Archives for April 21, 2001

Collars will be tight, palms sweaty and knuckles white — but a lot of the players on the Buffalo roster went through this enough in the past four years to keep a level head about themselves.

With this being Lindy Ruff's fourth year as a head coach and his fourth first-round playoff series, Ruff is not a stranger to the pressures of advancing to the second round. He knows how to motivate his team and how to get them to play the best they can; or does he?

'The Philadelphia Flyers raised the stakes. In response, the Buffalo Sabres don't intend to fold. They're moving their entire stack of chips to the center of the table.'

'Dominik Hasek isn't worried about the Philadelphia Flyers burrowing into his head – he's worried about them taking kamikaze runs at his knees.'

'The Buffalo Sabres' forward, who has missed the last three games with a shoulder injury, wore a bandage under his practice jersey Friday but managed to get through some light contact without much pain. He put the odds of his return for today's game against the Philadelphia Flyers at a noncommittal 50-50.'

'The Flyers understand that if they are going to rally and win this playoff round, they need to fluster Hasek.'

'Was their strong, steady Game 5 victory a last stand or a trend?

'Just because the Flyers have never comeback from a series when trailing 3-1 does not mean it can't be done.'

'Buffalo now fully understands that a loss today opens the door wide to the terrifying possibility of blowing the stranglehold advantage they once held.'

'"But we're going to go crashing the net and if they (Sabres defenders) are going to push you into Hasek, the ref's not going to call that."'