Archives for January 4, 2002

'"They were more worried about evening the score physically than they were about winning the game," Boughner said. "The position they're in right now, maybe they should try and worry about winning games."'

'"What the future holds for me: who knows? It's not like I'm sitting on pins and needles, sitting by the phone, but it doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that I'm not the go-to guy."'

The Sabres, when scored upon first, came into Calgary with a 3-15-3-1 record.

'"Doesn't surprise me,'' said Flames' goaltending consultant Grant Fuhr, watching Calgary's 3-1 win over the distinctly out-of-sorts Buffalo Sabres from a press box perch.'

'The Sabres, with just two victories in their last 12 games, dip to 15-21-4-1.'

'Racking up 27 minutes — including a 10-minute misconduct and a game misconduct — to Boughner's two, Ray gave the Flames a late five-minute power play and pretty much wrote off any chance of a Sabre comeback.'

'For the first time in a while, too, Calgary stormed out of the blocks to take command of a game in the early going.'

'"What Rob Ray did was just ridiculous. I know him real well off the ice and talked to him this morning but that's a no-class move on his part," Boughner said. "I know he's got a role to play but there's ways of doing it. One guy holding me and one guy punching me is just a joke. It showed what Rob Ray's all about."'

'"Marty has some big shoes to fill and there's a lot of pressure there," admitted Sabres head coach Lindy Ruff. "I don't think he realized the pressure would be this great because Dom would always be there. Even a couple of years ago, when he played 40 games, he knew Dom was coming back and I think that's the difference.'

'Right after the Flames went up by a trio of goals early in the second period, the Sabres generated one chance after another only to be denied by Roman Turek.'