Archives for April 14, 2002

'"I think the plain truth is we didn't come to play as well as we needed to a couple of times and it caught up with us."'

The Buffalo Sabres capped off their season on a high note when they blanked the Montreal Canadiens 3-0 in Montreal. Finishing their vastly disappointing season with an impressive victory only underscores the fact that they have no one but themselves to blame for missing the playoffs for the first time since 1996.

'The Sabres failed to reach the postseason for only the seventh time in history and the first time since 1996.'

'In these days of pro sports, there is a certain point when the players stop listening to a coach. It's usually no fault of the coach. It looks as if the Sabres and Ruff are at that point.'

'Here's hoping the Sabres learned something from the Peca debacle. It wasn't about numbers when it came to Peca, and it certainly isn't about numbers when it comes to Ray. The time will come when the Sabres will bid farewell to their tough guy, but now is not the time.'

'So, as expected, what you got in this 3-0 loss to the Sabres was non-contact hockey from one team playing its last game of the season – dedicated to getting it over as quickly as possible.'

'On a night when the Sabres outshot the Canadiens 34-22, goaltender José Theodore did his best to keep the Canadiens in the game, but he didn't get much help on either of the first two Buffalo goals.'

'The victory last night was Biron's 31st of the season and that gives him one more than Theodore. There has been no mention of Biron as a Hart Trophy candidate.'

'Why Habs Lost: It's always a good idea to show up if a team hopes to win.'

'"Right now it's a disappointment we're not in," Biron said. "But two or three years down the road maybe we'll look at this and feel that it was a necessity, that we learned from it and never want to be in that position again."'