What better way to break in my new laptop than to churn out my first running diary for D and S Sports. One thing is for sure, this laptop is going to turn me into a giant couch potato. So far today I've watched bits and pieces of the Boston/Vancouver, Pittsburgh/Montreal, and Detroit/Los Angeles games. Not bad for day one.

So tonight we get the pleasure of seeing the Sabres take on the Blue Jackets, a team they aren't very familiar with. They last time they met, it was last season when the Blue Jackets crushed the Sabres 6-1. Patrick Lalime allowed all six goals before being pulled in the third period for Ryan Miller. It kind of sounds like Lalime's last game in Anaheim, except he didn't even make it through the first period of that game. In other news, Patrick Lalime is starting tonight. I might be overreacting, but tonight is going to be a telling game for me in terms of Lalime. The Sabres need exceptional play from their backup goaltender with Ryan Miller heading to Vancouver next week. I had lost just about all confidence in Lalime last season, and then gained it back earlier this season before having it sucked back out of me in Anaheim. If he plays poorly tonight, it's time to pick up another backup and say good day to the Lalime era.

6:58 PM – Greetings all! We're just about to get started as I'm waiting for Center Ice to kick in the broadcast. Of course it isn't in HD, why would Time Warner want us to see that?

7:01 PM – Two other games of interest tonight; Senators/Leafs and Rangers/Devils. If the Sabres lose in regulation and the Sens win, say goodbye to the division lead for the Sabres. If the Rangers beat the Devils, say goodbye to my current streak in Streak for the Cash on ESPN.

7:04 PM – The announcers on Fox Sports Ohio just said it was a packed house tonight in Columbus. Really? They sell out games in Columbus. I need to research this further.

7:05 PM – According to ESPN's NHL Attendance Page, Columbus is 22^nd in the league in attendance and on average fills 83.1% of their arena. Hmmm…something is up. I think the announcers might be exaggerating a little.

7:07 PM – Tonight's goaltenders are Patrick Lalime and Steve Mason. Last time I saw Mason, he was a high draft pick on my keeper team before I quickly gave up on him.

7:08 PM – The announcers claim the game is a sell-out again. They quickly follow that up by saying there are "a lot of Buffalo fans made the trip". It all makes sense now.

7:10 PM – Two minutes into the game and we've already seen the Jackets' first odd-man rush. Puck goes right through Lalime's legs but somehow misses the net completely. Good stuff.

7:14 PM – FSN Ohio announcers think Lalime looks shaky in the first few minutes. Actually guys, he looks like this all the time.

7:18 PM – I just realized that I have yet to mention the firing of Ken Hitchcock just a few days ago by Columbus. I was very saddened to see one of my favorite coaches get canned. /sarcasm off

7:20 PM – Roughly 8 and ½ minutes into the game and we have the first penalty against Columbus. This would be relevant news if the Sabres had a semi-competent power play.

7:26 PM – Buffalo managed one shot on the power play. Needless to say, they didn't score. In more positive news, Phil Kessel has scored and the Leafs are up 1-0 on Ottawa.

7:31 PM – Wow. I just witnessed a solid two or three minutes of straight end-to-end hockey. Good exciting stuff. Buffalo is headed to their second power play. I wonder if the Sabres can start declining these.

7:37 PM – Well, the Sabres are now two for two in brutal power plays. Seriously, just decline them. They are painful to watch.

7:41 PM – End of a frantic first period and no score. So far the Gaustad/Grier line has looked the best, which should be no surprise at all. Still 1-0 in Toronto and 0-0 in New York.

7:44 PM – During the intermission, I was going to make a list of players who I wouldn't hate to see traded before the deadline, but then I realized it would be easier to make a list of people that shouldn't be traded at all. Ryan Miller, Tyler Myers, and Tim Connolly. Everybody else should be fair game. Now I'm not saying that I hate Pominville, Vanek, Roy, etc… it's just that they shouldn't be untouchable if the right deal comes along. Of course, this would all depend on the Sabres actually making a trade before the deadline. As of right now, they seem content with what they have, and I'm not totally sure that's good enough. Meanwhile teams like New Jersey go out and acquire Ilya Kovalchuck. I love being a Buffalo sports fan.

7:47 PM – 2-0 Toronto. For once the Leafs are really helping out. Of course, they were up 3-1 last night with just about four minutes remaining against New Jersey before suffering an epic collapse. My fantasy acquisition of J.S. Giguere might prove to be very worthwhile.

7:56 PM – 3-0 Toronto at the end of the first period. It's not looking good for Ottawa's winning streak. I briefly touched on this before the season, but the Leafs aren't going to be walked on for much longer. Brian Burke is going to build a winner in Toronto sooner than later

8:00 PM – Paul Gaustad takes the Sabres first penalty for going after a Columbus player after his "questionable" hit on Henrik Tallinder from behind. Great penalty to take. It's nice to see someone on Buffalo stand up for his teammates. Gaustad should be the captain of this team.

8:03 PM – Patrick Lalime puts the puck in his own net and the Sabres are down 1-0. Not a good way to get your 200^th win Patrick.

8:04 PM – Steve Montador drops the gloves for the first Sabres fight in a loooooong time. Pretty uninspiring fight. Maybe Montador is mad about being a healthy scratch the last few games.

8:12 PM – Is R.J. Umberger available? He has 40 points in 59 games and only makes 3.75 million per year through 2011-12. Who does Columbus want for him? Roy? Hecht? Let's make a deal.

8:16 PM – I LOVE the fans who keep banging the glass behind Lalime. Hey people, we get it, you have good seats. KNOCK IT OFF. What is this, amateur hour in Columbus?

8:21 PM – Double minor on Craig Rivet for high sticking. It's a good thing he took this penalty because I wasn't even sure if he was playing tonight.

8:24 PM – I have been making fake trade proposals in my head since mentioning Umberger and I'm fairly certain that I pull the trigger on that trade if I'm Darcy Regier. Maybe I'm just a little salty over the latest woes for the Sabres, but I definitely think I would trade Roy for Umberger. Roy has scored more throughout his career, but it's not nearly consistent enough. And while Umberger might not score as much, I think he brings a better work ethic and some more toughness. I'd take it.

8:27 PM – WOW. Those fans will not stop banging on the glass. Can't FSN do something about that?

8:27 PM – Just as the Sabres get ready to fully kill off the four minute power play, Lydman takes a holding penalty. Nope, being a Sabres fan isn't insanely frustrating at times.

8:30 PM – 2-0 Columbus. Well done guys. Nash scores from…wait for it…R.J. Umberger.

8:31 PM – Apparently the Rangers are up 3-0 over the Devils. While that is good for the Sabres, it's not so good for my streak. Oh well, I've still yet to get over six straight. Maybe New Jersey should hold off on planning the parade?

8:41 PM – End of two and it's still 2-0 Columbus. I'm about 20 minutes away from going on and on about how the Sabres should trade for Martin Biron. I know the Sabres already want him and he only went to New York because he wanted to play more games. Well, with DiPietro back in the fold, Biron will definitely be traded before the deadline this year. I know he wouldn't stay after this season, but that's fine with me. Rent him until the end of the season and let him walk if he wants to play somewhere else to get more time. Lalime will also be a UFA at the end of this season so the Sabres can try for a third time to get a competent backup for Ryan Miller. Who knows, maybe next year they will make Jhonas Enroth the backup.

8:45 PM – Still 3-0 in both of the other games I'm following. I guess that is the positive out of this negative. At least they will still be in first place in the division. Of course, they only need one goal per 10 minutes in the third period to knot this thing back up.

8:48 PM – On a non-hockey side note, I see that Emmitt Smith made the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Personally, I can't wait to hear his induction speech. I see this being some of the best unintentional comedy.

8:57 PM – Here we go for the third period. Sabres start off on the power play. Let's see if they can look decent on this one and maybe even put a dent in the scoreboard.

8:58 PM – Nevermind. Jason Pominville nullified the power play by taking a high sticking penalty.

8:59 PM – And now another goal for Columbus, 3-0 Jackets. Hello Garth Snow, we have Darcy Regier on the phone for you.

9:02 PM – 4-0 Columbus. This game went down the crapper in record time. Less than three minutes into the third and now I'm just wondering if Lalime can finish out the game.

9:04 PM – Holy cow…Drew Stafford in a fight. Really nice fight between him and…wait for it…R.J. Umberger. I gotta say, Stafford taking his helmet off was a total badass move. Nice to see the Sabres getting a little upset. Too bad they are about a week late to that party.

9:09 PM – If the Sabres are going to fight again, can they take out those idiots who are STILL banging on the glass? 9:27 PM

9:17 PM – Since this game is a complete debacle, let's review some fun facts. With 10:52 remaining in this game, the Jackets have outscored the Sabres 10-1 in the past two meetings.

9:17 PM – Oooh wait! We have another Sabres power play. I can barely contain my excitement.

9:19 PM – I suppose I should explain why my mood is so bitter in this running diary and it was so overly positive a few weeks ago in my review of the Sabres. Well since that time, the Sabres have lost games to Pittsburgh, Ottawa, Carolina, and now Columbus. The first two are concerning because there is a decent chance that they will face one of those two teams in the playoffs. The last two are even more concerning because they are two of the worst teams in the league and they look awful.

Plus I'm a little upset that the Devils went out and got Kovalchuk and the Sabres seem to think that they are just fine with the current group of players. They aren't. Thomas Vanek is a good goal scorer but he needs more help around him. Players like Derek Roy, Jason Pominville, Jochen Hecht, and Drew Stafford aren't nearly consistent enough to get it done. While I applaud the Sabres for trying to keep the core group together, they are way too hesitant to make any deals and it is going to hurt the team in the long run. And please don't mistake this as me making excuses for Thomas Vanek. For the amount of money he makes, he should be scoring way more goals.

I guess you could say that I'm overly frustrated right now and with good reason. Extended losing streaks will do that to you. Needless to say, I'm looking forward to the two week Olympic break so I can regroup my thoughts and take a little time off.

9:27 PM – With that out of the way, let's get back to the game. The Sabres are heading to their fifth power play. No word yet on whether or not they will actually try and score on this one.

9:29 PM – Scoring a goal on this power play will not salvage this thing. They are mind boggling bad on the power play lately. Like a bunch of chickens with their heads cut off…on skates. Imagine that.

9:30 PM – The Leafs are now up 5-0 over Ottawa. Nice. The Devils are down 3-1 with time winding down in the third. I doubt they make another late game comeback tonight. The only thing that would've made this night better is if the Sabres had won their game and gained two points over both of these teams.

9:35 PM – We're a little over two minutes away from a shutout. What an awful way to spend my Saturday night. Maybe this is karma for trading Mason on my fantasy team so early in the year.

9:39 PM – Great, Sabres lose 4-0 to Columbus. I can see these running diaries becoming a long running tradition. Ottawa, Pittsburgh, and New Jersey all lost tonight so at least the Sabres didn't drop any in the standings. With that, I'm off to do something more productive. Like laundry. Or brushing my teeth.


 
Please note, because I wanted to post this as quickly as possible, I didn't go through and re-edit the diary. There may be some typos and grammar mistakes. This can happen when I'm trying to type along with the game as a quick pace. I apologize in advance.