Archives for May 2007

'Ottawa’s depth is underrated. It’s defense was far superior to Buffalo’s. Ray Emery was shaky, but good enough. And a team that has finally had the burden of being the underachieving front-runner lifted from its dragging shoulders relished the chance to play upstart.' … [Read more...] about More to Ottawa than The Big Three

'Buffalo finished with 19 giveaways to Ottawa’s eight, and three of Buffalo’s backliners -- Kalinin, Lydman and Teppo Numminen -- were each credited with two.' … [Read more...] about Buffalo&#8217s defense edisappointing&#8217 in Game 1 loss

'Emery's teammates had a good chuckle watching a clip on a local TV station, where citizens of the Queen City were asked for suggestions as to what the 24-year-old could do with his free time.' … [Read more...] about Ray’s jab still stings

'Dmitri Kalinin, how are you feeling today?' … [Read more...] about Kalinin presents gifts

'Later, while trying to cram as few credits as possible into a year at Trent University in Peterborough, I was delighted to discover Channel 7 News, from Buffalo. Watching it, one could only surmise that the two most popular recreational activities in Buffalo were murder and arson. For a young man from staid Ottawa, Buffalo seemed an exciting city indeed.' … [Read more...] about Is Emery right? Queen City has its say

'While Sabres players have generally avoided Emery-bashing, defenceman Brian Campbell, a former Ottawa 67, indirectly addressed the issue yesterday morning. "There's lot to do here," he said. "It's a great city to raise a family. I just think you have to live in a city first, then make a judgment after. No, I'm not going to get involved in that stuff, but it's a pretty proud … [Read more...] about Passionate Sabres fans still hot over Emery’s remarks about their city

Sens roll to Game 1 win (Ottawa Sun) Fourth-liners take spotlight (Ottawa Sun) Net gains for Sens goalie (Ottawa Sun) Freakin' unbelievable (Ottawa Sun) Game story (Ottawa Sun) Ray's jab still stings (Ottawa Sun) Politicians throw hats into Senators-Sabres series (Ottawa Sun) Off on the right foot (Ottawa Citizen) Shock and Awe: Back at you, Buffalo (Ottawa … [Read more...] about Friday’s Ottawa Coverage

'So while it's always dangerous to draw conclusions on a series opener, it's clear the Sabres need to find their swagger, and they need their big guns to start looking a lot more dangerous. That was hard for Daniel Briere to do in less than 16 minutes of playing time, while winger Thomas Vanek only had one shot and has essentially gone cold since scoring three goals in the … [Read more...] about Sens slash Sabres

'It was that formula that produced the winning goal at 7:41 in the third period, with Schubert using his speed to pressure Sabres defenceman Teppo Numminen into coughing up the puck deep in the Buffalo end. McAmmond whipped a pass across to Saprykin, who raced in to redirect it past goalie Ryan Miller for a 3-2 Ottawa lead.' … [Read more...] about Unheralded 4th line gets results for Sens

'The Sabres were 0-for-5 on the power play and gave up a short-handed goal, while the Senators were 2-for-6.' … [Read more...] about Sabres gift-wrap opener

'Three times in past years, the Sabres have put promising Ottawa teams out of the playoffs. Thirteen times in the past year the teams have met, the natural kinship of the two small cities slowly building into what many observers, and some of the players privately, call outright hatred.' … [Read more...] about Snakebitten cities might enjoy a kinship, but for the bad blood

'"I think we took [the crowd] out of it with the first period we had," said Emery, whose name was booed during the pre-game introductions. "I get a kick out of [the negative response]. Like I said before, I think it adds to the energy."' … [Read more...] about Senators exorcise last year’s Game 1 demons with solid win

'"We've got to move the puck, tire them out," winger Jason Pominville said of a power-play plan for Game 2 tomorrow night. "They're very aggressive and got that shorthanded goal, but we knew what to expect."' … [Read more...] about Senators draw first blood

'But the acquisition of Dainius Zubrus in February signalled that Sabre management didn't believe their team was tough enough. With his somewhat unanticipated emergence as a dominant player along the boards and the return of long-injured centre Paul Gaustad, the Sabres are much tougher now than they were two months ago. They, too, have had to compensate with the collective for … [Read more...] about Tough slugging for Buffalo

'Numminen’s was the most egregious of Buffalo’s 19 giveaways, and the goal it produced seemed to remove all the pressure from the Senators. Spezza scored a power-play goal with 4:12 left and McAmmond added an empty-netter. By then, much of the crowd had leaked out of the exits.' … [Read more...] about Senators Score Late and Often in Taking an Early Series Lead