Archives for January 25, 2003

'G Martin Prusek will get the call in the Senators' net tonight after Patrick Lalime started all three games on the road trip.'

Martin Biron sat on the bench, contemplating his future. He was halfway into the season and his career was in shambles. Little did he know that he had received a late Christmas present and it came in the form of Ryan Miller, who had replaced him as the Buffalo Sabres starting goaltender.

A Buffalo Sabre has had just about enough of Darcy Tucker's crap. So he drills him to the ice and sends him — and the rest of the Toronto Maple Leafs — a message, loud and clear. There is not 1:42 left in the third period, and Tucker has not just left his skates to run Dmitri Kalinin into theboards. The Sabre is not Adam Mair. There are 20 seconds gone in the first period, and Tucker has been harassing another Sabre. Tim Connolly.

'Biron hasn't allowed a goal in 201 minutes, 12 seconds, surpassing Dominik Hasek's team record of 178:33. The Sabres have blanked the opposition in 14 of the past 15 periods and one overtime session. Ryan Miller recorded his first NHL shutout Jan. 14.'

'For months, you wondered if the Sabres would find one goalie who could stop the puck. Now they have two. It seems there's no stopping them.'

'Chris Gratton has two goals and three assists in his last six games.'

'"I think we can probably get the language to where everyone is comfortable by the new deadline. That certainly will be our goal," Hamister said.'

'Residing all season long in the NHL's lowest-rent district with teams like Atlanta, Nashville, Columbus and Calgary, the Sabres are gradually emerging from the quagmire, having lost only once in 11 games since New Year's Eve. Welcoming back from injury a pair of key performers last night — forwards Jochen Hecht and Maxim Afinogenov — and supported by, dare we say, Dominik Hasek-like netminding from Martin Biron, the boys from the Queen City are making life difficult for a host of superior teams — a tag the Leafs can hardly claim in this town. Last night's loss dropped Toronto's lifetime mark here to an abysmal 18-41-6.'

'The Sabres' Miro Satan has points in seven of the last eight games. He has had four points six times in his career.'

'The Sabres are bankrupt but it was the Maple Leafs who couldn't issue a check here last night.'