Archives for January 5, 2012

‘”This [is] a great hockey town,” he wrote on Twitter, “but at this point, by far the quietest rink I’ve been in in 2011-12.”‘

‘”The good thing is I know I can’t do any damage to it,” Myers said. “I have that peace of mind. I can really bear down on it. Little aches and pains, I’m not taking them seriously now that I know it’s healed.”‘

‘First Niagara Center and the Sabres will play host to a free viewing party geared at providing Time Warner Cable subscribers a chance to see their team put together its first winning streak in nearly two months, the Sabres announced late Wednesday.’

‘“You do the good things every day and stick to what you believe in, good things do happen. I really truly believe in that,” Gerbe said Wednesday inside the First Niagara Center. “And I think (it’s the) same thing, different season. You go through long stretches and then it’ll come and then you get your confidence going. It’ll keep coming. Something like that has never worried me. It’s something I really take a lot of pride in, sticking to my game and not changing it.”’

‘Given the team’s play of late, a respite from the aggravation might not be the worst thing in the world. But their place in the standings notwithstanding, the team’s thousands of diehard fans — and local businesses who depend on their traffic to bolster their own bottom lines — have every right to be upset.’

‘After spending the past month losing one player after another to injury, the Sabres are preparing to welcome back a number of healthy reinforcements—Leino, defenseman Tyler Myers and center Tyler Ennis.’

‘Three players that did not participate on Wednesday were captain Jason Pominville, Brad Boyes and Jochen Hecht. All three were given a maintenance day by the head coach due to the Sabres having both today and tomorrow off from a regular season game.’

‘It also might have made you wonder just how together this group was. How far are they willing to go for one another? Miller has mostly been a mess since his return. Do you think he may have been wondering about his teammates lack of response that night in Boston? I’d bet on it.’

‘The goalies can’t stop pucks. Ryan Miller looks like a guy who no longer wants to play here. Did anything match the desperation of the goaltending situation in that Pittsburgh game a couple of weeks back? As one looks at the hideous record, it appears that Drew McIntyre, doing spot duty, has actually emerged as the best goalie on the stat sheet.’

‘“It’s as good as it can be. The good thing is I know I can’t do any damage to it. I have that piece of mind so I can really bear down on pucks,” said Myers. “The little aches and pains, I’m definitely not taking as serious now that I know it’s healed. It’s just a matter of these next couple of practices getting ready for Friday. Then hopefully by Friday I’m ready to go.”’