Archives for May 15, 2007

'“We certainly can’t say we’ve given everything considering the position we’re in,” Drury said softly. “I think at times we have. But I think overall we have to be a lot better if we’re going to crawl our way back into this.”'

'The Sabres were the league's highest-scoring team, but none of their talented top three lines has been able to generate many chances at even strength or on the power play, where the Sabres are 0-for-18 in the series. "If we could improve that, it could change the whole series," said Sabres star Daniel Briere. "So far, they've won the special teams battle. We're trying to find answers."'

'Sabres coach Lindy Ruff ruled out bringing rookie Drew Stafford back into the lineup. Stafford scored twice in nine games in the first two rounds, but has not seen action against Ottawa. "He had a good year for us, but I don't think putting a young player in is the answer," said Ruff. "I think the answer lies in the room. We said as a team we're going to stick together on this one."'

'"We could curl up and cry about it and go home," the Sabres co-captain said Tuesday. "Or we could fight like dogs."'

'“Pressure, I think is the biggest thing,” Alfredsson says. “You see most teams, especially the ones that are left now, they pressure a lot. They don’t give the power play a lot of time. Especially if you know it’s the second half of the period, and the ice is not as good, you really want them to force things. If they’re going to beat you they have to make two or three nice plays.”'

'For Buffalo, Ottawa presents a completely different challenge than they were faced with in the first two rounds of the tournament. In the Senators, the Sabres are facing a hybrid of the two teams they beat to advance to the final four with the Sens playing the same kind of blue-collar game the Islanders played in the first round, combined with the skill set the Rangers had in the second. Nobody is playing better hockey right now than Ottawa, and Buffalo knows they have their work cut out for them if they hope to advance to the Stanley Cup Final.'

'The love affair between Calderone and Buffalo has been going on for over two decades. It began while he was a student attending Buffalo State College. The 1986 BSC graduate spent over 12 years in the radio industry in Buffalo and Washington, D.C. before taking a job with MTV as its chief music programmer.'

'It didn't look that obvious during the regular season when the Sabres were piling up the goals, but it's pretty obvious now they'll be a bit different next season, both in personnel and in style.'

'The Sabres have managed to get only five pucks past him in three games. Even after giving up a game-tying goal to Daniel Briere with 5.8 seconds to go in the third period of Game 2, Emery didn't get rattled and made nine more saves, and eventually Corvo scored the winner in the second overtime.'

'He wouldn’t feel the same of, say Ales Kotalik, who’s all but played himself out of the Sabres’ future, so that’s why he didn’t mention Kotalik’s futility to the media, but rather relegated him to the bench. Kotalik finished with less than nine minutes of ice time.'