Talking Baby Sabres

So I went to prospect camp today. I'm not going to pretend to know enough to tell you who looked good and who didn't - it's hard to tell from some of those drills - but I did take a close look at Tyler Myers and I'm going to admit something that probably won't be very popular. I'm just not sure about bringing him up to the NHL level next season.

He looked really good. He can definitely skate, his positioning seemed sound (although I think we can agree that games are not like drills), and for someone still growing, he seems to have a good handle on his body. There's absolutely zero awkwardness about him. But he's very young. And he's very skinny. I watched a few of his games during the Memorial Cup and while it was clear that he was a stand-out, it was also clear that juniors is very, very different from the NHL. The NHL will be much faster and much more powerful. In street clothes, Myers is a bean pole even after putting on weight. I really question whether he's going to be ready to stand up to grown men with plenty of NHL experience.

I know Bucky Gleason has said many times that he doesn't see any reason not to play Myers up next season because hey, lots of teenagers have been successful in the NHL and then he reels off a list of people. First of all, I think any time a list starts with the name "Sidney Crosby" we have to stop and take into consideration that that's probably a pretty special group of players. Second of all, for every teenager that has come in and immediately been successful, there's a bunch of players who were brought up too young and who really struggled both with the NHL game and with the expectations heaped upon them. Some of them eventually straightened themselves out, but some of them had serious setbacks. Myers certainly isn't going to come in with Crosby level expectations, but he's not going to fly under the radar either, especially not in Buffalo. On one hand, fans are talking about being able to live with his mistakes, on the other hand they're talking about him being the next Zdeno Chara. Not even Zdeno Chara was Zdeno Chara until he was much older and physically mature than Myers is. Conventional wisdom has always been that defensemen mature more slowly than forwards.

Please remember he's just a baby giant.

If the Sabres start Andrej Sekera, Mike Weber and Chris Butler next season is Myers' inexperience going to make much difference to the on-ice product? Probably not. Even without him the defensive corp is going to be very young. But I'm not sure "How will it affect the team?" is as important a question as "How will it affect Myers?" How will he handle it if players are flying past him or pushing him around? How will he adapt to the opposition playing at a much higher skill level than his competition this past season? If he struggles, how will he deal with fans complaining - as you know they will - that he's not as good as they were led to believe? I think the Sabres have always had the right idea when it comes to bringing prospects along slowly, giving them time to grow up physically and mentally and emotionally. I know with the salary cap and the lower free agency age, that has to change some - you really have to take advantage of players while they're on their entry level contracts - and I know the Sabres are in a unique spot with Myers because he can't start in Portland which is what they would probably do with him if they could. I'm just not sure it's as simple as "Oh, what the hell, the team's gonna suck anyway."

Don't get me wrong. I like what I've seen of Myers. I love that he's said very directly that his goal is to make the Sabres and he doesn't see any reason why he can't. I hope he does make an immediate impact and I hope he does have the mental strength and maturity to know that struggling is just part of being a young defensemen in the NHL. But I do worry about him and I do worry that we're asking too much of him too soon.

On a totally different note, Kate and I have been arguing good-naturedly (mostly) about Chris Butler - or "Butts" as she's taken to calling him - for a number of months now. Unbeknownst to the other, we both started really taking a liking to him and she has repeatedly insisted that I can't like him, I have to like someone else. She's been very against him becoming next in line as my favorite player. (Hank will, of course, be number one as long as he's in Buffalo but I can count. If you add Weber and Myers to Tallinder, Lydman, Rivet, Sekera, Butler, Paetsch and Montador you end up with more d-men than you have spots. Someone's gotta go and a girl needs to be prepared for such things.) I assured her that no final decision had been made because I had really liked Weber on his call-up at the end of the 2007-2008 season and needed to see more of him.

Kate and I met up at prospect camp today and about halfway through, I turned to her and said, "I have to admit, I'm pretty drawn to Mike Weber." That beeyotch She didn't even attempt to hide her delight. But at any rate, it's true. There's just something about that kid that I really like and he looked very determined and sure of himself, as he should at this point.

After prospect camp, I went to the Bisons game. As I was making my way to the parking lot at the end of the night, I noticed a big tour bus outside the stadium. Didn't really look that closely at it, just figured it was a youth group or something. My phone buzzed so I looked down at it, continuing to walk, and I, of course, bumped into someone. I said, "Oh, excuse me," and looked up and it was... Mike Weber! That focused my brain and I realized all the baby Sabres were getting on the big bus. Mike nodded and said, "No problem." But I think it's a sign that I made the right choice. It's like Kate said (again, gleefully), he pretty much chose ME. How can I refuse?

"Please pick me, please pick me, please pick me, Heather B."

Top Shelf Travels the Seaway Trail

One of the things that kept popping up on lists of things to do in the area was to drive or bike the Seaway Trail. The trail follows four bodies of water (the St. Lawrence River, Lake Ontario, the Niagara River and Lake Erie) from West Springfield, PA to Rooseveltown, NY. I thought it sounded really cool - I love to crank up some tunes and head out on a road trip - but I kind of set it aside. As much as I liked the idea, I wasn't sure I could see myself really taking the time to travel even some of the Seaway in the next couple of months.

Fortunately, fates bigger than me - my mother - stepped in. As you know, my mom and two of my brothers, Chris and Lee, were in town last week. We took a quick jaunt through this part of New York with our first stop being Rochester. Now you could take the boring ol' way to Rochester and just jump right on the highway. My mom, however, had other things in mind. She's a big fan of lighthouses - she and some friends often take lighthouse trips - so she set a different path for us. There are 28 lighthouses along the 504 mile Seaway Trail. She picked out five she really liked that were between Buffalo and Rochester and off we went. As usual, you can click on any of the photos to see a larger image.

The journey began like all good Henderson family vacations do. With us getting really, really lost. I was half asleep during the first part of our journey so I can't tell you what exactly happened. I can tell you that we drove past Fantasy Island at least four times and saw it from pretty much every conceivable angle and. We eventually gave up on the Grand Island Lighthouse in favor of driving on and having time to see ones that were farther away. We could always see Grand Island on another visit.

When in doubt, drive toward the blue stuff.

The first stop we actually made for a reason other than to try and figure out where the heck we were was the Fort Niagara lighthouse in Youngstown, NY.


Fort Niagara was the site of the first unofficial lighthouse on the Great Lakes, originally a lantern room on top of the French Castle inside the fort. (Chris and I decided on a whim to make a quick tour of the fort so more on that in another post. I know you can hardly wait.) After some time, the lighthouse was moved outside the walls of the fort and in 1993, instead of cutting down or cutting back 50 or so trees that were blocking the light, the Coast Guard decommissioned the lighthouse, choosing to use a light on a nearby radio tower instead. Today the lighthouse is completely non-functional though at times there has been a museum and gift shop inside. There's a more in-depth history here for anyone who's interested.


This is the Fresnel lens from the lighthouse. It's hard to tell in the photo but it was pretty darn big.

Boom!

Next stop was the Olcott Lighthouse in Olcott, NY.


I thought it was kind of an ugly little thing at first glance, but it kinda grew on me. Back in the 1870s there were two 800 foot piers extending into Lake Ontario which were used to form a protected harbor at Olcott. Canadian ships often off-loaded grain there to be shipped to Rochester and Oswego. At the end of one of the piers was this lighthouse. Well, not this lighthouse exactly. Around 1930, the lighthouse was decommissioned and moved to a yacht club where it fell into disrepair. This replica was built in 2003.

This was the point in the trip where I decided it would be really awesome to drive the whole Seaway Trail one day because the surrounding area was really, really adorable. There was a little strip of shops, really cute houses and a beautiful park along the water.




My memory card filled before I could take any pictures of it but there was also a little mini amusement part with a refurbished 1926 carousel and vintage rocketship and fighter plane rides, those little ones that only go six or seven feet off the ground. This was also where I come in contact with the awesome powers of Esmeralda.

Some day I'm going to do this again when I don't have an exact destination and time of arrival because I would have loved to just pulled over and taken pictures along the way. Big, beautiful farm houses, various animals and field after field of fruit trees of some kind. It was an overcast day but I kind of love it when the water is dark and moody.

Lee having deep thoughts about how a Mets player couldn't stand that close to the water's edge this season without drowning.

By this point in the day, it was starting to get darker so we decided to hit one last lighthouse, the Thirty Mile Point lighthouse which was probably my favorite of the three. Check out this cutie.

Love it.

Thirty Mile Point lighthouse shone for the first time in April of 1876. It was built after a number of shipwrecks were caused by a shallow sandbar that extended from Thirty Mile Point out into Lake Ontario. Like the lighthouse at Fort Niagara, the lighthouse was eventually taken over by the Coast Guard and then replaced by a light at the top of a tower. Certain weeks out of the year, the second floor of the dwelling is rented out for week-long stays which is totally awesome. You don't have to take care of the lighthouse or the lake but you do get a glimpse into what that life was like. When I have lots of money, I'm doing it.

Chris, wandering waaaaaay out...

... to get this photo from the water.

Living on one of the Great Lakes is one of those things Buffalonians totally take for granted. I hadn't even given it much thought until Patty (in Dallas) came to visit last year and I saw how excited she was about seeing Lake Erie. At Thirty Mile, I was finally able to get down to the water so I decided to dip my feet in. And when I pulled them out I still only had ten toes which is always a plus.

Two Great Lakes down, three to go!

And with that we bid a fond farewell to the Seaway Trail and another fun-filled day in Western New York.

"Say goodbye, Mom."
"Goodbye, Mom."

Top Shelf Does the Riviera Theatre

Before we get to the movies, I feel like I probably should say something about free agency but I don't really have much to add that 100 other blogs haven't already said. I like adding Steve Montador, I'll miss Jaroslav Spacek personally but think one of the kids will be able to match his PP production when getting the same number of minutes he was getting, and don't understand entirely what Montreal and Chicago are doing. I also think there's plenty of time left in the offseason and there are a number of teams who have some juggling to do to get safely under the cap (including us). I'm going to hold off criticizing next year's roster too much until it's officially next year's roster. For now I'll leave that to everyone else.

Okay, on with the show...

From the second I first saw the Riviera Theatre in North Tonawanda, I knew I wanted to go. I love old movie theatres probably because I love old movies. My mom was really strict about what we could and couldn't watch when we were kids but she plied us with old movies. My formative years were filled with Cary Grant, Jimmy Stewart, Gene Kelly, Danny Kaye, Steve McQueen, Paul Newman and I adored all of them. Not only did I never feel like I was being punished or treated unfairly, I figured I was the lucky one. (Check out the YouTube links to see why.) I'm pretty glad to live in a generation where I can dress casually for a trip to the local multiplex, but I'm also fascinated by people getting all decked out in their finest to go see a movie at a fancy theatre.

Turn left at Charlie Chaplin.

The Riviera Theatre was originally built in 1926 by the Yellen Family. Decorated with elaborate moldings and burgundy, beige and gold accents, the theatre was called "The Showplace of the Tonawandas." Between that, an 18-foot chandelier, other ornate lighting fixtures, stained glass windows and brass railings, the Riviera really and truly is a movie palace. It opened with a huge gala that cost $1 per ticket. The theatre has changed ownership a number of times over the years but was finally purchased by the Niagara Frontier Theatre Organ Society. Volunteers continue restoration work today and live entertainment is presented regularly along with movies. The Riviera and Shea's are the only movie palaces, complete with Mighty Wurlitzer pipe organs, still standing today in an area that once had many.


When I saw that the Riviera's summer series was a Paul Newman Tribute, I immediately took note. Initially I was planning on seeing Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, a personal favorite, but when Lee saw a link from a previous blog entry, he noted that Cool Hand Luke was showing while he, Mom and Chris were in town and suggested it might be a fun thing to do. That worked for me because while I've seen bits and pieces of it over the years - who doesn't know the line "What we have here is failure to communicate" - I didn't think I'd ever seen it from beginning to end.

Every movie is preceded by a 3o minute Wurlitzer performance but unfortunately we missed it. We entered the theatre just as the movie was beginning. When we first sat down and started listening the sound was AWFUL. I'm all for historical preservation but I was starting to wonder if we were listening via the original 1926 sound system. Just about then however someone yelled from the back that it appeared the first reel had suffered some heat damage and that the sound should be fine once the second reel started. And it was. But really, who even needs sound when you're looking at this?

Hubba hubba.

I won't go into the details of the plot but I will say that it's a good movie. One of the funniest scenes in cinema just might begin with the line "I can eat 50 eggs." Which is not to imply that it's a funny movie because it's really not. Good stuff though and there's about a million recognizable faces in the cast including Mr. Walton who I always had a crush on as a kid.

After the movie we poked around a little and took some pictures.

Let's begin with the Mighty Wurlitzer itself. It's one of the few organs that still resides in its original theatre. A dedicated group of volunteers handle all the maintenance and any necessary repairs. At one point, the organ from the Kensington Theatre in Buffalo was donated and while it was badly damaged, parts were salvaged and used in the Riviera organ. Every month the Riviera presents an organ concert of some kind and one of these days I'm planning on going back and seeing a silent movie, accompanied by the Wurlitzer.


I took a bunch of pictures of the inside of the theatre, both from the front and the balcony but the house lights weren't on so everything came out very dark. I found these photos on some random website but there was no photo credit of any kind accompanying them. I feel a little bad using them because they're clearly professional photos (or darn good amateur photos) so if you're out there reading this and these are yours, please, please, please email me and I'll either give you a credit or take them down, whichever you prefer. If you click on these next two pictures, you'll get a larger image in which you can see even more detail. That goes for all the photos really but these two especially.

View from the balcony.

View from the stage.

Absolutely gorgeous. My one warning would be that the theatre was clearly built before the obesity epidemic and before people valued leg room. Tiiiiight squeeze.




While upstairs, Chris and I got to wondering about this door. You can't really tell in the photo but it's very small. Probably four feet high or so.


The theatre volunteer had just told us to look around so we opened the door and found this:


Another, smaller door! We weren't sure if we'd just stumbled across the entrance to Narnia, Wonderland or the Wonka Chocolate Factory.

The lobby, right inside the doors.

I love that blue molding along the ceiling.

Mom at the box office.

You can check out the schedule at the Riviera's website. I'd recommend pretty much anything in the Paul Newman series, especially The Verdict, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid and The Sting. While I don't care for it personally (I know, I know), they'll also be showing Slap Shot. The Riviera Theatre was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1980. In addition to being a beautiful sight, admission was only $3 per person so I'd say it's well worth a visit if you're in the area.

After the movie, the organist played a quick ditty for the exiting crowd. Here's a short video of it along with some footage of the theatre. Like everything else, it's pretty dark, but I think you can get a feel for the space. Kindly ignore the singing.

Top Shelf Makes a Wish

One of the things on Artvoice's list of 100 things to do in Buffalo during the summer was to get your fortune told by the vending machine lady on Clifton Hill in Niagara Falls, Ontario. Not really ingwhere Clifton Hill is, I cast that one aside. However my mom is a big fan of lighthouses so the Henderson family took the scenic route to Rochester and stopped at a few places along the way. We were at what I believe was Olcott Beach (don't quote me on that though) when I found this:


Score!

Now, I've seen Big a number of times. I know these machines hold some crazy power and that any wish made upon them should be sincere and carefully thought out. I mulled it over for a while before depositing my 50 cents and didn't step forward until my decision was made and my wish was the only thing on my mind.

I WISH THE SABRES DIDN'T SUCK OUT LOUD.

The machine initially gave me a muddled and confusing message about age just being a number. I wasn't sure what that meant. Was it a mistake to let Teppo go because of his age? Or is it okay to bring Tyler Myers up to the big club despite his age? While I mulled that over, my fortune appeared before me.


Well, that certainly sounds promising but I thought it needed a little interpreting yet. After consulting with Esmeralda a little longer, I'm pretty sure this is what it means:

I see a great deal of happiness in store for you (possibly as early as Wednesday). You will receive a letter soon (from Darcy Regier), and that letter can easily be said to change the whole course of your life (by offering an assistant GM position). You deserve this happiness (via a large, shiny Cup) because you have been so faithful and sincere in your love (to an occasionally bratty, always underachieving, and just plain sucky hockey team).

So Sid, enjoy that Cup while you can. I'm pretty sure it's not going to be yours for long. The power of Esmeralda is against you.

On the Road Again

So my mom and two of my three brothers, Chris (older) and Lee (younger) are now in Buffalo. This afternoon we're leaving for a four-day jaunt across the area (Strong National Museum of Play, Corning Museum of Glass, and the Baseball Hall of Fame being the big stops). We'll then while away a couple of days here in Buffalo. I thought I'd give you a quick peek inside the mind of Heather B.

Here are the clothes I have set aside for the trip:


And here are the books I have set aside for the trip:



A girl's gotta have priorities.

I'll be posting when I can but the next few days might be quiet ones. Enjoy!

Zack Kassian and Other Thoughts

A few quick thoughts before I start preparing for vacation with my mom and two of my three brothers, on their way to Buffalo from Birmingham even as I write this:

-- Zack Kassian seems like a good pick. There appeared to be a lot of talent on both sides of him but there's no doubt that size and grit are desperately missing in the Sabres system. I would've preferred "This kids works amazingly hard!" to "He's inconsistent" but he is young yet. Too bad he can't play like, yesterday.

-- Pierre McGuire was driving me CRAZY. He kept taking a stance on a player or a team's direction and then when Bob McKenzie would disagree he said, "I'm not arguing that!" You're arguing that, Pierre. YOU ARE!

-- Is there a reason Pierre has taken it so personally that the Islanders failed to draft Zach Parise? Because he seemed a tad fixated. One of the funniest moments of the night was Pierre pumping up the Islanders and how they were turning things around and how they had the gumption to trade for a second first round pick because there was another game-changing player they just had to have and then Garth Snow went and picked a player rated so much lower than their spot that not even Pierre could pretend to be excited. Awesome.

-- Every once in a while Mark and I make the same joke at the same time and for some reason, I always find that completely hilarious. Before the Islanders made their first pick, another guy stood up and spoke a lot of French and then introduced Snow. So it sounded like this: French French French French French French French Garth Snow! We both shouted, "They just drafted Garth Snow!" It was doubly funny because it was the Islanders and well, you just never know with them. All right, maybe you had to be there.

-- Wow, those Penguins, they're really good drafters, aren't they? It's amazing how they completely re-built the team with all those top three picks!

-- I think the Flyers gave up an awful lot for one year of Chris Pronger, more than a team that isn't close (like us) should give. And before anyone gets any ideas, no we do not want to help the Flyers unload Danny Briere. That highly over-priced ship has sailed. I don't think you can bring back leadership that's already flown the coop and he's as small and non-gritty as the rest of the players we already have. And hey, did I mention that he makes a whole lot of money? For a really long time yet?

-- I'll give it up to the Buffalo News on this one. They had video and stories up on Kassian just about as fast as any other blogs and Twitters did. Stellar job by Mike Harrington on all the web stuff.

-- As Pookie said to me in celebration (I think), Henrik Tallinder lives to be traded another day! Yes! I really thought the Sabres would try to move into the second round so I'm not feeling out of the woods yet. And won't really until the season starts. But for now, my blog banner and Twitter background can remain as is.

Draft Day Thoughts

Keeping in mind that I don't know anything about these kids that I haven't read in a magazine or seen on TV...

If I'm the Islanders and I have a choice between a very good but probably not Crosby/Malkin-level forward and a stud defenseman, I'm taking the stud defenseman every time. I think that kind of player is much harder to come by and should be grabbed when he's in front of you. I know the Islanders need a good PR pick as much as anything and in that case, John Tavares probably is splashier, but I'd take Victor Hedman. You know, in case Garth Snow is reading this. Or in case the Sabres package the entire roster for the number one pick.

I have no idea who the Sabres will pick but Zack Kassian is the name that I've seen attached to us the most in mock drafts. The Hockey News Draft Preview quotes a scout who compares him to Milan Lucic in which case, yes, please I'll take him. (Of course, it also quotes someone saying that his playoff performance was disappointing because the passion didn't seem to be there in which case, please God, no, we need lack of passion about as much as we need another teeny-tiny forward.)

On a totally different note, there's now a "Follow Me on Twitter" badge on the right sidebar. Yes, I did once declare that I would never follow anyone on Twitter because it was stupid but I was wrong, okay? I kind of love it even if a number of my friends spent the evening laughing at Hank's trade value. I'm really excited to have it cued up during the draft tomorrow. There was a Pirates feed that was absolutely nuts during the MLB draft a few weeks ago. This guy was posting all their picks and then almost immediately linking scouting reports, video, interviews, all kinds of goodies. I'm hoping we'll get some good stuff like that for the NHL draft too. Anyway, if you're not following me and you're so inclined, please do. If you're following me and I didn't follow you in return feel free to give me a poke. I either didn't recognize your name or I couldn't tell if you were just trying to show me SEXY BRITNEY VIDS! or not.

One more day of work, one more day of work, one more day of work...

GM For More Than a Day

When I was writing a few weeks back about the Pirates and Nate McClouth, I realized something that's probably pretty obvious to anyone who's been reading Top Shelf for a while but that I've never really stated outright. I'm fascinated by general managers.

If the Sabres were to call me tomorrow and say, "Heather B., as a reward for being the greatest blogger ever, we're going to let you shadow the person of your choice for three days," it wouldn't even be a contest, I'd follow Darcy Regier in a heartbeat. Not just because I like him - I do - but because I find his job really interesting. A few years ago, the Sabres did an intermission piece about trade deadline day and there was a very short scene of Darcy, Lindy Ruff, and a few other people in a room with a white board behind them. Any delicate information was blurred out and the conversation we saw had been carefully culled of any direct references to specific offers or players but I was still fascinated. I could watch footage like that forever. Regardless of what you think of Regier, you have to admit that his job is not an easy one. I don't think fans or journalists appreciate that enough. I think a lot of times even when people say, "I realize it's not easy..." they're just paying lip service to the idea because the thought is almost always completed with, "I could do it better" whether directly stated or implied.

GMs have so many decisions to make. Is your team good enough to go all in this season or do they need a little more time to grow? Do you make a really long commitment to this player or do you attempt to keep things more short-term? Do you chase the big money free agent or do you earmark that money for players already in your organization? Do you sign one big name or two or three smaller names? Do you go with high-flying offense or steady, fundamental defense? Do you trade one of your more productive players while his value is still high or do you hold on to him and say a prayer that he plays at his current level for a few more years? Do you draft the alleged can't-miss prospect or do you take a chance and go after the high risk-high reward project? I love how two GMs can look at the same issue, come up with two totally different takes, and respond in completely opposite ways.

The aspect I find most interesting - and most difficult - is that none of the above decisions can be made in a bubble. Almost every single choice a GM makes has long-term ramifications for a team. If you throw a lot of money at the hyped free agent of the year and he doesn't work out, you might not have the money or cap space to fix your roster later. If you give one player a huge contract, the younger players coming up for renewal behind him are going to expect the same. How is the contract you offer right now going to affect your cap space for the next four years? Heck, what's the cap going to do for the next four years? Go up? Or come down? Those decisions are even harder in smaller markets like Buffa where a team isn't going to be able to buyout a player without still feeling a crunch.

And none of this is even taking into consideration the personal aspect. GMs are part of creating an environment that players are comfortable in and want to play in. If a player is drafted by the organization and comes up through the system and plays with them for a while, the player develops ties to the organization and the fan base. They want there to be that player or two who become the face of the franchise, the fan favorite. But then after going to the trouble of helping that develop, a GM has to be able to put emotions aside and think of players as assets, nothing more, nothing less. That would be incredibly hard.

I know GMs have a whole team of people who help them with decisions - coaching staffs, cap specialists, scouting teams (or if you're TBN, that guy in Darcy's basement watching grainy footage on a 13 inch black-and-white TV). But ultimately the final decision comes down to the GM. And even if it doesn't - even if there's an owner or a money man in the way - the blame for any screw-ups comes down on the GM. Unless you win a Stanley Cup - and yeah, that's REALLY easy to do - no one's happy with you. Being a GM sucks, yo.

What's my point? I don't know, really. I've just been thinking about this more lately with the draft and free agency coming up. I have my problems with the Sabres roster as is and I hope to see some changes, some small, some big. But I also have some sympathy for how easy it is for us to talk about making those changes and how hard it is to actually make those changes, how many different factors go into a trade or a contract negotiation. I'm not making excuses. I do like Darcy but I'm going to be disappointed if the Sabres start next season with pretty much the same roster. I just think it's a difficult and interesting process and I think we sometimes forget just how complicated it all is.

For the record, if the Sabres called and said I could shadow anyone I wanted, my top three choices would be as follows:

1. GM - See above.
2. Head of scouting - Where and how do they find players? How much do they watch the kid in person, how much do they watch him on video? What are they looking for? What pushes one prospect over another on draft day especially in the later rounds? Are they really watching video on a 13 inch TV?
3. Equipment manager - I'm fascinated by hockey equipment, how much of it there is and how a group manages to get it all packed up and on a bus in 0.6 seconds.

Didn't really get a chance to listen to Darcy's press conference today but I heard bits and pieces of info about it. I'm going to assume he's just keeping that Derek Roy trade under super secret wrap until draft day.

Please Help.

If you're looking for hockey content, scroll down. I have a quick Twitter related question. I'm following the MLB Twitter and while I like it, it updates ALL THE FRIGGIN' TIME. I don't want to unfollow it - there's some good stuff there - but it's absolutely burying my more personal Twitter feeds and I hate having to dig for them. I downloaded TweetDeck and I managed to move MLB to the groups feed but it's still updating in my Friends column too. Is there any way to get it to update in the groups column but NOT the friends column? Seriously, this feed has updated EIGHT times in the amount of time it took me to write this. It's driving me crazy! Can anyone help me?

Ch-ch-changes

So I see that tomorrow's Buffalo News will feature Bucky Gleason's annual GM for a day column. I seem to have developed a reputation as a bit of Bucky slayer - I dropped in on one of Bucky's chats a few months back and even he commented on me being hard on him - so I know some of you will wander this way looking for my response. I figured I should explain why you won't find any reaction here.

It started with that Bucky column that most of the blogosphere got worked up about. You know, the one where he called us all dumb, lazy sheep? That column pissed me off something fierce. I thought it showed a gross misunderstanding of his audience and the local sports scene and I thought it was insulting for a number of reasons. I said in the post I wrote about it that I wasn't going near anything he wrote for a long time and I meant it. That was on April 22nd and I haven't read any of Bucky's columns or chats since.

The initial anger dissipated but the truth is, that column did make me think about how easy it is to just accept things as they are whether you're happy with them or not. I'm not ready to give up on the Sabres. They're only two years removed from back-to-back Eastern Conference Finals appearances and I think they have talent and good, young players in the pipeline. For me, there are still enough signs of hope to hang in there with them, to think things might get better. I'm not, however, as optimistic for TBN's coverage of the Sabres.

I've written this blog for a little over two years now. For most of those two years, Bucky has been writing variations of the same column with me writing variations of the same reaction. The beat and blog coverage, while better, has often been as repetitive. The same people have been blamed over and over, the same mistakes have been criticized even long after they happened and the same people skate by without taking any criticism at all. When a beat writer finally getting around to criticizing the head coach of an undisciplined, unmotivated, non-playoff team is considered a big deal, I think you have to question how willing the hockey beat is to challenge us and itself.

Which leads to my real problem with Bucky. He thinks he's smarter than us. We're just fans, what do we know? We could never understand the way things work. And hey, why bother educating us when he can just lecture us instead? Why raise the level of the conversation when he can write for the lowest common denominator? Why challenge us or himself when he can just say the same thing over and over? And TBN is obviously just fine with that because when it came time to pick one guy on the hockey beat to send to the Stanley Cup Finals, to represent them, to fill us in on what was going on during the biggest moments of the hockey season, they didn't choose one of the beat writers, they chose Bucky. They don't care what we think of him or them. If we're reading their hockey coverage, great. If we're all talking about it and throwing up links to it, even better.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying there's nothing of value in TBN's Sabres coverage. There is. And for better or for worse, they have some of the best access to the organization which would make it very difficult to cut them out altogether. But there are certain parts of their coverage that I find so consistently infuriating that I think it's about time I started showing my displeasure with those things and the best way to do that in this case is to quit reading them and quit commenting on them.

So there you go. If you want commentary on GM for a day, you'll have to seek it elsewhere. Going forward, it's an all-new Top Shelf.

Awards, Trades and Moral Victories

Okay, one more post of random thoughts and then hopefully I'll be back on track as next week winds down and we start moving toward draft day and free agency.

-- The NHL Awards ceremony was, as usual, an awkward disaster. I get what they're going for and I love it in theory but it really just emphasizes how irrelevant hockey is to much of the country. Chaka Khan? C-List celebrities? Come on. And good lord, can someone please give the players some kind of reading training. Some of these guys make Sidney Crosby appear to have as much personality as Charles Barkley. You can't deliver three lines off a teleprompter with some pizazz? Oy. Thank god for Tim Thomas and Zdeno Chara who were both well-spoken, sweet, and funny.

-- I was pretty upset when Teppo Numminen wasn't a final nominee for the Masterton but I comforted myself with the fact that Richard Zednik was going to win anyway. I mean, the guy almost died in front of thousands of people but he faced down any demons and got back on the ice, including the ice where he almost lost his life. That's dedication to hockey right there. But he didn't win. HE DIDN'T WIN?!?!?!?! I'm sure Steve Sullivan is a nice guy and his injury does seem like a bitch. But it's an injury he could have lived with even if he'd never played hockey again. I'm not really sure how that trumps playing in the NHL less than a year after open heart surgery and almost dying in the middle of a game.

-- The only award I really, really cared about was the Norris, partly because I wanted Zdeno Chara to win and partly because I wanted Mike Green to lose. I've read some stats that suggest Green isn't the defensive disaster I think he is but I know that I haven't been impressed with him at all in the games I've seen personally. Thirty-one goals is an awesome achievement and I would happily take that on my team. But I wouldn't give it the Norris. Green is better than Chara offensively but Chara is better than Green defensively and if a guy is going to be stronger on one side of the puck than the other, it should be the defensive side. Because it's an award for defensemen, see? The Norris winner should be a shut down guy and a top unit penalty killer. He should make forwards a little tiny bit nervous. I've said this many, many times before but defensive defensemen are the most unappreciated players in the NHL. For the love of all that's good and right, they can't even get any love in the one category they should be winning. It's really past time for the NHL to create an award for defensive d-men. And please, would it kill you to find some defensive highlights for the Norris nominees? Hits, blocked shots, stolen pucks, something?

-- I'm not one to make fun of the Lady Byng - I think it's perfectly fine to have a sportsmanship award even in a sport like hockey - but I hate the way people vote for it. It's basically the guy with the most points and the fewest penalty minutes which means it's yet another award that a defenseman will never win along with goalies. That's bogus. Hey, voters, why don't you actually put some thought into this one for once?

-- A few days ago I read a really interesting post at Silver Seven about the Dany Heatley situation. Blogger PeterR discusses Heatley's trade demands and how because of his no-trade clause he has a lot of power about where he ultimately goes. It does put the Senators in a very tough situation. If the best offer comes from a team Heatley isn't interested in, the Sens have to either pressure Heatley to accept the trade or pass on it and take the best offer from an acceptable team which could ultimately not be a great offer. Sucks for them especially since everyone in the league knows Heatley wants out.

The idea of a player having to give up his no-trade clause when he demands a trade before the contract is up is interesting but probably not really passable. (Though don't get me wrong, I would love for Bryan Murray to say, "What's that? Trade you? Sorry, can't. You have a no-trade clause.") Ultimately, it really is the Senators fault for giving Heatley the no-trade clause in the first place especially since they seemed to give one to everyone they signed in that little period of time. I'm glad Darcy Regier and/or the Sabres seem to have avoided them even (as far as I know) with all the big contracts they signed in the last couple of years. As a fan, I like the idea of having players around for a long time but if a player wants to move or a team wants to move him, they find a way around those clauses anyway. And more often than not, no-trades end up hamstringing the team from making moves that could potentially help them. Think Toronto had second thoughts about the no-trade for Mats Sundin? Think the Flyers are re-thinking that no-trade clause they gave Danny Briere? Heck, the Senators spent most of the 07-08 season trying to get around Wade Redden's no-trade clause. If you have a really, really special player - and I'm talking top ten or so in the league - maybe I could understand giving out a no-trade clause. But even then I think the player should be willing to give up some money or a year or two in exchange. Giving a guy big money, long years, AND a no-trade/no-movement clause? That's insanity.

-- The SBNation blogs have been doing a mock draft for the last few days and today Die by the Blade selected Zack Kassion on the Sabres behalf. I don't really keep up on juniors/college very well but I've heard Kassion's name quite a few times and I do like his size. I love Darcy Regier but if we draft another pipsqueak I might have to punch him in the head a few times. Follow the link above if you want more info on Kassion or the rest of the mock draft so far. Die by the Blade will also be attending the draft with press pass in hand which does make me a tad jealous. I had a blast at the draft last year just as a plain ol' fan and it's the one event that I think would be pretty fun to cover in an official capacity.

-- In case you didn't notice, I would just like to announce that yours truly won the Goose's Roost playoff pool. Okay, technically Kate and I tied and we have to take a GR quiz to break the tie but I know in my heart that I'm the winner here. I got the Finals right after all and I'm pretty sure Kate went with her Finals pick in an effort to stave off Mark, who was right behind her going into the final round. In other words, she fell back into defensive mode in an effort to protect her lead and I went for broke, desperate to get that game-breaking goal. I think we can all agree that we don't want to see trapping creep into our hockey playoff pools. So regardless of the final outcome, I'm claiming moral victory. (That said, if anyone knows if Ryan hates bears or not, please let me know.)

This 'n That

-- I've been meaning to mention this all week but Mike Harrington talking about it in his Inside Baseball column this morning made me think of it again. First a little background: Blogger Jerod Morris writes a post about Raul Ibanez and steroids, reporter reads blog post and runs to Ibanez for a quote, Ibanez gets pissed, the mainstream media goes crazy about bloggers and how irresponsible they are.

Here's the thing. I think the original post is perfectly fine and this guy is getting lambasted for no reason. Considering how much outrage I'd heard about it, once I read it I was surprised to find it pretty thoughtful and even-handed and if I'd read it in a newspaper, I wouldn't have given it a second thought. Morris did a fair amount of statistical analysis which addressed a couple of issues, including Harrington's suggestion that Ibanez moving from a pitcher's park to a hitter's park is responsible for the hot start. The whole post was in fact a response to speculation from a buddy of his. Morris started out defending Ibanez, mildly mentions that certainly PEDs are a possibility and says he'll wait until there's an entire season of numbers before making any kind of final judgment. His main point is that considering the climate of the league today, when a 37-year-old player is having the best season of his career, people are going to question what's going on.

I just don't get that this post was any different than what Howard Bryant did here or Bill Simmons did here. (And yes, Simmons is more or less a fan writing but he's getting paid for it and doing it for the biggest sports source in the world.) How may times a day do the talking heads on ESPN say things like "Players have lost the benefit of the doubt" and "I don't know who to believe anymore" without even thinking? How many baseball writers have written columns or blogs about how they're not voting for Mark McGwire or Sammy Sosa or Barry Bonds for the Hall of Fame because of the suspicion that they were on steroids even though none of them ever failed a MLB test?

I'd be very curious to know how many of the people criticizing Morris - including Harrington - went to the trouble of clicking over and reading the original blog post in entirety. I completely understand why Ibanez got defensive when confronted by the reporter in question. I'm glad he did respond so forcefully and I hope he is clean. But to use this post to vilify blogging is ridiculous. I've read things in the newspaper and heard speculations on TV that are more irresponsible.

Which brings us back to Harrington. Either he jumped on the MSM bandwagon and criticized Morris without reading the blog post or he read the blog post and misrepresented it by suggesting it didn't address something it actually did address. Either way, I'm disappointed, especially considering how blog friendly Mike has always been.

Then again, I'm just speculating here which I, as a blogger, am not allowed to do because I should be held to much higher standards than the real journalists of the world. My deepest apologies.

-- I know he's become the whipping boy for a lot of fans but I'm really happy for Sidney Crosby. He came into the NHL at 18 with just ridiculous amounts of pressure on him to save the Penguins and rejuvenate the league. I think he's lived and played under a brighter, more critical glare than anyone else including Alexander Ovechkin. There was a really great shot of him on the bench as the final seconds of Game 7 ticked away, getting ready to spring over the boards with a huge smile on his face, a smile very unlike what we've seen out of him most days because it was genuine and child-like. I'm hoping maybe having that first Cup will help him relax and just be himself a little more. He's certainly earned that. I don't have anything against the Red Wings at all but I think it's always pretty fun to watch a bunch of kids win their first Cup.


-- Mark and I went to Allentown yesterday and as always, really enjoyed ourselves. Between the two of us, our final food tally was onion rings, hand-cut potato chips, fried dough with chocolate sauce, and the most gigantic shaved ice I've ever seen. And then we topped that all off with the first stop on the summer-long pizza crawl, Casa di Pizza. (If you wanna know what we thought, you'll have to stay tuned.) And in the midst of all that, we did actually look at art.

My favorite booth by far was Yardbirds' junkyard sculptures. The guy takes all kinds of metal scraps - screws, sockets, nails, forks, pots, pans, pretty much anything you can think of - and turns them into various animal sculptures. I was in awe at how creative they were and how much personality each piece had. It just amazes me that someone can look at all those scraps and make something so delightful and charming from them.

I really liked this elephant the best but even the smallest one was out of my price range for the day. (I will get one though, oh yes, I will.)


I also really liked the hanging monkeys but I could not for the life of me think of a good place in the house or yard to hang it. I'll have to ponder that and buy one next year.


I ended up taking home this cute little froggy. Despite not being my first choice, it's still totally adorable.


They don't seem to have an official website but I found a lot of examples here if you want to see more. The dogs are especially cute, I think.

-- Now that the hockey season is officially over and we can start talking about things like completely dismantling the current Sabres roster, I'm hoping to start blogging on a more regular basis again. That said, this week will probably be a quiet one as I hunker down for the final stretch run of the school year. There are some posts in progress however so keep checking back.