The Fanatical Fan

(I’ll get to the Sabres game in a minute, which, by the way, was hella boring.  But first I have an important announcement.)

If you spent any time around this blog last spring, you’ll know that I had something of an inappropriate crush on Sergei Fedorov.  I couldn’t help it.  He was a great leader, he helped Alex Semin hugely, and he won the first round series for Washington.  And he was slightly attractive, in that Russian way.  When he left for Russia, I was heartbroken and really had no desire to find a new Creepy Old Man Crush.  I figured I’d stick to the youngins for a while.

Enter Mike Knuble.  Back over the summer I thought he was a great addition, and now, halfway through the season, I will gladly proclaim him to be the BEST OFFSEASON SIGNING EVAH.  Look at him!  I can’t even remember the last time he didn’t score in a game, and almost every time he does score it’s a two-goal game.  He crashes the net!!  He teaches the Caps that it’s an okay thing to do!!  Did you SEE Lars Nicklas’s goal last night?  Chances are he never even would have tried that if Mike Knuble hadn’t been there to lead the way.  He’s a veteran leader.  Remember that one game back that one time?  I don’t even remember, but I do remember that he single-handedly killed off a penalty.  He’s hilarious.  (My mom still mentions swollen feet at the most random times and it ALWAYS cracks us up.  God bless him, he’s such an old man.)  He helps out charities.  He has cute kids.  He thinks Alex and Nicki are two of the best players in the world.  He looks beyond ridiculous in hard hats.  He has questionable taste in music.

Yes, Mike Knuble is my new Creepy Old Man Crush.  He’s old enough to be my father, but every time he scores a goal from three inches away from the net, I simply don’t care.  Mike Knuble, I don’t know how the Caps won games before you came to town.

I know that  we’re not supposed to act like spoiled fans and we’re supposed to be grateful that the team wins and brings in two points, but the Sabres game last night was still something of a snoozer.  The one Wednesday night was too, but I was there with friends and overtime and the shootout were exciting (did I really just say the shootout was exciting?) so I didn’t mind as much.  Sitting at home on the couch, it wasn’t like there was much happening.  It was fun to see Henrik Tallinder get a goal, and Thomas Vanek might break the twenty-goal mark yet, but the Bruins proved yet again that they make games boring.  The two points still were critical though, especially with Ottawa coming up this week.  They’re closing the gap and it’s not like we can count on the Sabres to beat them.  Pittsburgh on Monday will be a tough game too, but the Sabres are technically a better team and they should win.  I like beating Pittsburgh.  It’s fun.

Ryan Miller looked great again last night.  I was getting a little worried about him out west, but maybe he’s righted the ship.  I’d still like to see Lalime out there this week.  Maybe Monday?  Since he’s played really well against Pittsburgh this year?  I get worried about Ryan burning out.

I’m not going to comment on Mike Green’s hit because it could go either way.  He definitely got the elbow up there, but the NHL is so inconsistent with their discipline it’s not even like we can predict what will happen.  They have spoken about cracking down on headshots more recently though, so you’ve got to wonder if a suspension will come just to reinforce that point.