Archives for April 24, 2007

'Viewed from Buffalo's perspective, the gutsy Rangers team that became one of the NHL's hottest after the trade deadline represents nothing more than an obstacle on the way to expected June glory. Although the Rangers have been playing their best hockey of the season and are coming off a four-game sweep of Atlanta in the playoffs' first round, they enter … [Read more...] about Underdog role suits Rangers well for Round 2

'"They should feel good about themselves. They had a tremendous record, swept Atlanta and have a lot of aspects of their game that are going well. We know this is going to be a tremendous challenge."' … [Read more...] about Shots Heard In Sabres Room

'"I think the worst of the pressure was in the first round because you're 1 against 8 and everyone just expects you to walk through them and basically destroy the other team," offered Sabres co-captain Daniel Briere, who is tied for the team lead with five points. "Now, as you move on, it's the best teams that are left standing and it just gets … [Read more...] about Sabres feeling more comfortable with their No. 1 status

'Sabres in 6.' … [Read more...] about Preview – Buffalo vs. NY Rangers

'"I don't know what it was with the Islanders but there just wasn't a lot of hatred," Sabres star Daniel Briere said Tuesday, the eve of a second-round series with the New York Rangers. "You look at some of the other series and some of them they were destroying each other left and right. With our series, everybody was nice to each other ... But … [Read more...] about Renney, Avery raise eyebrows with comments but Sabres don't bite

'"They look ordinary," Eric goes on. "The number one pair of (Toni) Lydman and (Henrik) Tallinder are both in the minus after combining for a plus-29 in the regular season and Jaro Spacek hasn't shown the form that made him so valuable to Edmonton last Spring."' … [Read more...] about Emotions in check; Rangers in five!

'Coach Lindy Ruff said Connolly was allowed to rest Tuesday a day after he left practice early with a sore hamstring.' … [Read more...] about Sabres' Connolly misses practice, expects to play

'Perry’s is far from the only business taking a chance, and making more sales, on the buzz and good feelings generated by another Sabres run at the Stanley Cup. From big-screen television dealers to ice cream makers to grocery stores, it seems like every business in Western New York with something to sell is selling better with the Sabres on it, or at least in the … [Read more...] about Top shelf tie-ins

'Buffalo doesn't have the best record in the league by some sort of fluke. They are more than legit. But the Rangers are playing very well themselves. They've been playing an up-tempo, smart game for quite some time, so I don't know that either has an advantage that you can point to.' … [Read more...] about No advantage

'I'm still looking for it to go at least six games, if not seven.' … [Read more...] about It all comes down to goaltending

'One of the areas that they need to improve on is their play in their own zone, and I give the Islanders credit for this. They did a great job on forechecking. They had Buffalo hemmed in their zone for long periods of time. If you go back to certain periods of the games, the Islanders - I hesitate to say "dominated" - but they certainly did at times.' … [Read more...] about Sabres must improve in their own zone

'“I’ve just secretly been making up things in my head about guys on their team that they’ve done to me so I can identify with them when we’re going in a corner,” Avery said Monday in New York. “I’ve already decided I hate all those guys, so we’re not going to have any problem with that.”' … [Read more...] about Rangers&#8217 Avery embraces the role of Sabre-rattler

'"It's definitely not getting any easier," he said. "(The Rangers) have a pretty good team. ... We're going to have to step it up a notch."' … [Read more...] about Sabres wary of Rangers

'“Based on what we see during the regular season, we anticipate more business from Rangers fans than we did from Islanders fans,” said Michael Marsch, general manager of the Hyatt Regency Buffalo.' … [Read more...] about Hockey frenzy ratchets up to next level

'“No. No,” Ruff said. “We didn’t do any changing on the fly this year. We didn’t pour anybody over the boards. We’ll get matchups that we like.”' … [Read more...] about Ruff won&#8217t play match game