Posts Tagged ‘playoffs’
Playoff Beards and Playoff Chances
Thursday, April 8th, 2010 5:11 pm
My all-time favorite beard may be Olympic swimmer Amanda Beard, who posed for Playboy a couple years back, but in a very close second would have to be the Playoff Beard. Not shaving while your team is in the playoffs connects one to the team itself. Like wearing a jersey or having a flag on your car, but much more bad-ass. I have only been able to do the Playoff Beard once, the shaky playoff run in 2007 after winning the President's Trophy. Over a month of not shaving becomes noticeable for people like me, and after being compounded with a couple things (the Flyers finishing dead last, the Penguins being eliminated), I felt like the coolest cat on the Penn State campus. For those of us who have wives, girlfriends, or simply a job in which one interacts with people or wears a suit, growing copious amounts of facial hair is indeed a sacrifice, one made to show our determination for Buffalo to win a Stanley Cup.
Playoff Flashback: 2006
Wednesday, April 7th, 2010 9:09 pm
Remember, this was the team that beat us 5-0, 6-1 and 10-4 early in the regular season, a team that ripped through the conference on its way to 113 points and the top seed in the playoffs. Sure, we had done well getting through a slow Philadelphia team built on brute force, but Ottawa was an unstoppable force, simply extending the series past five games would be something to build on.
Best Wins of the 00′s, Number Three
Sunday, January 31st, 2010 3:44 pm
It was a frustrating time for Sabres Nation. The march to the Stanley Cup finals was not supposed to be this difficult for a team that had led the league in goals scored on their way to the President's Trophy. The team had dispensed of the New York Islanders in five workman-like games, and had taken the first two games of the next series, which were played in Buffalo. The Sabres were going to finish off a sweep- or at worst, another five game win- and head on to the conference finals, one step closer to the Stanley Cup the team had spent all year putting reservations on. Suddenly, however, someone pulled the power on the Sabres' high powered offense.
Top Wins of the Decade: Number Four
Tuesday, January 5th, 2010 11:47 pm
The story is pretty well known by now. Following the game five loss in Raleigh, coach Lindy Ruff left his cell phone behind in the hotel room and would depart for Buffalo without it. Upon receiving a call from the hotel offering to mail it back to him, Ruff replied something along the lines of "don't worry, we'll be back on Thursday" (the presumptive day of game seven). By this time the buzz around Western New York was electric, the birth of the car flag craze, the storefronts and signs normally reserved for advertisements now bearing messages wishing the Sabres well on their improbable run to the Stanley Cup Finals. Sure, we trailed 3-2 and sure, Carolina had previously won all four of the Game 6's they had played while in that position, but aside from feeling that there was still some magic left in the tank, there was a prevailing notion that had evolved over the series that Carolina just wasn't that good.
Top Wins of the Decade: Number Five
Monday, December 28th, 2009 10:43 pm
For a team that was quite unimpressive before a lockout canceled the 2004-2005 season, it was amazing what a few rule changes could do for the Sabres, who skated to a forth seeded finish, which could have been higher had we not been blessed with being in the same division as Ottawa, but that is neither her nor there. The first round matchup with the Flyers was the clash of new versus old, of the establishment versus the upstart, of the traditionalists versus the innovators. While the Sabres had adapted to the new rule changes and offensively thrived, the Flyers maintained their pre-lockout style of intimidation and brute strength on their way to a fifth seeded finish, setting up the third playoff matchup of the decade between Buffalo and Philadelphia.
Top 5 of the Decade: Worst Losses
Tuesday, December 15th, 2009 11:47 pm
One warning, some of these lists may cause strong feelings of disdain and melancholy, and this one is certainly one of them, which is why it will lead us off and give us plenty of time to forget. The criteria was based on pain and disappointment, not by score, and if you feel rightly depressed being brought back to these dark days, just remind yourself the Sabres are at the top of the Northeast Division coming off last night's great win at Montreal. Even if that will provide little solace.