Archives for February 28, 2008

'“Last night we created a lot of confusion by having a lot of our defenseman involved in the cycles, going to the net,” Ruff continued. “There was probably 10 plays we snuck in [in front of the net] whether it was Toni [Lydman], Talli [Henrik Tallinder], Dmitri [Kalinin], all those guys got involved. You’re going to see some breakdowns, you ‘re going to see the odd breakaway, you’re going to see the odd-numbered stuff, but it’s what we’ve been successful with.”'

'“It wasn’t a give-up trade,” Regier said in an interview Thursday. “And that was important when we looked at it. Because we could have had what amounted to two different first-round picks (from other teams). But those were futures. If we did that we weren’t going to bring a player back into our dressing room."'

‘How soon until No. 56 jerseys fill the seats of HSBC Arena?’

'Despite having only mid-round NCAA picks, the Buffalo Sabres have a couple of players who should make a future mark in the NHL and a couple more who will make a serious run at it.'

‘Bernier’s first game as a Buffalo Sabre was spellbinding. The big right winger scored on his second shift. When he scored again on his fifth, the sellout crowd was ready to anoint him captain. When his on-the-tape pass to Derek Roy resulted in another goal, people were ready to clear space in the rafters next to the names of LaFontaine, Gare and Perreault.’

‘Not to worry. Since then Peters has been the epitome of consistency: one goal last year, one goal this year. He’s more than halfway to the coveted 10-point plateau — for his career. You half expect him to request a meeting with coach Lindy Ruff and ask if he can play on the same line with Bernier. You know, so Bernier can buy him some room and allow him to cultivate his latent skills.’

‘“It’s not the same as the other guys,” said Dumont, referring to recent hostile appearances by Daniel Briere, Chris Drury and Jay McKee. “Sometimes teams make decisions. We don’t know why, but it happens.”’

'"He played a great game," said coach Lindy Ruff. "To have a player step in and have as good a first night as that, it's almost like a dream come true. He set up a couple great opportunities, he missed a chance when he walked in alone. There were lots of good things about his game."'

'“Awesome,” he said during the third round of questions from reporters on Wednesday. “I never saw it happening like this.”'

'But Miller later left the game with a bloody nose after Marek Zidlicky’s big shot from the point. The puck caromed off Miller’s mask and as he fell to the ice, the rebound went directly to Jan Hlavac, who scored into the empty net.'