Archives for May 2006

'Ryan Miller was a wall in net all night for the Sabres and the team defense was strong but the hero was Jason Pominville and his short handed series winning goal. It was only the 6th short handed overtime goal in NHL history and just the 2nd by a rookie.' … [Read more...] about Welcome to Pominville and the Conference Finals!

Uphill battle ahead for the Sens (Toronto Globe and Mail) Buffalo at Ottawa (AP) Sabres try again to eliminate Senators, advance to East finals (Sportsticker) (4) Buffalo Sabres (3-1) at (1) Ottawa Senators (1-3) (The Sports Network) Emery steps up for Senators (CBC Sports) Sabres vs. Sens: Round 2, Game 5 (SabresFans.com) … [Read more...] about Saturday’s Game Previews

'The defensive duo has been burdened with the responsibility of shutting down the opposition's best forwards, yet on Friday they led all postseason players with plus-11 ratings. Each was an outrageous plus-6 in the decisive victory that eliminated the Philadelphia Flyers from the quarterfinals.' … [Read more...] about Sabres’ duo plays role of show-stoppers

'If that's the case, the Sabres are going to be just fine. They know why they lost Game Four. It wasn't because they're the latest installment in Buffalo's dreaded sports history. It had nothing to do with hockey gods or bad bounces or outside forces conspiring against them. They lost because they didn't play well. That's all.' … [Read more...] about In any series, a little rain may fall

'"That's what they say, that you can get that reputation in the league, and once you do it gets tough," said Sabres defenseman Brian Campbell. "They take the earlier incidents into account. But you just hope they're not looking for it all the time because it's not the case all the time. Sometimes you just get tangled up and lose your balance, but you gotta get up, keep going … [Read more...] about Diving calls are sore subject to Ruff

'He isn't the most exciting analyst, but he's improved that part of his game.' … [Read more...] about Lorentz deserves more credit

'Ruff purchased four of the rubber bracelets for good luck, then talked about them at a news conference earlier this week. His endorsement appears to be paying off, according to Helena Kleinlein, president of Clarence "DI" Boosters, a parent organization that assists the student teams and conducts fund-raisers. The group already had raised about $8,000. "I don't think [Ruff] … [Read more...] about Anything but a ‘Ruff’ sell

'It's pretty clear that the region has a bad case of Stanley Cup fever. How many times in the past three weeks have you thought, "If it's like this now, what's going to happen if the Sabres actually win the thing?"' … [Read more...] about Off Main Street

'"I want to be careful how I phrase this because I don't want it to come across like Buffalo people have embraced losing," says Jim Kelley, a radio and TV personality and former columnist with The Buffalo News. "But they have managed to pick the positives out of what has been a largely negative public and international perception -- and that is … [Read more...] about Buffalo: Land of the fans who know about losing big, but still keep cheering

'"Until we get the fourth win, people will always think there's a chance to come back," Fitzpatrick said. "We're still in a good spot. We just need the fourth win."' … [Read more...] about Sabres on guard for too much optimism

'Cunneyworth is taking a fair measure of pride in the success of the Sabres, considering that he has coached Buffalo stars Ryan Miller, Derek Roy, Jason Pominville, Henrik Tallinder and Rory Fitzpatrick along the way. Now, many of his pupils are in position to knock off the heavily favoured Senators, completing the circle.' … [Read more...] about Former Senators’ captain helped hone Sabres’ talent

Alive and kicking (Ottawa Sun) Senators' task 'not impossible' (Ottawa Sun) Sens need to show best (Ottawa Sun) Hasek still isn't ready to help Sens (Ottawa Sun) It was the stunner of '42 (Ottawa Sun) Sens fan sees win by a whisker (Ottawa Sun) Senators Gameday: Buffalo at Ottawa (Ottawa Sun) Why not the Senators? (Ottawa Citizen) Suddenly, Emery looks really good … [Read more...] about Saturday’s Ottawa Coverage

'Yet when the Flyers lost to the Sabres, four games to two, the stampede was on. It was Clarke’s fault. The Flyers aren’t fast enough. They need more Czechs and fewer checks. Now, there is fresh data, and if the critique doesn’t fit, you must acquit Even if Clarke had assembled one of the fastest teams in the world, it still might have struggled with Buffalo, … [Read more...] about Maybe speed doesn&#8217t matter against Sabres

'“It’s not the way we wanted to start a playoff game,” Sabres co-captain Chris Drury said. “It cost us the game.”' … [Read more...] about Senators stay alive

'The Senators played their most desperate game and finally received a solid performance from their erratic goalie. Only then could they eke out a less-than-convincing win. The odds of the Senators doing that three more times aren’t very good.' … [Read more...] about It&#8217s not time for Buffalo fans to panic