The Barrister and The Apologist

I won't dwell too much on a recap of the glorious evening that we had last night. The Sabres continued their great play and winning streak, and while Aps and I weren't able to meet up until the third period due to some office basketball playoff duty that I had to tend to (Championship game next week, baby!), we took the opportunity to wax poetic about how happy we are to be watching this team make their playoff push. 

This episode is, unsurprisingly, ALL SABRES...and, also unsurprisingly, it's all overwhelmingly happy and positive. No basketball or baseball talk seeps in, apart from brief mentions at the end, and we actually avoid the Bills completely. Also, as opposed to other episodes where we've recorded in small segments over the course of a game, Episode 4 was recorded in one big chunk after the game was done. Not to short change you listeners of musical interludes (and with recognition that you very well may need a few breaks from our flawless stream of consciousness analysis), we cut up the segment with some Mos Def and Phoenix, and have Apologist's little Brother Doctor Ooo (@DrOooMD) and his Buffalo-based project Kinda Like Dreamin take us out when all is said and done. And, because I couldn't get over how great Jason Pominville's post-game interview was on the NHL Network last night, I threw in a couple of his better quotes over the Phoenix track for good measure. My editing skills may not be good yet (as you can hear from a couple of the rougher cuts towards the end, not to mention how quiet Pommers is), but they are improving. RIGHT? RIGHT?!? 

Please love me.

Moving on.... This is turning real, Sabres fans, and there's plenty of room for everyone on this bandwagon. Aps is buying the beer.

Stream and download the .mp3 below, and throw a comment below with some constructive criticism and/or love poems. We love doing these, but also want to please YOU, dear listener, so feedback is always appreciated as we try to keep these going in a good way.

Let's Go Buffalo.

The Barrister

After looking ahead to last Friday night's game with a certain sense of dread, only to see the Sabres pull out an absurdly uplifting victory over the East's best (well, best for now, at least), I'm yet again scratching my head in equal parts befuddlement, excitement and fear. Remember when I noted that the team's playoff chances were around 22% before Friday night? Well, now - after the glorious win at MSG on Friday, and then the solid 3-1 victory at the FN Center on Saturday - they're at 41%. And, with six games remaining, they only need to go 4-2-0 to kick that percentage up to 84%. (And, as @JeremyWGR tweeted this morning, tonight's outcome amounts to a 47% swing in probabilities for the team... not to freak out TOO much).

THIS SHIT IS FLYING OVER THE CUCKOOS NEST CRAZY BALLS. And, if you're curious, playing the role of Miss Ratched is Bucky Gleason, but only because he likes that sexy white uniform and I promised him I wouldn't give the role to Paul Hamilton. 

Nothing is as simple as statistics would have you believe, of course (hear that CV?), and until the team has clinched - a moment that will, in all likelihood, not come until the last game of the season - we'll all be sitting with bated breath, wondering if this team can keep this thing going. If you're like me, you've already looked at the schedule to see just how tough it will be these last two weeks. 

We continue this Warpath adventure with Washington tonight in the biggest game of the season since the media and fan-manufactured rematch against the Bruins in the wake of the Lucic incident last fall. The Caps are coming off a convincing 3-0 win against the Wild Sunday, effectively eliminating Minnesota from playoff contention. Much like the Sabres, the Caps have failed to put anything close to consistent hockey together this season, ranging from frightening to pathetic. A couple weeks back, Washington seemed like it might have been dropping off the face of the playoff map, but the team has gone 6-2-2 since then, largely holding off the bottom teams of the conference and gaining some ground on the Southeast leading Florida Panthers. This leaves the Caps in a pretty similar spot to our Sabres, in that they've chosen to ramp up their play for this final playoff push, shaking off the reputation of a season of largely failed expectations. 

These similarities leave me and the rest of Sabreland at a complete and utter loss for predicting what kind of result we might see tonight. But, that certainly doesn't stop me from going all in with some classic poorly constructed analysis. HERE WE GOOOOOOOOO....

First, the negatives:

1. Thomas Vanek.
Conceding that the guy scored a goal on Saturday night (albeit one that relied on luck and hard work by Cody Hodgson), his all-too-frequent absence from the score sheet has been one of the more frustrating parts of the past three and a half months. Sure, the team is playing well despite this, but I tend to be skeptical that this is a good thing. Winning is great and all, but when you're winning even though your best forward is playing like hot garbage, you're still left with your best forward playing like hot garbage. Not. Good.

There are a lot of theories popping around the interwebs about his struggles lately. Some of the most asinine have speculated on his work ethic, aka the "Lazy Thomas" meme - always an absurd opinion lacking any basis in reality, I think - or him being a head case, aka the "Weepy Thomas" meme - again, something I tend to not give too much credence to. Personally, I think the guy is hurt, that Lindy is predictably keeping that information quiet and that TV is playing through a lot of pain during each game. Ribs? Shoulder? Your guess is as good as mine.  Of course, my belief in this theory is, in part, dependent on my disbelief in the other possibilities of lazy and/or weepy Vanek, so take it with a grain of salt. But, for the punishment he takes in front of the net, and for his proven desire to bleed himself dry for the team, it certainly seems to be the most likely explanation.

If the Sabres have any real chance at taking this Warpath to the playoffs and beyond, this is a guy who has to get it going. OBVIOUS FACT. Tonight would be a great start. SECOND OBVIOUS FACT. I'm great at this.

2. Lindy's Ever-Baffling Line Shuffles
Has anyone figured out why Lindy seems hell bent on ruining each and every good line combination this year? I get that he's been swimming upstream against a team of underachievers in a season where he has been expected to push the franchise closer to a Stanley Cup, but I really wonder if there's a method to his madness. First we saw the Vanek-Adam-Pominville line deconstructed for the sake of getting other players going. All well and good, but we know how that experiment played out - Ville Leino still shitty and Luke Adam wallowing in the AHL. JACK ADAMS HE IS NOT.

When the team started tanking, the tendency to line shuffles was probably a necessary evil, but now that we're back in great form, the lingering question is whether Lindy will continue to tinker or whether he'll just allow the growing chemistry on these lines to continue that growth. Shit, even during the games this weekend, we saw glimpses of inexplicable line combinations. I'd cite them for you now, but I can't seem to find them on the google and Lord knows I was drunk as shit when I watched the games. No wonder my points are so unassailable. For now, the line of Ennis-Foligno-Stafford is still together and has been nothing sort of magical for the past couple weeks (more on that below). Will it continue with Gerbe's eventual return to the team, or will Lindy yet again sacrifice one of his greatest assets? Or what about the Tropp-Hodgson-Vanek line, which has also found some chemistry over the past week, allowing Hodgson and Vanek to each start making progress? If Kaleta comes back, is Tropp destined to leave that line in some grand reshuffle that makes room for Kaleta on the 3rd or 4th line while likely sending Tropp to play in the KHL? Kaleta ужасен в борющихся русских. Bank it.

In short: this is a team that is winning now, and winning in grand and unexpected fashion. DON'T FUCK IT UP, LINDY.

3. MORE LINDY HATE - WHY ARE OUR BEST PLAYERS PLAYING SHIT MINUTES?
This point is plagiarized from Yachtsman, but I suspect he'll likely (a) never even read this post, or (b) never post on this small issue, so I'm in the clear. Robyn Regehr averages 18:33 TOI for the year. This is less than Ehrhoff and Myers, our top D pairing, by more than 3 minutes. That wouldn't be insane if it weren't for Andrej Sekera, Mike Weber and Jordan Leopold also having more ice time than Regehr. This is monumentally stupid, and another example of how Lindy might not be the guy to lead this particular group of players into battle. Incidentally, if you need more evidence, Derek "Nobody Likes Me, Everybody Hates Me, I'll Just Go To Chippewa in My Mandles" Roy averages almost 2 1/2 minutes more than Vanek. Nice tie, Lindy. You're doing it wrong.

There. I feel better. Now on to the good:

1. Ryan Miller
What can't be said about this guy? He turned around an epically bad season to re-find his All-World self, let the team ride his coattails as they finally remembered how to score, then gave a stellar interview to Pierre LeBrun wherein he got the media's and a not-insignifcant part of the fanbase's panties in a bunch when he yet again points out that his job is really hard and that the negativity bred by beat writers in the locker room is not necessarily appreciated.  Translation: fat guys who don't no how to play sports should take it easy when tempted to take potshots at pro athletes for shitty performances. Duly noted, Ryan. I'll try to be mindful of that in the future. In the meantime, keep playing well so us fatties can keep our traps shut and enjoy watching your crooked eyebrows track down pucks. We love it when they do that.

With Miller playing better, suddenly anything seems possible for these Sabres (well... not ANYTHING. Baby steps). He's hit career numbers in shutouts this year, despite having a garbage squad in front of him on most nights and despite suffering two concussions this year. His overall averages are still mediocre (though, really at par with his sometimes mediocre career numbers, but that undercuts my general point so I throw it in a parenthetical), which is really an indication of how bad he was earlier this year and how lucky the team is to have survived to this point without imploding. Since the All Star break, his GAA is 1.87 and SV % is .937, with 5 shutouts. Make no mistake about it - the team's fortune is dependent on this guy, and for that we can actually all breathe a little easier about where this all might pan out within the next couple weeks.  

2. Foligno-Ennis-Stafford
With all of the injuries this team has had to fight through this season, the most recent spat has brought about perhaps the luckiest bounce of the Sabres season. Marcus Foligno's call-up to the big club led to immediate success for him and the team. As if destiny was playing some part, his arrival coincided with Lindy's use of Tyler Ennis as a center. Add in Drew Stafford and his apparent revival as an actual contributor to the team - I know. WEIRD - and suddenly we have a line that is as explosive as the Vanek-Adam-Pominville that dazzled us at the beginning of the season. Apart from the fact that this suddenly makes me feel much better about this overzealous gem I dropped about Stafford last summer, this is the line that is making up for the loss of production from Vanek lately (not to mention the continuing shit production from Ville Leino and Brad Boyes. Way to be consistent, lads). 

Apart from their production, watching this line is fun as hell. They're buzzing every time they hit the ice, their goal celebrations are unadulterated moments of pure joy, and each of them bring their own unique slice of talent and skills, all of which compliment each other in a way that none of us could have predicted. Ennis suddenly seems like he could be the second line center to replace Roy whenever we're able to find the #1 center we've been looking for and can then ship his dead weight out of town.  For this all Sabres fans can fervently rejoice. 

And finally...
3. Two games left against the Leafs.
Listen. I get that the schedule looks rough for the last six - games against Caps, Pens, Flyers, Bruins - but it also includes two against hated rivals and perennial jokes, the Toronto Maple Leafs. For as frustrated as Sabres fans have been this year, we're yet again looking at a possible playoff berth and a Leaf team left holding their hats. Tim Connolly, fragile as ever, has proven all of us right (well, not ALL of us... I won't name names... but boy you look stupid, guy) with this season and his $4.75 million cap hit. He's missed about 15 games, which is actually on the low side, but has only scored 12 goals on the season. Which, incidentally, puts him five back of the aforementioned Drew Stafford and his $4 million cap hit. GLOATING IS FUN.

This may be tempting fate. Hell, having this blog at all may be tempting fate, so fuck it. These are two games that the team should win and has to win to make the playoffs. They are a gift from the hockey gods in the midst of an otherwise troubling last bit of games, and I am looking forward to a couple of nights where I don't sit down for the game with a deep and lingering sense of dread. The little things, folks.

Hoping like hell for a win tonight. Make it happen, boys.

Let's Go Buffalo.

Outrageously unsubstantiated and outlandish keys to the game:

- Chris Pronger may be trying to pull some Willis Reed Shit on us. I will have none of that thank you. If he does manage to step out on the ice, look for a maelstrom of Kaleta and Myers blindsiding him at every opportunity. Welcome to the Thunderdome, Gaptooth.

- Tyler Myers has been laying lumber all over the place this series. Look for Psycho T. unleash hell today.

- I don't know what Ryan Miller will show up today, but it doesn't matter to me. I will now follow this man into the depths of holy hell with a smile on my face.

- Who will start in goal for the Flyers? Who fucking cares? Either way the Swords will rain havoc upon their crease.

- My mom is reading the blog now. Uh Oh.

Hoboken, NJ today. The Pourhouse. Watching the game in a state that hates Philly almost as much as Buffalo.

Hasek Jersey, with Glory, again.

The bell tolls for you, Philadelphia. AND TYLER ENNIS IS TOLLING IT.

The Apologist

Fourteen hours later and I can still hardly wrap my mind around it. Stunned doesn’t seem a big enough word to do it justice.

The Buffalo Sabres, recent kings of the postseason collapse (or at least princes - sorry, San Jose, didn't mean to step on your toes there), shook off losing a 3-goal lead on the road to defeat the defending Eastern Conference champions and send the series back to Buffalo up 3-2.

If you’ve spent any amount of your life watching hockey in Buffalo, then you felt the way the DGWUS crew did at the 17:38 mark in the 3rd period, when Jordan Leopold was whistled for hooking: we’re not going to win this game.

To be fair, it was a totally valid frame of mind. After generating enough firepower to knock the Flyers’ second goaltender out of the game, the Sabres’ offense went into a shell and barely challenged the dusty Michael Leighton (last game: Dec. 30th, 2010). Conversely, Philadelphia began firing on all cylinders, closing the gap on the backs of van Riemsdyk, Meszaros and Briere. None of the shots were particularly awe-inspiring, leaving Ryan Miller looking very human and not so much like the superhero we saw in Game 4. So when the Sabres went on their fourth penalty kill of the night with only minutes left in regulation, it was hard to conjure up much optimism.

But that, as they say, is why they play the game.

And so it was that seven minutes of game-time later, Tyler Ennis, finding his way to a rebound off a slap shot from Mike Weber, buried a shot in the back of the net and possibly buried Philly’s hopes of moving on.

Far be it from me to get ahead of myself, something I genuinely hope the Sabres do not do, but it’s hard not to get excited after a win like this. But of course, the worst thing Buffalo could possibly do is think the Flyers are dead. As they demonstrated last night and certainly last season, they know how to come back. Still, if you don’t feel good about the Sabres chances after the last five games, then you’ll never feel good for the remainder of this season.

And speaking of feeling good, how good does Tyler Ennis feel today?

As we discussed in our recent podcast, the general conversation amongst DGWUS was that Ennis was at the very least underwhelming in his second trip to the playoff stage. Perhaps it was a sophomore slump or perhaps he felt a greater need to score than he did last season, but something wasn’t quite right with the pint-sized man from Edmonton. He had an assist and a near-goal in Game 4’s shutout victory, but his presence just wasn’t felt as it had been during the closing weeks of the regular season. But it goes without saying that any concerns can officially be laid to rest.

And therein lies what has me so excited for the rest of this postseason and the years to come. This team isn’t just growing up before our eyes. They’re evolving.

It used to be the book on us was fairly simple. Knock our goal scorers around and contain them in the neutral zone. Pepper Miller with as many shots as you can and hope that a few poke through. Get on the bus and go home. And the Flyers have been trying to execute that exact playbook. Only something has changed.

Now we’re a team that generates offense from everyone (of our 12 goals, only Vanek(3) & Ennis(2) have more than 1 goal). Now Ryan Miller doesn’t have to be Captain America to get a shutout (check the highlight reel or lack thereof from Game 1). Now our players understand what teams want to do to them and constantly keep their head on a swivel watching for that hit that nearly always seems to be coming. And now that they’re avoiding getting hit, we find them outhitting their opponent. Through Game 5, the Sabres have outhit the Flyers by an average of 5 a game. Let me say that again, the Buffalo “We love drafting forwards under 6-foot” Sabres are OUTHITTING the Philadelphia “We invented dirty hockey, now we’re whining about the officiating” Flyers to the tune of 155-131. If that doesn’t excite you, well… you’re reading the wrong blog and probably should check out another sport entirely. Might I suggest tennis?

Whether it’s been Myers learning how to own the opposing teams best player (you’re welcome, Daniel), Connolly demonstrating disregard for his body (his dive through the crease to bury Richards’ face in the ice is easily one of my favorite moments of the 1st round), or Gragnani quietly carrying a heavy load for the defense, this team has begun demonstrating a level of confidence and toughness that we haven’t seen since the days of the red & black rabid goat.

So whenever this wonderful ride ends, you have to feel good about Ennis or Miller and everyone else whose putting on the blue & gold now and in the future. Last night, they were knocked back on their heels in a game they didn’t necessarily HAVE to win. But they stayed focused. They stayed tough. And in the end, it was a guy whose level of both had foolishly been questioned by… I forget who, that came up with the stunning game-winner.

Sunday can’t come soon enough.

For more thoughts, check out the Scizz’s newfound liberation from a history of no-hope. I, for one, will cling to my superstitious-self. I mean, the Sabres hat I’ve been wearing for every game of the series and where I’ve been watching said games has as much to do with the Sabres being up 3-2 as anything. Duh.

The Scizz

A few thoughts as I sit here, still numb after last night's...I don't even know what to call it.  As the Yachtsman kept yelling and tweeting last night; we don't win those games.  We just don't.  Not just the Sabres, but the Bills, and as a Cubs fan....my dear Cubbies.  These teams continue finding ways to capture heartbreaking losses.  Last night was no different, as emotions were high at Beckett's with the DGWU crew and friends after that amazing 3 - 0 start.  For the FIRST time in the series, we all felt relaxed and in a solid mental state. Then van Riemsdyk scored.

You should have seen our faces.  You would have thought the Flyers just took a 1 - 0 lead with two seconds remaining. Why?  Because we have all been there before, so many times.  I don't even need to list all the heart-wrenching losses that these teams have experienced, and us as fans endured right along with them.  It was still friggin' 3 - 1, but we immediately deflated (Pommer's injury didn't help either). Don't get me wrong, we were still cheering and yelling like idiots, but something felt different among us. 

And as always, the 2nd and 3rd goals came and we just HOPED for overtime so that the team could at least re-group.  I feel like nobody I was watching the game with expected them to pull it out. But they did.  They won.  Tyler Ennis burst through, nailed that rebound and BOOM....the Yachtsman, Apologist, and I were embracing in a three-way man-hug. 

So this begs some questions: What the fuck is wrong with us?  Why did we get so upset and down so easily?  Are we bad fans? Well as I've said before, it's simply because were use to it.  We are use to not driving down the field and hitting a long field goal to win.  We are use to blowing leads and playing sluggish until we lose.  We are use to our "highlights" on Sportscenter being the things that make is want to puke. But you know? Fuck that.  I'm done expecting it.  I was actually mad at myself after the game for giving up on this team.  This is not a Buffalo team that I am use to watching.  Yeah I was pretty angry for how bad the defense looked in the 2nd and most of the 3rd period, but so what! I need to have more faith in my teams. This team is finding ways to win that i never thought possible.  Hell, when they started making their run after Pegula bought the team, I kept saying "I'll just be happy if this team makes the playoffs, let alone win anything".  Be honest now, how many of you did the same thing?

I hate to give them credit, but go over to most Philly blogs and fan pages and take a look.  For the most part, they are still exuding insane confidence right now. Two of their top players are out for the series, they have a ridiculous goal-tending controversy, and their power-play has managed to be worse than ours, yet they still think they are going to win this series without a problem.  It's not just Philly though, it's also New York Fans, it's Boston fans, and it's many other large market fan-bases.  They always exude confidence.  Maybe sometimes (ok most of the time) they come across as douche-bags, but at least they never give up on their team, which I totally did last night. I use to say these fan-bases took their winning for granted.  I'm sick of saying "I would be happy with just ONE cup, or ONE Lombardi trophy.  I'm sick of knocking on wood every time I say my team is going to win or do something right. I'm sick of having to walk out of the bar mid-period because I can't bear to see them screw up.

I may take some flack for this post. I mean c'mon, I gave Philly/NY/Boston fans credit AND admitted to giving up last night.  I have been hurt too many times by my unhealthy love for these teams.  But that hurt made me realize that I couldn't even enjoy that victory last night because I felt guilty. That's some bullshit. If this team can win like they did last night, then I as a fan need to change who I am.  That starts today. WE ARE GOING TO WIN THIS SERIES. Forget superstition. Forget jinxes. Forget being over-confident. Forget regrets.

The Apologist

(Prelogue: This will be Buffalo sports blasphemy to many, but I know little to nothing about Rick Martin, other than he was the greatest scorer on the greatest line the Sabres ever had. I'd love to do some sort of proper memoriam to him, except that I wasn't alive when he played and I don't know what to say. So I'll leave that to the pros. And by pros, I mean, the Buffalo News. Please don't hate me.)

As I've stated in the past, I watch sports to escape the nonsense of everyday life. I think all sports fans would agree that there's something wonderfully pure about a game's final score. In all cases, when all is said and done, the score is the score is the score. You can debate what went wrong or what should've been done, but the outcome is beyond dispute. This team won. That team lost. Over.

Any other category of life can come with an overwhelming amount of gray area. Whether it be politics, family life or your job, rarely are things ever cut and dry like they are at the end of a game. But that certainly would be nice ('I'm sorry, Boss, but the scoreboard clearly states that I deserve a raise').