As I walked out of HSBC Arena after the Sabres morning skate, I noticed that there is quite a bit of activity going on at the block just east of the arena.Note photo above… the old blacksmith building on Illinois Street is being gutted and is open to the elements. Have no idea what is planned for these buildings but I hope it is something cool.

And on Mississippi Street, the old Benlin Warehouse, to be reborn as Cobblestone Lofts Offices/Restaurant/Apartments/Mixed Use, was a beehive of activity today, with machines excavating outside and workers going in and out.

This is such an amazingly cool block of structures, in all likelihood the last intact block of buildings from the heyday of Buffalo’s Inner Harbor. Incredibly, the Sabres wanted to flatten this entire block for parking when the arena was going up. Thank goodness they didn’t get their way on this one.

Thanks to the folks at the Weather Channel and their ten day forecast we can now begin paying close attention to what conditions will be like on New Year’s Day.

For today’s look at the forecast for Orchard Park, NY click here.

So said Sabres coach Lindy Ruff tonight at HSBC Arena, as the Philadelphia Flyers came to town. The hype meter was off the wall, as former Sabres Martin Biron and Daniel Briere were making their first return to Buffalo since their departures last season.
Both received warm applause during the warmups and intros, but the adulation quickly turned to boos once the game started, especially when Briere touched the puck during play.

For the pregame, the game night staff pitched the “Say Hey Say Yeah” flick, and instead showed a pretty good video montage titled “The Rivalry Continues”, rolling out highlight reel moments between these two teams. While the memorable playoff goals and OT triumphs were fun to watch, goalies Garth Snow and Steve Shields going at it in the ’97 playoffs is the signature memory seared in my mind. Good stuff!

The game took on a physical tone early on, with both teams throwing punishing hits and checks, and while Philadelphia seemed to have the early edge in that department, Buffalo then took control of the play. At 11:41, Marty Biron made an incredible save on a rebound shot by Paul Gaustad, stopping the puck literally in midair on the goal line. Even Drew Stafford’s goal at 17:51 required a video review, as the puck crossed the goal line before Derek Roy tapped it with his stick while in the net. At the end of the first Buffalo led 1-0.

That lead disappeared in the second, as Buffalo came out looking sluggish, and bang bang goals by Jeff Carter and Jeffrey Lupul gave the Flyers a 2-1 led. Buffalo had two power plays in the second period but could not convert. Danny Briere was called for two minutes early on, drawing cheers from the crowd, and got even a louder cheer when Jaroslav Spacek laid Briere out on a Philly power play late in the 2nd.

Ales Kotalik’s one timer from above the left circle early in the third tied the score at two, reigniting the energy in the building. From there the game went end to end with entertaining edge of your seat action. At 5:27 Spacek slammed Scottie Upshall with the hit of the season, but was called for a lame interference penalty on the play. Spacek was a maniac on the ice tonight and deservedly was awarded the game’s first star. Said Ruff, “This might have been his best game ever.”

Buffalo took the lead for good at 17:09, when Jochen Hecht tipped in a rebound in the slot. Philadelphia then pulled their goalie with 90 seconds to go, but Buffalo stymied any offensive threat by the Flyers, and the game ended 3-2 Sabres.

A happy Lindy Ruff held a lengthy postgame conference, savoring the moment and calling many reporters by their first name as he responded. He spoke at length about winning the little battles, and how a hit here and a good pass there can change the tone of a game.

The Sabres won’t have long to savor this one - they head to Philly for the back end of the home and home tomorrow night at 7PM at the Wachovia Center. But as they board the team plane tonight, they do so as the East’s 6th seed. How sweet it is!

Just another day at the rink right?

Well not quite. The Philadelphia Flyers are in town for the first of a two game home and home set. At stake? Conference seeding as the two teams are locked in a three way tie for seventh spot in the Eastern Conference.

Derek Roy was out on the ice today participating in the morning skate, while Tim Connolly was nowhere to be found, apparently still nursing a bad case of the flu. Roy explained that the injury he sustained the other night was a freak sort of thing, where he just crashed into the boards unabated. As for today – “It felt good” he said. “I was shooting OK.” Still concerned with his full range of motion, Roy said “this is the type of injury that you just have to go and battle through, and I will.”

Coach Lindy Ruff stressed the importance of tonight’s game as it relates to the standings. “A win tonight puts us right in the playoff picture, and that is where we want to be” said Ruff. Commenting on the return of former Sabres Martin Biron and Daniel Briere, Ruff said “The best thing about both those guys is what great guys there were in our room. I don’t remember Marty ever having a bad day.”

Lindy was asked about how the team might respond to Philadelphia’s physical style of play, fearing a repeat of the two game debacle out in California. “It’s not about us responding, it’s about us initiating” Ruff replied and with that his morning comments were over.

Danny Briere was asked if he harbors any ill will towards the Sabres after not being asked to return until it was too late. “You know I’m over it. I’m happy with the Flyers and where I am. Besides teams have a right to walk away from their players just like we have a right to walk away from teams. I’m not here to bash the organization” said Briere. I asked Briere what he might expect in terms of crowd reaction. “I haven’t had much time ti think about it” he replied.

Flyers Goaltender Martin Biron was… well… Marty being Marty, chatting a mile a minute despite being on the clock for the 12:15 team bus back to the hotel. “Last time I appeared on this ice was when I fought Ray Emery” Biron said wistfully. So of course the question just had to be asked - “Does that mean you’ll be fighting Miller?”. “I don’t know” replied Biron with a wink and a nod, but then added “I don’t think that’s on the program tonight.”

After my own 10 days on the DL recovering from surgery, I will be in the AV chair covering tonight and will have a postgame report later on.

The NBA Orlando Magic has released new information and renderings of their new downtown arena, scheduled to open for the 2010-2011 season.

The Orlando Sentinel provides all the poop you want to know.

Last week’s announcement by the Buffalo Bisons that Torey Lovullo would be returning in 2008 for his third season as the Herd’s Manager made me very happy, but also came the realization that his time in Buffalo might soon be coming to an end.

Make no mistake, Torey is a great guy, and covering the team in the media becomes so much easier because this man always welcomes you into his office as on old friend, readily makes himself available for interviews and comments, and his love for the game and his role in it rubs off on anyone who gets the chance to get close to him. If there is one annoying thing about him, it is that he too joyous and positive. He never rebukes or calls out one of his players publicly after a subpar performance. He will always put a positive spin on the worst scenarios. I can only guess that he’s got be the world’s greatest dad, greatest husband and someone’s greatest best friend.

Take a look at Torey’s managerial statistics; he has enjoyed success at every level of the Cleveland chain, and has won championships at the A and AA level. His name was even kicked about this year for the Manager’s position in Pittsburgh.

Lovullo’s Managerial Statistics
2002 Columbus 79-60
2003 Kinston 73-66
2004 Kinston 88-50
2005 Akron 84-58
2006 Buffalo 73-68
2007 Buffalo 75-67
Total 472-369 (.561)

But while he produced winning seasons in Buffalo, both in 2006 and 2007 the team failed to make the International League playoffs, a dubious streak unprecedented in the Buffalo-Cleveland relationship. During both seasons weird things happened in terms of injuries, callups, orders from the parent to play certain players, etc. which conspired to sabotage the team’s fortunes, but realize too that every AAA team that the Bisons face have quirky parent clubs and their own issues. When push came to shove, Buffalo didn’t get it done, and Dunn Tire Park has been dark post Labor Day now two years running.

So what will 2008 bring? Swirling around in the background is the possibility that this will be Cleveland’s last year with the Herd. Now under construction in downtown Columbus’ Arena District is the Columbus Clippers new ballpark, Huntington Park, set to open in 2009. Cleveland already has minor league affiliates in Akron and Lake County, and would covet the sizable Columbus market and the fan base they could grow there, as well as the buildout of a regional sports cable channel.

I’m assuming that the Bisons will make a full press to keep the Indians here… right from the Bob Richs on down the team has worked hard to cement personal relationships with the parent team, and have been proactive in spending on capital improvements to player facilities at the ballpark to keep the Indians happy.

We should get an indication early on what the Indian’s intentions are… if the team sucks and nobody gives a damn, you’ll know they are out of here (think 1994 with the Pirates, the worst stinkeroo season ever at the downtown ballpark).

Meanwhile, we all wish Torey Lovullo well - he has always been a fan favorite both as player in the 90s and as a manager. I am hoping he holds HIMSELF up to the highest standard in what could be an awkward and difficult year in Buffalo.

Lately we’ve been neglecting updating the main Ulitmate Sports Road Trip site. This fall we have taken two major trips - to Texas and California and I just got around to writing some profiles and uploading new thumbnail photos.

So for you USRT fans, you can give a looksie to the mini profile on Texas Memorial Stadium, home of the Texas Longhorns. Also added is the profile of the USC Trojans home, Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. Both come with plenty of thumbnailed pics.

We also plugged in a few photos of the Dell Diamond in Round Rock, and Whataburger Field in Corpus Christi.

Hit the team profile pages for the LA Clippers. LA Lakers and Anaheim Ducks and you will find new thumbnailed pics.

Our 2008 travel schedule is taking shape nicely, with farewell visits to New York’s Shea Stadium and Yankee Stadium, and official visits to the new Prudential Center in Newark and Nationals Park in the District. The International League will see its first new city in a long time - Lehigh Valley and we’re following the Bisons to check out their new Coca Cola Park in Allentown, PA. And here’s an off the wall idea — the CFL Grey Cup game in Montreal’s Stade Olympique next November. Quebec is one of our top favorite destinations, and we’re hoping to make the trek up to Quebec City on the same journey to visit Le Colisee and take in a game of their QMJHL team as well.

Of course, we’ll be plugging in Indianpolis’ new Lucas Oil Field, the new home of the NFL Colts, once the 2008 schedule is released.

The tab on the right lists our updated schedule… if you want to join us for any of the adventures then drop a line!

….the Sabres were better in a 3-1 win over the Blackhawks.

In recent years a visit to Buffalo by the Blackhawks would be an event that would draw little interest and plenty of empty seats. Yet thanks to the presence of Patrick Kane rolling into town tonight was going to be a bit different.

From the time the PA system pumped out the strands of Chicago’s “Saturday in the Park” to the nice applause to hearing Kane’s name in the starting lineups to the wonderful pregame ceremony involving Kane, Brian Campbell and their respective fathers to the great ovation they received. It was quite obvious that the fans of Buffalo, Sabres and bandwagon Blackhawk alike gave Kane a warm welcome home to Buffalo.

“OK kid, now just disappear into the background for the night, will ya.” I thought to myself as the puck dropped.

Except Kane wasn’t finished on center stage just yet, because just two and a half minutes in he took in a nice feed from Patrick Sharp and fired it past Ryan Miller from the slot for a 1-0 lead. About five minutes later in the period he would get on the stats sheet again with a penalty for hooking.

The goal by Kane would hold the lead for Chicago through the end of the period and into the next until Thomas Vanek scored his tenth goal of the season with the man advantage on a similar play from Derek Roy. The Sabres would then break the tie about halfway through on a great effort from Drew Stafford as he scored from the slot as his momentum was taking him away from the net.

With the Sabres holding onto a slim lead heading into the final stanza someone needed to step up and play the hero, and for tonight that person would be Ryan Miller. Miller stopped all eight Blackhawk shots with his best stop coming on a point blank stop of Tuomo Ruutu with about six minutes to go in the game. Jason Pominville would put the icing on this victory with an empty netter with about a minute and a half left to go. Ruff praised Miller afterward stating that ” we needed a save and he gave it to us” referring to the Ruutu save.

After the game Kane had a few quick comments on the night, he couldn’t stay long with the media since he had so much family to see after the game and so little time before having to head onto a plane for Chicago.

“It was one of the best nights of my life.” The night’s third star said “It was fun all the way from the pregame skate, one step at a time all the way through.” and said that “it was nice to get the goal(Kane hadn’t scored in thirteen games)” and he got a kick out of the fact that he was actually cheered for getting the penalty in the first period.

Coach Ruff had his quips on the whole thing himself….”his dad and grandpa hadn’t gotten to their seat….so I heard” referring to the goal he scored. “I’m happy for him, it’s awesome that he’s from Buffalo and he’s the first pick….I just wish he’d scored another night”.

Maybe lost amidst all of the Kane hype is that the Sabres are on a bit of a roll. Since Andrew and I left the debacle at Staples Center nine days ago Buffalo has won four of their last five(including) and has looked darn good doing it with even their one loss to the Bruins being a respectable outing. The team’s resurgence has brought them to within one point of eighth seeded Pittsburgh in the Eastern Conference, how ’bout that!

The Sabres get a few days off before heading out to Long Island on Wednesday followed by a Friday/Saturday home and home with Philadelphia. Have to wonder what reaction the home fans will give ex Sabres Danny Briere and Martin Biron in their first game in Buffalo since leaving the Sabres.

I thought it might be interesting to do one more photo array from our California trip, this one from Long Beach.

Neither Pete nor I had ever been there, even though it is a big part of the LA Megalopolis, and we were particularly interested in what they had done to their waterfront area, and could we glean any lessons for our goals for Buffalo.

The answer is a resounding yes!

Like Buffalo Long Beach actually has a long and colorful history - the city was a gateway to European immigrants in the late 1800s, many working in the port and shipping industries. In the early 1900s the largest amusement park on the west coast took shape on the waterfront. Much of it is gone now, but historical markers and period murals mark the locations. In its stead is a very vibrant and colorful waterfront, with marinas, parks, shopping centers, restaurants, wharf style buildings hugging the water, and even chains like PF Changs and Outback (noooooooooooo! say the hipsters!). Separating the waterfront from downtown is an at grade boulevard (yeah had to get that in).

Check out the pics. You like? We did!

The main boulevard separating downtown from the waterfront. Check out that pedestrian bridge designed like a roller coaster

That building in the right foreground is actually a parking ramp. Nice.

Replica period buildings hugging the shoreline.

One of the pretty walking paths

Chain eateries! Oh the horror the horror!

If you ever want to get everyone’s knot in a bun over at BuffaloElmwood Rising, all you have to do is merely mention the prospect of Trader Joe’s, Whole Foods or IKEA coming to Buffalo.

A recent thread on the topic of the two grocers generated hundreds of comments and debate, with the comedic value of the replies raising the bar on the laugh meter that’s how ridiculous the discussion was.

So on our trip to California last week, Pete and I decided to drop in to a Whole Foods, the one in Manhattan Beach, and see for ourselves what all the fuss was about. Here is what we found.

To begin with, this supermarket prides itself on selling “organic foods” and “locally grown products”, wearing that mantra like a badge of honor. Since Pete is all about orange cupcakes from Hostess and Mighty Taco, and I am the generic burger and potatoes guy, this wasn’t exactly nirvana.

The store was really nicely appointed… I mean really nice. Ferns and plants everywhere, decorative mood lighting, mosaic stone tiled floors, nice signage. The place looked really swank.

But our first problem was trying to find stuff we actually wanted to eat. Everything was granola, tuscan couscous, wheat pasta made with strained Jerusalem flour, gingerberry soy sauce, meat and dairy free pizza (what’s the point then?), dried fruit and cage free eggs.

And the prices?! No wonder some call this place “Whole Paycheck”. Ground beef at $9.99/lb put this place totally over the top for me.

The beer aisle offered only the most exotic of imports – Pale Sri Lankan Ale, Ichiban Beer, all in bottles where you have to scrape off the colorful tin foil just to get to the cap. But in deference to the Philistines, we did spot Bud Light and Coors among the choices. Oh how the purists must have howled!

The store had a separate Wine Bar and a Tea Bar, where shoppers and visitors could lounge and enjoy their favorite brand of domestic vintage or far flung pekoe. I offered to Pete that we perhaps share a pot of Indian Darjeeling Black Tea served with a cinnamon stick and a sprig of nutmeg, a strong malty brew with light and complex muscatel flavors and flowery aromas. ($8.99 to share, and no matter who exotic you name this stuff, at the end of the day it’s still a pot of hot water with a tea bag hanging out of it).

Pete declined my generous offer despite my persistence, and I then just blurted this out “This is undoubtedly the gayest moment EVER on the Ulitmate Sports Road Trip!” Yeah, two guys exploring dried fruits and wine bars at a Whole Foods probably isn’t going to make it to an ESPN commercial anytime soon.

Now the sad news for the Hipsters, the BRO family of posters and the Elmwood Village Association. If something like Whole Foods actually makes it to our region, you will most likely see it out on Transit and Maple. Don’t hold your breath that they will be taking up residence in the former Latina’s space anytime in our lifetime.

It was time to leave. We scurried out of Whole Foods on a warm California afternoon to continue our day long sightseeing. Being accosted by a Lyndon LaRouche campaign worker on the way out, passing out brochures and pleading for a contribution put a fitting exclamation point to the whole experience.

The Wheels Come Off in SoCal.

Have a looksee!

If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again.

On Monday night the Sabres peppered plenty of shots on net to little avail, they did so again tonight with better results as the guys in blue and gold again pelted the net with over forty shots and this time got out of HSBC Arena with a 5-3 win over the Islanders and sending them to their sixth loss in seven games.

Five different players lit the lamp for Buffalo(Drew Stafford and thousands of others may tell you six) and the first two were scored by Sabres who notched their first of the season. Nolan Pratt scored the only goal of the first on a flutterer from the blueline. that Rick Dipietro may not have seen. This would be followed by Toni Lydman’s only goal of the season, a sort of redemption for his two afwul giveaways in the previous game that played a huge role in the loss to the Bruins.

Ales Kotalik would quickly add another about a minute later off a pass from Pominville that came from a defensive zone giveaway by New York.

The teams then traded five on three power play goals and Richard Park closed out the second period scoring at 4-2. The goal seemed to turn the momentum in favor of the Isles, and entering the third it continued when Mike(I’ve played for every pro hockey team besides Buffalo) Sillinger scored early in the third very shortly after a brutally ugly giveaway by Ryan Miller.

The flow of the game was definitely in the Isles corner at this point….then Jochen Hecht came streaking down the ice a few minutes later, swerving past two Isles on the right and flipping a puck at the net and into it for a 5-3 lead, and when Drew Stafford appeard to add to that lead seconds later the rhythm and flow of the game had definitely changed. Stafford’s goal was disallowed thanks to it being kicked in the net(though this person swears it caught the stick on the way in.) but by this point the Sabres had the cushion and the control of the game that they needed and would hang on for the win.

After the game Lydman was a bit more jovial in his deadpanning, self-depricating way “I kept my goal scoring streak alive of scoring a goal in every season…..I just closed my eyes and shot it….I’m always surprised when it goes in.”

Coach Ruff was happy with the penalty kill in tonight’s game saying that “they’ve really gotten back in their groove” and cited the continuation of good play heading into tonight from the last couple of games. He also praised Miller’s play despite the near disasterous gaffe early in the third and specifically mentioned a great sprawling save made on a critical third period power play.

The win brings the Sabres to 14-14-1, 12th in the East.

Useless stat of the night: The Sabres are the only NHL club remaining not to have participated in a shootout this season.

Up next, a quick roadie to Washington on Friday then a return home the following to take on the Chicago Blackhawks and Patrick Kane.

For the second time in three games the Sabres are shown up at the hands of a no name goaltender. But not without the help of Toni Lydman and co…..On Thursday it was the Kings Johnathan Quick leading the way an 8-2 drubbing of the Sabres. Tonight, it was recent addition Alex Auld stopping fourty four shots in helping the Bruins to a 4-1 win over the Sabres.

The Sabres helped set the tone for this one thanks to two horrible first period giveaways in the defensive zone by Lydman that directly led to Bruin goals, and despite outshooting Boston 12-6 the Sabres found themselves at the short end of a 3-1 score. Jaro Spacek grabbed the lone Sabre goal on the power play and Savard, Axelsson, and Schaefer had the Boston tallies for the period.

The Sabre onslaught of Auld continued, and he stood tall as he stopped all twenty second period shots to maintain the two goal edge heading into the third. Glen Metropolit would get the final marker at 10:08 of the third and the Bruins would close out the win despite being outshot 45-21 for the game.

The mood in the locker room afterward was somewhat upbeat despite the loss, players found themselves to be a bit surprised at the effort they were able to put out despite the long journey back from San Jose. Jason Pominvillle quipped that ” The energy level was there…..I thought overall we skated well…..but again we didn’t score the first goal”

Coach Ruff was upset more with the mental mistakes than the fact that they lost despite outshooting the Bruins by more than two to one:”The last thing we talked about this morning was to we were going to have to be smart and not make mistakes and not give the puck away”.

When asked about the multitude of shots he replied simply that “We still gotta finish”.

After the fourth goal, Ryan Miller was attended to by the trainer, he was unavailable for comment after the game but Ruff said that he tweaked his ankle and that he would be fine.With the loss the Sabres fall to 13-14-1 on the season.

Useless notes:
Tonight’s game was not a sellout, official count was about 390 short of a full house.

With the 4-1 win the Bruins move back ahead of the Sabres in the all time goal count in the series. Boston has 773 and Buffalo 771.

Perhaps you remember the story of baseball player Kazuhito Tadano, the Japanese pitcher who played parts of four seasons with the Buffalo Bisons as a member of the Cleveland Indians organization. He dazzled his way up the minor league ladder and ended up debuting in Cleveland in 2004, where he started four games and posted a 1-1 record and a 4.65 ERA that year.

But the story that blew up in 2003 had to do with Tadano’s past: in his college days at Tokyo’s Rikkyo University, he had appeared in a gay porn video, and now the news of this revelation threatened to derail his professional career.

The Indians quickly went into spin control, holding a news conference to tell all, with Tadano admitting his youthful indiscretion and insisting he was not gay and needed the money for college. His teammates shrugged it off, life went on, and the hub bub quickly died down.

But not in Japan, where Tadano was castigated and shunned by their professional baseball structure, and he was pretty much declared persona non grata.

Apparently time has healed, as this week it was learned that Tadano will return to play professional ball in Japan. He has signed to play for the Nippon Ham Fighters in Sapporo.

Like many, we too snickered when we first learned of Kaz’ cinematic adventures. Each year we come up with our kooky Bisons Listach and Hamilton Awards, and we were planning to add “The Kazuhito Tadano Lifetime Achievement Award” just like they do at the Oscars. We were going to have fun with this one.

But one day I changed my whole perspective on Kaz. It was after batting practice on an April day in 2005 and I walked into the Bisons locker room looking to find someone. There were some of the guys playing cards, others milling about with their equipment and yet others watching TV. At the far end of the clubhouse there was Kaz Tadano, sitting at a card table and quietly eating his meal. Alone. And I thought to myself, what kind of life can this be for a guy like that? Humiliated and shunned by people in his homeland for stupid nonsense, and now he has to move 10,000 miles from his home to earn a living and ply his trade. He knows little of the English language, has no one to talk to, no friends.

I talked with then Bisons Manager Marty Brown, who himself had played ball in Japan and knew what Kaz was going through being in a strange land far away from friends and loved ones. “He’ll find his favorite hangouts to eat, and places to do the things he likes to do. We all get through it.” Brown told me.

Pete and I decided to do a feature interview with Tadano in Artvoice, and it was not as easy as one would think. We had to arrange this through not only the Bisons media department, but with Tadano’s agent, where we had to submit a list of questions. (Stuff like “Did that leather dog collar worn in the movie chafe around the neck?” was out of bounds. *kidding*) Then we had to set up the actual interview with an engaging fellow named Taka, who would serve as interpreter.

The sit down finally took place after a Friday night Bisons game in May of 2005. Me, Pete, Kaz and Taka sitting in the clubhouse around that very same card table. For me it was the most fascinating and engaging player interview I ever did. Kaz Tadano was so thrilled to be blessed with the talents to be a pitcher, seized every day as another adventure, and shared amusing anecdotes about his experiences in Buffalo, such as the time his parents came to town looking for him, also knowing little English, only to find that their son had been promoted to Cleveland and had hurriedly left town. His first attempt to find Kuni’s on Elmwood became a day long adventure that would probably make a good movie in itself. Oh and as for the “I’m not gay” stuff? Let’s just say that neither Pete or I were buying that.

Normally such an interview would go 10-15 minutes. We spent over an hour and a half with Kaz and Taka that night, and he would have doubled that time if we had asked that of him that’s how nice and polite he was.

Tadano was a fun player to watch. Occasionally he would throw the “Tadano Eephus”, basically a hilarious looking Hail Mary type rainbow pitch which would find the strike zone. Tadano’s most forgettable Bisons outing came in 2005, when he surrendered back to back to back to back home runs to four consecutive hitters.

After leaving the Cleveland organization, Tadano signed on with the Oakland A’s, but never returned to the Bigs, spending the past two seasons in AAA Sacramento and AA Midland.

After having the chance to get to know this fine young man, we became big Kaz Tadano fans. We hope he finds peace, happiness, success and redemption back in his homeland.

I woke up this morning here in sunny rainy San Diego asking myself - what the hell did I just see out of my Buffalo Sabres over the past 48 hours?

It Wednesday’s game at Anaheim was disappointing, last night’s rout at the Staples Center to the hapless Los Angeles Kings and their newly minted ECHL goalie Johnathan Quick was downright ugly. It was 4-0 after one, Thibault was pulled and Ryan Miller was back in the net, that made no difference as L.A. kept piling on the goals - shorthanded, even strength and on the power play. It was 7-0 before Drew Stafford finally tapped one in to break up the shutout, giving the healthy Buffalo contingent in the stands something to cheer about.

After the game you could hear a pin drop in the Buffalo dressing room as players silently shuffled about and grabbed some pizza and a beverage off a table in the center of the room. I talked with Stafford and he didn’t have any firm answers. “All I know is that San Jose is a very good team right now and we have to be ready to play them and we will be.” I sort of challenged him a bit, saying that as a reporter hearing these tired cliches like “we didn’t skate” gets old after a while, and asked him at what point does a team rally around themselves, outside the eye of the press, the fans, and outsiders. “I know what you mean” he replied, “and all I can say is that there are ebbs and flows to every season and to every game, and right now we have to recapture the success we’ve enjoyed the past couple weeks.”

While Coach Lindy Ruff looked disconsolate during his post game comments, he at least attempted to put the finger on what had gone wrong in these past two games. Continuing on Stafford’s take, he said “Look at Carolina. We killed them last week in our building, then they turn around and go and beat the Rangers. These things happen all the time.”

I asked Ruff if a shakeup might be in the offing, and perhaps another call up for Clarke MacArthur, who gave the team a lift after his last callup. “Well he won’t be joining us tomorrow” Ruff said, then added, “But he has given this team a spark in the past and we could use that.”

A few miscellaneous musings on LA, Anaheim and hockey in SoCal…

-Los Angeles is the better of the two venues all around, in my opinion. More tradition, better arena, nicer facilities. Kevin Sylvester was doing the intermission hosting on the MSG telecast, and in Anaheim they stuck him in some broom closet. Ditto the press dining room which was tiny, while the “Chick Hearn Media Room” at Staples was expansive and nicely decorated. The visitors locker room at Staples had a separate shower/changing area, while at the Honda center, I could practically feel the mist off the water spray as guys were showering and Pete and I were trying to do interviews.

-”I Love L.A. - We LOVE it!”… they play this song every time the Kings score and it is so appropriate. For me this song will always remind me of the first Naked Gun movie, Leslie Nielsen the home plate umpire at a California Angels game. I can watch that film a hundred times and never get tired of it!

-The Kings do a nice job with their event presentation. A real organ, which is nice. Audio clips are nostalgic 70s and 80s stuff, and they don’t go over the top with game night hosts and t-shirt tosses and all that nonsense. Since our last visit in 2000, they did drop the South Park Eric Cartman clip, the one where Cartman was wearing the home jersey and chanting “Go Kings Go!”
By contrast, the Clippers on Sunday had some D.J. who looked like he was on a work release program from some supermax penitentiary, spinning vinyl of the most ghastly gangsta rap.

-Shout out to all who made this USRT adventure another memorable one - Running into Pete’s coworker Al right after hopping off of the plane made for a good start to the week, Katy and Bill French for putting us up at their home in San Diego for 5 of our 7 nights, the Tsunekawa and DiMento families for the wonderful outing, Ray Orepeza for the USC parking pass (thank you thank you thank you for that!) and for hosting us for the nicest breakfast on the tour, and Sabres media relations honcho Chris Bandura who is truly the bestest PR dude in all of hockey.

Our return flight to Buffalo is one for this afternoon, and we’re hoping another USRT to California will be in the offing sometime in the near future… as long as it is NOT for the relocated Buffalo Bills!