Archives for February 13, 2009

‘“I’ll use the word ‘OK.’ It’s not good enough,” Ruff said of Pominville’s recent play Thursday after the Sabres prepared for tonight’s tilt at HSBC Arena against the San Jose Sharks, the league’s top team. “Pommer hasn’t been good enough, and that’s the bottom line. There’s no use sugar-coating it. We need him to score. Some of his penalty killing isn’t quite good enough. “There’s been areas of his game where some nights he’s been very good, some nights he hasn’t,” he said. “We probably need just a lot more consistency and we need scoring."’

‘"It’s an incredibly sad day for our city and we’ve talked about it, that this is going to reach and touch a lot of people," said Ruff. "You’ve got to get through it. It’s an area where a lot of us live. Everybody is going to know somebody that’s touched by this. It’s a tough day for Buffalo. First and foremost, it’s all about the families of the people that were lost and all our feelings go out to them first. When it comes to something like this, it’s a tremendous tragedy."’

‘Patrick Lalime, Sabres back-up Goalie: "Personally I didn’t see anything. My brother-in-law was there and saw the plane coming at us a little bit. He ran inside because he was scared. It was coming down and a couple seconds later we saw a big ball of fire just basically not even a mile down the road."’

‘Veteran defenseman Teppo Numminen lives very close to the point of impact and heard the plane crash. "I heard the plane coming… I was in my bed… I heard the plane coming and I thought it sounded really wierd… it sounded really close to us and I heard a little poof… afterwards and I was thinking like… it doesn’t sound good… it doesn’t sound right… so I looked out of my window and saw the red sky and I knew something was wrong."’

‘"We talked to each other in the neighborhood to make sure everybody was OK," Spacek said. "It’s a big tragedy for everybody. You think about how big the country is and something happens like that 800 yards from your home. You’ve got to think about it. Everything stops. It’s not about hockey. It’s about the lives and about the people here in Buffalo first."’

‘Several Sabres players live in Clarence Center, the suburban-rural area where the commuter flight from Newark crashed and they talked about the experience. Defenseman Teppo Numminen heard both the sound of the plane coming down and the noise from the impact. He and his wife opened the shade on the bedroom window and could see the flames and the red sky. Goalie Patrick Lalime lived even closer. Former Shark Craig Rivet lived nearby, but far enough away that he and his family weren’t aware of the 10:20 p.m. crash until they woke up this morning.’

‘“We’re just going to have to continue to work at it,” Ruff said. “We scored some goals [in practice], but we didn’t tip many. Tipping and redirecting, that’s the opportunity to get good rebounds."’

‘"They’ve had a very, very strong team for a number of years," Sabres captain Craig Rivet said Thursday. "They’re at a point with that organization that they’re looking to win a Stanley Cup, and they’re looking to win it now."’

Next for Sharks: Buffalo (San Jose Mercury News)

San Jose (37-7-8) at Buffalo (28-21-6) (AP)

Reeling Sharks look to end skid against Sabres (Sportsticker)

San Jose Sharks (37-7-8) at Buffalo Sabres (28-21-6) (The Sports Network)

He’s learning in a hurry (Portland Press Herald)