The Peerless Prognosticator is ON THE AIR!!! -- Caps vs. Sabres, November 1st

The Peerless Prognosticator is ON THE AIR!!!We are live here at Peerless Central with the last prognostication you’ll ever need on tonight’s tilt between the Capitals and the Buffalo Sabres at Home of the Sabres Bitching Center Arena. To look at some Buffalo sites, you’d think the Sabres were the bottom feeders of the…“Pominville, Roy off to Slow Starts” -- Buffalo News (online) headline“Ruff Barks after team plays without bite.”-- Another Buffalo News (online) headline“Ruff Shakes Things Up in Depth Chart”-- Sabres.com“It seems like when we get home we try to make that extra play, try to make it a little too cute and it ends up costing us.”-- Jason Pominville, in Sabres Notebook (Sabres.com)"[The Lightning] won more battles. That’s all it comes down to. They won more battles and I’m not going to make any excuses. They were the better team, they won the battles they skated better and they were a lot better with the puck and that showed. They made a lot better plays."-- Lindy Ruff, after a loss to the Lightning Thursday night“Music to my ears…”Well, if it isn’t Cheerless…hey cousin, I haven’t seen you since…“Yeah, since you had us do those infernal previews. Where’s that beer you promised?Uh, it’s in the mail. What are you doing here?“You know me…’Cheerless’ an ‘ all that. Well, what more cheerless place is there than Buffalo?”What do you mean, cuz?“I was reading that Buffalo.com site?...and whaddya think they’re talking about on their ‘Let’s Talk’ column?...”Take a deep breath, or time to panic? Everything seemed so nice a few weeks ago. As recently as Oct. 23, the Buffalo Bills were 5-1 and memories of the Arizona massacre were already dim thanks to a nice performance against the stumbling San Diego Chargers, and the Sabres were 6-0-1 after a miraculous win in Minnesota. Since that fateful Thursday, however, our hometown teams have combined for zero wins and 4 losses - including embarrassing missteps to the Miami Dolphins and Ottawa Senators, two of local sports fans' most hated rivals.”“Makes me look like Polly Sunshine, don’t it?”I see your point…but let’s focus, shall we, on the Sabres, who did start 6-0-1, but who are 0-2-1 in their three games to close out the month of October. Overall, where to the contestants rank?...First, we put those hits up there as an indicator that this isn’t likely to be a rock ‘em-sock ‘em sort of game. There is likely to be an up and down aspect to it that could be of advantage to the Caps, since their shot differential (5.4 shots-per-game to the good) is much greater than is Buffalo’s (-0.3 shots-per-game). Add that to the disparity in faceoffs won, and you would think one thing to look for is how well the Caps can tilt the rink toward Ryan Miller and the Sabres’ defense.Apart from that, there is the matter of whose will can be imposed on the other. The Caps would like to make this a 5-on-5 game. Their goals for/goals against ratio at five-on-five is markedly better than is Buffalo’s. On the other hand, Buffalo clearly has the better special teams play, both when having a man advantage and when down a man.The battle of wills also extends to who scores first. If the Sabres do, they usually win. If the Caps allow that first goal, they usually…win. The thing is, though, there is perhaps no more reliable indicator of which team will win an game than looking at who scores first. 27 teams have a winning percentage of .500 or better when getting the first goal. Washington, it is worth noting, is one of the three teams not in that group.Individually, a discussion of the Sabres might start with Thomas Vanek. The $50 million man (over seven years, as the Sabres matched an offer tendered by Edmonton last year) had something of a slump last year in the first year of his big contract. He dropped off by seven goals, 13 assists, and 20 points in finishing 36-28-64. The biggest drop of all was in his plus-minus number. After leading the league in that figure with a +47 in 2006-2007, he dropped off to a -5 last year that had him ahead of only Dmitri Kalinin and Maxim Afinogenov on his own team. It suggested that perhaps he was less his own talent and perhaps more of who he was surrounded by in 2006-2007 (Daniel Briere and Chris Drury having left Buffalo last year in free agency).Well, Vanek has come back with a vengeance. He leads the Sabres in goals (1st in the), points (T-10th in the), power play goals (T-4th), and shorthanded goals (T-1st). He has not been extraordinarily successful (3-5-8, +6 in 12 career games) against the Caps. He was held without a point in three games against Washington last year…but he was 2-3-5 in four games in 2006-2007.On the other side is Derek Roy. Perhaps no other player emerged from under the shadow of the departed Briere and Drury for the Sabres last year than did Roy. He improved his scoring from 21-42-63 in 2006-2007 to a 32-49-81 mark last year, getting an additional 2:31 of ice time a night. This year, Roy is leading all Sabre forwards in ice time per game (2:32 more than last year and more than five minutes more than two seasons ago), but he’s struggled. His 1-4-5 is good for only seventh in scoring on the team; his only goal an overtime game winner against Minnesota.At the other end of the ice, the Sabres are characterized by a balanced, mobile blue line. There is no real big hitter there, no top scorer, and none of the group emerges when there is a discussion of best-in-the candidates. But Jaroslav Spacek, Teppo Numminen, Tony Lydman, and Henrik Tallinder are all solid two way players. To that group was added Craig Rivet, presumably as a defensive anchor. However, Rivet had arthroscopic knee surgery recently and is out for this one.The other addition is intriguing. Andrej Sekera, who played in 37 games as a rookie with the Sabres last year, leads the Sabres in ice time this year. The trouble, perhaps, for the Sabres, is that in doing so, he’s been a minus player in six of his ten games and five of his last six. Not to say he’s the cause of such a result, but he’s been in the vicinity. One would think that if Rivet was in the lineup, Sekera would not be getting that amount of work (averaging almost 27 minutes a game since Rivet went out).The last line of defense for the Sabres is goalie Ryan Miller. Miller is staking an early claim to be considered among the league’s top goalies. He is fourth in the league in goals against (2.07), tied for sixth in save percentage (.928), and brings a record of 5-1-1 into this game. He did, however, lay an egg in allowing five goals on the first 30 shots he faced in a 5-2 loss to Tampa Bay on Thursday. His numbers against Washington are not as bright – 2.75 GAA and .900 save percentage, but he does have a 7-2-0 record in ten career appearances against Washington.The Peerless’ Players to PonderBuffalo: Maxim AfinogenovThe 29-year old forward has yet to score a goal this year (0-7-7). One might think this a slump, but his goal scoring dropped off from 23 (in 56 games) in 2006-2007 to ten (in 56 games) last year. He has one goal in his last 25 regular season games (1-12-13, -9). But, he is 8-10-18, +1 in 27 career games against the Caps. Which Afinogenov shows up tonight will likely be an important factor in whether the Sabres can break their losing streak.Washington: Brooks LaichLaich is likely to open on the left side of the top line, replacing Alex Ovechkin. Although Laich has only a single goal in his last seven games, his importance here might not be in scoring as much as it will be doing the dirty work to get the puck to Nicklas Backstrom and Viktor Kozlov. If he can pick up the garbage in front, all the better. Given that Buffalo doesn’t, as a rule, have an especially physical defense, he might get opportunities in that area.The Caps haven’t yet righted the ship after losing the first two games of the western road swing – their two wins have been shaky, to say the least. But they’ve found a way to scratch out extra points in both in extra time. That seems to be the formula for the moment, and in a hostile place that has been unkind to them lately (the Caps are 3-7 over the last five seasons in Buffalo), they’ll have to have their sandpaper out to scrape one out.Caps 3 – Sabres 2Source

Sabres vs. Caps: Stream of Consciousness

PREGAME So I know I promised some further thoughts about Thursday night's game but I'm just not sure what else there is to say. Charlie Brown just about covered it. It was hands down the worst game I've seen in person and one of the worst games I've seen the Sabres play since I started watching. At one point one of the girls in my group said, "They don't even want the puck," and that certainly appeared to be the case. The Sabres in no way resembled a professional hockey team. I'm confident that my class of first, second and third graders and I could have handily beat them the way they played Thursday night.I'm not jumping off a ledge yet but the last two games are eerily similar to the worst of last season: talented players trying to coast through games rather than working hard and then making excuses about not sticking to the system and being too cute at home. For the last time, you morons: NONE OF YOUR FANS CARE ABOUT HOW PRETTY YOUR GOALS ARE! WE WOULD JUST LIKE YOU TO APPEAR TO GIVE A RAT'S ASS ABOUT WINNING A GAME! WE REALLY DON'T CARE IF YOU BOUNCE THE PUCK IN OFF YOUR STUPID, STUBBORN HEADS AS LONG AS IT GOES IN THE NET! (AND NOT YOUR OWN NET, DUMMIES!)FIRST PERIODLindy Ruff has gone line change crazy. I don't know. On one hand, I do like Lindy leaping into action but I'm not sure about doing that much fiddling. Seems like it just gives these putzes another excuse to play poorly. "We're playing with different people wah wah wah." I have no idea how I would arrange the lines but I do know that I would put Tim Connolly with Maxim Afinogenov. I think they've always played well together and Timmy is one of the few people who really seems to be able to read and keep up with Max. I hate to defend Max too strongly but I really, really think part of his trouble the last season and a half has been that he's not playing with people who really complement him.Annnnd while I was making the above complaint, Thomas Vanek puts the Sabres up 1-0. Absolutely gorgeous pass off the boards from Andrej Sekera and Vanek puts those world class hands to good use, completely deking out Mike Green who got a pretty good pimp job in the pregame. I don't see the Caps enough to know how skilled Green is in the defensive zone but this is why I'm always suspicious of offensive defensemen.Oh, GOOD LORD! I've gotten used to Harry Neale but I cannot stand when he mixes up Paul Gaustad and Jason Pominville. They look nothing alike. They're nowhere close to the same size. They don't even come close to playing the same kind of game. It's insane. At any rate, the Sabres put on some good pressure and Jason Pominville ends up in the net. Nice try, Pommers but you gotta have the puck with you if it's going to count.Donald Brashear totally nails Henrik Tallinder in the face. Not cool, dude.Danny Paille makes a pass to Gaustad which gets tipped into the crowd and some jerk yanks the puck out of a kid's hand and doesn't even have the good sense to look sheepish about it. Not cool, dude.Tim Connolly really is infuriating. I've been complaining loudly to people around me that the Sabres shouldn't even bother putting him in the line-up because the team was doing fine without him (emphasis on was) but good grief, he really is talented. He just carried the puck down the ice, got tripped but kept possession of the puck and flipped a pass behind him while lying on the ice. That's... pretty good.And then on a 5-on-3, Timmy decides he's going to stick handle through all the Caps. It doesn't work. Harry helpfully reminds him that you don't need to stick handle through people when you have a two man advantage. Usually I wouldn't encourage anyone to listen to Harry but that does make sense. The Sabres recover and do a great job of moving the puck around and actually getting some shots through before Derek Roy does his best Jochen Hecht and banks it off the goalie's back to make the score 2-0, Sabres.I'm looking down, trying to send a text message when Jason Pominville busts out of his slump and makes the score 3-0. Mark bought me a little Tracfone just in case I ever find myself lying alone in a frozen parking lot with an appendage twisted in the wrong direction again and while I still never, ever use it for phone calls, I did recently discover that texting is pretty fun. I'm terrible at it though. It look me the last 6 or 8 minutes of the first period to send two texts, neither of which was very long.FIRST INTERMISSIONI can't tell you what's going on in the broadcast but I can tell how how The Godfather ends since that's what we're suddenly watching. Sweet, straight-arrow Michael is no more. Whoops! Spoiler alert!SECOND PERIODWow, it's nice going into the second period with a 3 goal lead, isn't it? It would be nice if we actually play hard this period too.Harry just said Rob Ray's name in a way that I can't duplicate in print but he sounded like a possessed robot and it immediately cracked both of us up here. Since I can't duplicate it it seems pretty stupid to even waste my time telling you about it but hey, it's my blog. Harry than goes on to say something completely indecipherable about team efforts and Mark says, "Sometimes listening to Harry do a game is like talking to my grandfather when he had Alzheimer's."The Sabres very sexily kill off a 5-on-3. Yay, penalty killing! Ryan got an assist from one of his posts but came up with some really nice saves of his own as well. Derek Roy and Andrej Sekera also looked particularly feisty. We look like a real live hockey team!During a TV timeout we flip to see who's on CBC and discuss which we'd choose: the Rangers, the Maple Leafs or death.The Caps take a dumb penalty and Harry reminds them that the difference between anger and danger is only one letter. I get a good laugh out of that because we have a poster that says that hanging in our cafeteria at school. The kids, like the Caps, do not seem to get the message.The Sabres don't seem to be working up quite as much offensive pressure this period - though they have been spending some time short-handed - but they don't look terrible either. I'll take that. And just as I type that, Harry says the Sabres are being out shot 12-1 this period so I know I'm not making that up. Still, we haven't given up any goals so I'm not going to freak out.With roughly 3 seconds left in the period Vanek scores to make it 4-0. Another really nice goal. He initially bounces the puck off the Cap in front of him but picks it right back up and puts it in the net.SECOND INTERMISSIONI run off to get some Coke and pretzels. ("These PRETZELS are MAKING me THIRSTY!")THIRD PERIODThe Coke and pretzel run takes longer than expected due to inefficient cashing at Walgreens and I miss the first four minutes. Sorry. I return just in time to see Sergei Federov take a hooking penalty. Which our power play does nothing with.Sekera tries to give up Ryan's shutout by turning the puck over to Michael Nylander right in front of the net but the goal post does its work again and the Caps are still scoreless for now. I am a little leery of how much time the Caps seem to be spending in our end of the ice however.I love these new Please Stop Smoking commercials. They are way better than the guy last season whose leg was so decomposed he could smell it. My favorite is the one that just aired with the guy getting out of bed in the morning. The part that really kills me is him sitting on the back of the toilet, pulling the toilet paper off the roll while looking at it with a perplexed expression. Although I do also really like him ironing his shirt while he's wearing it.Harry tells us that Vanek now currently leads the in goals and points after his showing tonight. He didn't score his 11th goal until December last season. Game 34. I like this season better.Danny Paille and Patrick Kaleta combine for a very nice goal to put the Sabres up 5-0. Paille made a sweet move to get around the Cap player in front of him, passed it off to Kaleta and then went straight for the net. Kaleta pulled in the pass and gave it right back. Mark and I were discussing earlier how we think Kaleta has more skill than a lot of people give him credit for. He's never going to be (good) Derek Roy but he's not Andrew Peters either. He has a long way to go but I think he's already improved as a hockey player since he first came up last season and might have a little more room to grow.I noticed Thursday night that the Sabres are now using Arcade Fire's Wake Up as the goal celebration song. I do like the song a lot and it has the sing-a-long quality you want in a goal song with all the oooooh-ohs but it's pretty slow and dirge like for a celebratory song, isn't it? Something peppier please, Sabres.(That's probably the last time you'll hear me comment on a song made in the last ten years that wasn't on country radio or a U2 song. I only know this one because word on the street during U2's last tour was that it played right before U2 came out so I wanted to know what it sounded like so I knew when to get excited. To this day, it reminds me of U2. But I do like the song. Also, I just checked tonight's player playlist - the typical blah choices - and Sabres.com staff, Loose Yourself? Really? That's one of my spelling pet peeves.)It's not the Caps night. I don't know if they just miss Alexander Ovechkin (who wouldn't?) or if it's just one of those nights where nothing works. Vanek comes within inches of a hat trick but can't dig the puck out from under Theodore's right leg pad.Thirteen Sabres have a point tonight. That's pretty good.RYAN MILLER GOT A SHUTOUT! I REPEAT, RYAN MILLER GOT A SHUTOUT! AND A REAL ONE, NOT THE RYAN MILLER KIND!POSTGAMERoy-Z and Pommers scored, the Sabres remembered how to play defense, Lindy looks happier, Mike Robitaille goes on and on about Roy-Z's supple hands, Tim Connolly appears to still be in one piece and the Rangers gave up 18 goals to the Leafs in the final minutes of the game for a loss. It does mean the Leafs winning but all in all, a pretty good night.Thomas Vanek is the bomb diggity, yo (Photo by Bill Wippert)Source

Pens v Blues (W 6-3)

Evidently no one took photos at this game. My apologies for the lack of good pictures. I could only find these few...We were told that practice this morning was light hearted, and Head Coach Michel Therrien used a hockey stick to "knight" Hal Gill and Rob Scuderi as November's alternates.FIRST PERIODThe Blues let the Pens know it was going to be a physical game pretty much right at the first drop of the puck. Keith Tkachuk nailed Matt Cooke as he went to the net causing Cooke to fly into goaltender Chris Mason and knocking the net off its moorings. Eric Godard and notorious hard hitter Cam Janssen had words. Bob Errey lamented the Pens' lack of physical presence in the new season saying, "You can't play this game walking around in daisies!" It soon became clear that Barret Jackman was given the task of staying on the possibly injured Sidney Crosby when Jackman toed the line with a couple of hard, late hits on Sid on a play that saw the Blues' captain, Eric Brewer, getting nailed with a hooking penalty. The Pens did not score due largely in part because of a handful of spectacular saves made by Mason.Sidney was looking pretty good at both ends of the ice despite the "undisclosed injury." Petr Sykora was in rare form tonight. He hit a Blues player after Marc-Andre Fleury made a save. But then Jackman fired a shot through traffic that Flower never even saw until it bounced all the way out of the tightly woven net. [Pens 0, Blues 1]It only got worse when Brooks Orpik was wrongly penalized for tripping (it was a beautiful, LEGAL hip check). Mad Max Talbot and Mike Zigomanis made a great shorthanded try that Mason stopped with his stick. Errey mentions that he believes Mad Max is playing with extra heart tonight because he's excited to be on Siddo's line. The Blues didn't score on their ill-gotten advantage. Errey then went on to explain that Sid and Max have a unique chemistry because of their friendship and the fact that they share many things in common (for instance, they both speak French). Errey added that it would be nice to see them paired up more often because of Max's insane energy and because his willingness to throw down when necessary shows that he wouldn't be afraid to protect his captain.Jay McKee was called for interference on Geno Malkin. FSN Pittsburgh showed this shot of Janne Pesonen in the Finnish Elite League sporting the top scorer's golden helmet. (With all the ads on his uniform, he looked like a Nascar racecar!)Jay McClement got a shorthanded chance but Flower stood tall. The Pens didn't score on their power play. Kris Letang sent a beautiful tape-to-tape lead pass to Saint Siddo, who sent a one touch pass to Miro Satan. Satan then tried to pass the puck back to Sid, but the puck bounced off a Blues defender's skate and right back to himself. He then promptly scored. [Pens 1, Blues 1]Seventeen seconds later, T.J. Oshie got it right back. [Pens 1, Blues 2] The period ended with the Blues enjoying the lead.FIRST INTERMISSIONPenguins equipment manager Dana Heinze took us deeper into the Pens' equipment vault. Today he showed us the Pens' team issued track suits and Reebok team shoes (complete with Pens logos on the tongue!), the pucks they store in the freezer, an old skate sharpener from the 1970's that remarkably still works, and one of Mario's old Nike skates. I would give up my first born child for 10 minutes alone in that basement. FSN Pittsburgh reporter Dan Potash told us that there's one more room that Heinze will show us in an upcoming game. I can't even imagine what other goodies he's got stashed down there!SECOND PERIODScuds made a spectacular diving poke check on David Perron at the start of the second period. Mad Max had an amazing shift - first, he set up Siddo for a backwards backhanded chance that went wide. Max got the puck back and set up Satan, whose shot was blocked by Mason. Max got to the puck first once more to set up Siddo again, but Mason shut the door on that chance again, too. Suddenly, we saw a visibly upset and hurt Letang making his way to the bench, yelling all the way. On the replay it was revealed that David Backes got away with a heavy slash on Letang's wrists. He received medical attention on the bench as Syko's stick broke on a slapshot attempt. Alex Goligoski finessed his way through several Blues players to the front of the net. He faked to the left and scored a beautiful tying goal. [Pens 2, Blues 2]Seconds later, the Blues appeared to get this one right back, too. However, the goal was immediately waved off because Tkachuk passed the puck with a high stick (which automatically kills the play) before the Blues player swept it in behind MAF. For some reason, the appeared to go to the War Room for review, which was confusing because the play was on a pass so it shouldn't have been eligible for review. After a brief wait, the ref skated out and pointed to center ice to set up the next faceoff, but the crowd misconstrued the signal as the "GOAL" signal and erupted in cheers. Their cheers soon turned to boos as they realized what was happening. We later found out that the play did NOT go to the War Room, and no one really knows what the delay was all about...Letang rejoined his teammates a short time later in time for Siddo to draw a penalty on Brewer for holding. Literally just as I was writing the words, "Is this a Penguins power play???" in my notes, Geno swooped in at the blue line and blasted a shot through McKee's legs and into the back of the net. [Pens 3, Blues 2]At this point, Errey and Paul Steigerwald had the following exchange:Errey: Only one player has more points [than Geno] and that's Marion Hossa.Steigy: Who?Errey: I don't know.And that was the end of it! No laughing, no other comments. They just changed the subject right back to the game. Nice! :D Only 37 seconds after Geno took the lead, Tyler Kennedy doggedly stayed with the puck and stuffed it in from the side. [Pens 4, Blues 2] Steigy wondered out loud if Washington Capital Alexander Semin would watch the highlights of Sid's amazing pass after having the day's "unbelievably stupid quote". The quote to which Steigy referred came from an interview with Dmitry Chesnokov of Sovetsky Sport during which Semin let the green monster of jealousy run loose:What's so special about [Crosby]? I don't see anything special there. Yes, he does skate well, has a good head, good pass. But there's nothing else.He's special because he plays this game better than EVERYONE....I think that if you take any player, even if he is "dead wood," and start promoting him, you'll get a star. Especially if he scores 100 points. No one is going to care about anyone else. No one is going to care whether he possesses great skill. Let's say you put someone in front of the net and let him deflect pucks in, and he scored 50 goals; everyone will say "Wow!" and then hand him a $10 million per year contract. That's what they like here.What an idiot. This doesn't even deserve a response because it is clearly a ploy to insert himself into the same stratosphere as Siddo, Geno, and Alex Ovechkin to gain greater fame. Need proof? The question that Semin was answering was, "Many people believe the Crosby/Malkin/Ovechkin rivalry is now the Crosby/Malkin/Ovechkin/Semin rivalry. Do you believe you're on that level of hockey stardom at this point in your career?" Pathetic. By the way, the Caps were destroyed by the Sabres tonight. They suffered a shutout loss in a game where the Sabres made 5 marks on the board.Anyhoo, Tkachuk hit a goalpost. Mad Max was penalized for hooking. Tkachuk took a page out of Backes's book and got away with a hard slash on Scudsi's wrists. He, too, had to receive medical attention on the bench. But he, too, was able to come back a few minutes later. Then, Mason was THISCLOSE to putting the puck into his own net as he swept the puck blindly behind himself. The Blues didn't score on their advantage.The Blues made a shady play by sending a player to the bench following an icing call against them, prompting Errey and Steigy to say that doing that should be a delay of game penalty. With only seconds left in the period, the Saint was whacking away at a loose puck when Alex Pietrangelo went after him. Siddo gave it right back to Pietrangelo, and that's when Backes went in to take Sid on. Syko rushed over to defend his captain. He even dropped his gloves and stripped off his helmet! Backes and Syko were given coincidental roughing penalties for the exchange.THIRD PERIODNeither team scored on the 4-on-4. Steigy and Errey must have invoked the Karma gods because Tkachuk was slapped with a delay of game penalty for taking too much time on the bench before the faceoff. On the ensuing Penguins power play, the Blues' backup goalie, Chris Holt, had to make a save from on the bench as a hard shot went over the boards and headed for the crowd. The Pens didn't capitalize on their advantage. Jordan Staal, who has been struggling as of late, fired a few shots wide tonight. At this point, though, he made a pass to TK that Steigy didn't appreciate. He said that he'd like to see Gronk try to take more shots and then compared Staal to Lemieux. Errey's response? He laughed in Steigy's face. (No offense to Staal, but that comparison really was laughable. Staal's a great player - there's no doubt about that - but he is BY FAR no Lemieux.)Under pressure, Gill lobbed the puck up and over the glass. He was given a delay of game penalty for his mistake. Less than a minute later, Tkachuk was called for hooking. He yapped all the way to the box. Neither team scored on the 4-on-4 nor on their abbreviated power plays. Patrik Berglund then fired a shot that Flower was able to block but not cover. The rebound went right back to Berglund, who promptly scored. [Pens 4, Blues 3]About 50 seconds later, Brooksie pitched in and helped his goalie by clearing the puck out of the crease. This led directly to Satan getting the puck and going with Max to the net. Satan left a drop pass for Max, who scored. [Pens 5, Blues 3]With a full 2:40 left in the game, the Blues took a gamble and pulled Mason in favor of the extra attacker. There wasn't a stoppage in play until :34.3 left in the game. Then, Geno did something completely selfless: he got the puck and had the lane to go to the empty net but instead dished it to his struggling teammate, Staal, so he could shake that damn monkey off his back! His first goal in 19 games may have been an empty netter, but he celebrated it just the same. [Pens 6, Blues 3] A few seconds later, Berglund rang a shot off the crossbar, but it didn't matter. The Pens got the well deserved WIN!GO PENS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!Source

A 33-year History of a Philadelphia Sports Fan

By Eric RednerThe Phanatic MagazineOn October 29 we all got to experience a feeling that many of us have never felt, and many have not felt for a long time: pure, unadulterated happiness thanks to a championship. I happened to be at a local establishment, and by that I mean a bar (shout out to Sweeney’s on Philmont Ave.), with several of my good friends, and several dozen others who became my friends throughout the night. When Brad Lidge threw strike three, the place, like the rest of the area, erupted in an orgy of cheers, beers and tears (of which I emitted a few). My phone was blowing up and, outside, people were blowing things up (alcohol and explosives make for a great combination). We spent the night celebrating as if it were Fourth of July, New Year’s and everyone’s birthday all at once. And then, I, like many others, spent the next day recovering. On Friday, we got to witness the first parade in this city in 25 years. Many of my friends got to make it down. I, unfortunately, had to work and was told that anyone who was scheduled that day and called out would be fired. So I enjoyed watching the players, along with Pat Burrell’s bulldog, and the fans make their way down Broad Street to the eventual celebration at the stadium. It was odd feeling the way I have for the past couple of days. It’s almost like this weight has been lifted off the chest of this city and the fans of its four teams. For the past week or so, it truly has been “Always Sunny in Philadelphia”. With that being said, I want to share with you my history as a Philadelphia sports fan. 1974 – The year I was born. Now I can’t say that I can remember anything from this time. One story, though, that my mother has told me has to do with her baby shower when she was pregnant with me. The shower was held at my grandparents house and while my mom and her friends held the party on the ground floor, my father and several of his friends along with my grandfather were in the basement watching Game Six of the Stanley Cup Finals. My mom told me that by the third period of the game, the party had moved to the basement to watch the Flyers win the Cup in their seventh year in the. So, technically, I was witness to a champion before I was born. 1975 – When I was roughly six months old, the Flyers won their second straight Cup. The only story I heard about that was there were several people where we were living watching the game, and I was told that I slept right through most of it, but woke up shortly before the end of the game and was raising bloody hell when everyone in the area started celebrating. Could this be the reason I like hockey so much? 1980 – All four teams competed for a title that year, but all I can remember is the Philadelphia Phillies. I was allowed to stay up that night to watch the game with my parents and their friends. What I do remember is the jubilation in our apartment and throughout the complex as everyone spent the night drinking, shooting off fireworks and having a good time. I wish I would have been a bit older to appreciate it more. 1983 – Before I go on I have to admit that I am not much of a basketball fan. Although, out of the four sports I played when I was younger (baseball, hockey, basketball and soccer), the only time I won a championship was when I played basketball. This turned out to be the last year the city experienced joy as the Sixers defeated the Lakers. I know me and my parents went to a lot of basketball games when I was younger and I liked the team, but I can’t say that I remember much of the night they won. I’m sure I was excited, but I just can’t recall any details. I do, though, remember later in the year being crushed when the Phillies lost to the Orioles in the World Series. At the time, I was in love with baseball and, since I pitched in Little League, my idol was Steve Carlton since we were both leftys. 1985 – The Flyers lost to the hated Oilers this season, but I didn’t pay much attention to this. Earlier in the year I had battled a life-threatening injury that kept my out of school for over a month and I had spent months afterwards recovering and catching up on school to make sure I didn’t get left behind a year. I’m sure if the Flyers had won the Cup I would have been happy, but I had more important things going on at the time to pay attention to anything else. 1987 – This was a big year for me. I was finishing up elementary school and looking forward to junior high school. It’s that time in a young boy’s life where you start to grow up and realize there is more to the world than the little society that is your family and friends. That being said, when the Flyers reached the Finals that year I was ecstatic. I didn’t know a single person that did not follow that team as they fought their way to the Finals to play the Oilers. All looked bleak after a Game 4 loss that saw the team down 3-1 heading back to Edmonton, but Rick Tocchet scored early in the third and the team held on to bring the series back to Philly. In Game 6, Edmonton took a quick lead, but the Flyers battled back and third period goals from Brian Propp and J.J. Daigneault forced a Game 7. In the final game, Murray Craven gave the Flyers an early lead, but Mark Messier tied it later in the first, Jari Kurri scored in the second period and Glenn Anderson sealed it with a little over two minutes to play. I cried. I threw my TV on the ground. I screamed and yelled and no one could console me. It was one of the most upsetting moments of my life at the time. Little did I realize that there would be greater things in life to be upset about, but at the time, a little boy’s dream had died. 1993 – A year out of high school and currently in college, I was a busy man at this time, but not busy enough to follow the story of one of the grittiest teams to ever grace sports, those ’93 Phightin Phils. This was an ugly team with Lenny Dykstra and his cheek full of chaw and John Kruk and his overall ugliness. But it also had its pretty boy in Darren Daulton, who my mom and several girls I knew absolutely loved. This team embodied what it was to be a Philadelphian. Hard-working, a little surly, but dedicated to their cause. I’m not going to recount to you every moment of the season, except for the two that I’m sure we all remember. First, Mitch Williams’ perfect ninth inning in Game 6 capped on his high fastball that struck out Bill Pecota to send the Phils to the World Series for the first time in 10 years. I was at my friend Jack’s house for that moment, along with his family (which included his gorgeous sister who I was infatuated with), and several friends. When that third strike came, it was one of the greatest celebrations that I ever witnessed. Then came the World Series and again the moment revolved around Williams, but this time he served up a home run ball to Joe Carter and the drought continued. While I was upset at the time, it had still been only 10 years since a championship and we had seen two title runs by the Flyers. Surely I wouldn’t have to wait much longer. 1997 – This was the year when the drought was starting to hit home. The Eagles seemed to always be just a bit away from a real playoff run, the Phillies were in the middle of a 13-year run without a playoff appearance and the Sixers, well, can’t really say I cared about them either way. But the Flyers, well, that was the team that had my heart. By this time in my life hockey was my passion. I played roller hockey on an almost daily basis, watched hockey whenever it was on, and, when it wasn’t on, I played hockey on Playstation. With that being said, the 1996-97 hockey season was exciting. The Flyers had been a force through the season and it appeared that the Eric Lindros trade might finally pay off. The team ripped through the playoffs with five game victories over the Penguins, Sabres and Rangers, who thankfully took care of the hated Devils in the previous round. However, I was still worried once it was known that we would face the Red Wings. Being in Philadelphia for 22-plus years at this point had turned me into a pessimist and since most experts were picking Philadelphia to win, I was very skeptical. Turns out I was right. This was a depressing loss cause everything seemed to be going the Flyers’ way and it just felt like their year. What made it worse, was my best friend at the time was a Detroit fan. He didn’t rub it in, but I remember him saying to me, “Those Philly teams will always disappoint you when it matters most.” 2001 – I know the Sixers went to the Finals against the hated Lakers this year, but I could have cared less. I am just not a fan of basketball. What I do remember from this series is watching the first game at the house of a friend of my girlfriend. The parents of this girl were very much the Philadelphia sports fans. They were pumped for this game and after the win there were bold proclamations of a sweep of the Lakers. However, most of us know what happened in the next four games, I can’t really say that I did because I didn’t really care. 2005 – Just a month after celebrating the New Year, the Philadelphia area was celebrating the Eagels’ first Super Bowl appearance since 1980. To get to the big game, the Eagles had to battle the Falcons in frigid conditions with a sub-zero wind chill on gameday and a brutal snowstorm the night before. Look, I haven’t been a big football fan since the late 1990’s and while I was excited that the Eagles were there, for me it was just an excuse to have a good time. I had to work until 5 pm on the day of the Super Bowl and after work I went to the bar and met several friends there. I remember watching the game, I remember Paul McCartney during the halftime show, I remember Donovan McNabb throwing up, and I remember it being a close game. But aside from that, I can’t really tell you anything about the game. What it did do to me was increase my belief that I would never live to see a Philly championship. 2008 – See above. This is by no means a complete account of my history as a Philadelphia sports fan, just the championship games. There have been many magical moments in my 33 years of watching Philadelphia sports. The Buddy Ryan-led Eagles were fantastic to watch. Charles Barkley’s antics while in the city were both fun and frustrating to hear about. Defending the honor of the city for commentators and other fans calling us the worst city in sports. The last thing I would like to share with you, though, is one of my proudest moments of attending sports. Late in the 1992-93 season I was called by a friend early in the morning. He told me his girlfriend was sick and asked me if I would like to see the Flyers play the Penguins. It was another disappointing season for Philadelphia as the team was about to miss the playoffs for a fourth straight year. The Flyers won the game, which was nice, but at the end of the game the crowd gave Pittsburgh superstar Mario Lemieux a standing ovation. Lemieux had just finished radiation treatment for Hodgkin’s lymphoma earlier in the day and had missed the past two months due to the treatment. His first game back was against the Flyers and the fans, who are generally considered the worst in sports (mostly from writers and other fans who have never been to this city), stood in applause to recognize a testimony to what human beings can do when they set their minds to it. Thank you Phillies, thank you from the bottom of my heart for bringing this happiness to not only me, but to all my friends and family and everyone else in this area who have been starved for so long for what you brought to us. Source

The Peerless Prognosticator is ON THE AIR!!! -- Caps vs. Senators, November 4th

The Peerless Prognosticator is ON THE AIR!!!The Caps are back at it on this Election Day in the United States, and the Caps are casting their absentee hockey effort in Ottawa to take on the Senators. The Caps are coming off a grisly 5-0 loss in Buffalo on Saturday, and this opponent isn’t likely to be any easier…“They’ll be as hard as the sod in west Texas in July.”Why, it’s Dan Rather. Dan, you’re usually manning the anchor desk on election night. Shouldn’t you be covering the campaigns?"Well, yeah, but like we used to say, if a frog had side pockets, he'd carry a handgun."*Makes you want to avoid French restaurants. But Dan, I didn’t know you were a hockey fan. Any special insight on this one between the Caps and the Senators?“We need Billy Crystal to Analyze This.”Well, there’s only the two of us tonight. What about the Caps? Most folks had them as a potential Stanley Cup contender this year, but they’ve stumbled a bit out of the gate. Your take?"You know that old song, 'it's delightful, it's delicious, it's de-lovely' for the Caps in most areas of the country. However, they had a slight hitch in their giddy up, but they corrected that."You’re talking about the practice Coach Bruch Boudreau put them through on Sunday morning…“You could say that like in southern states, he beat them like a rented mule.”A lot of folks have pointed to the Caps taking a lot of penalties and some below par goaltending. Do you agree?“You look at them and think they’re thinking, ‘"We don't know what to do. We don't know whether to wind a watch or bark at the moon.’"Do you think the Caps can turn things around?"Let's see where it goes from here. Round and round it goes, where it stops nobody knows."A lot of the focus has been what’s going on down on the ice, but do you think the front office is thinking of pulling the trigger on a deal? George McPhee doesn’t often tip his hand, but do you think he’s working the phones?"Is it like a swan, with every feather above the water settled, but under the water paddling like crazy?"What about Ottawa…they’re last in the Northeast."This situation in Ottawa would give an aspirin a headache. No question now that the Senators are rapidly reaching the point where they’ve got their backs to the wall, their shirttails on fire and the bill collector's at the door."The early season has a lot of prognosticators looking pretty bad…"It's one reason so many of them drink a lot."Well, that’s our cue to get to the game at hand. The Caps and the Senators come into this game as two of what might be identified as underachievers in the season’s young stages. Combined, the clubs are 9-9-3, with 62 goals scored, 63 alllowed. The term “mediocre” immediately springs to mind…Ottawa’s problems are not in their special teams. Being top-ten in both power play and penalty killing would be, you would think in this new, a sure-fire recipe for success. It’s just that the Senators have been such a gawd-awful team at even strength. Here is your fun stat as far as that goes. Ottawa has scored only five even strength goals in the first period in 11 games so far – three of them came in a single game (a 6-3 win against Phoenix on October 17th). That leaves two even strength goals scored in the first period in ten other games. Make you want to sneak into the Caps locker room before the game and write on the white board in big block letters…NO TAKING STOOPID PENALTIES EARLY!!!If you’re looking at Ottawa on an individual basis, you’re tempted to think they should change their name from the “Senators” to the “Comedians.” Why, because they're just a one liner of a team (we kill us…). Here’s what we mean…-- The top line of Dany Heatley, Jason Spezza, and Daniel Alfredsson has combined to score a total of 15 of the 31 goals the team has scored.-- They have combined for a total of 35 points. The rest of the team – 17 other skaters having dressed -- has 50.And here is an indirect indicator of the dominance of the top line – Filip Kuba. Kuba has 12 points, tied with Spezza for second on the club. Of those 12 points, all are assists. Here is how they break down…-- Eight of them are on goals scored by the top line (three Heatley goals, three Alfredsson goals, and two Spezza goals)-- Eight of those assists are on the power play (three on goals by Alfredsson, two on goals by Heatley, one on a goal by Spezza).The disappointments thus far from the Senators don’t take a lot of looking to find. Antoine Vermette was a player that might have been looked to for a big breakthrough season on the heels of his 24-goal year last year. Certainly the Senators thought so, giving him a two-year, $5.525 million contract (thus avoiding arbitration that might have resulted in a bigger payday). But while has been launching shots in an almost Ovechkinian fashion (38 in 11 games), Vermette has but has two goals to show for it. In 15 career games against Washington, Vermette is 2-2-4, -8, with a shorthanded goal.Mike Fisher has had to deal with a groin injury that caused him to miss a couple of games in mid-October, but in the nine games he has played in, he has yet to register a point and is a minus-5. In 20 career games against the Caps, Fisher is 7-6-13, -5, with three power play goals, a shorthanded goal, and a game-winner.In goal, one would think Alex Auld has taken over the top spot in the Senators’ nets. He brings a 3-2-1, 2.15, .931 record into the game, and perhaps more importantly for the short term, has been the goalie getting the call in the last four games for the Senators. Ominously enough for Caps fans, he’s allowed four, three, two, and one goal in those four games. Clearly, a shutout is in the offing (uh, that’s a joke, dear reader). He hasn’t been especially successful against the Caps, though. In six career games, he is 2-2-1, 2.57, .899, but he has authored a shutout (a 6-0 win while with Vancouver in 2003).The Peerless’ Players to PonderOttawa: Anton VolchenkovIt isn’t often that a player with two points and a minus-4 in 11 games would get such attention, but Volchenkov has been something of a shot-blocking machine. Last year, despite missing 15 games, he finished second in the league. He led the league by a whopping 45 blocked shots the previous year. For a club that doesn’t have the top-notch goaltending you’d expect of a contender, this guy could be the goalie’s best friend on the ice and could serve to frustrate Caps looking to get pucks on net.Washington: Alex OvechkinOvechkin returns in this game from a hiatus to help care for his ailing grandfather in Russia. He is also burdened with having gotten off to a slow start – tied for 189th in scoring at 2-3-5. But Ovechkin has made the Senators his personal scrimmage club, going 10-9-19, +6 in 12 career games. He’s had three power play goals, a shorthanded goal, two game-winners, and a four goal night in his brief career against Ottawa. If Ovechkin is going to shake his early season difficulties, this could be as good as any a team against which to do it.Ottawa, as a club that was a perennial contender in this decade, seems to be extending their disappointing play that emerged in the second half of last season. The Caps, the hot finisher last spring and darling of the hockey punditocracy in the pre-season, hasn’t exactly electrified the league. Something has to give. The Senators have incentive here – they lost all four games to the Caps last year, giving up 22 goals in the process. But the flip side of that is that the Caps might have this club’s number in terms of exploiting its defense and goaltending.Well, Dan, whaddya think…will the Caps’ll win tonight?"No one is saying that Washington is not going to win this game, and if you had to bet the double-wide, you'd have to bet that they'd win."We would too…Caps 5 – Senators 3Oh, and by the way...Get out and vote!!!* Based on actual Dan Ratherisms…swear to God. Source

Miller Posts Another Shutout

Ryan Miller posted back-to-back shutouts for the first time in his career and became the Sabres' first netminder since Marty Biron in 2003 to accomplish the feat. Who deserves the credit? Miller does, definitely, but his teammates have helped him make it look easy. The Sabres are back to playing Lindy Ruff's style, which calls for scoring first and shutting down the opposition later. Buffalo totally dominated the first period tonight, took a little nap during a stretch of the second but shut down the Devils in the third. Miller looked quiet in net, which is always a good sign. He wasn't caught out of position all night and in making 24 saves. He hasn't allowed a goal in 135 minutes since he had that disastrous start against Tampa Bay last week. With the way the Sabres were playing defense around him, especially in the third period, it seemed he could have played another 10 periods without giving up a goal. OK, so the Devils didn't have all their top guys, including Martin Brodeur. Goaltending was the least of the Devils' problems. Kevin Weekes was fabulous in net. Every team in the league is forced to battle injuries. Not to sound like a homer -- I think you folks know better -- but it's not as if the Sabres have been healthy all year. Paul Gaustad missed the great start. Craig Rivet came back after a five-game absence. Broken Jochen Hecht hasn't played since the second game. It raises an interesting question: What happens when Jochen comes back? It looks like he'll return Friday. Do they play him? Yes, I know, I'm rambling. --- Bucky Gleason Online Surveys & Market ResearchSource

Alright! Michel Ouellet clears re-entry waivers!

The Canucks have called up the skilled forward from Manitoba and he has surprisingly cleared re-entry waivers. I didn't think he'd go un-claimed. In 10 games with the Moose this season, Ouellet has 4 goals and 10 points. What's not to like? He is leading the team in points.So does that mean that Jason Krog is out of the Canucks' lineup tonight? Krog was replacing the injured Jannik Hansen last game. **UPDATE** He has been sent down to Manitoba as per TSN.** Maybe Mike Brown sits? I don't think the Canucks have lost anyone else have they? Doubt it.On to tonight's game against the Predators.A disturbing stat from Canucks.com: After three power play goals allowed to the Red Wings on Sunday, the Canucks have now surrendered three-or-more power play goals in a single game more times this season than in all of last season combined. Is that sick or what? What in the blue hell is going on here? Answers:1. New personnel on the ice2. New personnel behind the bench3. Roberto Luongo is not up to his dominant form yetAs for the Predators, they are not to be underestimated. When JP Dumont bolted from the Sabres for a huge raise I thought he'd turn into a shitbag. Well he's the opposite. JP has 2 goals and 14 points in 11 games so far, leading the team. Since he joined the Preds a few years ago, his stats have steadily increased from his years in Buffalo, and each season has been a career year for him.He has no PP goals yet this season. He scored 7 last year, 5 the year before, and 9 the year before that. Hell, the way the Canucks kill penalties, JP could break out in scoring tonight.-And how about Shea Weber? The defenceman has 5 goals and 12 points in 11 games. Don't think he won't be jumping in on the rush all night.-Smithers' own Dan Hamhuis seems to be struggling in the stats category with only 3 assists and a -5 in 11 games so far.Predator Stats- Nashville sits right below Vancouver in goals per game in 7th spot (3.27)- They allow a lot of goals against per game as well. They sit in 25th spot allowing 3.36 per game. The Canucks are 20th allowing 3.17 on average.- Nashville's power play is 18th at a 16.4% accuracy. The Canucks are 15th at 18.3%.- The Preds and Canucks are also close in penalty killing futility.The Preds are coming off 2 wins against Florida on the 1st and Edmonton on October 30th. They allowed only 3 goals in that span and scored 6. Should we be afraid? Yes and no. It's hard to say really. As has been the theme of the year so far: which Canucks team shows up tonight? If you're a betting man, I'd take Nashville to win tonight, especially considering how the Canucks perform after emotional games against teams like Detroit for example. But you never know. I don't think the Canucks want to fall too far below 500 either, they lost their last game and do have home ice advantage, if that means anything. Maybe another positive for Canucks fans? Check out the Preds' goalie stats. Not that impressive. OK, so flip a quarter to pick the winner. Fuck it.Go Canucks! And go Michel Ouellet! This guy could raise a few eyebrows. He may look like a Matt Cooke with better hands.Game Time: 7:00 PSTTV: TSN (good)In the meantime...A CANUCKS MOVIE??? Source