Archives for April 8, 2001

The sub-plot — and no insignificant one at that — is the Sabres trying to prove to themselves and the Flyers that they are capable of scoring on the rookie sensation Roman Cechmanek.

The playoffs start today.

'Buffalo and Philadelphia each have 98 points. The Sabres, however, hold the tiebreaker with four more wins. That affords them the opportunity to claim home-ice even with a tie.'

'"I thought Rich was OK," Ruff said Saturday after the Sabres' optional workout at the Amherst Pepsi Center. "It was a game where he got by, but the performance wasn't at the level we needed him at."'

'[Sabres] have outscored opponents in the third period, 17-8, their past 12 games.'

'We've got a big decision to make once the playoffs start. Jason [Woolley], the way we want him to play, he's got to be good defensively, but he's got to be able to add something on the power play and even strength for us. I think he's been lagging behind other players.'

'"It's going to be a tough series for us," said Paul Ranheim. "There is danger to thinking that because Roman is 3-0 it's going to be like that. I think that is why we had this bad spell at season's end. We started to rely too much on Roman to win us games. . . . Going into there today to get home-ice advantage is a huge incentive for us."'

'Said John LeClair: "You're going to play them again in three or four days, so you want to send a message a little bit. You want to let them know that you're coming to play."'