Archives for October 4, 2006

'Buffalo is now 20-13-3 all time in season openers.'

'Briere, the Sabres' first shootout skater, faked right and beat Cam Ward with a backhander for the only goal in the tiebreaker.'

'Thank God, it's hockey season in Buffalo again.'

‘”From Day One of me in a Sabres uniform I’ve pretty much always had J.P. on the one side,” Briere said. “It’s something we’re going to work through. Even if [chemistry] isn’t there on opening day, that doesn’t mean you can’t build it up over the first few weeks.”‘

‘Dismiss the notion that having the Sabres open the schedule at Carolina tonight amounts to cruel and unusual punishment. I love the idea of the Sabres being in the building when the ‘Canes get their Stanley Cup rings and raise their championship banner. It brings the season’s mission into sharp focus right from the outset.’

‘Spacek wasn’t looking forward to seeing the freshly engraved Stanley Cup or the newly unfurled championship banner that will be unveiled in a pregame ceremony. “I hope I can be in the locker room and not have to see that,” Spacek said. “But it’s good to me as a reminder to go out there and try to be better, try to do a little bit more than we did last year.”‘

‘”The sad part is we have to start all over again,” Buffalo co-captain Daniel Briere said. “We got a little taste of it, but we didn’t get to swallow the whole thing. On top of it, we start the season and the Hurricanes are going to raise the banner in our face. Hopefully, that’s going to get us going even more and get us hungrier.”‘

‘”I’m not stupid,” Briere said. “I hear all the rumors, “Danny is going to play a year, and he’s going to be out of here.’ Honestly, it’s not the way I see it.”‘

‘…Five reasons to think bust…’

‘The Sabres are the only NHL team with two captains, Chris Drury and Daniel Briere. They alternate on a game-by-game basis, with one addendum. Drury, who played at Boston University, will take the “C” in Beantown, while Briere keeps it if the team travels near his home in either Montreal or Ottawa.’