The Schedule: Month by Month: October

I got this idea from my good buddy Reed of Capitals Kremlin, taking a look at the schedule, month by month, and picking out some key games to reference. I’m just going to go ahead and disregard all of preseason, let’s get started with October, shall we?

“Crate the damn dog, warmups start in an hour” – October 3rd vs. Montreal

• Listen, if you can’t get the family out the door and the Chow Chow away for opening night, then please, sell me your tickets.  We’re the first to see the new look Habs, right here in our building,  setting the tone for the rest of the season.

“Job? What job? I’m flyin’ to Buffalo” – October 13th vs. Detroit

• I don’t care I live in DC. I don’t care it’s a Tuesday night.  I’ve got a plane to catch in Dulles at 3, I’ll be at BNIA at 5:30, anyone care to pick me up?  No?  Figures.  Sometimes, you just can’t miss a night of hockey when one of the best teams in the league comes to town.  You’ll have a Labatt’s waiting for me right?

“Game? What game? Fringe is on tonight” – October 31st vs. New York Isles

• A pretty lackluster schedule for the Blue & Gold in October, no?  The Isles, Phoenix, Nashville, Les Thrash, Tampa, blah blah blah, it’s just plain terrible.  But to see the Islanders twice in the first month?  That’s too much.  The novelty of seeing Biron will be over after the first game on the 16th, Tavares will be like every rookie in the 1st month of their careers, and the Islanders will revert to being the Islanders.  If there’s ever a Saturday night game to skip, it’s this one.

“Message board blowup in 5..4..3..2..1..” – October 17th vs. Atlanta

• The Sabres will be 4-1 (or 3-1-1) heading into that fateful game in Atlanta, where the hopes of this fanbase will be renewed and glowing for the “new” Sabres.  They will proceed to get smoked by Atlanta.  Just like they dominated us last season, the Sabres won’t have an answer for Kovalchuk and co. once again.  The boys at TalkBuffaloSports will call for heads to roll, Garth at Hockeybuzz will make some sort of stay the course bull reference, and I’ll say, I told you so.  Here’s to hoping I’m wrong.

“We’re playing who? Can’t miss that!” - Pavel Datsyuk

• Datsyuk? Zetterberg? Franzen?  Take your pick.  We get to see Detroit once a year, if you can make the game, do it.  To see a perennial MVP candidate is worth the price of admission.

Alright guys and gals, have any superlatives for this month you wanna throw out there?  What games are you looking forward to?  Which ones are you selling to the highest bidder?

Tags: 2009-2010 Schedule, Buffalo Sabres, October