There Goes One Promising Youngster And An Icon

Darcy Regier sure was busy yesterday. I got up at nine, and promptly checked NHL.com and Sabres.com too see if any trades were made. I saw some big moves by other teams, but it looked like Daniel Briere's philosophy would hold. "With the guys we have stepping up, I really don't think we'll have to make any moves. We can easily make it till Max and those guys get back."

Regier wasn't as confident. Less than three hours before the deadline, we sent Marty to Philadelphia of all places. Our hated rivals...only now, we won't be able to hate them as much. We got used to Marty in the red and black, but no Sabre fan ever wanted to even think of Marty in the orange and black.

Jiri, your time was shortlived. We were glad to have you here while it lasted. Your tenacity on the ice was something we Buffalo faithful were proud of...that and your hard work pushing you to the starting lineup. You are a promising talent; and I hope you don't bite us in the ass sometime down the road. I'm sure you're unhappy with Regier, trading you from a Stanley Cup contender to what may be the worst team in the league, now, since Washington traded most of their proven talent.

Marty "The Babbler" Biron. I can't say anything bad about you, my talkative friend. From your love of pancakes to your amazing saves on the ice (notable videos here, here, and here) you have never led fans astray. Never one to complain, and never one to cause problems. A true slice of Buffalo hockey. We've all loved you for eleven years, since you were chosen 16th overall to our then mediocre team. You've also been nothing but an incredible teammate, and a funny one too, check it here. I'm sorry your last memory as a Sabre was you being pulled in the Senators game, Marty. But know that ours, the Buffalo fans, is you taking one for the team and going after Emery. You'll always be welcome back in Buffalo, and I'm sure your old teammates will have some pancakes for you.

In return, we recieved Dainius Zubrus from Washington, and made another move for backup goalie Ty Conklin. Zubrus will bring size and a healthy forward to the Buffalo lineup, and he figures to fit in well with Buffalo's high powered attack. I like Zubrus on a line with friend and fellow Russian Maxim Afinigenov, and would like to see Derek Roy centering that line. But Roy and Zubrus may switch, since both players have experience on the wing as well as center.

Conklin is a true backup goalie. He most certainly takes away from the Sabres' security blanket of Martin Biron. Ryan Miller has some pressure taken off of him, because he knows he's the number one guy for sure now, but he also knows he can't get hurt...or his team is in trouble. Conklin was effective in his time for the Oilers however. He is no Biron, but could prove to be a steal at less than 600,000 a year.

With Both Captians Out, Buffalo Walks Over Toronto

Buffalo handily beat Toronto 6-1 yesterday for their twentieth road win. Buffalo is the first team to have both twenty road wins and twenty home wins this season. They are also the last team that has less than ten losses both at home and on the road.

With Danny Briere getting the flu shortly before the game and leaving Teppo Numminen and Jochen Hecht in charge of the Captaining duties, Buffalo rose to the challenge and defeated Toronto in the Air Canada Centre for the second time this season.

Jochen Hecht and Drew Stafford both continued to play well. Stafford probably had the best game of the year, and the Vanek/Hecht/Stafford line gave Toronto problems all night. Lydman and Tallinder's night together further proves they may be the best tandem in the league, and Clake MacArthur keeps proving why he shouldn't be sent back to Rochester. Pat Kaleta continues to hit everything that moves, and he does it clean. Kaleta had the Carruba Collision of the game after destroying Brian McCabe, Toronto's top blueliner.

The NHL's three stars:

1. Jochen Hecht

2. Ryan Miller

3. Clarke MacArthur

My three stars:

1. Derek Roy - A goal, an assist, and played over twenty five minutes in the game due to Briere and Drury's absence. That's an unreal amount of time on the ice, especially when the game is played Roy's way. Was also +3 on the night, and blocked four shots.

2. Miller - 27 saves out of 28, and a couple real doozies. Proved why he's the Sabres #1 goalie.

3. Hecht - Two goals in a row and an assist on Stafford's goal. Good on Penalty kill.

Quick Notes:

Buffalo and Dallas are the only two teams that have not lost after leading by two goals at some point...Buffalo and Minnesota are the only teams that have not been shut out yet this season, knock on wood.

Adam Mair Verbally Attacked...BY SABRE FANS

Hockey players taunt each other every game, for the entirety of the game. Often the taunts consists of sexual activity between, say, a player's mom and the neighbor's horse. Or dirty references to the player's sexuality. Rarely are these things ever true.

Do hockey players go Zinedane Zidane on them (click the name to be reminded of the event)? No. The worst that happens is they square off and fight. The most violent injuries in hockey have come on unprovoked attacks that are spawned from teammate fights. A la Todd Bertuzzi and Marty McSorely.

I digress. If a player did happen to be gay, and grew up listening to the trash talk, does that cross the line? Does bringing up the true event in a negative light cross the Geneva Convention of the NHL? I don't think so. It's part of the game.

That being said, I'm sure you've all heard by now that Adam Mair was taunting Dany Heatley Thursday night. Well that's normal.

But Mair was reminding Heatley of September 2003.

That's when Heatley killed then Thrasher teammate Dan Snyder. Snyder was a friend of Mair's.

Heatley and Snyder were driving at an ungodly speed down a road in Atlanta, when Heatley lost control of his Ferrari, crossed over the road and slammed into a brick wall. The car split in half and ejected Snyder. He was left in critical condition with a fracture to his skull, and Heatley, who obviously got the better of it had a broken jaw, a minor concussion, a bruised lung, bruised kidney, and tore three ligaments in his right knee.

Blood work has shown there was alcohol in Heatley's system. The judge ruled it wasn't enough to impair his driving. Who knows how true that it? The only reason Heatley isn't in jail and wasn't deported (was born in West Germany, since granted citizenship in Canada) was because he is a well known super-athlete.

He has since had to endure taunts that some would never have to encounter. At certain arenas around the league, every time Heatley has the puck, the crowd will chant 'Murderer' or something to that effect.

The Ottawa Sun reported that Mair made a snide remark to Heatley, and that's why he apologized after the game.

Then, Saturday at Ottawa, Mair refused to fight Neil twice before they finally squared off, right. I have been on Sabres.com forums and have seen on numerous occasions people thinking Mair was a baby for not fighting when challenged.

With all the back story posted, I'd like to explain why I think Mair is a class act.

I will personally guarantee Mair was not the first person to comment on Heatley's past to him in a game. Heatley's an excellent player, a former NHL All-Star MVP, perennial forty goal scorer, and a threat whenever he's on the ice...his speed, power, size, and shot are a rare combination, and you can bet every goalie knows it.

Players trash talk to get inside the opponent's head. Ask Matthew Barnaby, longtime Sabre thorn in the side, now with the Dallas Stars. Barnaby's only specialty was that he would bother the opponents so badly they would lose their cool and just throw down with him.

Most third and fourth line players do it though, and the only reason it's ballooned this time is because Ottawa needs something else to whine about. Not only could three of them (count them in the Buffalo/Ottawa brawl Thursday) keep Mair from punching Spezza, but when Spezza got up he ran to be coddled in the official's arms like an infant. Heatley ran away from Peters' challenge and didn't even help his teammates. And all the while, Patrick Kaleta, a 21 year old, manhandled Mike Comrie.

Back to Mair: He, unlike most, felt bad about what he said. He apologized. Classy.

And Saturday night? Turning on two fights from the player that took out Chris Drury, not two days before? That's not Mair being a wimp, that's Mair trying to win a hockey game. He didn't fight during the game when the score was close. After finishing a couple clean checks along the boards, Neil would challenge Mair. Mair did not fight; sending Neil to the box, giving Buffalo the opportunity to win the game.

When did Mair decide to fight? On his terms. If the score was tied at this point, it wouldn't have mattered. Chris Neil furthered the proof that the hit on Drury had nothing but intent to injure behind it. Patrick Kaleta cleaned out Senator Chris Kelly along the boards, and Neil took offense to it somehow. Because the brute lacks any sort of playing skill, he hit Kaleta from behind (this time, everyone knew it). Mair happened to be on the ice, and then the two threw down.

Mair doesn't need to fight on anyone else's terms. Mair isn't the typical tough guy because he does possess some pretty decent skill on the ice. He's obviously no first or second liner, but put with the right players, he could be a legitimate third line center.

In closing, Sabre fans:

Do not hate on our players when there is so much behind the stories. Know more than the media. Use your knowledge of hockey to make informed decisions. Adam Mair = respectable hockey player and excellent teammate, not conniving wuss.

Should he stay or should he go now?

With all eight of Buffalo's current injuries (six long term, one short term, and one indefinite) still early in their healing periods, Darcy Regier may be looking to add a couple rental players for the short-or long haul. Unfortunately for Regier, the salary cap is about three inches over his head, so if he makes a move, it will have to be dollar for dollar.

Martin Biron, right, could be on the trading block this year for the Sabres' hunt for Lord Stanley's Cup. He is the backup, no questions asked, and is making over two million a year, which is quite the accomplished amount.

Biron was the original goalie of the future, after perennial Vezina winner Dominik Hasek 'retired' (Hasek has since played for the Senators and is currently playing for Detroit Red Wings). Current Keeper Ryan Miller was with the Rochester Americans developing two years ago, while Biron was stuck just practicing. Biron was only practicing because of the NHL's player strike in 2004-05.

Why did Biron not go down to play?, you may ask. He had spent too many games as a Sabre, and if that happens, the only way a player can be moved down is if he clears the waiver period. Martin Biron wouldn't last more than thirty seconds on waivers, even if he had never started.

Biron was promising as a youngster, and Buffalo saw this and drafted him in the first round of the 1995 draft. Biron played junior leagues for about five years, and soon starred in Rochester for the Amerks.

Biron and his piercing blue eyes soon became a fan favorite in Buffalo. When Ryan Miller was brought up in the 2005-06 season and won the starting spot in training camp, Biron never complained. He is the model of a team player as seen multiple times in his very funny Mic'd Up segments.

In the 2005-06 season, Miller broke his thumb in November and Marty Biron came in to fill. He won over twenty games, with at least fifteen in a row once. Marty is no slouch. When Miller came back and started, Biron said nothing about the situation. In the 2006 ECF against Carolina, Biron would chirp over the boards at the opposing team, trying to get into their minds.

He is the ultimate teammate. The perfect backup. But deserves to be a starter. Buffalo owes him what he wants after what Biron has done for this team.

Some people say it's we either trade him now or let him walk away for nothing. We can't get much for him now. All the contending teams have decent goaltending and it's too late in the season to change goalies. So we'd give him away for a bit and he'd get nothing in return. Next year he may start for a mediocre team. He will anyways (as much as it pains me to say it).

In light of recent success and my faith in the Rochalo Saberks, I think we offer Marty Biron what we wants. We owe it to him.

Ask him if he wants to be traded now. If he says no, that's excellent. If he says yes, then we had better send him the ring from our Stanley Cup victory, and we had better find a way to get him on our bench when we are in the Finals series. We wouldn't be 41-16-5 without Martin Biron. Whether he's starting or not, he is as much the face of Buffalo as Ryan Miller, Chris Drury, or Daniel Briere.

Dru, Come Back Soon!

Chris Drury, right, received twenty stitches in his forehead Thursday night and showed concussion like symptoms on Friday, assuring that he would not play Saturday in the tail end of the home and home series, and probably will miss the nest game, too.

The win on Thursday was bigger than the entire season series, anyways, so it's good Drury's taking his time getting better. Hell, I'll take a 10-2 loss tonight if that's what it takes. We need Drury to be 100% and if it's only an extra game, so be it.

Ottawa will be out for blood, make no mistake. Bryan Murray also threatened Buffalo about their line choices and said that things would be taken care of on Saturday at Ottawa. Look for Andrew Peters and Ottawa fighter Bryan McGrattan to square off at least once.

This will be a very physical game, and if I were Lindy Ruff, I'd probably check my ice time on Briere, Pominville, and Roy as well. We can't afford more injuries and these guys aren't big. Ottawa is a physically large team and their back two lines aren't afraid to show it. Just becasue the first line turtled Saturday doesn't mean the whole team will shy away from contact.

I think the most effective course of action for a win is to put our checking line out first thing Saturday and start finishing our checks...before they get a chance to. Brian Murray did hint that he would have his players hitting everything on Saturday, and I'd like to surprise them and do it first. Maybe about 15 minutes of ice time for the little guys and see how the younguns and the Bash Brothers do.

I'd like to see Briere, Roy, and Pominville out only against Ottawa's top two lines tonight- no chances taken against McGrattan or Neil when they're on the ice.

Crying Wolf? How About A Taste Of Your Own Medicine?

Senators coach Bryan Murray acted like he had never seen a tough guy line sent out after a questionable at best hit. In 2003/04, when he was with the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim, there was a play which saw a Calgary player run into J.S. Giguere, the Duck's keeper. The player did run into him on purpose, and yes, it was with unnecessary force, but it wasn't even hard enough to knock Giguere over.

Murray responded by sending his two best goons on the ice. This with four minutes left in the third period where the Ducks were leading 4-0.

Kevin Lowry ran into then Calgary keeper Mike Vernon in an ugly, ugly way. Not when Vernon was standing up, in a position playing the puck. Lowry cross checked Vernon with his head up, and the game featured so many brawls in the last ninety seconds that the game was finished with 3 on 3 with only nine and six reserves on the bench.

The entire debacle is viewable here.

"I've seen it in junior hockey, but I've never seen it in the NHL," Murray said. "I didn't care if (the game ended) or not. The fans got their money's worth. The game started at 7 o'clock, so there was plenty of time."

Ironically, the only player in that game who was in the Ottawa and Buffalo brawl was Toni Lydman. Lydman's only ever fought three times, and two of those have been team brawls.

Quick Notes

Forward Mike Mancari was called up from Rochester yesterday to take Drury's spot. Mancari is 6'4" and over 220 pounds. The call up left only two forwards left on the Amerks for the Sabres.

Lindy Ruff, right, was fined US $10,000 for sending out his grinder line against Murray's skill players. I don't know how that works because to me, that sounds like they're fining Lindy for....coaching. If sending out a line is worth a fine, what is making roster changes worthy of? Suspension?

Forward Adam Mair apologized to Danny Heatley in the Senators locker room after the game Thursday. Heatley accepted the apology.

Just because Mair apologized doesn't mean he might not throw down again tonight.

LET'S GO ROCHALO SABERKS!!!!

Here's Looking At You, Chris.

Move over, Toronto.

The game last night was the most epic one seen at HSBC Arena since the Carolina Hurricanes were defeated by our Sabres in Game 6 of the Eastern Conference finals last year. Sitting over four hours away by car, my neck prickled from the energy transferred through the TV by play by play Godsend Rick Jeanneret and the electrifying Buffalo fans.

Ottawa, led by Daniel Alfredsson and Dany Heatley, scored two goals in the first fifteen minutes as Ottawa pounded Buffalo with shots. Alfredsson scored the first on an easy rebound on the powerplay, and Dany Heatley snapped a shot on a two on one break above Biron's glove. It looked like depleted Buffalo was going to suffer a pretty nasty defeat...that is until Captain Clutch came through. Chris Drury converted a third chance rebound up and above Ray Emery's glove after Mike Ryan failed to slam it home.

The period ended with the score 2-1, but Buffalo seemed to be gaining some momentum. Wow, that was an understatement. Buffalo came out of the locker room with nothing but a win on it's mind, and Thomas Vanek scored two goals less than a minute apart to give Buffalo a 3-2 lead. Vanek played the best game of his stellar year, making two brilliant sneaky plays. The first, Vanek came across the rink from Emery's left and just as Jason Pominville let a montrous shot rip from the point, Vanek crossed the crease and redirected the puck over Emery's blocker.

Forty seconds later, as Vanek was on the right of Emery this time, he cut to about center ice and stole the puck from the Senators at their blue line and skated in on a breakaway. Vanek double deked and Emery bit as Vanek shoveled the backhand over Emery's leg pad and outside his blocker.

At this point in the game, HSBC is rocking. Anyone at this game is as tired as the players are from the emotions they had been experiencing. But it wasn't over yet, not even near.

Just over five minutes in, eighty seconds after Vanek's second goal, Buffalo was on a rush again.
Emery made a couple good saves, and the puck was on it's way out of the offensive zone. Drury made a big steal and started in on a rush with rookies Mike Ryan and Drew Stafford. Drury moved in against Tom Preissing and Wade Redden. Drury pushed a shot wide and it went into the corner. Senators tough guy Chris Neil took another stride and hit Drury through the back of his shoulder and finished through the head. As he finished his check he extended his arm and used extra force to launch the Buffalo star into the air, sending his helmet into orbit.

Drury completed a half a flip and smashed his forehead hard into the ice. He fell over and was spurting blood in the ice before collapsing. Drew Stafford turned and saw his Captain on the ice and the rookie charged and went at the bigger, stronger Neil with everything he could muster. The officials separated them and they both recieved fighting majors, but Neil was not given interference or a charging penalty for blindsiding Drury.

Sens coach Bryan Murray, a recent 600 game winner (accomplished by only five coaches in history) then made what can be called a rookie mistake. After a play like the Drury hit, away, on the opponent's captain, the most foolish thing you can do is send out your skill line, and that's what Murray did. Lindy Ruff responded by sending out the Buffalo Bash line, Adam Mair, Andrew Peters, and called up tough guy and Buffalo native Patrick Koleta. As soon as Koleta stepped on the ice, even before the faceoff, Heatley cross checked him for no reason.

As soon as the puck dropped, Center Adam Mair went at Spezza, Peters ripped Heatley around by his face, and Koleta went at whoever he could find. Three other Senators went after Mair and tried to get him off Spezza. Heatley hid his tail between his legs and ran away, and no one wanted a part of Peters. Eventually all ten position players found a partner and scuffled. At this point Martin Biron called Ray Emery out of net and the goalies had themselves a little tango.

The much smaller Biron basically got his butt handed to him, but it didn't matter, because the fire and drive was there. When Peters saw Emery on Biron, he decided to finish the job. Emery and Peters was actually a fair fight--Emery is that big.

The most exciting part of the the brawl wasn't even the players fighting. Coach Bryan Murray stood on the side of the boards screaming across Rob Ray in the press box to Lindy Ruff. Ruff did not shy from this challenge. He jumped in the press box and proceded to yell obscenities back at Murray. My personal favorite was "Don't go after our f****** Captain!".

Peters, Emery, and Biron were all ejected from the game. Enter Ryan Miller for the Sabres and Martin Gerber for the Senators.

The video can be viewed here.

Eventually the mess was cleared and 100 minutes of penalties were dolled out, unfortunately, Buffalo got 63 of them. When play resumed, Buffalo had to kill a five on three penalty, and then the second half of a double minor on top of that. Why Ottawa did not recieve a third man in penalty, offsetting one of Buffalo's, is beyond me. Ottawa had three men, not two, fighting Mair, as clearly shown in the video.

Tony Lydman was the main reason Ottawa didn't score on the five on three. He had numerous huge defensive plays and really saved the Sabres backside. Getting away with only giving one goal up on the four minute, three man powerplay was a steal. Danny Heatley connected one minute into the last penalty, and Ottawa tied the game with twelve minutes to play in the second.

With two minutes left in the second, and the hits building, Brian Campbell fed a two line pass up the gut to Patrick Koleta. Koleta dropped the pass to Clarke MacArthur, and the fired a shot on Gerber, who didn't see it, gave a rebound, and MacArthur still on the charge poked the puck in the net with a defender riding his back.

With seconds left in the second, Daniel Briere recieved a feed from the point and looked poised to slam it home and give the Sabres a commanding 5-3 lead, but was hooked very violently and the Sabres ended the second on the powerplay.

The second period intermission was highlighted by Razor Rob Ray's interview of Mike Ryan. Ray asked Ryan about the fight and Ryan simply stated that "if they're going to take liberties on our best players, then stuff like that will happen". This, to me, was huge from a rookie. The young forward showed he was not scared or intimidated.

The third period was full of energy. Vanek almost completed the hat trick on the continuing penalty three or four times. Shortly after the penalty was killed, Derek Roy crushed Dany Heatley and Spezza let Roy know he was having none of that. Unfortunately, the refs were blowing their whistles at anything, knowing full well another brawl could come out of anything. Roy pushed back and they both were issued penalties.

On the ensuing four on four, Dmitri Kalinin, Daniel Briere, and Jason Pominville moved in on a three on two, and after two quick passes, Kalinin ripped a shot on Gerber that somehow the goalie stopped, but gave a rebound. Kalinin followed his shot, picked up his rebound, waited for Gerber to commit, and made Briere blush with a shot to the top of the net.

Buffalo, now up 5-3, did not change their game at all. They battled and battled, but Mike Fisher connected on a lucky shot that Miller couldn't see at the eleven minute mark. Less than a minute later, Briere and his mates had two or three golden opporunities foiled by Gerber and the Ottawa defense.

Miller may have saved the game when he robbed Dany Heatley absolutely silly on a one time four feet from the net.

On a late rush, Brian Cambpell was completing his trademark spin-o-rama deke and was hooked by Chris Kelly. Ottawa killed the penalty efficiently, but with fifty second remaining, Henrik Tallinder put a shot on net that hit the top corner of the crossbar. Gerber was beaten- badly- but unluckily Buffalo was left with a tie still.

In overtime, the team traded rushes for the first minute. Near the four minute mark, Thomas Vanek recieved a pass and crossed the blue line. Heatley ripped the skates out from under Vanek and received no penalty, for some reason. On the ensuing Senators rush, Briere tapped Alfredsson's jersey with his stick and somehow was called for hooking.

Buffalo played the last 1:32 of overtime shorthanded, and again, the defense, led by Tony Lydman, killed every second of that penalty, only allowing one of two quality shots by the high powered Senators. Both shots were by Heatley, and Miller was not going to let Heatley win the game in HSBC.

Then comes the shootout. Lindy Ruff picked his normal first shooter, Briere. Vanek, who almost always takes the second round most certainly would again on his hot night. Jason Pominville, Buffalo's biggest sniper after the injured players picked up the third slot.

Bryan Murray sent out Antoine Vermette, Dean McAmmond, and Mike Comrie. Many NHL analysts are still questioning Murray for leaving players like Alfredsson, Heatley, Spezza, and Schaefer.

Miller and Gerber both stopped the first three shots they faced. In the first round of sudden death, Buffalo sent out Drew Stafford, right. The rookie converted with a backhand shovel up high and put enormous pressure on Ottawa's fourth shooter - and last chance- Mike Fisher. Fisher set up and skated it and HSBC was so quiet you could hear a pin drop. Not for long. Fisher took a wrister from twenty feet and Miller snagged it in his glove and I think they had to do repairs to HSBC from the noise that ensued.

Who says these Rochalo Saberks aren't gusty enough to win?

My three stars:

1. THE ENTIRE BUFFALO SABRES ROSTER. I'm not going to explain why. It's the 1200 words directly above.

2. Drew Stafford. Sticking up for his captain, played good defense with more ice time than he's used to, and winning the game in the shootout.

3. Thomas Vanek. Turned people inside out and backchecked better than he ever has. Got better as the game went on. If it wasn't for the cheatin' Sens, Vanek could have easily had four goals.


And here's the best part.

The teams square off in Ottawa at seven tonight.

Sabres Look To End Emery's Dominance

Tonight, the NHL's point leading Buffalo Sabres (40-15-5 = 85) look to win their eighth home game out of nine against the fifth place Ottawa Senators (35-22-3 = 73). The Sens hold a 4-2 season series lead against the Sabres, and in their wins have been dominating, holding Buffalo to only seven goals in those games. Both Buffalo's wins have been unconvincing and both by one goal. In the last meeting, Buffalo dominated the first period in a very startling fashion, taking nineteen shots and controlling the puck for almost fifteen minutes.

Unfortunately, Ottawa got a couple lucky breaks and gained the lead. Buffalo, although outplaying the Senators, had to play catch up and eventually won the game on some third period dramatics.

Ottawa backstop Ray Emery has been nothing short of stellar against the Sabres in his two years (in the regular season). He was 4-1 last year, and is 4-1 again this year.

Emery is undefeated this year when he faces forty or more shots, and look for Buffalo to approach that number. With as many youngsters as Buffalo has, they will probably be looking for any shot and deflection chance that may score a goal.

Ottawa may be wary of Emery's play, however, because tonight is his first night back after a short suspension after slashing Maxim Lapierre of the Montreal Canadiens. Lapierre is known to get under the skin of many NHL opponents, including the surprise Sidney Crosby, but Emery responded to being knocked down on an innocent play by slashing his stick to Lapierre's facemask. If Lapierre wasn't wearing a visor, he very likely could have had a very bad concussion, an eye poked out, and most certainly would have required surgery to fix his nose. The incident can be viewed in this link.

Emery was also destroyed by Buffalo in the 2006 Eastern Conference Semifinals in six games, giving up fifteen goals in five games (three overtime) and gave up Jason Pominville's series clinching goal (a shorthanded effort) on a fairly simple move. Emery's lateral movement is a weakness Buffalo should look to expose again. He also has a hard time seeing the puck in traffic when he gets frustrated.

Buffalo's defense needs to stop Daniel Alfredsson, Dany Heatley, and Jason Spezza, who tend to have their best games against the cross border rivals. Spezza and Heatley boast better than a point per game ratio, and Alfredsson is just under one, with 47 points in 55 career games. Ruff will most likely match their line with Tony Lydman, right, and Henrik Tallinder, who shut them down in the playoffs last season.

Ottawa's consistently big defense has held Chris Drury and Daniel Briere in check thoughout their careers, meaning it will be difficult for them to score. Drury loves to hang out in front of the net, though- if Ottawa doesn't stop him early Emery may throw another hissyfit or start allowing goals. Also look for Thomas Vanek to be doing more checking, he is one of Buffalo's biggest forwards that isn't injured.

Hopefully Adam Mair and Andrew Peters will have the same type of game they had Tuesday. They don't need to score, but their time on ice will be around the same, and they will be asked to check Ottawa at every clear opportunity. Buffalo can't afford to take penalties tonight, though, so don't expect any fights unless it is Peters taking Heatly, Spezza, or Chris Neil out of the game for a little while. Buffalo's Bash Brothers need to be conservative and ready to play their most fundamentally sound game of the year so far.

Buffalo native Patrick Kaleta was called up yesterday from the Rochester Americans to replace Daniel Paille. Kaleta is a big forward who plays like Paul Gaustad. Unfortunately, he is undersized for his style of play at only 5'11" and 195 pounds. Look for him to get about five to ten minutes of ice time today.

Unfortunately, I think I'll have to pick Ottawa to win in overtime. They have almost no injuries, and their track record vs. Buffalo during the regular season is impeccable in the recent years. But, Sabres fans, don't doubt me yet. Buffalo won seven of the last eight vs. Ottawa in the playoffs, even being a much lower seed. That's where it matters. This also doesn't mean I won't be rooting for Buffalo the entire game. I'd much rather be wrong.

Look for a post shortly about what Darcy Regier should do with the upcoming trade deadline and the salary cap roof, which is only about three inches over his head.

BREAKING NEWS- 7:05 PM, gametime decision: Martin Biron, right, who is 2-1 against Ottawa this year, will be given the start. Biron is 12-8 against Ottawa in his career, and has a better than .900 save percentage.

Seamless Sabres Double Up Flunking Flyers

The Sabres may have played their best game of the year, injuries aside. From the opening faceoff Buffalo dominated through the entire game. After six one goal games, the Sabres finally put some distance between them and the opponents and didn't have to look over their shoulders for the whole game.

Chris Drury, Daniel Briere, Jason Pominville (even strength scoring leader for the Sabres), Adam Mair, Andrew Peters, and Derek Roy all netted goals for the home team. The Sabres were dynamic on the powerplay, scoring three times in five chances. Their penalty kill was also efficient, stopping both of Philly's chances.

Simon Gagne did score twice for the visitors, and nearly got a hat trick, but Ryan Miller made an incredible save to keep the Flyers franchise player from recording the third goal. All together on the night, Miller, right, made 32 saves on 35 shots.

Quick notes: Flyers G Robert Esche was pulled after allowing four goals on fourteen shots and looking especially sloppy in the second...Nathan Paetsch, Jochen Hecht, Daniel Briere, Chris Drury, and Jason Pominville all had multipoint nights...Flyers Mike Richards had three assists.

Buffalo Rookies Used to the Game

Buffalo's seamless play comes from the close network between Sabres coach Lindy Ruff and their AHL counterpart Rochester Americans coach Randy Cunneyworth. Lindy Ruff has asked Cunneyworth for the last few years to have the same type of game plan for the Amerks as he does with his Sabres. That way, if something is to happen to a Sabre (or six of them), an Amerk is there to step up and take their place. This creates a more relaxed atmosphere and lets a player realize they don't need to learn more than one game, especially in Drew Stafford's case. The young wing has been called up seven times this season.

You have Now Entered The Twilight Zone

Brian Campbell dropped his gloves for the first time in his career. R.J. Umberger, after getting DESTROYED by Campbell on a vicious, but clean open ice hit in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Quarterfinals, finally fought back. The hit (viewable here) helped Buffalo win that game in overtime. Umberger most likely fought back in the team's third meeting since because Campbell was not as protected as he was in the previous games, and I'm sure Umberger thought that he could set the tone for Philly to remain hot. It didn't work out for them.

Adam Mair and Andrew Peters are known as the bash brothers for this Sabres club. It's not a guarantee that they will even dress for a game, but tonight, where their roles were deepened due to the injury list, they stepped up. Peters scored his first goal since his rookie campaign, and Mair, right, scored only his second goal of the season on a beautiful redirect. Peters finished an assist short of the Gordie Howe hat trick (a goal, assist, and fight).

Both players stepped up their ice time a very significant amount and both stepped up their play at least that much. Coach Lindy Ruff must feel better about his current situation knowing that these two can handle the extra time on ice.

And Now, A Reserve Is Hurt

Daniel Paille, right, will miss at least two weeks with a broken index finger. He was checked and slid into the boards, but it is unclear which contact broke his finger. Coach Ruff couldn't do anything but laugh at the news. "What can you do? The doctors said two or three weeks. That's just a short one for us."

Paille has been with the Sabres for almost two weeks straight and has been learning every game. He is a student of the game, and when he gets back, look for him to play with renewed energy.

Check in tomorrow for trade deadline possibilities.

Kotalik too?!?!!? How can we beat streaking Philly?

You've got to be kidding. Six regulars...in six games. Kotalik, right, suffered a knee injury after colliding with newly acquired Boston blueliner Andrew Ference. Kotalik joins the populated injury list and has the company of Jaroslav Spacek, Maxim Afinogenov, Paul Gaustad, Jiri Novotny, and Tim Connolly. Kotalik is expected to miss four to six weeks, meaning if all goes well, Afinogenov, Kotalik, Spacek, and Novotny should return in about a month, just about the same time.

Gaustad, of course, is lost for the entire remainder of the season and playoffs. Connolly is hopeful to be back as soon as the last few games of the regular season, but with his almost constant setbacks, that would be a miracle. The good news is that Buffalo really only needs to get about thirty points to really put themselves in a good spot for the playoffs. With an opportunity to gain as many as forty-six, it seems like a reasonable feat. Buffalo can finish with as few as seven wins and four or five overtime losses and still make the playoffs, as well.

That's not Buffalo's style, however. They will drive, grind, crawl, and limp their way through the remaining 23 games clawing and scraping for two points each game. Hopefully, Briere, Drury, Pominville, Roy, Vanek, and Hecht can pick up their scoring and make up for the injuries. Defensively, the Sabres are in good shape, because Paetsch is more than adequate in replacing Spacek.

The next six games are huge though. Philly, Ottawa, Ottawa, Toronto, Montreal, and Toronto again. Philly is 5-2-3 in their last 10, which is very impressive. Ottawa is 4-2 against Buffalo this season, and Ray Emery, Ottawa's goaltender, will be back from his suspension for both games. Toronto is Buffalo's rival, and always plays hard, and finally, Montreal plays Buffalo to one goal games and beat Buffalo in overtime once this year already.

If Buffalo makes it out of this stretch with at least seven points, look for them to start causing serious damage in mid-March.

Buffalo Loses In Eight Round as Tenkrat Beats Miller

Petr Tenkrat of the Boston Bruins hasn't been involved in a shootout all season. Boston Coach Dave Lewis sent Tenkrat in as the sixteenth shooter of the shootout, and Tekrat didn't fail. Sabres goalie Ryan Miller made the initial save, but the puck hit his lower arm and continued with some momentum toward the net. Miller didn't know where the puck was and it followed him as he slid backwards into the net.

Buffalo was down 3-1 in the second before Marc Savard took a penalty. Buffalo was threatening on the powerplay, but Tim Thomas and the Boston penalty killers looked like they would keep Buffalo from scoring. A big break for Buffalo was that Petr Tenrat took a penalty fifty four seconds later giving Buffalo a five on three. Alternate Captain Savard ran his mouth off when the dorr was opened for Tenkrat, and immediately was handed another penalty, two minutes for unsportsmanlike conduct.

With a two minute five on three, Buffalo looked sloppy. Finally, Chris Drury got sick of screwing around, threw the puck on net, and cut Boston's lead in half. With a long powerplay still going, Buffalo kept up the successful work and just threw the puck on net, hoping to capitalize on second and third chances. Briere was set up perfectly in front of the net, but stalled with the puck, and instead of just slamming it home, he tried to be fancy, and it appeared goalie Thomas made an incredible save. Play continued until the end of the second, (52.7 seconds) but then the shot was reviewed.

The goal was held up, but there was still time left on the clock. It took almost twenty minutes to get the Bruins back on the ice, and I am still wondering why they weren't assessed a penalty. But anyways, the period finished with Buffalo tying the game up 3-3.

The third period was relatively classic Sabres hockey until the last ninety seconds. Buffalo gave up two penalties and had to kill a five on three for thirty-eight seconds and a powerplay for the first minute and a half of overtime. They did that, almost scoring shorthanded, and put together an excellent last three minutes of overtime. Unfortunately, Boston blocked all of Buffalo's shots.

Boston went on to win on a dribbler in the eighth round of the shootout. Ryan Miller is the NHL's best shootout goaltender, with a record of 9-3, but two of the losses have come to Boston now. Buffalo is now 5-0-2 against Boston this year, and the two will meet again on April 5.

Buffalo Sabres vs. Philadelphia Flyers

Philadelphia, with a league low forty points (16-34-8 = 40) have had two streaks of nine or more losses this season. Philly has had a team that would have been better than great in the old NHL rules, and managed to play well last year. This year, however, with all the teams used to the new rules, the Flyers have been getting run over because of their lack of speed and passing. However, the last ten games, as aforementioned, they have played very well, and star Simon Gagne, right, has been playing excellent hockey as well (8 goals, 5 assists last 10 games).

The Flyers would love to play the part of spoiler after Buffalo utterly destroyed them in the first round of the 2006 Stanley Cup Playoffs last year. With Buffalo's injuries, Philadelphia is bloodthirsty and they are mroe than willing to prove that they can knock off the team leading the NHL in points, and they are a team to be feared in the closing months of the NHL regular season.

Buffalo has four rookies on the roster who will play their hearts out for 65 minutes in Clarke MacArthur, Mike Ryan (called up from Rochester for Ales Kotalik yesterday), Nathan Paetsch, and Drew Stafford. Look for all four of these to have similar games to the Boston game. They all played well and didn't make any costly mistakes, which is more than can be expected, but all that Buffalo needs in this critical time.

The game is on national TV, on Versus, and should be a good one. It should be a dogfight from beginning to end. Look for Thomas Vanek to have a good game - in two games vs. Philly this year, the sophomore has five points (2+3). Both Buffalo goaltenders (unsure of who will start, though it looks like Miller will get one or two more starts before he gets a rest) have enjoyed success against Philly in their careers.

Buffalo prevails 4-2 and gets ready for the next two weeks of a scary schedule without six of their players.

Buffalo outlasts the Oilers; Nashville acquires Forsberg

Buffalo's game against the Oilers Thursday night came with huge penalties. Maxim Afinogenov, right, arguably the Sabres' most dynamic and exciting player, broke his wrist in the loss, and Jiri Novotny, the replacement forward, reinjured his ankle, and is expected to lose at least three weeks. Add these injuries to Jaroslav Spacek, Paul Gaustad, and the eternally injured Tim Connolly, and you get a great elixir of wow, Buffalo's-in-a-hell-of-a-lot-of-trouble.

The very same energy and resilience Buffalo showed in the playoffs last year was showed in the last two periods of the Edmonton game. Afinogenov actually broke his wrist a few shift before scoring his 23rd goal of the season; which happened to be giftwrapped by Thomas Vanek. Afinogenov played a few shifts and then was x-rayed after the second period, revealing the break.

Novotny, in his first week back from an ankle injury, reinjured the very same ankle as he went to check Oiler Mike Greene against the boards. Novotny's skate stuck in a rut and the ankle twisted enough to sprain.

Buffalo will have a difficult time winning the President's (most points by a team) trophy this year. With their injuries, the next month will be the telltale streak of the season, and will help decide whether Buffalo could win it's first Stanley Cup.

In a short recap of the Oiler game, both goalies played phenomenal and deserved to be the #1 and #2 stars without a doubt. Buffalo did a good job containing Ryan Smith, but both Jarrett Stoll and Fernando Pisani missed the game when they were listed as questionable with concussions. The Shawn Horcoff-Smyth-Ales Hemsky line really did cause problems for the first forty minutes of the game, (also scoring Edmonton's only goal) but Buffalo's second line really matched up and shut them down in the 3rd and overtime.

Thomas Vanek wrapped opponents up all night, and did everything but push the puck in the net on Afinogenov's goal, gettign my #3. Danny Briere had a good game, and did score the game winner in overtime, but Jochen Hecht fed Briere like a two year old baby on that play. Briere made a nice deke to pull the puck out of the way of a diving defenseman, however.

Tonight's game against the Boston Bruins (26-26-4 = 56) will be a difficult challenge for the Sabres, now 39-15-4 = 82. After five days off and their first game back being as physical and grueling as it was Buffalo may be wishing they had another day off. Buffalo did recently come off a home and away sweep of the Bruins jsut last month, though, so expect them to come out swinging.

Boston only has one key to victory tonight. Goaltender Tom Thomas, right, must stay on his hot streak. His spasmodic goaltending style was very effective through November and December, but up until about five games ago, Thomas has been giving up soft goals and been giving third and fourth chances to opposing lines. Thomas did just shut out Edmonton on Tuesday, and has won four of his last six overall. Thomas need to have a good at worst game to lead his team to victory.

Buffalo's keys to victory are more difficult. Buffalo must have short shifts, thirty to forty-five seconds at most. Because of their injuries and lack of experienced NHL-ers, Buffalo needs to keep Chris Drury, Briere, Hecht, Vanek, Jason Pominville, and Derek Roy fresh for the entire game.

Buffalo must convert opportunites when they are present. The Sabres have a tendency to get complacent with a tie or a one goal game, and with as many players injured as they have, they need to builda lead and keep building.

Buffalo's fourth line will most likely be Adam Mair, tough-guy Andrew Peters, and either Drew Stafford or Clarke MacArthur, who were both recalled from the Rochester Americans of the AHL. This fourth line would really help the team by being physical and playing well enough to get 15 minutes of ice time each. The good news is that at least the two rookies will be playing hard, because they're fighting for permanent spots on the roster and maybe a starting spot next year.

Solely because Buffalo has dominated Boston all year, I think they can pull it off again. Buffalo 4, Boston 3.

President's Trophy to Nashville after Forsberg Deal Coupled With Injuries to Buffalo

The Nashville Predators may have sealed their bid to win the President's Trophy with the blockbuster move of the year, and probably the biggest since Joe Thornton was sent to San Jose in November 2005.

Nashville's only weak spot this year has been their powerplay. Forsberg, seen right putting on his Preadtors jersey this afternoon, is arguably the best passer the world has ever seen and specializes with a man advantage.

Nashville most certainly paid the price, though, giving up forward Scottie Upshall, defenseman Ryan Parent and Nashville’s first and third-round selections in the 2007 NHL Entry Draft.

Forsberg will probably thrive in Nashville, where he doens't have to lead the team. There are many other talented players that relieve Forsberg of the pressure. Nashville also isn't the hockey city that Philidelphia is, taking even more weight off Forsberg's shoulders. Forsberg has shown he is most efficient in a relaxed enviornment (see his stats in Colorado and the Olympics), he will thrive.

The only drawback for Nashville is that they have Forsberg for just this year, and were given no inclination by Forsberg that he would sign with them come July. Do or Die for Nashville. Forsberg's injuries in the last four years also look to be at an end, as he's scored more than a point a game in forty games this year.

Philly looks to be on the five year rebuilding plan, obtaining young players, draft picks, and moving out the age and bunches of cap room. All in all, I have to say this trade was perfect for both teams.

Edmonton Oilers at Buffalo Sabres

Tonight, the Buffalo Sabres (38-15-4 = 80) play the Stanley Cup Runner Up Edmonton Oilers (28-25-4 = 60) to regain the NHL points lead. Buffalo lost the lead on their five days off, when Nashville got another game in. Buffalo needs a win to take the lead back.

Edmonton is on a rough and tumble season, hampered by injuries, departed free agents, and underachieving players. After the cinderella season of 2005-06, Edmonton let their best defender, Jaroslav Spacek sign with the Sabres early last summer.

Prospect Joffery Lupul, who Edmonton got in a trade last year from Anaheim, has been a bit of a disappointment, scoring 23 points (8+15) this year instead of the breakout year Edmonton paid for when they gave up Chris Pronger.

Buffalo is as hot as any team in the league right now, and they're riding on the shoulders of Danny Briere, left, dubbed the cookie monster byt the quote machine Rick Jeanneret. Briere has 14 points in his last ten games, scoring 8 goals and 6 assists, including a hat trick. That doesn't even include his five point MVP performance in the NHL All-Star game in late January.

Edmonton Goalie Dwayne Roloson, right, may have something to prove tonight, however. Rollie the Goalie, as he's affectionately called by the fans of Buffalo, played with the Sabres for two years as the exciting backup for Vezina champ Dominik Hasek. Roloson was a fan favorite who departed in peace, but may still want to prove that he should have been the starter after the Hasek era, not Miller, Biron, or the now departed Noronen.

Unfortunately, Buffalo has no one on the roster that's able to counter that x-factor, as Spacek is out for at least three weeks with a broken hand.

In order for Edmonton to win, superstar Ryan Smyth has to play his best hockey. The most dangerous thing about him is that he doesn't need to score (though he usually does) to have a good game. Smyth's game is traffic in front of the net. The king of disrupting goalies, Smyth's goals usually come on redirections or rebounds. His strongest stuff is his very good defensive skills. His ability to neutralize opponents on the ice could prove to be crucial tonight.

Edmonton needs to keep Ryan Miller from seeing the puck. Jarrett Stoll, an Edmonton Alternate Captain, needs to shake off his slump (two points in the last eight games) has to keep his team in Miller's eyesight and find ways to get the puck through. Edmonton would strongly benefit from a good game from RW sniper Fernando Pisani.

Buffalo, to win, needs to do what they've been doing the last three games. Strong powerplay, excellent goaltending, and drive. With three rookies on the ice, the captains and the other veterans need to step up their play, especially behind their own blue line. All four of the Sabres lines should come out with a physical demeanor, and must dominate the hitting for the first twenty minutes. This will put the undersized Oilers on guard and may shake their confidence.

Ryan Miller must be soft tonight. To those who don't quite understand the term, that means he MUST NOT GIVE REBOUND OPPORTUNITIES. I capitalized that because that is the number one key to the game for either team. Edmonton is a hardworking team and 90% of their goals are what are called garbage goals. Rebounds, deflections, and third-and-fourth chance shots.

All in all, I think Buffalo continues their streak because I don't think Dwayne Roloson can handle as many quality shots as I think he's going to face tonight. Miller also tends to not give rebound opportunities, and after winning three straight games, he'll be coming in with confidence. Assuming Buffalo's D-men continue to press up and play offensively as well, Edmonton will not be able to stand up to Buffalo's speed and grit.

Buffalo 4, Edmonton 1.

Connolly, oh Connolly, why do you torment us so?

NOT AGAIN!

Game 2, Eastern Conference Semifinals, May 2006. Connolly takes a blind pass off Ales Kotalik about ten feet behind the Ottawa blue line and cross behind Kotalik. Head down, he never saw Ottawa center Peter Schaefer coming. Schaefer's 6' 200 pound frame shouldered down on the slumped Connolly and dropped him in his tracks. A year off his first serious concussion, Connolly suffered his second. You can view the hit here.

Since Tim Connolly started skating again mid-last week, he has been complaining of a sore lower leg. Doctors checked out the leg today (the team has not released which leg it was) and found a stress fracture under his knee. This sets Connolly's skating back for a week of workouts.

Sabres coach Lindy Ruff went on to express his exasperation at Connolly's bad luck. "He gets slapped with it (the injury bug) again." Ruff stated that Connolly will continue his upper body strength and stamina training while he was off skates.

This really makes me question Connolly's value to this team. Yes, as I posted yesterday, he is capable of being a dynamic player, but he missed the entire 2003-04 season, he missed 19 games in the 2005-06 season, and has missed 67 straight games including the playoff run of 2005-06.

If a player like Connolly is constantly out of the lineup, he provides nothing for this team. I questioned GM Darcy Regier's decision to resign him in his arbitration hearing last June as well. J.P. Dumont was up for arbitration and was a very dependable player who stayed healthy for 75 games a year. Regier instead decided to keep Connolly, knowing his injury was long term. If Connolly isn't there, he is providing nothing when we expect at least average things out of him. What happens to all other players who don't produce when they are expected to? They take pay cuts, get traded, or just don't get resigned.

Connolly may be injured, but we can't count on him to stay healthy. I don't really think it matters if we have him or not. The only way to really make sure he's worth keeping next year is if we see him use his fresh legs in the playoffs (which Buffalo looks poised to be part of) and be very productive.

If he is average or ineffective, I say trade him. We won't get much, but we free up his cap room and have a better shot at resigning the six players with expiring contracts this summer.

Why we didn't keep J.P. Dumont last summer, I'll never know.

Gaustad's Injury is More Costly Than 22 Points and A Center

The news of Paul Gaustad being sidelined for the remainder of the season could be the worst news the Buffalo Sabres have had since Game 3 of the Eastern Conference Finals last May. That was the game defenseman Henrik Tallinder broke his arm in Carolina's final rush to tie the game. Gaustad collided with Dany Heatly late in the Ottawa game last week and a simple skate blade cut turned out to be a severed tendon.

After having sidelined Tim Connolly and Dmitri Kalinin to injuries, the playoffs plus/minus leader was now lost for whatever was left of the season. Soon Buffalo lost Jay McKee and veteran Teppo Numminen. Buffalo went on to lose in heartbreaking fashion to Carolina in seven games and watched them bring the Stanley Cup home.

Gaustad, a sophomore in the NHL, was nearly at his career high in goals, assists, and points (9+15 = 24), and with 28 games left to play, it was a sure thing the body bruising center would improve on his highly successful freshman campaign of 2005-06. His statistics for this season, through 54 games - 9+11 = 22.

Gaustad's status is final. Sabres GM Darcy Regier stated on Saturday that even a trip deep into the playoffs would not provide the necessary recovery time needed to rebound from such a devastating injury.

The Niagara Gazette reported that "Paul Gaustad’s contributions to the Buffalo Sabres this season have certainly been meaningful, but not irreplaceable." I disagree to the tenth power. Gaustad is one of the two players that Buffalo really needs to really be the team they are. The other is obviously clutch and hard working Chris Drury. The players who don't really have a name... just grit, and work ethic. That's the essence of Sabres hockey. All the playoff teams since Lindy Ruff took over in 1998 have been that way. A couple stars, a good goalie (in Hasek's case, great) and a bunch of guys that work their tails off between sixty and sixty-five minutes a game (five minute overtime).

Gaustad isn't flashy, his hands aren't incredible, but the 24 year old plays with as much heart and intensity as an 18 year old at a college tryout. Game in and game out the "Goose" leaves everything on the ice. He is what a teammate is through and through. I can't count how many times he's rushed over to throw a punch after a cheap penalty or ran someone into the boards because they were playing dirty. I have seen him sprint the full length of the ice on numerous occasions to get opponents away from his line mates or his goalie (whether it's Martin Biron or Ryan Miller).

He was also a playmaker. Gaustad would often get matched up against the opponents' top line and more times than not, shut them down. Often, he would help his line accomplish this by laying out devastating hits on their biggest threat, making the player think twice about trying anything around him. His size (at 6'4" and 230 pounds) coupled with his intensity and intimidation factor made him an imposing figure on the ice even though he only averaged about sixteen minutes per game.

After about a quarter of the season, the Goose was moved from the Sabres checking line (line mates Adam Mair and an assortment of rookies) to the defensive minded second line with Jochen Hecht and an assortment of others and seemed to thrive there. Other than Buffalo's three week slump, they performed magnificently, keeping opponents' top line under two goals a game. Gaustad also leads the Sabres in hits (105) and is third among Buffalo forwards in blocked shots (31), runner up to Chris Drury and Jason Pominville (49). Drury sees 5.5 more minutes on ice per game and Pominville 3.5 more than Gaustad.

Will the Sabres be over to overcome his loss? No. Will they still win? Yes. By that I mean without another PLAYer like Gaustad, the injury isn't overcome. There aren't any players on the trading block that are the same kind of player, so Buffalo can't even look to unload Biron (even if they wanted to) to a team that's out of contention for a similar player. The play of rookies such as Jiri Novotny, Drew Stafford, Daniel Paille, and Nathan Paetsch has gotten better as the season goes on, and for Buffalo to keep winning, it needs to, because they are the players that will be platoon-replacing Gaustad.

Look forward to Gaustad coming back with a vengeance and a fire under his tail in the 2007-08 season. But until them, look for him to continue to be a huge part of the off-ice team and trying to help the young replacements the best he can. In the words of Rick Jeanneret, "If you're out on the street and you see Paul, give the Goose a honk!"

Connolly Skates Hard and Talks To Reporters

Tim Connolly skated hard for the first time since he suffered a concussion late last April in Game 2 of the ECSF vs. Ottawa. Connolly (a Syracuse, NY native) has suffered a concussion in each of the last three years, but when on the ice, his puck skills and quickness are often unrivaled. Defensively lacking, he really doesn't have the potential to be a first line center. With good defensive pairs and legit back checking wings though, Connolly can be devastating as he showed in the 2006 playoffs, scoring 11 points (4+7) in just eight games.

He led Buffalo playoff scoring for thirteen games, even only playing for seven and about a half of them. Connolly could be ready as early as late March or early April, but will definitely be back for the playoffs.

Connolly would help relieve some of the Gaustad loss because of his offensive presence. Opposing defenders would have to sit back a bit, because of Connolly's excellence in one-on-one situations. This will keep the opposing forwards a bit on their heels, knowing they had less support.

Miller's stellar shootout performance helps carry surging Sabres over red-hot Flames

Ryan Miller stopped shots all night. The last three he faced may have been the most difficult, but the young goaltender from Lansing, Michigan was not fazed, stopping the first two shots aimed at his five-hole and robbing Kristian Huselius blind to lift Buffalo to victory. Ales Kotalik, the 28 year old Czech, scored the only shootout goal for Buffalo. It was only fitting, seeing as Calgary backstop Miikka Kiprusoff made an incredible save to stop Kotalik from winning the game in the overtime period. The snap shot was about thirty feet out from the point.

The overtime period wasn't expected, however. The teams were deadlocked at zero after the first period, but 3:45 into the second, Huselius beat Miller on the power play for the game's first goal. Jason Pominville was guilty of the powerplay, getting called for tripping at around the three minute mark. Buffalo came back with three minutes remaining in the second, with Thomas Vanek scoring with help from Derek Roy and Dmitri Kalinin, leaving the teams knotted at one after the second period.

The third period gave the Sabres a scare, though. About seven minutes in, the electric Maxim Afinigenov was put in the box for high sticking. With Buffalo shorthanded again, Calgary took advantage. Scoring their second powerplay goal was David Moss, leaving Buffalo in a very difficult situation. Down by one and facing a legitimate-at-worst defense, with one of the best goaltenders in the game today, and the time shrinking, Buffalo certainly had their work cut out for them. With three and a half left in the last period, Daniel Briere gave Buffalo that late breath of life, squeezing an excellent backhand shot short side on Kiprusoff. Briere was fed on the left side of the net after Jochen Hecht squeezed off a check to push the puck deep in the slot. Briere snared it, took a stride out front of the net and shoveled the puck in.

In overtime, Buffalo's defense really tightened up, allowing no registered shots. Unfortunately, that doesn't mean that Calgary didn't put a scare on. Craig Conroy(a Potsdam, NY native) rang a shot off the bar that careened into a great scoring chance for Buffalo with just under a minute left. Kiprusoff showed why he is the reigning Vezina winner, stealing the game from defenseman Toni Lydman's stick.

Overall, I have to say both teams really played excellent hockey and executed well. Although Buffalo didn't stop Huselius, Calgary didn't stop Briere, and they seemed to even each other out. The X-factor was Buffalo's defense, tightening as the game went on.

Buffalo 3 (38-15-4 = 80)
Calgary 2 (SO) (29-18-8 = 66)

Three Stars

I disagreed with the NHL's choices, so I redid them.

1. Miikka Kiprusoff - 32 saves, 4 /4 saves shorthanded, and 1/1 on a legitimate save on the powerplay. No goalie would have saved Briere's goal. Brought the Flames to the shootout when easily could have lost in OT. Provided an excellent shootout performance, even though his career record in shootouts is awful (1-11)
2. Daniel Briere - Good performance, good time on ice. Solid defense, and clutch goal. Need I say more?
3. Roman Hamrlik - Excellent defense. Skated for nearly 28:00, which is a very long time, even for a defenseman. Had 2 assists in the game.

Sometimes Wins Come With Losses

The Sabres win that pushed them in the league lead for points came with horrible news. Second year center Paul Gaustad(9+13 = 22) is lost for the remainder of the season with a torn tendon in his lower leg. The playmaker/team tough guy collided with Dany Heatley in the Ottawa game last week and missed last night's game to get checked out.

Also, Jaroslav Spacek, in his first year with the Sabres after leaving the Stanley Cup runner up Edmonton Oilers, broke his hand while blocking a hard shot in the first period. Spacek was in his third game back after healing from a knee injury.

Nashville Takes a Plate of Defeat with a Double Scoop of Irony

Nashville, the NHL's points leaders going into Saturday's games (79), looked poised to hold that lead for at least another night as they hosted the worst of the Western conference, the Los Angeles Kings (18-30-9 = 45). The Kings came out to improve upon their current unbeaten streak (2-0-3) and did just that. After a scoreless first, the Kings exploded with three goals in the second led by sensational rookie Anze Kopitar. Nashville tried to play catch up but could only muster one goal, and fell 4 - 1 to the visitors. With the loss, Nashville surrendered the points lead to Buffalo, who control it for the third time this season.

Post one.

Welcome to the humble and not so subtle opinions of me. I think I do an excellent job analyzing and critiquing hockey, and I plan on continuing to express my views but hope to expand my audience from a few close friends and random people I meet at bars to what happens to be the general public. I love hockey in general, but being that I am a Buffalo Sabres addict (pre 05-0 6, you bandwagoning sonsofbitches) a fair chunk of the information I discuss will probably relate to their needs and current play. Alas, I'm a math major at SUNY Oswego, and will most likely be unable to update more than once a week. I will *try* to at least get a paragraph in before every game, expressing what I feel are the key points. For the Sabres anyways. I will quickly go over most of the other games the next day (time allowing) and write a quick pre-game on the game of the night(usually seen on CBC or the VS network).

Buffalo(37-15-4 = 78, Eastern), after a VERY disappointing mid-season slump (a streak that left them 2-5-1, giving them only five out of 16 points) has regained a bit of ground in the league race to lead in points. The Nashville Predators currently lead (38-15-4 = 79, Western), behind goaltending duo Thomas Vokoun and Chris Mason(a surprise backup turned semi-starter), and following after Buffalo is Detroit (76, Western), New Jersey(74, Eastern) with the brilliance of the never disappointing Martin Brodeur, and the slumping and hurting Ducks of Anaheim(74, Western), led by perennial All-Stars like Chris Pronger, Teemu Selanne, and Scott Niedermeyer. But with each team having nearly 30 games left, the race is wide open, and teams such as Atlanta (30-18-9 = 69, Western), San Jose (35-19-1 = 71, Western), Sid the Kid's Pittsburgh Penguins (28-17-9 = 65, Eastern), and the red-hot Calgary Flames (29-18-7 = 65, Western) all look to make a strong last third of the season.

Saturday, the Buffalo Sabres(37-15-4 = 78) take on Calgary Flames(29-18-7 = 65). Calgary's most recent acquisition of 2006 Olympian Craig Conroy (second tour of Calgary) thus far has proved to be an excellent trade. His stint is only five games but he does have four (2+2 = 4) points. He takes a ton of pressure off of Flames star Jarome Iginla. The last time Conroy and Iginla worked together, they had career years combining for 171 points (Conroy 27+48 = 75, Iginla 52+44 = 96). Where Buffalo may be worried about Iginla, they may need to pay special attention to Krisitan Huselius and whatever he decides to do with the puck.

This wing is on a points tear that started December 19, where he has scored in 20 of 23 games and accumulated 31 points (14+17 = 31)in that span with a rough average of 17:30 ice time. Calgary needs to keep an eye on the squirmy Daniel Briere and his best-performance-in-clutch partner Chris Drury. Both of these players are extremely dangerous and for Calgary to have any hope, Dion Phaneuf, Rhett Warrener, and company must take both the centers out of the game.

Thomas Vanek, another (less-noted) sensational sophomore, had a good last few games and should continue it working on the second line. Buffalo's defenders need to be in the offensive zone, to regain the name of a defensive scoring team. Buffalo's best games are always the games where the defensemen are involved heavily in the offense, chasing the puck in.

Veteran Teppo Numminen and young All-Star Brian Campbell need to get their defense to play aggressive. Both powerplay units are mediocre in the league, hovering at about 17%, and both penalty kills are also near a stagnant 80%. Buffalo needs to open it's powerplay flood gates by just throwing the puck at the net more, looking for deflection and rebound goals.

Not pretty, but a point's a point. Calgary has a winning percent well over 90 when leading after the first and second periods, but reigning Vezina winner Miikka Kiprusoff has had an extraordinary amount of trouble winning both overtime games and especially shootouts. Ryan Miller is actually the opposite.

Buffalo, in order to win, needs to neutralize Calgary's first line, score on the power play, get the defense involved, and not give up a lead. Calgary, in order to win, needs great special teams play, goals early and often, and to make sure they don't go to overtime.

Sabres win by 2.