Archives for October 2, 2011

‘”I always looked at the matchups when they came out and I missed it with San Jose by a year, but I was really happy when I saw Buffalo was going to Europe and playing in Germany too,” Ehrhoff said. “I thought I had missed my chance. But, you know, that was how it was meant to be and now I got my chance this year.”‘

‘”I haven’t completely (ruled him out),” Ruff said. “He hasn’t seen much practice time, in fact he hasn’t gone through a full practice yet. I would love to see him play, but I don’t think it would be fair to see him play in this situation. I don’t think he is ready. If we were to give him a couple of shifts, I don’t think makes a lot of sense at this time. But, I would have loved to have done it.”‘

‘The 80-member delegation will arrive with the club’s own machine on Sunday at 9.15 clock on the Baden-Airpark and staying until Wednesday morning in Heidelberg two posh hotels.’

‘”It’s definitely a business trip,” defenseman Christian Ehrhoff said. “We want to get off on a good start to the season. Our main focus is on winning those two games.”‘

‘“We’re not changing anything we do that would go into playing a regular-season game over here — the way we treat it, team meals, the way we dress, we’re going to be exactly the same,” Ruff said. “That preparation is going to be what we would normally prepare for over here.”’

‘About 10 years ago, at a Calgary Flames Christmas party, Robyn Regehr had no clue his future defense partner was in attendance.’

‘The Sabres leave Saturday night for Mannheim, Germany which is the home of Jochen Hecht. Christian Ehrhoff lives about three hours away. Hecht’s concussion won’t allow him to play Tuesday, but Ehrhoff is very excited, “It’s going to be awesome, it’s a once in a lifetime opportunity. It’s going to be fun for everyone, but especially for me and Jochen it’s super exciting to play in front of your home fans.” Hecht added, “I think it’s exciting to go there and see the different mentality of what German hockey is. We’re playing a good team, the fans there are crazy about their team and it will be a totally different experience than playing here.”‘

‘While the team is excited about the trip head coach Lindy Ruff reminded everyone that for the Sabres, its a business trip. “Everybody realizes there is some fun involved, there is some team bonding involved but we’re going there to win games.”‘