It wasn't a very good night to be a player or fan of the Buffalo Sabres.  In a game where both teams played sloppy at times the Ottawa Senators were victorious by a score of 5-3.  It was definitely a game to forget for the Sabres, Senators and the referees as well.  There were several blown calls by the men in stripes but none more important than when Chris Neil pushed Ryan Miller back in his crease allowing Mike Fischer to score a goal.  The game was not lost because of the officials however, the Sabres played poorly for large stretches and probably didn't deserve to win.

There was even more bad news that came out of the game however, Max Afinogenov, Paul Gaustad and Drew Stafford missed practice today.  It appears that the most serious injury is to Drew Stafford who suffered a concussion and will be shelved for at least one week and maybe longer.  The Sabres will be back in action on Friday against the New Jersey Devils.  It will be the first time the Sabres will play in the Devils brand new arena in Newark (yeah the same Newark that Barry Melrose commented on).

It's time to take a trip around the blogs and see what everyone is talking about...

Gambler at Desperation Hockey is going to the Winter Classic

Heather B. from Top Shelf shares her thoughts on the game against Ottawa. (I think we all agree Heather)

Kevin over at BfloBlog shares an interesting post on bloggers and media.

The Ultimate Sports Road Trip covers the Winter Classic including some exclusive pictures.

The Goose's Roost (one of my favorite blogs) talk about the musical guests for the Winter Classic.  I'll add that I am a very big fan of Sam Roberts, I'm surprised they haven't heard of him before.

Brad Riter of Buffalo Main Event shares some exclusive photos of Ryan Miller's mask for the Winter Classic.