My thoughts:

Vanek deserved his 3rd period benching. What a lazy, sloppy effort he put forward. Glad Lindy made a statement to the team by parking his ass on the bench.

Pominville is playing much harder this year...glad he got that goal at the end. Still, time has come to remove him from the point on PP...he's just too much of a defensive liability.

Bruins get two shorthanded breakaways? Are you fucking kidding me? No movement and putrid effort leads to a lot of this kind of shit.

Myers is our best player...offense, defense or goaltender included. What a force.

Enroth showed some real quick feat tonight. I thought he played one hell of a game, and really was the only thing keeping this from being an 8-2 rout.

RJ sounded like he mailed in the broadcast after the Bruins second goal. Did anyone else notice him just moping and sulking through the last two periods?

Night in and night out, our fourth line is our best line.

Hecht seems to be back to his invisible self lately. I was happy he got punched out at the end, because he sure didn't show anything either game this weekend. He is what we thought he was, a worthless pussy who's collecting paychecks.

Tallinder really is playing well. Can't believe I just typed that, but I have to admit I'm impressed. Sekera, too, looked great the past couple games. Would like to see Butler get a little more aggressive offensively.

Connolly had an awful game. Missed scoring opportunities and gave up a breakaway at the point.

Stafford and MacArthur have retreated back into their Missing Person mode. The two of them might as well not dress if they are going to just cruise around the ice all night like it's open skate at Clearfield.

Lost 3 of the last 4 now, and looked pretty bad in beating Toronto before that, too. I'm beginning to get that feeling in my gut like I had last year when we collapsed after a hot start - not liking the deja vu.

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Oh lord, it's hard to be humble, when you're perfect in every way. I can't wait to look in the mirror, 'cause I get better looking each day. To know me is to love me, I must be a hell of a man. Oh lord, it's hard to be humble, but I'm doin' the best that I can.

I made the mistake of staying up late to watch last night's game on DVR (and they lose every time I do this). So tonight once I saw Enroth starting I knew what would happen, and as soon as it was 1-0 I hit fast forward and just watched the score change until it was over in five minutes.

I said this in another thread, and even though it's hindsight I stand by it. When choosing the goalie during back-to-backs, start Miller for a divisional game. He may have played well overall ETC, but that 1st goal was soft, just as soft as the ones Miller allowed last night - I know. Even still why give a division team the upper hand at earning pts with a back-up - an AHL goalie?!?

Pominville did have a pretty good game. I was impressed.

Vanek was bad. Depressingly bad. Connolly as well.

The bottom line, to me, is that our best players are playing like crap. Vanek, Roy, Stafford, Connolly, Stafford, etc. should all be producing more than this.

Hank and Myers are very, very good. Impressive.

It's just a hunch, but, seems to me that they get into a funk in the games close to their big Catwalk event.

Maybe they just want to be sure they are nice and pretty for their modeling thing - no obvious cuts, bruises, black-eyes or noticable limping?

I seem to remember that after the Catwalk event, I think it was last year, I thought their poor performance on ice might have been due to an overabundance of partying. (I thought they were still hungover)

I don't remember if they had bad games before the event, too.

Connolly, Vanek, Roy, Stafford. all need to step it up. While Roy is finally starting to net some, his giveaways and trying to be fancy(especially on the PP) really piss me off. Connolly and Vanek are probably the two that disappoint me the most.

Our third and fourth line is where I see the effort, and while they can add some spark they do not have the scoring talent that our top two lines do. Lindy needs to find a way to fire some inspiration under our top two lines. Because right now, Grier Hecht Kennedy Kaleta and Ellis are our best forwards..Pominville and Mac actually haven't been too bad but I feel them being with Connolly is bringing them down because he's been playing like shit lately.

The last 5 games before Catwalk for Charity last year they were 3-1-1. They had a 3-game break after Catwalk last year, and a few weeks later, Miller got injured during the Rangers game and that's when they started to spiral downward. So unless it took them 4 days to recover from their hangovers after last year's Catwalk, I don't think it really had an effect. They have a 2-day break after this year's Catwalk (which is tomorrow night).

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"Do not go where the path may lead, go instead where there is no path and leave a trail." - Ralph Waldo Emerson

Hockey Night in Buffalo

-We can't pass/recieve passes...
-We got manhandled like little boys...
-Most of the time they just looked like a bunch of 5th graders out there.. They just looked so stupid.. Their was exceptions to Kaleta, Ellis, and Goose.. The rest need to be whipped like horses..
-This must be the worst shooting team in the league.. Why the fuck can't they shoot like real NHL players?? They had plenty of times where they were setting up the puck right but just couldn't hit the fuckin net.. Especially on the blueline on the PP.. WTF was Rivet, Connolly, Pommers aiming at??

I hope Ruff works these guys till they are sore.. Im not one to get mad after losses, but that performance was PATHETIC..

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Miller, Myers and Greir are sick, but not Jesus Christ..

KILL OTTAWA

-Id like to see Ruff bench Vanek for next game..
-IMO Myers is #2 on our team, behind Miller..
-I thought it was just me, but I kept thinking that RJ sounded really down tonight.. In the past I always thought to myself "why doesn't RJ ever sound sad or depressed some days?".. Well it doesn't happen often, but he did sound down tonight..
-Our 4th line IS SICK.. and not in a swine flu kind of way..
-I hate Hecht.. Never liked him.. The beginning of this season, he impressed me, but in the back of my head I was sayin he needs to be get out of here by the end of the season..
-One of the worst games Ive seen of Connolly in years..
-Im feelin the deja vu too.. Not because of losses in 3 out of the 4 last games, but just the attitude of this team in those games.. UGH!!!!

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Miller, Myers and Greir are sick, but not Jesus Christ..

KILL OTTAWA

Thanks for clearing that up.

Added by edit: I guess I was just grasping for what I thought might be a plausible explanation for what we have seen to be a pretty good team to suddenly play so differently. Please understand that I was not looking to blame a good cause, or the participation in a good cause. It kinda read like that after I posted. Sorry about that, it is not how I meant it.

I was just thinking that it is a natural and human thing to get distracted sometimes by excitement or nervousness. I was hoping it could be something temporary like that instead of just deterioration after such a good and hopeful start to the season. Hoping it is not an flashback to last year.

Have a great time at the party!

I wasn't expecting much out of our second game in back-to-back efforts. So I'll wait until Wednesday. If they eat shit then, too, then I will start criticizing

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Want Vanek to score? Get him off a line with Drew "I can't shoot for shit" Stafford. How many times has Stafford pissed away a good shot, and thrown it wide? He's a 3rd line player, with a 3rd line Skill set, getting 1st line minutes. It's a joke. Also, give Vanek a Center to play with. Roy for some reason thinks he's a dangler now, and Connolly gives the puck away more than any "play maker" should. When we were walking through teams, it was a simple game. Now they are back to the cute bullshit they were doing last year.

SIMPLIFY; thats the problem. And the fact we STILL lack a true first line right wing.

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"She's like plan C after an 18 pack"

Squanto 7/27/2010

Well I went to the game last night and i'm not even going to comment much on the game.

The one thing I thought I should bring up is how loud the arena was. I have NEVER heard HSBC that loud. The fans were very passionate and the "older" crowd in TD actually knew and cheered about the game compared to ours. Very intense fan wise.

We got beat on every fight, BADLY.

Vanek shouldn't have gotten off the plane. Would have rather had Andrew Peters in tonight. Telling you something.

Special teams are atrocious...if this team is going to become anything at all this year they must get their shit together on the PP and SH units .

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Oh lord, it's hard to be humble, when you're perfect in every way. I can't wait to look in the mirror, 'cause I get better looking each day. To know me is to love me, I must be a hell of a man. Oh lord, it's hard to be humble, but I'm doin' the best that I can.

Can we decline powerplays? Or...

I honestly don't know what needs to be done in terms of lighting something under the boys. If they're going to say they're sluggish due to the flu, then say that. Give some kind of reason that maybe 1/3rd of the team decides to show up. If none is provided, then you're basically telling the fans you have no skillset what so ever.

I have to say this, and much like ETC, can't believe I'm saying it. Maybe it's because of who is on his pairing on D, but Hank is playing really solid as of late. Myers and Hank are deff our top defensive pairing. Offense and Defense wise.

Enroth did the best he could with what was in front of him. I think if they boys were a little more active and had more energy, it would have been a different outcome.

We showed signs of breaking out of the slump when it was 3-1, but that all went to shit. Our PP is absolutely retarded bad.

Roy is playing solid as well, but Timmy C. needs to realize that in todays game, you don't have a lot of time on the ice to figure out what to do with the puck. Seems like he's hanging onto it too much. Also, get him off the Point. Put him and Pommer down low to work the corners. Pommer plays in our own end pretty good on D, but on the point, too many give aways and not enough legs to get back when there's a 2-1 break or a break away going back to our own end.

Something has to change for Wednesday against the Oil. They've got a team with speed that will skate all over us.

Common boys, get it together!

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If it's a tight squeeze, spit on it! - NyI

He's a middling AHL player who had the good fortune of a drunk arbitrator. - The Squanto re: Tim Kennedy

Sit Vanek and Suckera...

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Miller, Myers and Greir are sick, but not Jesus Christ..

KILL OTTAWA

hmm.... id like to see enroth play again. wasnt impressed, but i wasnt turned off.... im intrigued..

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I've been doing a lot of thinking lately(crazy I know) and its just really weird to me that the first few games of the season, we saw so much effort and energy from these guys. They were outplaying their opponents and seemed much faster. Then the last couple games the sabres have had no energy and looked steps behind their opponent.

It really makes me wonder if most of the team is sick...not saying I'm trying to look for excuses, but to me, the way they've played the last couple games, they've been sickly bad and sluggish. I dunno, I know a couple guys have been out for flu like symptoms and theres been talk of players missing practices, and I'm really wondering if a lot of the team has caught some sort of bug.

That theory aside, they still look uninspired and something has got to change.

While I am not a fan of Peter's; there is no one else who is an above average fighter on this team, save perhaps Rivet. It looks like Rivet has been told not to fight anymore.

We got bitch slapped on three occasions. Embarrassing.

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"I'll rap you with my cane; you pencil necked geek!!"

-Bowler, imitating Freddy Blassie, at the very first M & G.

Clearfield was closed as a rink a few years ago; basketball and volleyball courts were put in!!

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"I'll rap you with my cane; you pencil necked geek!!"

-Bowler, imitating Freddy Blassie, at the very first M & G.