Sabres OT win!

My co-worker GMoney (G$) and I ventured to Buffalo last night to see the Sabres/Habs game. Last night was my first time to the First Niagara Center since Pegula took over. Getting to the game, as always, was a chore. First getting out of Burlington/Niagara during rush hour was miserable then hitting the U.S. border was even worse. Of course we got the keener Dudley Do Right over zealous border guard. Good Lord. The rows to the left and right of us were letting cars through at nearly a 4:1 ratio compared to ours. It felt like an eternity sitting there. The minivan in front of us (from Ontario) was searched and he poked through everything in their trunk, they must have been sitting there for 7m… Seriously, security is important, I get that… but if you are going to search a vehicle PULL IT OVER. Unreal… John Wayne even asked me to take off my glasses. I’m shocked he didn’t ask me to grow my goatee back to match my passport photo. *eyeroll* It is rarely ever a smooth, enjoyable crossing into the States. This might explain why I’m so reluctant to do it. Shame that.

In spite of the various delays we still arrived at FNC in time for anthems and the opening face-off. As I expected, the Habs were well represented in the crowd. I figure maybe 35% of the crowd. The atmosphere at the game was very different than a Bills game. I recall the only Bills game I’ve been to… there was a guy wearing the opposing team’s jersey and he swore at all game, had stuff thrown at him, challenged to fights… I’m sure he had a horrible experience. By contrast, I saw Habs and Sabres fans talking about hockey all game long, joking with each other and enjoying the rivalry, not abusing it. The game seemed to go by really fast. There were maybe two powerplays each and very few whistles. It was a great night for the Sabres’ Tylers. Ennis scored two goals, the first was a beautiful highlight reel solo effort, the second a deflection… (it looked like Folingo tipped it in from where I was sitting – but I guess not…) The entire game was close. The score was 2-1 Sabres with a minute left. The Habs pulled their goalie. The Sabres had the puck to centre once but didn’t get a shot at the open net, no that would be too easy I guess. The Habs then scored with 3 seconds left forcing overtime. *eyeroll* Another blown home win I thought… but no! Myers ripped one past Budaj in oooooooooovertime for the win! It was a fun game and G$ is good company.

Getting back to the Motherland was much less painful. The post-game parking lot was a chaotic jam of cars. Everyone was gridlocked and pointing towards the I90 exit ramp. Curiously the GPS said to go the opposite direction that no one was going… Well… G$ tried it…and wow… it was a miraculous route! It must have saved us 30m of sitting in the parking lot. We drove right through to the border. +1 for GPS. The Canadian border crossing, by comparison, seemed more efficient and moved along significantly faster. I got home close to 1… which is crazy late for a work night since I get up at 6. Additionally, the time leap forward was this weekend. Bottom line : I’m fracking bagged. Today will be tough to get through at work. I hope the Keurig doesn’t breakdown.