Archives for December 7, 2008

"Over the past year, the Buffalo Sabres have had a pipeline of quality defensive players move up from the AHL and immediately contribute. The hallmark of these defensemen, like Andrej Sekera and Mike Weber, has been intelligent, responsible play in their zone. The next player in the line of succession is Portland Pirates defenseman Chris Butler." … [Read more...] about Butler Next For Sabres Blue Line

'Ultimately, though, coaching has been the least of their problems. The sooner his players realize as much, the better off they’ll be because Ruff isn’t going anywhere. After all, there aren’t better coaches out there who are available. The organization’s job now is finding better players.' … [Read more...] about Rather than replacing Ruff, kick players to the curb

'"Everybody in here is exhausted because we worked hard, and that's what it has to feel like every night for us," Gaustad said. "Everyone bought in."' … [Read more...] about Sabres snap out of funk

'"They've always supported me my whole life, and I knew they would really like that, especially since it was their anniversary," Gerbe said Saturday, hours before he made his NHL debut against Tampa Bay. "It was definitely a good present for them, and they were really excited and can't wait to watch."' … [Read more...] about Gerbe’s call-up serves as present

Bolts Stuck In Spiral (Tampa Tribune) Tocchet Eschews All Excuses (Tampa Tribune) Host Family Gets To Visit Tampa (Tampa Tribune) Tampa Bay Lightning loses to Buffalo Sabres (St. Petersburg Times) Tampa Bay Lightning interim coach Rick Tocchet says team can still make playoffs (St. Petersburg Times) Tough decisions could be lurking for Tampa Bay Lightning roster (St. … [Read more...] about Sunday’s Tampa Bay Coverage

'“We got a couple of redirections that haven’t been going in,” Buffalo coach Lindy Ruff said. “You need a little bit of puck luck along the way, and I thought we got some.”' … [Read more...] about Roy scores tiebreaking goal in Sabres&#8217 win 4-3

'The teams entered the third period tied at 3-3, and neither could score until Roy struck near the midway point of the frame. He got the puck in the slot, turned around and wristed the puck under Smith's arm to give Buffalo the lead with 9:57 left in the game.' … [Read more...] about Buffalo 4, Tampa Bay 3

'The game was Nathan Gerbe's first of his career. In 15:09 of ice time, Gerbe had a plus-two rating while registering zero points.' … [Read more...] about Sabres Squander Lead Times Three, Hang On For 4-3 Win

'With seven total goals, 58 combined penalty minutes and three fights, this game proved to be one worth watching. The Sabres winning helps boost any game's entertainment value, but this game was exciting to watch throughout. The Sabres had the lead four times tonight. The first three times saw the Lightning score goals almost immediately after the Sabres netted their goals. … [Read more...] about Sabres manage to hold on against hapless Bolts

'Gerbe will remember his first shift not for scoring a goal like Danny Gare and Alexander Mogilny did, but for getting hit by Spacek's slapshot.' … [Read more...] about The Gerb-log

Portland turns on power to cool off the hot Devils (Lowell Sun) Pirates sombre despite victory (Maine Hockey Journal) Pirates Beat Devils 5-2 (PortlandPirates.com) Devils Done In By Pirates, 5-2 (LowellDevilsHockey.com) … [Read more...] about Sunday’s Tampa Bay Coverage