Archives for January 17, 2002

There is only one player left on the Buffalo Sabres roster who typifies the style of hockey the Sabres used to play under former coach Ted Nolan. Under Nolan's realm, the Sabres earned the rightful title of the "hardest working team in the NFL." Vaclav Varada still plays the style of aggressive, in-your-face kind of hockey that Nolan instilled in all of his players.

'Essensa will start the contest against the Los Angeles Kings tonight. The veteran goaltender knows, though, that his birthday gift comes with a big string attached.'

'"But we have to put this behind us and focus on L.A. We have to play the same smothering-type defensive game like we did tonight."'

'Zhitnik on Wednesday was selected to play for the All-World team. It will be the Ukrainian's second All-Star honor after being tabbed in 1999.'

'"They (the Sabres) played very solid defense and certainly, a lot of battles on the boards, they won. When they get ahead, they just trap the hell out of it."'

'"It's always a big honor to be selected," Kariya said. "This hasn't exactly been a stellar first half, so it's nice to be recognized. I'm just going to go and have fun."'

'Buffalo's Tim Connolly fired a shot off the mask of Duck goalie Steve Shields. The puck went in. The Ducks' Mike Leclerc fired a shot off the mask of Sabre goalie Martin Biron. The puck didn't go in.'

'He has 17 goals and 34 points, solid numbers, but off his usual point production. Still, his skills were not overlooked.'

'Vaclav, who has an NHL career-high 10 goals this season, has seven goals and 16 points in 14 games against the two Southern California teams.'

'The Sabres have won four of their last five games, with Biron allowing no more than two goals in any of them.'