“Sabres and Senators at it again.”

This week’s Puck Stop. Check it out!

Plus, Peter and I and our editor Geoff Kelly offer our round three predictions.

You remember Bruce Garrioch?

This loathsome piece of crap from the Ottawa Sun is lionized up in Canada as some brilliant hockey columnist, but my first and only recollection of him is getting his pudgy ugly mug on MSG two days after Chris Neil blindsided Chris Drury and sent him to the injury list. Garrioch went toe to toe with Kevin Sylvester and Rob Ray justifying the hit and making his weak and lame arguments for his Senators, a discussion which had many WNY Sabres fans fuming and screaming at their TV sets.

Well Garrioch is on his way to Buffalo, and apparently he is hopping in his car and driving, since John Muckler kicked the media off of the team charter.

From Garrioch’s blog…
Off to Buffalo.
The Sun team - Don Brennan, Chris Stevenson, Sean McKibbon and your hero - are headed to Buffalo to cover the big series against the Buffalo Sabres. I told Brennan I was bringing my computer and he told me not to forget my cooler. So we packed both. With flight connections tough between Buffalo and Ottawa _ and since Senators GM John Muckler gave the media the boot from the club charter - the five hour drive is the easiest way to get o Buffalo.
Look, I know a lot of people dump on the place, but’s actually a good city that we like to visit. Might even drop by the Anchor Bar (the original home of the chicken wing) where my picture is posted on the wall eating wings at 8 a.m. with CFRA’s Steve Madely in 1997.
Should be fun.

Garrioch’s mug is on the wall at the Anchor Bar? Ewww what an appetite killer that is!

So will Bruce Garrioch be this year’s Ned Barnett? Time will tell, and we will be watching and providing updates!

Did you catch this story in the News today. Gee, isn’t that nice….at least Ft. Erie is kinda sorta rooting for the Sabres….

One quote in particular that galls me…..

“Go Ottawa, anybody but Buffalo,” Fort Erie resident Christine Carty said Tuesday. “I like Toronto, but Toronto’s not in, so you have to go with the Canadian team.”

Why Christine? Can you please explain to me why you have to root for a team in Ottawa, that more than any other club(except maybe the 90’s Wings) built itself into a consistent playoff contender using players from just about every country on Earth EXCEPT Canada. Not to mention as a Leaf fan(allegedly) your hated rival.

Daniel Alfredsson….Anton Volchenkov….Oleg Syprekin….remember the old Sens with Alexei Yashin…Zdeno Chara….Hasek. I could go nuts with this….if a purely Canadian team was a GM, then this club has been a Toyota building its team with foreign born parts.

Oh yes, remember when your goalie Ray “McGahee” Emery stunk up the joint so bad in last season’s playoffs? Yep the Sens went out and got Martin Gerber….real Canadian boy there.

Message to Canadian hockey fan….and particular Leaf fan in Southern Ontario. You NEVER root for a hated arch rival, especially not in the postseason! Does Yankee fan root for the Red Sox against the Jays??? NO!!!!!

Go to a Jays game at SkyDome when the Yanks or Sox are in town. Do you think the visiting team’s fans there are simply there to cheer against the Jays since they play on Canadian soil! No, it’s simply their favorite team.

Listen, I get the whole complex that Canadian fans may have about us and that a team on their soil winning the championship in “their sport” means plenty(way too much). But hey, baseball is America’s pastime and basketball is the one game that is played the world over that Americans dominate, but we sure as heck didn’t slap high fives when the Raptors were eliminated from the NBA playoffs last week nor do we snicker when the Jays come up short year in and year out.

Message to Canadian hockey fans….save your patriotism for international competitions….the Olympics, World Cup, World Championships. It has no place in the Stanley Cup playoffs.

We have been told that Sal Maglie Stadium has gotten a really nice facelift, and this season will be the host venue for a NEW baseball team… the Niagara Power of the New York Collegiate Baseball League. Their season begins on Friday June 8.

Tim Schmitt at the Niagara Gazette gives us the poop with today’s article.

Here’s another bulletin… Peter grew up cheering for his dear Elmira Pioneers at beautiful historic Dunn Field in Elmira, his childhood team which once played at AA, then in the NY-Penn League, before going into the Independent Northern League. That team is also long gone, but the current version of the Pioneers now play in the NYCBL.

Hmm…I’m checking the schedule and I don’t have to look far.. Elmira Pioneers at Niagara Power, Sunday, June 10 at 7PM. Got the calendar already circled…and if you do go on that date and see some shirtless guy in the stands wearing a Davy Crockett style hat, his face painted in Pioneers blue and gray, and “GO PIOS” emblazoned on his chest, stop on by and say “Hi Peter!”

Last year it was the appearance of “Dora The Explorer” which threatened to disrupt the playoff game schedule between the Buffalo Sabres and the Ottawa Senators.

This year, it’s the possibility of a strike by 61 Scotiabank Place operations employees, and according to this report in the Ottawa Sun, such a walkout could really mess things up as the teams prepare to do battle in Ottawa next week.

We all know the ticket situation here in Buffalo… with a season ticket base now capped at 14,800, few “additionals” available to season ticket holders, and no window sales, the single ticket buyer has had to scramble to find their way into HSBC Arena.
“Window prices”, which is a bit of a misnomer, has tickets for round 3 starting at $90 and climbing to $250 for 100 level sidelines and clubs.

But the situation in Ottawa is far different. While the Senators have sold out all their playoff games this postseason, it has been a relatively easy ticket, and tickets for game 4 against New Jersey were available to walk up customers the day of the game.

Check out the pricing chart on the Ottawa Senators website. Tickets run from $86.21 - $217.24 (prices in Canadian dollars which these days doesn’t mean much). They go onsale Monday at 10 AM. It’s a 330 mile hop to Kanata… hope Sabres fans are paying attention and jump on these seats! Because you know damn well that the Ians and Brents and Trevors from Welland and Stevensville are going to be in our building this week cheering on their *harumph* beloved Sens.

I watched almost the entire game at WNYM headquarters on Elmwood and got to enjoy seeing firsthand all the “open thread” comments coming in on Bfloblog. Peter couldn’t make it down but joined us on the thread as well. It was a kickass time!

How would you like a sports writing job that takes you tens of thousands of miles across the Northeast each year? To minor league and junior hockey venues, minor league baseball, NHL and other events? For Buffalo native Dan Hickling, this is indeed his assignment, and he has become an institution in media rooms across the sports spectrum.

Dan now lives with his beautiful wife Deb outside of Portland, Maine, is the 9th generation of “Dan Hicklings” and is known as “Dan the 9th”. His newest grandson, “Dan the 11th” was born a few years back.

As a sportswriter, his primary gig is with the Providence Journal, where he covers the Boston Bruins, Providence Bruins and Pawtucket Red Sox. He also free lances for many other publications and websites, and it is that work that takes him on the road for roughly half the year, and that includes regular visits here to Dunn Tire Park, as well as to Sabres gmes when the Bruins come to town.

Dan might no longer live in WNY, but his sports heart is with our teams here. Back in 2004, he predicted the Bisons would win the IL North by ten games and go on to win the Governors Cup. They did just that. He is unashamedly a Sabres fan and follows the team closely from afar.

As we have traveled across the region, Dan has often offered us his advice and material support to assist us in our journeys… everything from who to talk to to get credentials/interviews etc… to where the best media food is… he has introduced us to more than a few media celebrity types. In 2004 we attended the AHL All Star Game in Manchester NH, and as we’re talking with Dan and running down our itinerary, which included a Providence Friars basketball game at the Dunkin Donuts Center, Dan said “what do you mean you guys don’t have press passes for that!? Call so and so, better yet, email him and mention my name and he’ll take care of you!” So we email this guy, mention Dan’s name, and sure enough, there were two press credentials at the door for the game, and one of the most awesome media spreads we’ve ever enjoyed on the USRT!

Dan loves his work… and everyone who knows Dan loves the guy. Having a good friend like him is what makes doing this all so worthwhile. Still left on the USRT “to do” list is a AA Portland Seadogs game. We’re hoping that once we do get up there, we catch “pesto night at the Hicklings.” Deb will then have to set two extra places at their dinner table, because we are crashing!

How’s this for a line score…

Pawtucket 3 1 2 2 0 0 0 1 5 / 14 / 12 / 4

Buffalo….. 0 0 5 0 1 0 0 0 9 / 15 / 17 / 2

The Bisons plate NINE RUNS in the bottom of the 9th to steal this one. A walkoff base on balls with the bases loaded seals the deal. Final score… Buffalo 15, Pawtucket 14 at Dunn Tire Park.

With the pitching staff stretched thin, infielder Trent Durrington came in to pitch in the top of the 9th, recording one out to end the inning. For his effort he earns the win, the first position player to accomplish such a feat for Buffalo since Chris Coste did it in 2002. This also ties a Bisons modern era record for the greatest comeback ever by the team.

More baseball to come… this is a doubleheader and the second game will go 7 innings.

11:45PM update… Bisons take nightcap by a score of 5-0, and now lead the IL North by 1/2 game. With Torey Lovullo tending to family matters, Coach Dave Myers led the team tonight and admitted that he hadn’t called the boss yet to share the news. “He’s going to know soon enough he’s going to have to call this in” said a smiling Myers. The Bisons sent 13 batters to the plate in the 9th inning, resulting in five hits, three walks, a hit batter, and three Pawtucket fielding errors.

Yes it’s early, and yes there’s still a lot of baseball to be played this season, but as the calendar flips to May, it is the Buffalo Bisons and the Rochester Red Wings battling out for supremacy in the International League North. If the season ended today, the two teams would meet in the first round of the playoffs, with Buffalo as the wild card team.

The two ball clubs share a friendly rivalry, their fans exchange friendly banter through the “Thruway Cup” competition, but such was not always the case. Buffalo and Rochester held an intense and heated rivalry for decades… in 1933 the teams faced each other in a deciding game at Offerman Stadium before a packed and overflow crowd, a game won by Buffalo 8-1 and a night referred to as “The night the Great Depression stood still”. In 1959 Bisons fans were horrified to learn that team icon Luke Easter had been released after a slow start that season. A week later he signed with the Red Wings, and played and managed for several seasons in Rochester, where he became a fan favorite and an oft Bison killer. In 1961 the team moved to the Old Rockpile, and the Kirby Farrell managed team defeated the Red Wings in the Governors Cup championship. It was unfortunate that Buffalo was out of baseball in the 70s, arguably the golden era for Rochester baseball. The teams resumed their rivalry when the Bisons entered the “AAA Alliance” in 1988, and fans packed Pilot Field in May to see these two teams meet for the first time in almost two decades.

Last year Red Wings GM Dan Mason and I talked about this legacy and history, and I asked him what could be done to really reignite that passion and rivalry like it was in the old days. “We need a little hatred” replied Mason. One of the best tonics, said Mason, would be for the clubs to face each other in the playoffs. Unfortunately, because of the IL’s arcane playoff format, these two teams could never meet in the finals, but a first round matchup always remains a possibility.

Buffalo and Rochester play for the first time next weekend - Friday and Saturday at Dunn Tire Park, then on to Frontier Field Sunday and Monday, and first place in the division will be at stake. So enough of fluffy mascots, hugs and warm and fuzzy feelings between these two cities. Time to talk trash and show some ugliness. Somewhere, the spirits of Luke Easter, George Toporcer, Kirby Farrell and Danny Carnevale would be nodding their heads in approval!

News from earlier this week which we picked up last night at the arena…

They were the best team in the National Lacrosse League this past season, winning their last 12 regular season games to end the season at 14-2. Then they won two straight playoff games, including a 14-13 thriller over the Buffalo Bandits last weekend at Blue Cross Arena.

For the league championship, the Rochester Knighthawks will face the 9-7 Arizona Sting, winner of the West.

And they will do it on the road, Saturday, May 12 at 4PM at Jobing.com Arena in Glendale, Arizona.

This all comes about because the brain surgeons and Rhodes scholars who run Blue Cross Arena in Rochester booked the facility for the entire week for a traveling circus. The Knighthawks then tried to move the date to Monday, but the event is scheduled for national television on Versus and has been slotted since last summer. Undaunted, Knighthawks owner Steve Donner then petitioned the league to move the game close to home, to HSBC Arena in Buffalo or the Air Canada Centre in Toronto. The Board of Governors refused.

“It’s frustrating because we picked this date about 11 months ago,” said NLL commissioner Jim Jennings.

“Every building knew it, every building cleared it. We have major league buildings that have NHL, NBA, and arena football and they were able to clear the date, so it is frustrating.”

Last year the Rochester team lost to Buffalo in the semifinals. Had they won that game, THEY would have had the right to host Colorado in the Champions’ Cup game. Incredibly…Blue Cross Arena was booked for that day as well - they would have had to play that game on the road.

On the plaza before the game…

Welcome back The Earl of Bud!!!

It was over….all over. Just 16 seconds remained and then the Sabres would head to New York to face their elimination on Sunday.

At least that’s what about 95% or so of me was thinking before that fateful faceoff.

Out of the corner of my eye I saw Drury on the ice and thought “you know….maybe.”

And then it happened, Drury nailed the tying goal with seven seconds left and in that instant the agony of defeat became the thrill of…ummm….well….extra time. The shock and devastation of the Rangers late third period goal changed to outright euphoria. Much as I love Rick Jennaret, Van Miller’s “Fandemonium” call would have been at least as appropriate for that moment.

And “Fandemonium” would strike in the overtime as well when Maxim Afinogenov, he who was relegated to the bench in game four tipped in the game winner to send HSBC Arena into a frenzy and the Sabres into control of this series with a 3-2 series lead. This could easily be called the most electric moment in this postseason, and the crowd replied by practically blowing the roof open.

A loss by the Sabres would have been devastating not just from the standpoint of falling behind in the series but also from the fact that this was their best effort of the round, if not the entire postseason. Buffalo peppered Henrik Lundqvist with forty shots in this one and from the second period on owned this one but couldn’t solve the Swedish netminder. And when the Rangers went up with under four minutes left….well one could feel the game, and maybe the season slipping away.

“I knew that there wasn’t much time left…..didn’t know seven seconds” said Drury when asked about the game tying goal for Buffalo.

A beaming Max told the press, “This was the best goal of my career.” Lindy Ruff added, “He got the biggest hug from me on the runway…. Max was himself tonight. He was the old Max and that is what we needed.

Paul Gaustad got his licks and hits in early and was happy to be playing tonight, although he seemed to tire in the late stages, which wouldn’t be unusual. Would they have been toast if they had lost tonight? Said Gaustad, “Had we lost we felt we could pick right up and take it to them in game 6. But now we have the chance to put this one away”

Random stuff from tonight…..

Jerseys spotted in the crowd: Drury’s BU, Stafford’s ND, and Max’s Team Russia in the house tonight. The winner is the Lydman Team Finland jersey though.

Game 5! Featuring special guest star…..The Earl of Bud! What a great moment as the Earl made an all too rare appearance in tonight’s game and brought the house down with his epic rendition of “Tequila”…..could have sworn the dude was dead or something.

Crowd estimate in the Party In The Plaza..about 4500 on a perfect spring night in Buffalo.

As reported to me by Andrew, spotted leaving his seats and exiting the arena with 16.7 seconds left: NYS Senator Bill Stachowski (D-Cheektowaga) and his companion. Hey Billy, hope you at least had the radio on in your car! And “ha-ha” to any of you morons who left the building during the timeout!

So Sunday it is Buffalo’s turn to ride into Manhattan on Cloud Nine…puck drops on the MSG slush at 2PM.

The big attention this morning was on Paul Gaustad, who was the first guy on the ice for what turned out to be an optional skate for the Sabres. Thirteen players, including all the reservists and both goaltenders, participated. Interestingly, a second “morning skate” was on tap for 1PM, as Amerks coach Randy Cunneyworth was bringing his 11 Amerks callups onto the HSBC Arena ice surface to do their paces.

Gaustad was not officially informed that he would be in the lineup tonight, but all indications said that it would be him in the lineup and Drew Stafford out. “This is one of the most exciting games I’ve ever played in” said Gaustad. “I am looking forward to it.”

Does the fact that this is the first time in over a year that the ENTIRE Sabres lineup is intact give the team a psychological boost? Gaustad replied,”I hope it’s a boost. I think it’s pretty huge for us.”

Lindy Ruff was told that Gaustad is excited to be coming back, and he replied. “He’d better be. It’s a great time to be excited.”
Ruff admitted he was disappointed in the effort in Game 4 and is looking for his team to play their game and generate more scoring chances.

One side story..great watching the media throng looking for somebody…anybody…in the Sabres locker room for a sound bite. I counted 39 reporters and camerapeople all milling about, and scant few players to talk to. Kind of hlarious actually!

Pete has the AV pressbox seat tonight… I will be in our seats in sec 114, and Pete’s brother John and John’s bud will be driving up from Rochester and joining us as well. Let’s keep our fingers crossed… Better Days!

For years and years season ticket holders got their playoff tickets in the mail, and they were the typical, computer spit out dreck which looked like this…

So wasn’t I surprised to open my Priority Mail envelope from One Seymour Knox III Plaza yesterday, the package which contained our Round 3 and Round 4 playoff tickets, only to find these beautiful works of art…

If I had known what was inside, I would have tried to recreate that moment from the movie Fever Pitch. The scene where Jimmy Fallon with great pomp and ceremony opens up the Fedex package from the Red Sox containing his precious season tickets is hilarious! And something every die hard fan can identify with.

“Giddy-Up Guys!”

This week’s Puck Stop. Check it out!

Why is it, that I see a clip on Hockey Night in Canada with the Canadian troops in Afghanistan holding up the Stanley Cup, I get all choked up? Yet when I see pictures of American soldiers in Baghdad on the Jumbotron at the arena, the bile rises to my throat.

When the CBC segment was over, I thought about this for a while and then it occurred to me that it has nothing to do with the troops or being pro military or being a peacenik.

Our cause in Afghanistan is just - the cradle of planning for 9-11; the home of the Taliban; the terrorists who were at the heart of Al-Qaeda; the hiding place for Bin Laden and Al-Zawahiri. Our work there is to go after the scum suckers who came after us, and I applaud our efforts.

But Iraq? This was Bush avenging “his daddy”; Halliburton and petro dollars and the stench of everything that is morally wrong and it is a cause I despise. Saddam was a scumbag, but he was our scumbag. Now we have a broken country, horrific sectarian violence and the real scary people in that region, the fundamentalist Iranians, are getting the upper hand. Mega billions of dollars squandered; thousands dead, and no end to this in sight.

God Bless and protect our servicepeople - American and Canadian. They are making a sacrifice for us that is something I can’t even imagine .