Archives for September 26, 2006

‘Players such as Chris Thorburn, Jiri Novotny, Michael Ryan, Daniel Paille, Nathan Paetsch and Andrej Sekera may not be household names now, but they could wind up being major contributors on a team that has lofty expectations.’

‘It’s the first exercise the center has gotten since suffering a concussion in last year’s playoffs.’

‘While the Buffalo Sabres don’t have a game-breaker like Jaromir Jagr, Alexander Ovechkin or Ilya Kovalchuk on their roster, teams learned the hard way last year not to take this squad for granted.’

‘Where they’ll finish: 5th There’s bound to be a bit of a drop-off for the Sabres, but not a big one. They’ll drop to third in the Northeast Division and fifth in the Eastern Conference.’

'The coaching staff's focus has shifted from evaluation to preparation for the Carolina Hurricanes on October 4.'

'“All thoughts were wondering how strong he would be, how ready he could be,” Rochester coach Randy Cunneyworth told Gannett News Service. “I wasn’t expecting him to perform at this level because of the injury but he looks like a guy who’s really battling for a spot.”'

'The rookie was the Ontario Hockey League's Goaltender of the Year last season and appeared to figure prominently in the future for the Buffalo Sabres organization. But an injury to his left knee during the OHL finals left him somewhat in limbo for the upcoming season.'