Archives for November 2011

‘Finley was selected 27th overall in the 2005 draft by Washington, but has never played in an NHL game.’

‘The goaltender is not feeling any ill-effects from the concussion he suffered, but is working to battle back from neck problems that have dogged him since the incident. Miller was more concerned with his neck problems that he was with the concussion, saying, “symptom-wise I think it was more neck. Something where I aggravarted a disc in my neck pretty good and we had an MRI, cat-scan showing that…kind of backed that up. That was a source of a lot of tension and a lot of the discomfort, and definitely was limiting my range of motion.”‘

‘What Sabres fans may be most excited for is: in a game against Hamilton, prospect Marcus Foligno was hip checked hard into the boards. Foligno stood up to fight, but Finley already had the gloves dropped, his helmet off and the crowd on their feet. If Sabres fans want someone to step up and be physical, Finley’s your guy. He leads the AHL in penalty minutes.’

‘“We had a pretty good day when it came to just treatments yesterday and some guys are feeling better,” Ruff explained. “We had some guys on the bike, and today that progressed. Everything is looking better.”’

‘Finley (6’8”, 260 lbs., 6/29/87) has two points (1+1) in 18 games played with the AHL’s Rochester Americans, and leads the team with 57 penalty minutes. Finley is in his third professional season after spending parts of the 2008-09 and 2010-11 season with the Hershey Bears. In 26 career AHL games, Finley has three points (1+2) and 79 penalty minutes, posting a plus/minus rating of plus-16.’

‘”The last few games I’ve been trying to get the puck to the net a little bit more and keep getting shots,” Stafford said. “I know that’s been the answer for a while pretty much. Keep getting shots and getting to the net and one will eventually go in but it’s true.”‘

‘Matthew Barnaby, Andrew Peters and Rob Ray were among 13 Sabres alumni who suited up Sunday to play in a hockey tournament and help raise funds for research into head injuries sustained by youth.’

‘”The last couple weeks have been rough on the injury front but the guys who came up did an awesome job,” said Adam, who took ribbing from reporters for being a 42-game “veteran” of the NHL. “It takes every guy in the dressing room every night.”‘

‘McNabb, 20, is one of Buffalo’s top prospects and was just 19 games into his pro career when the call came late Friday night. The Sabres took a free agent flier on Szczechura, 25, over the summer while he was coming off knee surgery and he got a surprise call Saturday morning when the Sabres realized Drew Stafford was going to be a scratch with a lower-body injury suffered Friday in Columbus.’

‘If you judged all sports by the way the Bruins and the Sabres went about settling their grudge match in the last two weeks, you would think the knights of medieval times had returned to reintroduce the age of chivalry.’