Joffrey Lupul's "windowless hotel room" tweet from yesterday afternoon has been sticking in the craw of the population of Pegulaville.
His exact tweet:
"Is there any windowless rooms? #buffalo yfrog.com/esoreklj"
The picture was a shot taken from the window of his Embassy Suites window, overlooking Delaware Avenue.
Hundreds Sabres fans pelted Lupul via Twitter after the remark was first tweeted. Lupul would respond to it by tweeting:
"Well that was entertaining. I wish I could RT my favorite responses but they were too vulgar. See you tomorrow, should be a good one"
Look, he's a rich, young, good looking NHLer, from a small town in Western Canada. He's used to slinging around his per diem at fine dining restaurants and staying in posh hotels. he's a pampered pro athlete.
Today Lupul stood in the pocket and defended his tweet.
Lupul wears #19 for the Leafs.
Give 'em Hell when he's on the ice!
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Tim Connolly is ready to face his former mates tonight. Nice guy. Solid player. Is he wayne Gretzky? No. Enough of the mutual admiration society. he doesn't play in Buffalo anymore. He's a hated Maple Leaf. Time to run him over and steal the puck from him.
That’s Cody McCormick’s signature brand of hockey. Tonight, the pugnacious Sabres winger and his mates have to get pucks deep, and hammer the Toronto D at every opportunity that they get.
“That’s right. I think that’s the fun part of the game. You gotta get into it, and it gets me into the game. If you’re not into it (physically), then you’re gonna be buried in the corner somewhere. Who wants that? “n
McCormick has done his video study and he knows that Leafs have D who like to win pucks and start their breakout. Phaneuf, Gardiner, Liles, Gunarsson like to fetch pucks and get the flow moving northward. McCormick has a remedy for the Leafs D and their offensive nature.
“We have to make it difficult for their D to start their breakout. That’s how their offensive chances happen. We have to stop them before they start. We have to get our fore check on them and keep it on them”.
McCormick says recent games against Detroit and Philadelphia have taught his team the value of puck possession. The Wings and Flyers are so skilled and adept at holding pucks and playing keep-away from opponents. Cody says that his team can’t be victims again by puck-hogging tonight.
“We’re going to have to bring a lot more grind to the game, especially my line. We have to get pucks off them, then, get pucks to the paint and get some whacks at it. We’re not going to leave the paint until somebody pushes us outta there. That’s where the goals are scored from, and we have to push to that area”.
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I expect that Ron Wilson will be sending bodies to Ryan Miller’s crease tonight. Wilson and Burke know the book on Miller, in that if he can see the puck, he will save it.
Tonight’s forecast calls for more of the same tonight from the Leafs.
McCormick told me that he was extremely proud of Christian Ehrhoff for hammering Ottawa’s Josh Greening the other night. The Senators forward gave Ryan Miller an extra curricular shove as Miller was out of his net, while the regulation game clock had expired.
“That was great. The whole team saw that, and I think we should have rallied a little better behind that. When somebody does that, the whole team notices it. Then, everybody has that much more spark. Its good to see”
I propped Cody for his beauty of a scrap with Ottawa tough guy, Zenon Konopka. I asked McCormick if his recent concussion played into his thought process of throwing down with Konopka.
“I can’t let that play into my thoughts. I can’t change much coming back.. I won’t change my game. That’s just the way that the game is played. Zenon, I have a lot of respect for. He’s a tough guy who battles every game, every year. Its mutual respect with he and I”.
I personally watched the reaction of McCormick’s teammates after the scrap with Konopka had ended. There wasn’t a Sabre sitting down on the bench as the two combatants were separated. That’s leadership. That’s respect.
“There’s not too many better feelings than coming out of the penalty box and everybody on the bench is standing up, banging their sticks to acknowledge what just happened. That’s s good feeling for a guy like me”.
I predict we get to see more of that type of leadership from Cody tonight against the Leafs and tomorrow night vs. the Penguins.
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Updated 11:02am:
Lindy Ruff just told the assembled media that Pat Kaleta has not been feeling well and that the winger's status isn't known now for tonight. He's been nursing a groin injury.
Ruff did not tip his hand as to whether they will recall a forward from Rochester.
The Amerks are on a long roadie in Texas right now.
More to come....
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Updated 9:56 am:
Injured Sabres winger Brad Boyes is out early before practice. He's taking shots and working his skate edges with Cody McCormick.
Boyes has been lost to an ankle sprain.
He's wearing a red 'non-contact" sweater.
Boyes played in 21 of Buffalo's 30 games this season. He was placed on injured reserve on 11/26 after being injured in Boston game.
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Clarke MacArthur was the first Leaf to arrive to the building and he's impressed with the new visitors' room.
* Sabres trail Leafs by two points in the divisional standings (35-33).
* Sabres are 7-9-3 on home ice. Enter tonight in 8th place in the East. New Jersey is on Buffalo's back bumper. Wanted: 8 game win streak.
* Aside from last season, the Leafs have never had success winning in Buffalo.
* Buffalo, NJ, Montreal all have 33 points. Winnipeg and Ottawa have 32 points.1 point separates 7-12 place in the East.
* Sounds like Reimer will play in Buffalo. Gustavsson will play vs. Vancouver tomorrow night. Miller will continue his habitual tormenting of Ron Wilson and Brian Burke.
* Tim Connolly's head will be spinning as he's greeted at the door by all of his old teammates and organizational friends in Buffalo.
* Joffrey Lupuls' "windowless hotel room" vitrial has been smoldering in the hearts and minds of Sabre Nation like a cigarette butt in a trash can since the Leaf forward first tweeted it yesterday afternoon. No doubt that Lupul will get a tsunami of smack dumped on his by bellhops, bus boys and the citizens of Pegulaville today, and for the rest of his career.
Lupul's feeling good about himself and the Sabres will be presenting the esoteric and sophisticated Leaf winger the key to the city in a scrum ceremony later tonight.
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