Archives for March 2008

‘The Sabres are 13-18 in games decided by one goal, including nine shootout losses, and they’ve lost 14 games (32-6-8) in which they were ahead or tied entering the third period. That’s adding up, leaving Buffalo one loss from being eliminated.’

‘Make no mistake; the Sabres are still playoff long shots. They need to win their three remaining games and get a lot of help to make it.’

‘The dip in Afinogenov’s production has been stunning. Once one of the league’s most explosive talents, he has just 10 goals, 27 points and an awful minus-14 rating in 53 games this year. He scored 55 goals, 134 points and sported a nifty plus-25 rating in 133 games during the previous two seasons.’

‘It’s not that I dislike the Sabres – to the contrary – but this is a team lacking character, leadership and talent and doesn’t deserve to be in the post-season.’

‘Clearly, the Sabres’ strengths do not include scoring more goals than the other team on any given night. So to make the case that Buffalo deserves a spot in the playoffs, management needs to be proactive, set the agenda and, above all, slag the other guys.’

‘The Sabres finished with 30 shots, though the number of scoring chances probably could be counted on one hand. The Bruins took just 18 shots, scoring on their first one.’

‘Who would have imagined that, one year after winning the Presidents’ Trophy, the Sabres would be jumping with joy because they still had an outside chance to finish eighth?’

‘“We’re not expected to play like rookies,” Weber said. “We’re expected to play like the good hockey players we can be. Hockey is a game of confidence and if you’re playing well, you know you’re going to go out there shift in and shift out and make smart plays. The coaching staff has put a lot of trust in us and we can’t let them down at this point.”’

‘Even with Sunday’s 2-1 overtime win, though, the Sabres finished the home slate with 21 losses in 41 games.’

‘For the contest, the eighth-year forward got just 7:36 worth of ice time, less than every Sabres aside from Patrick Kaleta.’