less. It would shock me if the Sabres were beaten in less than 6.
They have had one goal since losing in game 7 to Carolina last year. They’re almost there. Four wins to the Stanley Cup Finals. Eight wins to Stanley Cup Champs.
Go Buffalo!!
I was watching the second hockey game last night, featuring #5 seed San Jose vs the #1 seed Detroit Red Wings. And I noticed what I think the Sabres might be lacking so far in the playoffs.
Yes, they won the first round in 5 games over the Islanders, and have a 2-1 advantage in this series – only because of a 2OT victory where the Rangers played the best they could, and just barely beat us. But, they have not been impressive in most of the games they have played. They don’t look hungry.
The thing our Sabres are missing is the hunger to win. The drive. Whatever you want to call it, I saw “it” in the Sharks last night. The Red Wings might have better players, but the Sharks wanted it more. And they got it.
I’m not sure how (or if?) the Sabres can get that. I have seen them have it this year. People talked about them being able to “flip a switch”. It’s true. They’re scary like that. But the playoffs are for real. If you wait too long, you might not get a chance to flip it “on”.
What I have noticed is that when you finish first there are expectations. From without and from within. The Sabres seem to be playing a little tentative at times – you know, to “not lose”. They have been winning their games, but have been unable to put games away when they have the lead. (One game the Islanders came back when the Sabres had a 4-1 lead… and I think that was more on their effort than on the Sabres tentativeness… they were great that game.)
It’s strange to complain about the #1 team, who has a 6-2 record in the post-season thus far. But… I just notice that they look different than San Jose. And perhaps some other teams. Ottawa really wants it right now too. And they’re up 2-1 in their series. That would be a tough, tough series for Buffalo.
But first we have to win this one.
Game four is tonight in NY. Should be tough, but if the Sabres remember what they have been playing for all season… I’d say you’ll see the Sabres control and win this game tonight. I won’t say easily, but I do think they will control the game tonight.
We’ll see if they have what it takes to win!
Looks like the Sabres/Rangers series will begin Wednesday night in Buffalo. The Lower Hudson Online (the Journal News) is reporting that the Rangers have received the preliminary schedule. I can’t wait! Go Sabres!!!
