#I can always trust a Montreal/boston game to be crazy

[s-cullayy]

Montreal might not have won but women certainly did. Thank you women and especially Desbiens and Frankel 🫡

[brandoncarlo]

A Non-Exhaustive, Ever expanding, list of the the best sports documentaries ever (and where to watch them)

* please be aware that the links are meant for people to be able to see regardless of country and access to netflix but most of these are available on american netflix so i suggest you try to find them on other streaming platforms you have access too first. ones that don’t have links i can still find for you so if you’re interested send me an ask. *

Of Miracles and Men

I love 30 for 30 documentaries but this one is by far my favorite. Simply, it tells the story of the 1980′s Miracle on Ice game from the soviet perspective, but it also goes further than that. Of Miracles and Men outlines how soviet hockey developed differently from canadian hockey and how it was so successful, and then why it lost in 1980 and collapsed soon after. The documentary follows the conception of the Soviet hockey team and ends with the first USSR player to win the stanley cup. If you like history, politics, sports, social commentary, and hockey, this documentary hits all of those things (also if you’re interested in how long lou lamoriello has been around)

Broke

This is another 30 for 30 documentary (I really love them) but it’s almost completely different from every other documentary on this list. This documentary basically explores the phenomenon of ex athletes going broke and why that happens (spoiler alert: exploitation and racism). It’s a lot more analytical and math focused but even some one like me who doesn’t necessarily like that found this so interesting. It’s full of information and makes you think about stuff you may not even realize as a sports fan. It focuses more on objective fact that a heart wrenching story of a wronged NFL player, but if you enjoy feeling like you’ve legitimately learned something this documentary is great.

League of Denial

For someone who doesn’t like football I love documentaries about it. This one is pretty dark because it deals with really messed up situations but it’s so important imo. It basically follows the whole timeline of the NFL’s issues with CTE and how they went from outright denial to “meh sure it happens.” This documentary is a big deal because it was just recently made and it shows you how long this fight has been going on for. This one blends together medical, psychological, and social issues together with sports and it’s amazing. You’ll probably be pissed that an organization like the NFL is full of people who legitimately don’t care about others, but the documentary also showcases people who will do anything for others even if they have no relation, which i always appreciate.

Ice Guardians

I just saw this documentary recently so you probably have already seen me rant about how good it is and trust me. it’s real good. It’s a documentary about enforcers, fighting in hockey, concussions, and how they all relate. It counteracts “logical” thinking with anecdotes from actual players and observations from psychologists and neurosurgeons. Regardless of whether you’re pro fighting or against fighting this is an important documentary to watch because so often are we faced with issues and ignore those the issues are actually affecting. This documentary doesn’t answer the fighting debate, but it tries to open your eyes about what’s actually happening.

The Price of Gold

This is one of the documentaries that got me super into sports documentaries. While a lot of these documentaries are social commentaries going after institutions, this one is not like that at all, it’s more akin to a true crime documentary imo. Basically it follows the Tanya Harding/Nancy Kerrigan story and gets absolutely buckwild. If you’re not a fan of documentaries that give the perpetrator too much of a voice this may not be for you because it is very Harding centric (although i think that’s because Kerrigan doesn’t want anything to do with this story anymore). This is more if you like interesting drama profiles than social commentary.

The Last Gladiators

This one is similar to Ice Guardians but it follows Chris Nilan, one of the most famous enforcers of all time. He’s a stereotypical Boston Boy who ended up playing for the Montreal Canadiens (go figure), New York Rangers, and Boston Bruins. He’s a tough, wear his heart on his sleeve, type of guy and this documentary is like the real life, dark version of Goon. He struggles to stay relevant in a league where he’s mostly a fighter, is faced with undying love and hardship, and it shows his struggles post NHL and how he’s recovered. This one may be a good one to watch either right before or right after Ice Guardians for a fuller understanding of the issue surrounding enforcers.

Big Shot

Ooooh Boy I forgot about this one. It’s....legitimately the most insane sports documentary ever maybe. This is about a guy who basically scams the NHL into giving him the New York Islanders, yeah, the actual NHL and the actual New York Islanders. He got this close to getting away with it too. It’s absolutely amazing and drama packed and it literally blows your mind how a normal ordinary guy got so close to owning an NHL team without any money to do it. Oh and the interview the guy for it too

Four Days in October

Yankees fans i’m gonna stop you right here because this one is not for you. I hate baseball, i’m famous for how much I hate baseball and not in a “i’m cooler than you” way, i just legitimately can’t find any entertainment in it for me. HOWEVER, I am from boston and I think my Boston pride really got me through this documentary. It’s just about the red sox becoming the first team in MLB history to reverse sweep a best of seven series. Basically if you ever wondered why David Ortiz is such a legend in Boston, this documentary will answer that for you.

The Prince of Pennsylvania

Netflix has their own version of this documentary called Team Foxcatcher but this one is a lot better imo. It’s another one of those “wtf this is crazy” documentaries but is probably more true crime than sports. It’s insane. I have no interest in wrestling but this definitely has other areas it hits on as far as entertainment. It’s definitely on the creepy side though so if that’s not your thing steer clear.

Honorable mentions that are probably good but for personal reasons I did not like as much as the ones above:

The Legacy of Brendan Burke (they make some claims about what closeted gay athletes are responsible for and I’m not a fan of that part)

Kings Ransom

June 17th 1994

9.79*

Small Potatoes: Who Killed the USFL (warning: trump centric but as i recall he’s portrayed as the bad guy)

[andrewuttaro]

New Look Sabres: Midseason Thoughts

Happy New Year! The Buffalo Sabres game against the Florida Panthers tomorrow will be their 41st game. By my calculation that’s the halfway point of the season and I think my math skills are at least good enough for basic division. This landmark of the season had me thinking we ought to take a look at the season as whole here when we’re about halfway certain what it’s going to end up looking like. Yea, perhaps we can be a little more than halfway certain with our predictions at this point but just let me show off my basic math skills, ok? I initially started thinking about the grand scheme of things about this season back after the Sabres met the Leafs the first time at the start of December. True rivalry games like that always get me thinking. There is a lot more to digest about this season based on the first half than my most optimistic self would’ve thought in September. I remember predicting the Sabres would have a winning record in October like I was going out on a limb. The expectations clearly changed this season, early on two: like the first twenty odd something games it became clear the corner had finally been turned. There’s a lot to that and I will dive into some of the minutia of that in later thoughts but perhaps it’s wiser first to reflect. Before I started New Look Sabres I wrote hockey articles on and off for different outlets and even freelance like this. I have no writing degrees so my thoughts were encapsulated in slick declarative titles: 2013-2014 was the Dawn of the Tank, 2014-2015 was the War of the Tanks, 2015-2016 was the New Guard Rising, 2016-2017 was the lost season and 2017-2018 was… *shutters* … the trash season. Jack Eichel’s rookie year had its optimism as you can see but the seasons to follow showed the things wrong with the team needed fixing. Certainly not all those problems are fixed but what might this season be called? I feel that the first half of this season has already given us a pretty solid idea…

…2018-2019 is the Reclamation. The season the Sabres reclaimed not only relevance but the mantle of the minimum level of quality Sabres teams have had over the last forty nine years. Moreover, the Buffalo Sabres as a club reclaimed their fans: not just the diehards who look at draft rankings in January, the casual fans and the ones who just don’t want to be miserable watching hockey. The runner up name was the Found Money Season. That’s where my first thought starts. This team has turned a corner; they’re a playoff contender now. At least they acted like it in the first half. Expectations should remain there. Make the playoffs, please oh please make the playoffs; divisional or a more likely wildcard, just make it. Anything that happens beyond that is a gift; found money if you will. If the Sabres win a game there: excellent if they win a round, fantastic! If they get swept, okay whatever. I want to say this now not just to get ahead of crazy March and April sound bites but to remind us all not to sell the farm. The playoff race, the playoffs themselves and everything that comes before is a learning experience more than anything else. I would say some young guys on this team don’t know what the Stanley Cup playoffs are like but really it’s true with every member of the Sabres core including Jeff Skinner. Pominville is really your only guy who’s not a former Blue who can tell you about that. Bank points through the second half, make the playoffs and from there on out its whatever this season. No expectation past game 82 except learn. Learn what it means to be in the playoffs and play like it. The second half will be decisive if not for playoff positioning than simple team building. Not the roster building GMs do, no: Build Buffalo Sabres hockey. Learn it, and then teach us what it’s like. Playoffs are just proof of competitiveness, that’s all the Sabres need to prioritize right now on that front: growth in competitiveness.

They’ve found some kind of groove already this season but in the second half the Sabres need to lock down their style, their game, their groove and put it to the test in the playoffs against whoever they face. It seems cruel to use this phrase sometimes as a Sabres fan knowing what we’ve been through but we’re still in a building year. I am not going to be offended if Jason Botterill goes out and acquires a small piece or two but it better not be expensive and it better not be a rental. Reward these guys with a weapon that will be here a little while. Rental players you get for a playoff run or a season and a half rarely make the huge difference you want them to make. Reinforce the defense or shore up secondary scoring if you make a move. That’s how you’ll reward a Sabres team that turned it around this season. The Playoff window is just opening, the Stanley Cup window has not opened yet. Don’t buy a lot by selling futures when our focus is experience and growth as a team. So yes, reward them for what they’ve done with a cheaper move but don’t make the move that will be seen as demanding a deep run at the Cup. That rewarding the group is important in its own way. Maybe, although cheap wouldn’t be the word I use to describe it, that reward is signing Jeff Skinner since he wants to stay? Hmm.

My second thought I already touched on a little bit: it’s consistency. This Buffalo Sabres team is remarkably streaky and that’s fine when there’s enough wins in there to make it work but that’s not a habit of Stanley Cup teams. Consistently winning, or being damn close to it, requires not just one line action like we saw almost exclusively in December, but secondary scoring and a defensive core that contributes as well. Some of that you develop and call up in house but maybe, once again at a good price, you bring in a piece for the parts here that are not producing at all. My third point is a discussion of goaltending. The Carter Hutton-Linus Ullmark tandem has been top ten in this league in goals against and save percentage. Given where each of those guys is in their careers you expect a drop off at some point. That drop off has not come yet and any strategizing for it seems a little moot right now. That said, it would be good if Ullmark good get more starts in the second half. An 8-1-3 record in his 13 starts is safe enough a bet to trust him. Trust in him will build confidence and if he is the goalie of the future in Buffalo, which I truly believe he is, he needs that. Yea, he got pulled before the third in that one game, he’ll have his mistakes like any goalie does but I could not feel happier about the Sabres situation in net right now.

My fourth point: SIGN JEFF SKINNER! LOL, no that’s important but it’s not actually a midseason thought. No, I want to talk more generally about the season now; where we’ve been and where we’re going. The beginning of the season can really be thought of us as before and after Jeff Skinner got put on Eichel’s wing. After that 5-1 rout on the road against San Jose Phil Housley took a blender to the lineup and got some good results. Four wins came in the next eight games and then the next major phase of the Sabres season happened when everyone kicked into over gear and the ten game win streak hit. For three weeks the Sabres felt invincible beating teams like Tampa, Winnipeg and San Jose pulling in every Western New York Hockey fan that had since gotten tired of Sabres sorrows. The five game skid that followed the win streak wasn’t as bad as it felt and the wins came back although Buffalo is still in a post-win streak hangover from a standings perspective barely playing .500 hockey since the big one. From here on out the road map to the playoffs is simpler than seven years outside the playoffs might lead you to believe, at least until the end of January. It’s banking points, particularly in Western Canada before the bye week late in January, before suiting up for a stretch run in February and March that only sees two breaks of more than two days. The back half will be a crucible after the bye week and there will be teams, even ones not names Boston, Montreal or the Islanders, who will give you fits and make you work for that playoff berth we’ve all been dying for.

This blog is going to change a little bit in the second half of the season as well. Hopefully it won’t be a crucible to get through but I am making myself think harder for my comedic bits starting now. Instead of the burn book for all our reasons to hate divisional rivals in those games, each game against an Eastern Conference opponent will feature a bit on what facing them in the first round of the playoffs would mean. This will be understandably silly against some opponents like Ottawa and New Jersey but it should be fun. Some programming notes: seasons for this blog will revolve around the post season. The blog season ends when the Sabres are eliminated from contention for Lord Stanley’s Cup whether that be March *shutters* or early May. The blog season will formally end with a 2018-2019 Season retrospective followed by a break before the draft that may or may not see some kind of “Playoffs according to the Sabres” and or another Schedule breakdown depending on when that releases. If you care enough about the blog to read through that then thank you, I wish you had cared enough to drop me a comment or two going into this but I’m not bitter: it’s a super chill hockey blog, I don’t expect my writing here to attract deep thought. That said, deep thoughts appreciated.

Thanks for reading.

P.S. I want to signal boost the opinion that if the Sabres do not make the playoffs in 2019 then Phil Housley’s job should be at stake. A collapse great enough to ruin the 11 point lead on a playoff spot they had in November is already well in progress. Lots of hockey left but there’s the objective.