Archives for March 30, 2004

'''It's hard to explain the year I've gone through,'' said Connolly. ''In the beginning, you're just kind of waiting to get back. And one month turns into two months and turns into three months. And it creeps into your head, `Will you ever be able to come back?''''

'The Islanders host Montreal while the Sabres are playing in Manhattan. Scoreboard watching time? Absolutely. ''We're going to look up,'' Sabres center Daniel Briere said Tuesday. ''I think it's a good thing. It's extra motivation.'''

'Ruff again showed his frustration for the length of time it's taking Ales Kotalik to get back. Ruff said, "Chris Drury returned quickly from the same injury, but I guess it's just pain tolerance." Kotalik has been out since February 15th.'

Speaking about a photo finish, the Sabres are taking this right down the wire. The Sabres, by beating the Columbus Blue Jackets 6-0 Monday night, climbed to within 3 points of the 8th place New York Islanders.

'The Islanders will try to end a two-game losing streak Wednesday at home against the Canadiens. The Islanders will visit the Carolina Hurricanes on Friday and welcome the Philadelphia Flyers in Sunday's season finale.'

'There is a smell of desperation about the Sabres. They’re waiting to have a fork stuck in them, and the fork could come any day now. It could have come last night, with the Blue Jackets wielding the silverware. But it didn’t.'

'“It's as tight as it's ever been,'' Biron said. “We've clawed ourselves back there. And we've got to look at it as a little step. But you haven't done anything until you close the deal.'''

'"We're at our best when we're skating, and we have really fast lines and we've gotta utilize our speed as much as we can," Roy said. "We were throwing pucks to the net tonight. We were working well down low. We kept moving, so it was a good job by our line."'

'The Blue Jackets looked completely dominated and it showed especially in the final period.'