"We're gonna win that cup!"

Is this the year of the "loser cities?"

I interviewed Tom "Conehead" Girot - a popular vendor at Sabres, Bills, Rochester Red Wings games - a couple weeks ago and the conversation turned to the Buffalo Sabres' Cup chances. He told me that he's hoping this will be the year of the "loser cities." He explained, New Orleans won the Super Bowl to start the trend, the Lebron James led Cleveland Cavaliers are favorites to win the NBA title and the Sabres have the "best player, at the most important position” (goalie Ryan Miller).

Is this possible? Absolutely. But as a Buffalo fan, I have to stay cautiously optimistic. During their 2006 Cup run, I was convinced they would win it all. They would have too, if their entire defense didn’t get injured at the same time. So every time these crazy visions of Ryan Miller, Lindy Ruff and crew lifting the Cup flood into my head I try to justify my expectations. After all, there are more talented teams out there and Buffalo teams are notoriously unlucky. There title hopes usually end up like Jack Bauer’s love life (spoiler: things go horribly wrong).

One of the best opening scenarios for the Sabres is they dispatch of Boston fairly quickly. Any playoff series is nerve-racking. My guess is the Sabres will win in six, but it will be tough. Still, I’m surprised by how many people I’ve seen picking the Bruins to win. Three out of six Sports Illustrated prognosticators are picking the Bruins (usually in six, sometimes seven) and most of the people that have Buffalo winning say it will take seven games. None have the Sabres making it past the second round (they all have the Devils beating the Sabres in seven). But I guess it does make sense to have the worst offensive team in the league (statically that is, the Bruins scored the least amount of goals out of every team in the league) upsetting the team with the best goalie.. (flawless logic obviously.)

Now, I’m being pretty condescending about Boston’s chances but the truth is they’re a division rival with an excellent goalie (surprise, it’s the rookie Rask and not last year’s Vezina winner Tim Thomas) and a very good defense (Along with Chris Neil, Chara is one of my least favorite players). Plus, it’s the playoffs. Anything can happen.

My other gripe with these ESPN and SI playoff previews is how almost all of them state this series as a bore. The Sabres aren’t the offensive powerhouse of a few years ago, but they aren’t too bad and like every Sabres fan, I’m hoping superstar Thomas Vanek will catch fire. Anyway, these games are probably going to be low scoring but that doesn’t make them boring. This is going to be physical, tense playoff hockey and I’m pumped for it. I think all these games will be close – maybe some overtime thrillers – and that certainly isn’t boring.

If all the top seeds win in the East, that wouldn’t be too bad for the Sabres. I think they can beat the Devils and I feel better playing them than Pittsburgh, Washington or Ottawa. The Flyers were 5-1 against the Devils during the regular season (edit: and they won Game 1), so if they upset the Devils, it’s most likely Buffalo will play Ottawa or Pittsburgh. I actually would rather play Ottawa. Crosby just seems to have the Sabres number during crunch time. Either way, if the Sabres are to finally capture that elusive Cup, it makes sense that they would have to go through either one of their biggest rivals (Ottawa) or through the defending champs (Pittsburgh).

If the Sabres return to the Eastern Conference Finals (and as crazy as it may sound, I think they will), then things get tricky. Now I know that the President’s Trophy winning team has struggled to capture the Cup in the past, but I can’t pick against Washington at this point. I don’t see them as the offensive juggernaut with questionable goaltending that’s fated to get upset. I see them more like the Detroit Red Wings of the past two years. A supremely talented team with a good – not great – goaltender that steps up and separates themselves from the pack. Of course, Detroit did have more playoff experience and they still lost to the Penguins last year. So there’s that. If the Sabres run into the Caps, it will be in the Eastern Conference Finals and they’ll need the offense to step up, for Miller to play out of his mind (again) and for a little bit of luck. I’ll go for a reverse jinx/safe, predictable choice and say that Washington will win.

A lot of casual hockey fans are looking for the marquee matchups i.e. Ovechkin vs. Crosby, Caps vs. Blackhawks or Wings. But that doesn’t happen that often. It has happened the past two years with Red Wings-Pens, but I’m going on a limb and say that the Western Conference champion will be… Phoenix.

Yep. Aside from Detroit, they’re the hottest team in the league. Everyone is picking the Wings to beat them, but I see the Coyotes as that random warm-weather team that makes a surprise run to the Cup (like Tampa Bay, Anaheim and, ugh, Carolina). The West is going to be wild this year though, I could see Vancouver emerging too or favorites like Chicago and Detroit making the finals, or even the alleged postseason challenged, one-seed San Jose Sharks. Then again, any of these teams could lose in the first-round. I have no idea, and that’s why playoff hockey is awesome (not to mention stressful).

My pick: I’ll take Washington over Phoenix. But I think/hope this will turn out like my NCAA bracket (hint: I picked zero Final Four teams).

I’m going to end this on an optimistic note. During the Olympics, I had a crazy theory that Ryan Miller would steal the show and finally get his due as one of the NHL’s elite. In turn, this would lead to casual American hockey fans rooting for Miller in the playoffs and this positive Karma would counteract the horrible, possibly cursed Karma of the city of Buffalo. Kind of like casual baseball fans rooting for the Red Sox leading to a miracle against the Yankees and a Championship (oh, that’s what throwing up in your mouth feels like). Part of this crazy theory came true, the Americans didn’t win Gold but Miller did steal the show. Could this be? Would the hockey Gods allow this? I’m thinking yes.

That’s why I implore you casual hockey fans to join the Ryan Miller, Buffalo Sabres bandwagon. I Promise, it will be a fun ride and we can teach you about the French Connection, May Day, Rick Jeanerette, etc. etc. We’ll even let you guys wear the championship hats and t-shirts that we’ve pined after for so long. Most people will even look at us and our optimism and think, those guys are going to be sorely disappointed come June when some other club’s captain is making out with Lord Stanley’s Cup. And maybe that’s so, I’ve been sorely disappointed at the end of every hockey season I’ve followed. But then again, anything can happen…

State of the Sabres Address

We’ve seen this before. Right, Sabres fans?

At the rate Buffalo’s players are going down with injuries, they’re going to have to lace some skates on Sabretooth and have him play defense (and this reminds me, the NHL has by far the best set of mascots, even if some of them make no sense. For example, the Islanders’ Sparky the Dragon, Carolina’s Stormy the Ice Hog and Toronto’s Carlton the Bear are all not only funny, but also child friendly).

Once again, the rash of injuries has struck some high-profile Sabres. Most noticeably, is the recent injury to one of the league’s most electrifying players: Maxim Afinogenov. Afinogenov’s broken wrist will sideline him for at least six weeks and he might not see the ice again before the playoffs. Losing one of their top playmakers will definitely hurt Buffalo’s chance at a President’s Cup (awarded to the club with the best regular season record), but shouldn’t affect the team’s ultimate goal of winning a Stanley Cup. After all, Afinogenov managed to score the equalizer goal against the Oilers after he broke his wrist.

Other injured Sabres such as Jaroslav Spacek and Jiri Novotny should also be back for what is hopefully a long playoff run. But the major blow is Paul Gaustad’s sliced tendon that will shelf him for the season. There’s no doubt that the Sabres will miss Gaustad’s punishing style of play and his rapport with linemate and co-Captain Chris Drury. If the Sabres are going to make a trade before the Feb. 27 deadline, they would most likely need to acquire a physical forward to replace Gaustad or a veteran defender to supply leadership and stability to Buffalo’s blueliners.

Of course, they don’t have to necessarily make a trade (especially considering their tight salary cap situation). They dealt with key injuries all of last year and still finished near the top of the standings. The plague of injuries that rifled through Buffalo’s defensive corps did eventually catch up with them though and it opened the door for Carolina to bring the Cup to NASCAR land. I have an idea to stop these injuries: for the next season of 24, Tom Golisano could hire Jack Bauer to protect the Sabres from both injuries and a terrorist cell made up of Zdeno Chara look-a-likes (tell me you wouldn’t tune in for that). While he’s at it, Jack could convince Gary Bettman to introduce hockey cheerleaders into the mix.

Even if Jack Bauer can’t keep Buffalo’s roster healthy, there’s still not reason to panic. If Tim Connolly (who’s currently sporting the Brittany Spears shaved head look) can successfully return from the nasty injuries he suffered against Ottawa last postseason, then Buffalo will have added firepower to shoot down the rest of the league’s major contenders. Plus call-ups like Drew Stafford can help to get the job done.

So what if the Predators traded for Peter Forsberg? That’s not the kind of move the Sabres need to make anyway. If Nashville does happen to topple the Sharks, Wings and the Ducks (formerly known as Mighty) and make it out of Western Conference, they will still be having nightmares of their 7-2 home thrashing at the hands of the Sabres back on Dec. 21.

As for the Eastern Conference competition, I still think the Sabres have the upper edge. They have more depth than the Thrashers, more experience than the Penguins and they have a history of playoff mastery against Ottawa. As for the Devils and their trap style of defense, the way I see it is that their seemingly superhuman goalie Martin Brodeur will be worn out by playoff time.

One more Sabres note, is there a play-by-play man who is more worthy of calling a Cup-clinching game than Rick Jeanneret? Jeanneret, alongside the always-reliable Jim Lorentz, adds an element of excitement to the game that few others can. In fact, if I could have one person narrate my life it would definitely be Jeanneret. I would run around getting into fights just to hear his brilliant play-by-play (“Pukos just threw down his books and…wait… now he’s headed after the girl with the scooter, holy mackerel!”)

Still, the question remains: can these Sabres slug the competition and win it all? We won’t know until June, but either way these guys are still, as Jeanneret would say, “good, scary good.”

From the Feb. 21 2007 (Vol. 6 issue 9) of the Cardinal Courier