Archives for April 19, 2007

'"I know the Islanders are livid and trying to get their guys fired up about something," Miller said after a brief practice. "But I just think the series should be defined by more than that. … I don't truly believe in luck. I think we've gotten some breaks and it's because we've been working hard."'

'Mike Schopp and the Bulldog had director of Officiating Stephen Walkolm on the air this afternoon. Walkolm said, "the referee on the ice deemed that the goaltender was pushed into the net together with the puck and he wasn't allowed to play the puck and he disallowed the goal immediately. It's a play where you try to make the call on the ice because you can't review that call."'

'They can thank Drury, who has a team-best four goals this series, including two winners. He’s tallied a remarkable 14 game-winning goals in his 102-game playoff career. “He’s a guy that likes the clutch situations,” Sabres forward Jason Pominville said. “For him to get two goals tonight and the winner is definitely huge. He’s a guy we look up to.”'

'"You know what? There's going to be something special happening in Buffalo this season. Last year I think they got their feet wet. This year they win the Presidents Trophy. They proved themselves. They have all the intangibles, all the ingredients. They have great goaltending, great defense. They have a team that can go very far in the playoffs."'

‘”If you’ve taken care of that, sometimes a lot of it is already predetermined. If you’re not ready to go from the beginning, there’s no sense worrying about it,” he said after the Sabres took a strangehold 3-1 lead in a series in which the co-captain has been the MVP.’

'When Buffalo Sabres center Tim Connolly took the ice for the start of the NHL playoffs last week after being sidelined for 11 months with post-concussion syndrome, his return in large part was due to a new treatment program developed by UB researchers.'

‘“It’s typical of one-goal games,” Buffalo defenseman Jaroslav Spacek said. “If you lose you always try to blame something. But goals on the board are what’s important. And in three games we got one extra. We could blame those referees, too. But you have to calm down and just play hockey because if you [complain] more and more they will never give you those calls.”’

‘“He is getting close to skating at full speed,” Sabres coach Lindy Ruff said before Game Four of his team’s Eastern Conference quarterfinal series against the New York Islanders. “Things are progressing rapidly with Paul, which is tremendous for our team.”’

‘Give him whatever he wants. Company car? Chris, take your pick. Everybody else can drive Pintos.’

‘“I think the first couple games there wasn’t enough emotion. There was no hate out there,” Briere said after he drew an aggressive penalty that led to Chris Drury’s winning goal in a 4-2 Game Four victory Wednesday night in Nassau Coliseum. “I think slowly we’re starting to see guys hate each other. We’re getting sick of playing against the same guys over and over.”‘