"Just saw the Sabres beat the Bruins at the F-ing A"

First Niagara Bank has just signed the contract deal to change the name of the Sabres home Arena from HSBC. The First Niagara Arena or the "F-ing A" is just another change this exciting off season in western New York.

Tibs v. Wings

The last of the second round series to go and the only one to get to 7 ends tonight. How could the Sharks lose 4?(Ask the 2010 Bruins) How could the Wings lose the decider?(Ask the 1994 Wings) Go TIBS!

Pronger Out for Game 1

Danny Briere has opened up in an interview today "No body knows when he will be ready...I don't think he'll be back for the first game."

Miller Out Tonight 3/30/2011

Sources Close to the Buffalo Sabres stated that Ryan Miller will not be in the line up tonight in the crucial match up against the Blue shirts. Jhonas Enroth 3-1-1 will get the call.

A Devilish twist

27 games: 22W, 3L and 2 OTL/SOL  translates to six points out of a playoff spot. Wait, what?? Come again…

It's become a little surreal to witness the Devils come back from - quite literally, the dead. They were written off, what feels like months ago at this point, as a top lottery team.  And this in of itself was a bit of a shock to the hockey world. For as long as Martin Brodeur has tended goal for the Devils, they have been a team to be reckoned with.  So, to see the Devils not be competitive, at the very least came as a huge surprise considering their heavy investment into one of the world’s greatest offensive talents. Ilya Kovulchuk was supposed to complement an already balanced offense and sturdy defense into a serious contender. The Russian superstar signed a deal to lace it up until the year 2025 for 100 million dollars (well,  after a lengthy contract controversy, Kovulchuk actually originally sold his soul to the Devils until the year 2027)!

Half a season later, it clearly didn’t quite work out the way they expected it to play out. And thus, as is typical for the NHL, a change had to be made, and the easiest way to do that is to oust the coach as the scapegoat.  So, out the door went John MacLean and in came – yeah, you guessed it, a very familiar face -- the guy who only just retired earlier last summer, Jacques Lemaire. The New Jersey Devils were 9-22-2 when they made the coaching change. But for a little while, the change didn't seem to help them out much and really hit rock bottom at 10-29-2. Then suddenly... 22 wins in 27 games.

Teams are scared to play the Devils now, when only a few weeks ago, they were easily circled in the dressing room calendar as an easy win. To see how the Devils have taken their season from the graveyard into the bubble playoff team mix is remarkable. And this turnaround has been a full team effort – their coveted superstar winger has completely turned his season around during this stretch and Hedburg has really stepped in well for the injured Martin Brodeur -- but Marty is healthy again, and they are still winning. Four of their 5 losses during this 27 game stretch were 1 goal defeats (two being in OT). They only have one loss by more than a goal during this stretch and that was to the Detroit Red Wings (not really that bad of a loss).

The Devils seem to really have the Hockey God's on their side right now. They could have easily tanked the season a while ago, but they haven’t seemed too fond with that idea whatsoever. For this Devils team, there is no “sneaking” into the playoffs. If they get that coveted 8 spot, everybody will know it and everybody will have seen it coming at this point.

As of right now, no one really knows how far NJ can continue to pump out wins. And that's what many said when the Devils were "sellers" at the trade deadline. So with the regular season hitting its final stretch, as a majority of the teams only a dozen games left to go, can the Devils defy all odds and shock the hockey nation?

Soon we’ll find out what the Devils are really made of, but right now, I wouldn’t bet against them.  And if I am any of the top 3 teams in the east, I would not want to face a red-hot Devils team.

Stay tuned…

Hypocritical empty threats

Mario Lemieux was a great hockey player, no doubt. In fact, for a brief moment, if you forget how incredibly fortunate he has been as the current owner of the team he unintentionally sent into a bankruptcy tail spin and subsequently transformed into world champions, one can say he's equally a great owner in the same right. But there has always been this feeling that his sacred Penguins have been pampered by the league as a respect to the owner who was arguably the greatest forward to play the game.

For a team who finds it necessary to pay the salary for one of the grimiest punks in the league, maybe he should step back and think about the players he chooses to employ before lashing out at the league. What more does he wish from the league as a response to what he found as a “travesty” for the state of the sport? Islanders players were suspended. The team was fined. Does he expect them to be contracted from the league and done away with forever? Did he think the punishment was not severe enough for the crime? Maybe he’s a little bitter that his all star tandem are out long term and he’s taking it out league. I don’t know but it’s a bit surprising that he became this vocal about the matter. Not.

So, Mario, cry me a river. All this time, I wondered to myself where and how his franchise savior turned into a gigantic whiner. But maybe in my respect for the player who dominated the game when he wasn’t battling devastating injuries and cancer, I simply chose to forget about how much of a giant cry baby he was when he still laced it up. Clearly, some things just don’t change and it’s become quite obvious that he’s taught Sidney Crosby the art of being an enormous baby.

Perhaps, it’s tough for one to really have much sympathy for the guy – he’s been successful in just about every aspect of the sport and it has all been well documented. He essentially was handed the franchise for free. Maybe he should be a little grateful before suddenly becoming so anti-NHL. But let’s get serious now for a moment. Do you think he would give a rat’s ass if this happened between, say the lowly Florida Panthers and the Columbus Blue Jackets? I’m willing to wager he doesn’t even know who plays for either of those teams, much like most of the casual NHL fan. So, hypocrite much? Yeah, just a tad bit.

Maybe I’m sitting in some sort of minority, but I thought what happened Friday night was pure entertainment and what makes hockey so different than the other big sports in the USA. It's unfortunate everyone did not skate away injury free. In the end, the league did what they thought was necessary and on par with how they've handled situations similar to this in the past.

So Mario, if you decide to leave the league, I hope someone makes sure the door hits you on the way out. But your empty threats are just that, empty.

Hockey 3

I pity the fool.