http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BIqJRPY67AM

If you’ve never seen Mystery Science Theater 3000, you owe it to your funny bone to check out these clips, and then click/buy some Rifftrax from the occasional ad on the right.  Big McLargehuge!

“Everybody I talked to around the league told me about the city,” he said. “They said it was a great place to live and raise a family; the schools are great, the fans are great. It sounded like a good deal for me.”

Among those he consulted were former Sabres netminders Martin Biron, and Jocelyn Thibault, as well as forward J.P. Dumont.

“They told me that it’s the kind of place that once you go there, you just want to stay,” Lalime said. “Overall, it just seemed right.”

In the immortal words of Mike Sakasegawa, RIGHT ON.

I’ve spoken to a lot of players who have played there previously and every single guy I talked to has loved it there. I’m really looking forward to getting down there.

I can’t imagine he didn’t ask guys like Mike Grier and Brian Campbell, guys he played with in San Jose.  Hmm.  It could just be a bit of the “talk nice about the place that just traded for you” but that’s a far cry from a more generic “I’ve heard great things about Buffalo” comment you’d expect.  H/T to SabresReport.

• As pointed out in the comments, it’s Connolly.  To be fair, I always have to repeat ‘two Ns, two Ls’ to make sure I get it right.

the Sabres were no longer one of the most feared offensive teams in the league

• They WERE still fourth in the league in scoring (whether you like goals per game or total goals for that measure).  The scoring is still there, despite the lack of Drury and Briere.
• For a guy who went from being a threat on the third line to being expected to lead the team in scoring, Vanek did OK.  Bonus points to the Times writer for not calling it a $10 million year and using the overall cap hit for Vanek.

Things I agree with:

• Roy and Pominville did indeed step it up.  I expect great things from them this year.
• Yeah guys, which Max WILL show up?  I’m hoping for the one that brings the crowd to their feet and then actually finishes with a goal (or at least an assist for someone else).
• The D-men could be ’sneaky good’.

Beyond that, it could be Paille and not Stafford that steps up, though both playing well would be HUGE.  And yes, Miller was a workhorse and showed he could shoulder that load for a time if needed, I’ll be more comfortable with Lalime getting sprinkled in a bit more.  We want training camp!

When the Sabres hit the ice for their first full practice of the season, fans will get their first look at the team’s new third jersey that will make its debut during the 2008-09 NHL season. The jersey features a modernization of the team’s vintage design elements, while incorporating the latest in sports uniform technology.

Hmm, ‘modernization’?  Wonder if it’ll look like some of those fan mock-ups that were floating around.  Anyway, that same day will also be the yearly Adult Street Hockeyfest, as well as an autograph session (I can haz Teppo?).  Oh, and single game tix go on sale at 9am.  Hope I’m off that day, I’d love to take my son.

Buffalo Sabres GM Darcy Regier announced today the Sabres have signed unrestricted free agent LW Jimmy Bonneau.

Bonneau (3/22/1985, 6’3”, 220 lbs.) split last season between Hamilton (AHL) and Cincinnati (ECHL), picking up five points (1+4) and 66 PIMs in 24 combined games.

Looks like he’s got good size, 66 penalty minutes in 24 games is pretty sweet too.

I sauntered over to find, unmanned and unmonitored I remind you, a table filled with “Buy one ticket, get one ticket free coupons” for Carolina Hurricanes hockey games.

Normally, a little cross-promotion for some of those early season stinkers wouldn’t be so bad, except that’s not what this was:

via Getty Images

Limit 8 tickets per person.

The kicker: No one monitoring the table where these are being distributed. An individual could have picked up hundreds of these coupons.

…

The majority of the arena applies to this promo. Only exceptions are the “Champion’s Club”, “V.I.P. Ledge”, and “Upper Goal Zone”.

I’d worry about a “V.I.P. Ledge” to be honest, wouldn’t your drunker fans fall off?  But seriously, as I mentioned, these tickets were for games against the Blue Jackets or Kings, with opponents including the Washington Ovechkins, Anaheim and New Jersey.  I think I’m honored that none of the Sabres games were included.  Guess they know what fans will REALLY fill the seats.  H/T to Puck Daddy.

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