Sabres Drop Gloves

During our six game road trip out West the Buffalo Sabres have been playing amazingly physical hockey. The entire Eastern Conference is not known for their grit, while the Western Conference is known just for that. This is the culmination of playing scrappy hockey with the Chicago Blackhawks, Dallas Stars, Edmonton Oilers, Calgary Flames, the Phoenix Coyotes and finally the Anaheim Ducks all on the road. The Sabres have been effectively on the road since January 10th. They came home for a game against the Hurricanes on 17th right before the All-Star break. But essentially the entire month of January was played against Western Conference teams on the road, as we even started off the month of February there as well. Here are the fights from last night's game versus the Ducks.


Craig Rivet versus Corey Perry in the 2nd Period.


Craig Rivets drops them again verus Steve Montador.


Andrews Peters versus George Parros "The Pirate".

NHL HITS THE ICE FULL SWING!

Tonight, after two lackluster games in London, the NHL opens the season here in North America. Returning Stanley Cup champs, the Anaheim Ducks, splitting those two games in London with the Los Angeles Kings. Each game ending 4-1, with a breakout performance in Saturday's game by Kings' netminder Jonathan Bernier.

The Ducks have a rough road ahead of them. Tonight the face perennial Western Confernce powerhouse the Detroit Red Wings. Versus Network will air the game when the puck drops at 7pm ET. The Red Wings ride Dominick Hasek into his 15th NHL Season. Loaded with their usuals: Lidstrom, Chelios, Datsyuk, and Zetterberg, the Red Wings always seem to pose a serious threat.

Ottawa sucks so forget them as do the Leafs so we're not gonna talk about them. (We're both die-hard Buffalo Sabres fans so we have, what one could call, a LOATHING for both teams. Round them out with the Flyers and you pretty much have our hatred trio in hockey.)

The Avalanche seek to improve greatly behind Joe Sakic, Jose Theodore, and Paul Stasny. Missing the playoffs last year hurt them something bad and they look to strike back with a vengeance this year. They've added to their roster this off-season, picking up D Scott Hannan from the Sharks, and the cry-baby RW Ryan Smyth from the Islanders by way of Edmonton. The Stars look alive and ready to repeat their playoff appearance from last season, their stars Mike Modano and Brendan Morrow are fully healed from their injuries from last year. The come into this season with a chip on their shoulders after their first round exit from the post-season.

This season fires up tonight. Pick a game. Pick a winner. Pick your nose, just pick the NHL!