Archives for February 13, 2008

'"It's a team effort," said Bisson, who was involved in another major sports medical drama, when he was the first doctor to reach Kevin Everett's side when the Buffalo lineman suffered a serious spinal injury at the Bills' Ralph Wilson Stadium. "There were a lot of team things that happened" to save crucial time for Zednik.'

Leafs target streaking Sabres (Toronto Globe and Mail)

Maple Leafs Game Day (National Post)

Toronto (23-25-9) at Buffalo (27-21-8) (AP)

Sabres look to continue playoff push vs. Maple Leafs (Sportsticker)

Toronto Maple Leafs (23-25-9) at Buffalo Sabres (27-21-8) (The Sports Network)

'"On behalf of Richard and our entire family, I want to thank the fans, his teammates, the Panthers and Sabres organizations, plus so many others for their prayers and well wishes," Jessica Zednik said. "I especially want to thank the medical staff involved in his care and the Buffalo General Hospital for their tremendous support during this difficult time."'

'"What happened a couple days ago, a neck guard wouldn't make any different. The neck guard just comes this high, you know?" Jokinen said, gesturing about halfway up his neck. "If you watch what happened to Richard, the cut was a lot higher. It's one of those things."'

'"I have a little gate at my seat, and I can jump down into the tunnel," Bisson said. "I sprinted around and met them behind Florida's bench. We were moving Richard toward my medical room. He was awake and cooperative. I said, 'Just stay with me.''"'

'Winger Thomas Vanek continued his red-hot play with a hat trick, the first of his career. Clarke McArthur’s third-period tally came just 33 seconds after the Senators had cut their deficit to 2-1 and you heard nary a peep the rest of the night from the crowd of 19,564 packed into Scotiabank Place. Jason Pominville scored the Sabres’ final goal with 3:04 left.'

'“We didn’t go from zero to 100 today but we’re still moving down the road,” Regier said during the second intermission of the Sabres’ game against the Ottawa Senators in Scotiabank Place. “But I think the fact that you’re communicating means you are moving down the road.”'

‘“It’s been an emotional couple days for me,” Malarchuk, now the Columbus Blue Jackets’ goal- tending coach, said Tuesday by telephone. “The only reason I did [watch] was that somebody told me it wasn’t very graphic and there wasn’t a lot of blood. It was just scary to see that skate come up like that and clip him the way it did. Real scary.”’

'“He is awake and in good spirits,” said Noor. “He has minimal neck swelling or discomfort. He is speaking quite well. His voice is not hoarse,” Noor added.'

'The Sabres definitely have the potential to make a run in the playoffs. The 10-game winless streak came from a young team without the leadership of Drury and Briere, being reminded that success comes through an excessive amount of hard work. It looked like, aside from Miller, 18 players forgot that lesson during the playoffs last year. It looks like this year’s team heard loud and clear.'