Beautiful Java

That's right! This Memorial Day Weekend my dad, Ryan, George and I hit this special pond down in Java, New York. This was George's second time fishing and he did quite well. He mainly fished with worms and ended up with 6 Largemouth Bass, 3 Sun Fish and 1 Perch. Nice job, George! As for the bassmaster, my dad practically caught a fish on every cast. He caught the largest Largemouth bass of the day. My dad also had another monster on, but his line snapped. Hey Ryan, I told my dad he has to learn your "special" knot. As for Ryan, he showed why he is going to be the next Sanders with his fly rod and special crankbait. I don't have exact numbers, but I'm guessing he caught around 20 to 25 fish. I think most were Largemouth bass with a few Sun fish as well. As for me, it was a special day because I caught my first two Pike ever. I caught both Pike on the same crankbait. I also caught 2 Crappie and 11 Largemouth bass. I can't wait to do some Trout fishing though.

My totals so far:

Largemouth bass- 30
Rainbow Trout- 5
Bullhead- 2
Pike- 2
Crappie- 2
Sun Fish- 1
Chub- 1

Day/Night Doubleheader

My friends Evan, Ryan and I went out to Ellicott Creek today at around 11 o'clock. We first stopped at Dicks to get some supplies. The one thing we all learned this afternoon is that things are pretty quite at the pond during the day. We plan on hitting there tonight.
Today is also my Birthday. All I want to do is go out and catch some fish. I'll report back later to tell you the results.

No More Nashville Predators?

I have just read the Nashville Predators have been bought out by Jim Balsille. I guess this guy wants to move the Predators somewhere else in the coming years. I'm all for it. I really don't see the point of having hockey teams in cities like Nashville, Phoenix, Miami, and Raleigh. When a team is averaging less than 14000 fans a game when the team is good, there is no way there should be a team there. The league needs more Canadian teams in the league, or at least move a team to Hartford. Enough of this nonsense by the NHL. Hartford, Winnipeg, and Quebec deserve teams.

Ellicott Creek Fishing Trip

What a day at the pond. Mr. Welch was pounding the fish all day; finishing off the day with 35 bass and 1 stupid looking goldfish. The guy is amazing. He told me that in his last two trips to the pond, he has landed over 50 bass! Way to go Ryan, you are the next Sanders.
As for me, I caught 15 bass and 2 bullhead. The picture of me with the bass was the biggest one caught. The fish weighed about 3, 4 pounds. I was most successful with powerbait. This pushes my totals to:

Largemouth bass- 17
Rainbow Trout- 5
Bullhead- 2
Smallmouth bass- 1
Sun Fish- 1
Chub- 1

I'm real happy with the results so far, and I hope to improve throughout the summer.

Ducks Win!

There you have it. The Anaheim Ducks have officially defeated the Detroit Red Wings. I have to give Detroit a lot of credit though. For starters, I did not expect the Red Wings to get this far, especially with Dominik Hasek. Hasek, even though I'm not a fan, played great this year and I'm surprised he lasted this long. Good for him. Do you expect Hasek to play again next year? Right now I would think yes, but then again I don't know Hasek personally.
Now on to the winners. The Ducks got real lucky on Sunday. They scored a goal with 47 seconds left and then went on to win in overtime while getting outplayed all game. Tonight they took a three goal lead into the third and ended up winning 4-3. They squeaked it out with Detroit coming close at the end.
The funny thing about the Ducks celebration compared to the Senators celebration after the game was the Ducks did not even go near the Western Conference Champion Trophy, while the Sens paraded around the ice with it. I don't want to look at this to seriously, but maybe the Sens are just happy to be in the Cup finals while the Ducks are on a mission to win it all. Again this is just a thought and may not even come close to describing the moods on both teams.
Finally I'll give you my prediction for the finals. If both special teams units continue to play the way they have been playing, I would have to give the advantage to the Sens. Another weakness I see in the Ducks is they only regularly role three lines and two sets of defensemen. If this turns out being a long series, I again would give the advantage to the Sens because of this lack of depth. Niedermayer has looked extremely weak defensively as well, and this is who I want to concentrate on while watching the games to see if he and Pronger can shut down the top line of the Sens. The outcome will be the Sens in six. There defense is tough and if the top line of Alfredsson, Spezza, and Heatley continues to stay hot, they will not have a problem beating the Ducks and JS.
Congrats to both the Senators and the Ducks. It hurts not having the Sabres in the finals, but this was a good experience for them and will make them tougher for next year. See ya, John aka Ronnie James Dio aka Holy Diver

Fishing Totals so far

As of right now, I have gone fishing three times this year. I have got to say they have been pretty successful. I started the year off with 2 large mouth bass when I went to some private pond in Orlando, Florida. That was when I was on Easter Break. Then I went to Glen Falls, which is in Williamsville, where my friend Ryan and I had two successful trips. The first trip I caught 3 Rainbow Trout, 1 Smallmouth bass, and 1 Chub. The second trip I caught 2 Rainbow Trout and 1 Sun fish. I'm hoping to hit a small private pond out in Java, New York sometime maybe this weekend or next. I'm also hoping to go to Ellicott Creek Park sometime this week and also I'm going to Indiana for a weekend not this week but the following weekend and maybe I might be able to do some fishing there. The reason why I say that is because I heard my Aunt Joanne lives right by a pond that holds, I think, trout and bass. I guess I'll find out some enough.

Rainbow Trout- 5
Largemouth Bass- 2
Smallmouth Bass- 1
Sun Fish- 1
Chub-1

A post hopefully will be done later tonight after the Ducks/Red Wings game. We may know who Ottawa's Stanley Cup opponent may be if the Ducks win tonight.

Remember, "Keep your stick on the ice"- Don Cherry, John aka Holy Diver aka Ronnie James Dio

Some Interesting Names

I have a list of some players I guess the Sabres have expressed some interest in signing. Here some of their names:

1.) Roman Hamrlik- like
2.) Aaron Miller- dislike
3.) Janne Niinimaa- why in God's name him
4.) Ryan Smyth- really really like
5.) Brendan Shanahan- really really like
6.) Ruslan Fedotenko- okay, why?
7.) Mike Peca- interesting (good for pk)

Here is Buffalo's top four players under contract and teams that are expressing interest, in order of greatest interest levels:

Daniel Briere- Montreal, Buffalo, and Philadelphia
Chris Drury- Buffalo, Los Angeles, San Jose, and Anaheim
Thomas Vanek- Buffalo, Philadelphia, Colorado, and Detroit
D. Zubrus- Montreal, Dallas, Buffalo, and Washington

Another Devastating Defeat

Yesterday at 11:30 at night I played in my third floor hockey league game somewhere out in West Seneca. Our record going into the game was 0-3 and we added to it by going 0-4. We lost the game 6-1. Some guy with a bandanna scored our only goal on a slap shot from the point. I had a glorious opportunity when I stole the ball away from the other teams defensemen, but instead of taking a slap shot, I took a wrister and sent it sailing out of play. I can only describe that in one word "Pitiful." Our next game is next Sunday at 6:30, but I don't want anyone showing up to the place just because you read this. See ya, John aka Ronnie James Dio aka Holy Diver

Some Sabre Rumors

Who do you take, Daniel Briere or Chris Drury? I take Drury, he does everything, win face offs, plays the powerplay, penalty kill, clutch, and a great leader. I thought Briere was just too inconsistent throughout the playoffs and was real weak in the corners. I have heard rumors about a possible three year deal with Drury. Teams like Philadelphia and Montreal have shown interest in Briere. If I compare the two, Montreal seems like the better fit for him because he is from there, Montreal plays a style of hockey similar to Briere's, and Montreal could be losing a few of their top players, including Souray (for sure), Kovalev (most definitely) and their captain Koivu. Drury, on the other hand, could want to play on a team closer to his home in California. Los Angles and Anaheim have been talked about but I just don't see enough cap room in Anaheim and LA isn't, in my opinion, a serious contender for Drury. The New York Rangers are also a possibility for Mr. Drury, but I am almost confident he will be back in the blue and gold.

Rumors on guys like Vanek, Mair, Numminen, Paetsch, Paille, Peters (well maybe not), Roy, and Zubrus to come. When I look at these guys, I think you keep obviously Vanek, Roy, Mair, Numminen, Paetsch, and hopefully Zubrus. Zubrus gives you size that we lacked in the Ottawa series and I was impressed with Roy's play including a career high in goals this year. Numminen gives the back end a patient, smart look to it and Paetsch helps out with the powerplay. Vanek is Vanek and Mair gives you some toughness, which I hope they can add some more in the offseason. Peters is a joke and his future could be in some serious jeopardy. Paille is a toss up right now, he does give the team help on the PK, but has also taken a while to come to form. Remember though we've got some great guys in Rochester who got some experience this year in Feb./ March. This part is just my two cents, I'll give you some expert analysis when it is made available.

Ducks up 3-2

The Ducks just went up 3-2 on the Detroit Red Wings in the Western Conference Finals today with a 2-1 overtime win. If the Ducks win this series, which in my opinion is still up in the air, I'll be routing for them. Detriot completely outplayed the Ducks today, but JS played a great game in goal. If the Red Wings come back, I think I want Ottawa to win. I really don't like Hasek and it always seems like the Wings win the Cup every 4,5 years. We will see. Peace, John aka Holy Diver aka Ronnie James Dio

WELCOME

Welcome to my new blog entitled, "Life in WNY (western new york)." I'm going to have a lot of interesting comments/blogs to make so I hope you enjoy them. This summer I plan on doing a lot of fishing with my bestest best pal Ryan Welch and I'll give you updates on all of the experiences I encounter. Also, I am a huge hockey fan. My team is the Buffalo Sabres and as you all know they suffered a dissapointing defeat to the Ottawa Senators. I'm going to post all kinds of rumors I hear to let you know what's going on with them and the rest of the NHL. Another part of hockey that I really enjoy is on every Saturday night, Don Cherry is on giving his two cents about hockey and what he thinks should happen. I am a huge fan of Mr. Cherry and hope to some day dress in those outragous suites just like him! I hope some of these things interest you and I would like to hear from all of those who have interests like or oppose me. Cheers, John aka Ronnie James Dio aka Holy Diver