Archives for May 21, 2007

'"Long before they worry about Briere and Drury, they should sign those two guys. Don't let those guys go on the free market because there are always a half a dozen teams looking to add in one of those two areas," says Neale. "Hopefully for the sake of the Buffalo Sabres they can sign those two guys, but one of those crazy offers could land on one of … [Read more...] about Harry Neale: Sign Regier, Ruff First

'"My first, my probably biggest wish right now would be to be a part of this team," Briere said. "The Sabres, if they're interested, they're going to have the first chance. They're going to have the best chance. And if that doesn't work out, then we'll start looking at different options."' … [Read more...] about Briere open to staying with Sabres

'Zubrus isn't sure if he'll require surgery to repair damaged cartilage. He had an arthroscopic procedure on the same knee in the summer of 2005.' … [Read more...] about Sabres Zubrus was bothered by knee injury

'This list takes into account both age and value. In the cathartic interest of sanity, here's my 2007 NHL All-Unrestricted team (players who at press time are slated to become unrestricted free agents on July 1)...' … [Read more...] about A Distraction: The 2007 NHL All-UFA Team

'Drury seems to give the Sabres more of what they ultimately were lacking this postseason -- grit, determination, the ability to produce in the clutch. Just look at Game 5. He took a puck to the face in the third period and then returned in overtime after being stitched up. There just weren't enough like him, although the Sabres' future could still be … [Read more...] about Now, Sabres are the ones facing tough offseason questions

'“I don’t think we lost the series tonight,” Sabres forward Jason Pominville said. “I think we may have lost it in the first couple games where we weren’t playing the way we were in the last couple.” Indeed, the Sabres played poorly through the first three games. How poorly is a matter of debate. But it’s clear Buffalo didn’t … [Read more...] about Another cruel loss ends Sabres&#8217 season

'“There’s a lot of disappointment right now, maybe we weren’t quite as good as we needed to be.”' … [Read more...] about A painful ending for the Sabres

'This summer is shaping up to be another difficult one. Briere, Drury and Numminen spoke in vague terms about their contract situations -- the injured Zubrus was unavailable to comment after the Game Five defeat -- but Mair made his intentions clear. “My hope is that I’ll be back in Buffalo,” Mair said after getting eliminated from a conference final for … [Read more...] about Sabres forced to look ahead

'There’s not a winger on the team close to matching Zubrus’ work ethic and effectiveness along the boards. The Sabres need a couple more like him.' … [Read more...] about Zubrus might look good to Sabres

'So will Buffalo fans recover from this latest loss? “For the fair-weather fan, there will be no difficulty dealing with this crushing setback,” said Melnick. “This fan has not invested heavily emotionally, psychologically or even physically. So if the team loses, this person can easily move on with his life.” The hard-core fan,” Melnick said, … [Read more...] about For the fans, missed goal joins No Goal

'"We're not going to be a group anymore. After nine months, that is hard to take. And even teams that win, you know, like Carolina (in 2006), there are always changes, new faces. We know there are going to be changes here, and it's hard because you do build friendships and you battle with guys. "Ultimately I guess that's just the job we do and … [Read more...] about For one, likely the last game with Sabres