confidence

confidence is a funny thing...it don't come easy in the nhl, or any other sport, for that matter...hell it don't come easy in life...confidence comes when you just play your game and believe that you're on this team and playing this game at the highest level for a reason...putting forth an honest effort shift-in/shift-out, game-in/game-out will eventually yield results which, when compounded, equals positive results for the team...

the sabres are beating on a door that opens to the playoffs...as a team, they've pushed it open a good bit, but will need to finish the month of january strong...

cody mccormick, nate gerbe and thomas vanek all showed something we've rarely seen this season, burying an opportunity with authority last night vs. the boston bruins...no goals off of deflections (save jason pomminville's, which was a by-product of driving to the net, a pre-cursor to scoring with authority)...no goals off of one knee, genuflecting to the hockey gods in hopes that it'll find the back of the net...no wimpy re-directs or weak shots to an open net...just solid wood on the puck when the opportunity presented itself...

mccormick is staking his claim as a fan-favorite by continuing to play the way he started back in the playoffs last season--balls-to-the-wall, hard-nosed, anti-core hockey...he knows his role, knows his talents and knows that less than 100% effort is not an option...being a bottom-six forward, he also knows that his ice-time is limited and opportunities sparse...

last night he lifted the team by burying his own rebound that caromed off the post right back to him...if luck is a by-product of hard work, than there's nobody on this team more worthy of some good luck than mccormick...and he didn't mess it up, he unconscioulsy rifled the rebound into the net with authority....confidence...

gerbe has been much maligned, and rightfully so...he's been a little bulldog out on the ice all season, but has fanned on numerous opportunities, as witnessed by his three goals in 29 games and a paltry 4.3 shooting percentage...he's on the big club to score goals like he did in college and with portland...

last night he took that pass from tyler myers and just plain buried it...with authority...confidence




the one player on the sabres who has the skill to blast a shot that says, "i will not be denied" is vanek...vanek really seems to be hitting his stride...last night he and tim connolly, along with a trailing tyler myers, backed boston goalie tuukka rask into the crease...after considering his options, which is captured beautifully in the highlights, vanek snapped a rocket far-side past a defenseless rask...confidence...

as mentioned earlier this month, the schedule is favorable for the sabres...it gives them the opportunity to gain some ground on boston and montreal who both have tougher schedules and who are both ahead of them in the norhteast division...it also gives them the opportunity to create some separation between them and fourth place ottawa...

an update on this will come this weekend, but a by-product of chasing the northeast leaders and winning games is that they're slowly gaining ground on the six-through-eight in the eastern conference...

more importantly, though, the team seems to be playing with confidence...