Alex Ovechkin is still Alex Ovechkin

Professional athletes, especially hockey players, go through different phases in their careers. Some players start slow and pick up steam latter on while others enter with a bang and slowly fizzle out. For Washington Capitals captain Alex Ovechkin the latter seemed to be true.

Ovechkin burst onto the NHL scene in 2005 scoring 52 goals and putting up 106 points in his rookie season. In the next four season he would score no less than 46 goals in each season and put up career numbers in 2007 when he scored 65 goals and notched 112 points. Alex Ovechkin was on top of the proverbial hockey world, winning trophies for individual accolades left, right and center. But one thing was missing, playoff success.

Despite being one of the most exciting and electrifying players in the NHL, Ovechkin still faced never ender scrutiny about his game. Many said he was a one-dimensional player who couldn't play defence and was selfish.

Capitals head coach Bruce Boudreau decided he would transform Alex Ovechkin into that dynamic two-way player in order to better the Capitals as a whole. This new philosophy saw Ovechkin's scoring production plummet and he scored less than 40 goals for the first time in his NHL career.

Fast forward to the beginning of 2013 Alex Ovechkin still hadn't re-found his game, scoring just two goals in the teams first 10 games. Immediately discussions began that Ovechkin was no longer an elite player and had fallen from grace. The negativity surrounding the Russian sniper was absurd everyone was ready to write off the 27 year-old former superstar.

But to steal a line from the Russian himself; "You forgot to flush him down the toilet." Whoever's job it was to flush that toilet needs to be fired because Alex Ovechkin is back. He now has 23 goals in his teams last 29 games including a stretch that has seen him score 16 goals and add 7 assists in the last 14 games.

With two goals in Sunday nights win Ovechkin is tied with Steven Stamkos for the lead in the scoring race with 25 goals. It appears Alex Ovechkin is back, but it begs the question did he really go anywhere in the first place?

Every athlete goes through slumps at some point in their game. Some slumps are caused by health issues like Sidney Crosby has been dealing with, others are caused by maturity and a need to grow up like Patrick Kane. Even when Ovechkin was going through his "slump" he still put up 30+ goals. Sure it may not have been the 50+ goals we've become accustomed to but most teams would love players to score 30 goals during a slump.

One thing you have to remember is that when you have a player as skilled and gifted as Alex Ovechkin that skill doesn't just vanish! Ovechkin didn't just wake up one morning and turn into a "normal" player, he's always had the skill he showed early in his career and is showing now. He just didn't know how to use that skill without getting in trouble.

Alex Ovechkin is an exciting player who brings fans to games and scores highlight reel goals, but that often doesn't translate well to a team game. Coaches Bruce Boudreau and Dale Hunter both tried to change Ovechkin's game and force him to play defence. He was forced to play outside his comfort zone and was told by coaches that they'd rather win games 1-0 than 7-5. He was trashed in front of the media by his coaches and teammates- no matter where he turned everyone wanted to change him or criticize his game.

Now that Adam Oates is behind the Capitals bench, Alex Ovechkin seems to have found a coach he can trust. Yes Oates moved him from  the left side to the right side but the message was still the same- score goals. Oates is the first coach for the Capitals that has earned the respect and trust of Ovechkin.

“It’s respect. He never met me before. I totally respect who he is and what he’s accomplished and when you suggest something like that it has to be a meeting of the minds, with private conversations and he had to trust me." ~ Adam Oates

Alex Ovechkin feels comfortable know that his coach has faith in him and isn't going to try and change his game or throw him under the bus. That trust between player and coach is so key in the NHL today.

"This year is much different. It’s trust. I don’t have that last year. When you have those kind of feelings you want to go out there and play for your coach and do your best out there.” ~ Alex Ovechkin

Things are clicking for the great 8 and as a result Alex Ovechkin is starting to turn heads again. He's finding success on the power play again scoring 14 goals on the man advantage through 39 games, he's re-found the chemistry with Nicklas Backstrom and most importantly he trusts his coach.

Alex Ovechkin has evolved as a player through all the changes over the last 3-4 seasons. He's become more defencive, passes the puck more and is willing to go to the dirty areas. But what really stands out is the fact that Alex Ovechkin was on the ice with his team up one goal in the final minute of the game.

Early in that career that would never happen, they'd staple him to bench in close games. Now that there's trust, understanding and communication between Alex Ovechkin and Adam Oates, Ovechkin can be counted on to do the little things.

Is Alex Ovechkin's resurgance enough to earn him consideration for the MVP award? Alex Ovechkin is back and bette than before, he's still an elite NHL player who is going to prove all his critics wrong. The Washington Capitals are only as good as their star player and captain, now that he's ready to play they're making a run for the playoffs.

Malkin Disproving the Russian Stereotype

It's a popular discussion in the hockey world and a dilemma for NHL organizations, the great Russian stereotype. Are Russian players lazy? Do they only care about themselves? Are they as good as Canadians? It's an age old topic that was revamped when Alexander Ovechkin and Sidney Crosby were the forerunners in the league and arguably the two best players in the world. But it's the new best player in the world (for now) Evgeni Malkin who is disproving the Russian stereotype.

There have been plenty of instances over the years that prove that the Russian hockey players are a completely different breed than the Canadians, and that they only care about themselves and the money they make. There's also a nasty rumor that they are famous for getting coaches fired.

Alexander Ovechkin
Sure Ovechkin is a phenomenal hockey player, he scores jaw dropping goals and brings fans out to the game. But when the game is on the line would you really want him on the ice? When first asked this question you want to say yes, but to fully answer the question you need to dive in deeper. Take this year's playoffs for example, sure the Capitals made it to the 2nd round but Ovechkin never really stepped up to the plate and is part of the reason they're not playing right now. Anytime you can take the top seeded team to the 7th game and have them on the brink of elimination it's something special, something Ovechkin should have been all over. In 14 playoff games, Ovechkin scored just 5 goals and had his ice time diminished, Kings forward Dwight King (who few have ever heard of, has 5 goals!) Bottom line was when Ovechkin's team needed him the most, he was nowhere to be found, he has now played 7 seasons in the league and has failed to make it past the 2nd round of the playoffs, his stock, like his ice time is slowly going down.

Team Russia
What has really puzzled a lot of people is why Russian teams with all their fire power have never been able to win medals or be dominant on the World Stage. Canada and the United States can't be that much better than Russia can they? Especially when you can combine Ovechkin, Semin, Malkin, Kovalchuk and Datsyuk some of the top players in the NHL. (2010 Olympics).
Many say it's because they're too lazy or too cocky, they care more about partying than playing hockey. Whatever the reason despite all the fire power the Russian's can cook up they're still unable to crack into the upper echelon of the World rankings.

Drafting Russians
Then of course you have to look at the NHL entry draft, a lot of teams are hesitant to pick Russian players as there is no guarantee they will leave Russia to come play in the NHL. Now that the KHL is ramping up in Russia, they're throwing large amounts of money to Russians so they will come back home and play in Russia. The 78th pick in the 2009 NHL entry draft, Sergei Andronov has never left Russian, he currently plays in the KHL despite being drafted by the Blues! The Russian players want all the glory but none of the responsibility that goes a long with playing in the NHL.

Evgeni Malkin

But they say it takes just one to change people's perspective; queue Evgeni Malkin.

In all honesty I have never been a fan of Malkin, I always thought Crosby was better and more valuable to the Pittsburgh Penguins, but this season really changed my mind about Malkin. He had a fantastic season both on the scoreboard and with his character.

As everyone knows the Penguins were without their star Crosby for the majority of the season. They started the year without him and only saw him a couple of times during the year. Yet they still had a fairly successful season and made the playoffs due in large part to the play of Malkin.
Not only did Malkin have to carry the team in the absence of Crosby, he also was without Jordan Staal, the Penguins virtually went from having the best top 3 centers in the league to having just 1.

Most teams that are dealt multiple injuries, especially to their top players fold up (Sabres, Wild) but credit to the Penguins and Malkin for battling through it. To sum up the Penguins regular season, Evgeni Malkin put the Penguins on his back and took them to the promise land. To be frank Malkin did something I'm not sure the great Sidney Crosby could have done, another thing he did that Crosby wouldn't have been able to do; keep quiet. Not once did you ever hear Malkin complain that he had to do it all himself, or that his team's lack of success was because of injuries. Malkin gave no excuses, when the team wasn't playing well he took it upon himself to play better.

Malkin absolutely dominated the league this year, finishing with 50 goals and 59 assists for 109 points not to mention he only played in 75 games. Steven Stamkos who led the league with 60 goals but had just 97 points played in all 82 games!
Not only did Malkin lead the league in points, he's also nominated for the MVP award and he also led Russia to an IIHF World Championship! Becoming only the second player ever to lead the NHL in scoring and lead the World Championships in the same season! He was also named the MVP and best forward of the World Championship tournament.

After Malkin's amazing season in the NHL and jaw dropping performance, there is no doubt he is the best player in the world right now. He showed he was hungry to win, was willing to battle and do whatever he had to, sure he didn't go far in the NHL playoffs but he went a long way in putting Russia back on the map for the IIHF.

Malkin elevated his game and showed just how special a hockey player he really is, there were stretches during the season where he was totally dominant, no one stood between him and scoring a goal. Evgeni Malkin deserves some major props for what he was able to do this season. He showed a lot of character and showed just how valuable a Russian player can be, not just by scoring goals but by playing a complete game. He was able to do what all great hockey players do, make his teammates better!
He was able to help disprove the Russian stereotypes of them being lazy, he wanted the responsibility of leading his team, he even remained humble during his play. He possessed many qualities that other Russians don't usually show. If Crosby has troubles in the future, Malkin would be more than capable of wearing the "C".

The way Malkin was able to transform the success of his team by putting them on his back is remarkable and should make scouts think twice about skipping over a Russian. You never know who will pay off in the long run, Russian or not!

Leaving the Capital

If their elimination from the second round of the Stanley Cup playoff wasn't tough enough, the Washington Capitals got word Monday they would be losing two of their players and their coach this off-season. Alexander Semin and Tomas Vokoun both came out and said they do not plan on returning to the Capitals, both, especially Vokoun, are expected to go to the KHL in Russian. While Dale Hunter came out and announced he was returning to London to be with his family, and resigned from his head coaching position.

Despite making it to the 7th game in the second round the season for the Capitals was yet another disappointment, anything less than a Stanley Cup meant the season was wasted. Lots of players including Semin had to make sacrifices this season under Hunter and clearly some weren't huge fans of the changes.

Semin on his way out:
Semin's agent announced on Monday that his client was going to try his hand at the free agency market, as he no longer felt the Capitals were the best fit for him.

"It just doesn't make any sense to him. He did the best he could under the circumstances and he earned his right to be a free agent. The club decided to change directions, Alex doesn't fit into that system obviously" - Alexander Semin's agent Mark Gandler.

The Capitals had told Semin to not expect anymore ice time next season if he were to resign with the Caps, he will not see time in the last minute of the game, nor when the team is shorthanded. Semin believes he is more valuable and versatile than that of a role player and can still be a superstar, and he has decided he wants to part ways with the Caps. Semin had become known as a player who didn't try hard to contribute to his teams success in the playoffs, but he stepped it up immensely in the playoffs this year but still was unable to produce when the Capitals needed him most.  As everyone knows Alexander Semin is Russian, and the Russians have started their own rival league the KHL, could Semin be loured away to join the KHL in his native land? He is heading to Russia for the World Championships, who knows what they'll be telling him to get him back to Russia! For the sake of the NHL hopefully Alexander Semin will stay!

Interesting twist:
On Tuesday Semin came out and said he has no plans on leaving Washington, and the media twisted the situation into something it's not. It's been less than 24 hours since his agent told ESPN that Semin will test free agency, but apparently that decision hasn't been made yet!

"This is all just talk. Words can get twisted. There was not talk at all that I am not going to sign with the Capitals for sure. I have not talked to them (the Capitals) about leaving. And please don't ask me questions about next season anymore."

Wow, talk about drama in Washington! Now it comes down to will he stay or will he go? The countdown to July 1 is on.

Dale Hunter Leaving:
 On Monday Dale Hunter also came out and said he was stepping down from his head coaching duties with the Washington Capitals, to return home and be with his family.

"I'm going home. I've got a good thing going there with the family, so I'll stay home"

Home, with his family is where Hunter wants to be. He is the co-owner of the London Knights (with his brother), his son is one of the assistant coaches, and his brother is holding down the head coaching job with the Knights while Dale was in Washington. Not to mention the London Knights are on their way to the Memorial Cup! Although he later came out and said he will not be behind the bench with the Knights right away, you know he'll be there watching every move the team makes. Hunter is a very smart businessman, he knows he'd make more money with the London Knights especially if they win the Memorial Cup. OHLer's are easier to coach, they don't have huge ego's and contracts they're still waiting to make it big and they are happy with any role they're given.

With Hunter's departure it brings back the discussion of Alexander Ovechkin being a coach killer. He was pretty instrumental in tuning out Bruce Broudreau and getting him axed. Since Ovechkin entered the league in 2005 the Capitals have undergone 3 coaching changes, Dale Hunter being the shortest after only staying for half a season. Every coach that's tried to alter Ovechkin's game seems to find his way out of Washington one way or another. If the Capitals go through too many more coaching changes it could be time for Washington to ship Ovechkin out of town!

Whatever the reason or motivation behind Dale Hunter leaving the Capitals, he did it in a very admirable and classy way. Stepping down politely and not pointing fingers or passing blame on anyone, and if we can take the man at his word; he just wants to be with his family!

Tomas Vokoun leaving:
The final bullet shot at the Capitals on Monday was Tomas Vokoun saying he will not be returning as the Capitals goalie next season, and after the way Brayden Holtby played who would come back?

"I wasn't planning on being back here anyways. So for me, a situation like that, I'm happy for him. For me, it was never my intention to be here more than a year."

There are talks that Vokoun will head over to the KHL to join the Lokomotiv Yaroslavl to help them rebuild after the horrific plane crash that killed the whole team in Russian. His best friend Josef Vasicek was one of the players who died in the plane crash. There is no official deal done that will send Vokoun over to the Lokomotiv, but if he can't find work in the NHL he may be gone.

Monday was a pretty tough day for the Capitals; losing 1 player, possibly losing another and losing a coach. All decisions were made right after the Capitals elimination from the playoffs, some were probably made a little too quickly but right now the Capitals are in a tail spin.
Who knows who else they may lose once July 1 comes around!

Capital Elimination

Sabres fans can take a sigh of relief, the team who played a major role in them missing the playoffs have now been eliminated! The Washington Capitals lost game 7 at the hands of the New York Rangers and failed once again to make it to the Conference finals.

This may have been the last time fans will be able to see the Capitals as the Capitals they saw on Saturday night. Alexander Semin is likely on his way out, Alexander Ovechkin may be tired of listening to coaches trying to change his game, do they stick to their new defensive minded style, and does Dale Hunter return to the NHL or go back to the OHL?

Dale Hunter came in and immediately turned the Capitals into a defensive team, showing a ton of backbone by shorting Ovechkin's ice time. But when push came to shove they didn't score enough goals to get the job done, they scored just 29 goals in their 14 playoff games and 13 of 14 games were decided by 1 goal. Brayden Holtby played fantastic for the Capitals throughout the playoffs, he showed composure and skill far above his level and may have played himself into the Capitals starting goaltending at the beginning of next year. But when you have a young, rookie goalie you need scoring support. They're going to mess up at some point, let in some bad goals and when your team is always playing those tight 1 goal games its extremely tough for them!

Ovechkin is also at a crossroads, he has now played 7 NHL seasons and has failed to ever make it past the 2nd round of the playoffs. He's dealt with coaches who have tried to "tame" him, turn him into a team player and make him more defensive minded, he's also tried to do things his own way. He needs to find which game works best for him, not just the Capitals but for him. When you're down by 1 goal in game 7 you need to be able to rely of your star players to get the job done and Ovechkin wasn't able to get it done! He also needs to take the time and find himself, forget what all the coaches have tried to tell him return to what brought you to the NHL. If Ovechkin doesn't figure out what works best for him he may become the greatest player to never win a cup, to be honest that's not something great to be remembered for, great players are supposed to win cups and make their teams better he has failed to do either.

3 reasons the Capitals lost
1. Too many 1 goal games: 
Some coaches really like to play in 1 goal games, Dale Hunter appears to be one of them. But it's a dangerous way to play hockey, it's like flipping a coin you never know which way the game can go. One bad bounce and you lose the game, with players like Ovechkin, Semin and Backstrom the Capitals had more than enough scoring power to get a 2 or 3 goal lead, but Hunter decided to hold his big boys back. The Capitals were able to get a 2 goal lead during a game just 5 times in 14 games, 6 of their games went to overtime. It was clear the Capitals (or at least Dale Hunter) wanted to play those close 1 goal games, it often keeps teams in games when they are clearly out of it. But it's like flipping a coin and game 7 at Madison Square Garden came up tails!

2. King Henrik
It was almost the perfect underdog story, rookie goaltender Brayden Holtby out duels the king Henrik Lundqvist key word almost. Endings like that are mostly written in Hollywood, yeah he came close to upsetting the king but when the series was on the line the king stepped up and the kid was not able too. Game 7 was Lundqvist's best game of the series and the second period was arguably his best 20 minutes in the entire series, the Rangers were able to get an early lead and then rely on their goalie for the majority of the game. When it comes down to it, it's better to have experience on your side!

3. Lack of stars
The Rangers 3 best players all stepped up in game 7 (Brad Richards, Marian Gaborik, Michael Del Zotto. While Semin, Backstrom and Ovechkin were all fairly quite during the series and game 7. When you're in a do or die game 7 you need to be able to rely on your best players to get the job done, it worked for the Rangers while the Capitals came up short.

It's back to the drawing board for the Capitals, a big offseason at hand and perhaps one more season before things really fall apart. How much more heart-break can fans and Ovechkin handle, he has to be tired of losing, he wants to win, he wants to be the best player. But for now all the can do is ask; What If?
Good news for the rest of the league, we get to see more of John Tortorella's press conferences!

Benching Ovechkin

Everyone knows that Alexander Ovechkin is a top tier player in the NHL and arguably one of the top 5 players in the world. Normally when you have a player with the skill sets like Ovechkin you want him on the ice the majority of the night right? Not in Washington! Since Dale Hunter took over the coaching job for the Capitals he has given Ovi a back seat role and surprisingly the Capitals are winning!

Hunter's benching of his big players (Semin, Backstrom, Ovechkin) has gotten a lot of attention in the media. Now normally this works for a few games, then the team starts to lose and the coach freaks out and goes back to playing his stars, but that won't happen with Hunter. A part from the fact that Hunter has quite a backbone, he really doesn't care if he loses his coaching job with the Capitals and that's due to his lifetime position in the OHL. Hunter is the co-owner of the London Knights major junior hockey club, where he coached the team for 11 seasons before getting the call to come in to Washington. So unlike the majority of NHL coaches who really don't want to lose their jobs and be out of work for a couple seasons, Dale Hunter has his job already set for him back with the Knights.
Anytime you have a coach that isn't really afraid of getting fired (or could walk away on their own at the end of a season) it's a Catch-22 scenerio. They can light a fire under their star players and get them playing well or things can go completely down hill and the players can just quit on the coach.

Most coaches wouldn't dream about benching Ovechkin or cutting back his ice time, but that's what Hunter is doing in Washington with Ovechkin playing just 13:36 in the last game his all time lowest for a playoff ice game. It's even more rare when a role player like Jay Beagle plays 19:36 and has 10 more shifts than your superstar! But the Capitals are winning and maybe that's just what they need to win playoff games, they are 6-2 in the playoffs when the great 8 plays less than 20 minutes a night, so if it's helping them win who cares?

The Capitals have failed to reach the 3rd round of the playoffs in the last 4 seasons, in each of those past years Ovechkin was averaging 23-25 minutes a night. Dale Hunter was brought in to change their playoff luck and what better way to do that then completely changing Ovechkin's role and ice time? Why stop at just Ovechkin's ice time, Backstrom played just 16:18 in the last game while Semin played a career low 12:27. But perhaps the most remarkable thing to come out of all this reduced ice time, is the fact Dale Hunter is turning Ovechkin into a team player. If you look at the captains reaction after teammate Jay Beagle scored the other night you can see that he is starting to really get happy for his teammates when they have success as well. Sure he wants more ice time (If he didn't there would be a problem) but right now he's playing a team game.

Most people remember the Capitals playoffs of late being barn burner type of games where 5 goals are scored and you win 5-4 or 7-5 but now the Capitals are starting to play the close one goal games which secretly Hunter prefers. He likes to keep the game at 0-0 for as long as possible and play for the one shot win! Which is why players like Ovechkin and Semin are seeing so little ice time, he doesn't trust them to play his style of close knit hockey!

Who knows if Hunter will return next season as the coach of the Washington Capitals, a large part of that will be based on whether he really wants to stay at the NHL with the divas or go back to the OHL where he can do whatever he wants and not be questioned. But one thing's for sure he's doing things his way, whether the Capitals win or lose he's making sure it's done his way! But if the Capitals wind up losing to the Rangers (I think they will) then it will be interesting to see what old Hunter has to say about his "benching" Ovechkin strategy!

We Control our own Destiny

Waking up on this fine Wednesday morning, the birds are chirping and the sun is shinning, and oh yeah the Buffalo Sabres are in 8th place. I'm sorry but it feels great to say that, considering a little over a month ago (Feb 17th) we were tied for 15th in the East, everyone was ready to ship Miller out of town, and the majority of our players were Amerks call ups! We've won 11 of our last 15 games and have gone 14-2-4 during the last 20 games, and Ryan Miller has 1 regulation loss in 18 starts since (Feb 17)! Not a bad turnaround if you ask me! Not to mention we won virtually the biggest game of the season last night against the Capitals who are now 2 points behind us, not only did we win, we smoked the Capitals.

The great against the Capitals was fantastic! There was a playoff atmosphere it felt like a game 7, whoever made the first mistake was going to pay. Lucky for the Sabres it was Washington's rookie goalie Holtby who cracked first! Ennis received the puck from Holtby, he then preceded to pass it to Drew Stafford who barried it, and just like that we're up 1 nothing. Funny fact just seconds before the goal Ovechkin went in on a breakaway on Miller. It was the fast start that spelled the end for the Capitals, as Buffalo jumped out to an early 2-0 lead, and that's all the support Miller really needed. 3 things I took away from this game;

1. The Ennis line is incredible

It's odd when you think about; Ennis, Foligno, and Stafford are 3 completely different players, who you likely wouldn't find hanging out at the hotel together, but on the ice they are becoming a dynamic trio an unstoppable force for the opponents. Since the Foligno call up this line has scored 15 goals, 18 assists and combined for 33 points in just 8 games (not including last night). But this line has been absolutely golden for the Sabres, they've come through in the clutch and last night was no different. Stafford scored 2 crucial goals and Tyler Ennis assisted/set him up on both! But here's the fantastic thing, for whatever reason opposing teams are not ready to treat the Ennis line as the Sabres number 1 line. I know technically they're the 3rd line, but they're playing like the first line! Washington was so busy worring about the Pominville line that they forgot to give some attention to Ennis and Stafford!
Another thing we're seeing is Stafford's confidence going up again, Tyler Ennis makes everyone on the ice better. He is a playmaker, a scorer, a solid face-off winner and he stand up for his teammates! All Stafford has to do is get open and you can almost bet on Ennis getting the puck to him for an easy tap in goal. Watching the three of these guys out on the ice is great, they're having fun out there and playing for the logo on the front of their jerseys!
I hope Lindy Ruff leaves these three together for the rest of the season (and hopefully playoffs), these guys are game changers, when other team are shutting down Pominville and Vanek's lines, the Ennis line steps up and barries a back breaker to the opposition.

2. Ryan Miller is hands down our MVP
First of all without Miller between the pipes there is no way on earth we make the remarkable comeback!
44 saves and no goals from Ovechkin? Miller is a battler no question he held us in the game last night, generally when the Capitals outshoot a team it's tough to grind out a victory. Despite being outshot 44-31, we managed to get the 2 points thanks in large part to Ryan Miller.
Also with the victory last night, Ryan Miller joins Rangers goalie Henrik Lundqvist as the only 2 goalies to have 7 consecutive 30 win seasons! That 1 good season argument is lost again!
In the last 17 games Miller has played his stats have phenominal, out of this world so to speak; 14-1-3 with a 1.78 GAA and .941 save percentage! Teams die for this kind of goaltending during the end of the season playoff stretch.
If the Sabres were going to turn around their season, it was going to have to start with Ryan Miller, the outcome of the Sabres relies hevialy on Ryan Miller. If he has a great game chances are they're skating away with 2 points, but if he is off his game then the game is lost. Basically if Miller is playing up to his all star capability than the Sabres are winning. He has once again put the team on his back, let's just hope he doesn't crack anytime soon! Miller thrives when he noted or pegged as the under-dog (look back to the 2010 Olympics). Back in Februarary everyone said the Sabres were done, Miller was washed up and needed to be shipped out of town! Miller is a major phscalogical type of goalie, he likes to have low expectations and then over pass them with his play, so when the Sabres were pegged to have a great year and Miller was one of the favorites to have a bounce back year and win his second Vezina trophy Miller had a hard time living up to those expectations. When Miller is focused on just winning 1 game at a time, is when he's playing his best hockey!

3. We control our own fate!
It's simple we win and we're in the playoffs, heck we keep winning we could even take 7th, who knows maybe 6th? I'm getting a little ahead here, as long as we keep winning we can book our ticket to the post season. But here's where it gets tricky, we need to finish with more points than the Capitals, if we end up tied for 8th than we will be eliminated as the Caps hold the tie breaker. With the win last night the chances of us making the playoffs went up 28.2 % to 67.6%. Just win, that's the new Sabres motto.

This is really and incrediable historic run the Sabres are on, sometimes I have to pinch myself to make sure I'm not dreaming. From 15th to 8th in a month and half, you can't write this stuff! Has any other team accomplished a feat like this? I believe if we don hang on to make the playoff we will be the first team to ever climb back into the playoffs.
As long as Miller holds up and the Sabres keep scoring there shouldn't be a problem holding on to the 8th and final playoff seed heck maybe even 7th! If I were one of the top couple teams I'd be getting a little nervous, having to play the red hot Buffalo Sabres in the first round, with Miller on his game, I smell an upset!
But the best part of being in 8th right now, is finally being able to say; if the playoffs started today we'd actually be in them!