Archives for March 29, 2012

‘”It felt good to get to where we are,” forward Cody McCormick said. “After the season, we’ve got to be where we are. I don’t think we’ve accomplished anything until we get to that point. There’s still a lot of work ahead.”‘

‘”He’s my brother and I would be excited for the opportunity for him to play in the playoffs,” he said. “That’s every player’s dream. It’s pretty impressive to see their run right now and they’ve done well, but I’m more worried about how we’re playing and what we’re doing.”‘

‘“You don’t want to be remembered for having a horrible start and basically wasting a season. You want to battle and compete. However things turn out, we’ve showed we have pride. We’re happy at the checkpoint we’re at now but five games (left), some tough opponents. Same situation we’ve been in for 2 1/2 months: Gotta win.”’

‘“A lot of it has to do with my linemates getting us some great looks because of their creativity,” Stafford said about his resurgence following practice Wednesday inside the First Niagara Center. “They’re moving the puck around. I just happen to be getting some great looks because of them.”’

‘Ehrhoff’s loss is huge, though. While he hasn’t quite met expectations in the first season of a 10-year, $40 million contract, he still leads all Sabres in ice time (23:03 a game) and the blue line with 32 points.’

‘Coach Lindy Ruff would only say that Ehrhoff will miss a “period of time.” Ruff spoke following practice Wednesday, after Ehrhoff was evaluated by team doctors a day after he was hurt in a 5-1 win at Washington.’

‘In 66 games this season, Ehrhoff has five goals and 27 assists.’

‘Ruff said that the news is better than expected for Ehrhoff, but did not want to put a timetable on the injury.’

‘What can you say about the line of Tyler Ennis, Drew Stafford and Marcus Foligno?’

‘ “I don’t know if you’d call it swagger,” said Marcus Foligno, whose play has sparked the team’s fortunes. “I’ve only been around here for 10 days or so, so I don’t have the basis to compare what it was like around here earlier this year. I can say that this team has the confidence to do just about anything. We know what we need to do. But as excited as everyone here is right now, we haven’t won anything yet, and there is work to be done. The minute we lose focus of that is when things will become unhinged, and in a hurry.”’