Miller, Kaleta lift Sabres over Rangers in OT

While the rest of his teammates enjoy an off day on Monday, Ryan Miller will be busy in the morning.  Among other media appearances Miller is slated to appear on the “Today” show at 8:30am on NBC.  While there I’m certain host Matt Lauer will ask Miller about his Olympic experience and his out from [...]

The Hammer Returns

By Chris

The Sabres haven’t been the same physically since Pat Kaleta went out with a foot injury on Feb. 1. Now, it looks like their X-Factor is ready to return.

We’ve seen an evolution in Kaleta’s game over the last three years. He went from a missile who would take himself out of position for a hit to a pest who wouldn’t fight to a solid defensive player with an edge. He’s still got some room to grow but he has turned himself into a bona fide hockey player.

He’ll work the corners, backcheck and has even found a way to contribute offensively. He’s scored a career-high eight goals in 41 games this season. It’s the 41 games, however, that have become a concern.

Kaleta still plays a reckless brand of hockey and it’s started to wear him down. He tends to invite players to take shots at him (some of those hits have been dirtier than others) because he’s willing to finish every check. Now the injury he suffered against Pittsburgh was a fluky injury — a puck off the foot — but adding them all up, you have to wonder how long Kaleta will hold up.

He hasn’t played in a playoff series yet, but I’m excited to see what he will bring to the table. He’s the type of guy who can go out change the momentum of a game with one shift. He wears his heart on his sleeve and you can tell he’s the local boy, skating around and living his dream. He’s the type of depth player that a team needs in the postseason. Hopefully he’ll be able to keep himself in the lineup.

 – Another interesting note in that report from WGR: Both Lindy Ruff and Ryan Miller will make the trip from Vancouver to Pittsburgh. It doesn’t make sense, to me at least, to send Miller to the game unless they plan on starting him. I hope that’s not the case.

UPDATE: Thanks to Jonathan from Getting Caught From Behind for the heads up: Patrick Lalime will start for the Sabres in Pittsburgh. I still don’t know why they couldn’t call up Jhonas Enroth. Maybe they want Miller to get even angrier as soon as he sees Sidney Crosby’s stupid smiling face tomorrow.

Sabres Win Streak Reaches Four At Montreal

This was one of the more entertaining hockey games I have watched all season and with the full slate of games on Center Ice, that is saying a lot. Both teams battled from the opening whistle until the final whistle, even if they had no idea the game was over (more on this later). It [...]

Sabres 5, Canucks 2… Team improves to 4-0

Does this run have 2006-07 written all over it? You remember, the magical run to start that year, when the Sabres went 10-0 to start the season and won every game in the month of October?

“It’s only four games, we’ve got a ways to go so let’s not get ahead of ourselves” laughed Jason Pominville.

The team came out smoking early and played a nearly flawless first period, with power play goals by Jaroslav Spacek and Clarke MacArthur. Ales Kotalik scored his first of two goals on the night on a pretty pass from Maxim Afinogenov, and by the end of one it was 3-0 Sabres.

Patrick Kaleta is quickly becoming the most hated player by the opposition, and tonight he did it again, going into turtle mode against Shane O’Brien and drawing a 4 minute power play. In the third period his luck ran out, as he was called on a dive which negated what should have been a power play. So was it a dive Patrick? “All I know is I was sprawled on the ice and next thing you know I’m getting the call. Some nights it happens others it doesn’t.” After the game Coach Lindy Ruff commented on Kaleta’s play… “Pat’s energy and hitting… I think our fourth line did very well today.”

Buffalo looked a bit ragged in the second period, trading goals with the Canucks and escaping with a 4-1 lead. Vancouver cut the lead to 4-2 in the third on a goal by (you remember him) Steve Bernier, who drew a huge chorus of boos when his name was announced. But then Ales Kotalik was fed a pass from Thomas Vanek in the corner and was left all alone on front of the Vancouver goal. His wrist shot into the net closed out the scoring at 5-2.

Speaking of fourth line, Andrew Peters and the Canuck’s Darcy Hordichuk had a heck of a fight on the first period, with Peters landing most of the blows and getting the “W”.

Here’s a great stat… the Sabres have yet to allow a power play goal this season, and are perfect on the PK. “We take a lot of pride in that” said Ruff. “It’s great for that unit and great for their confidence.”

Now the Sabres have to travel to Atlanta and play their own back to back set. What does the team need to do to maintain their focus and energy? Ruff replied, “We tried to balance the ice time tonight. We tried not to overextend anybody. We give a good amount of time to every line. We’ll have to talk about tomorrow to make sure we play smart. They (Atlanta) will have a lot of energy. It may take us a while, but it may not. I’ve seen games where we come right out of the chute just like that. But we definitely have to be smart. The one thing that gives the other team a big advantage is when you’re undisciplined and your legs aren’t moving and you’re starting to take penalties. That really fatigues a team.”

So the team heads to Phillips Arena for tomorrow night’s 7PM start against the Thrashers, and Atlanta has oft times been a house of horrors for the Sabres. “But the confidence is building in this room” said Jason Pominville. “We feel that we can beat anybody in this league, and tomorrow there is no reason we can’t keep this going. This is a different team than last year. We can all feel it.”

-The silver priced game was about 200 or so short of a sellout, with small yawning gaps of empty blue seats in the upper rows of sections 300 and 325.

-I got to meet national sportswriter Erik Brady from USA Today, who is a fellow Canisius High alum, graduating a few years ahead of me. My seatmate George Kuhn from Sports and Leisure set me up… I was sharing some Canisius stories early on in the evening and got to mention my former classmate Phil McConkey, who went on to play football in the NFL, then later unsuccessfully ran for Congress. So I am just standing up in the open space behind the pressbox during the first intermission, and Erik walks up to me and says “so how much money did you donate to the McConkey for Congress campaign?” I laughed my ass off.

-Speaking of press, it was great seeing everyone and reconnecting with the fellow media corps, many of who I haven’t seen since the last season ended. It’s really like a clubhouse up there, with some truly extraordinary people and some great friends I have made over the years. Matt Pearl and I hung out for two periods, and we got caught up on life, current events and politics. That lucky bastard got to attend the Democratic National Convention as a reporter, and I was riveted by all the stories he shared with me tonight of his adventures there.

-Lastly, got my copy of all the NHL media guides, which are all on CD-Rom this year. I went directly to the NHL Media Directory, and yes – for the first time Artvoice is listed among the Buffalo media corps with our names, emails and phone numbers. Yes, we have arrived!

Sabres 7, ‘Canes 1… No quit in this team tonight

Some horrible giveaways. Some unlucky bounces. A shorthanded goal. For a change, the Buffalo Sabres weren’t on the sorry side of this story, as they played a magnificent game, with passion and intensity, at both ends of the ice to throttle the Carolina Hurricanes, 7-1, before another sellout crowd at HSBC Arena.

Buffalo got rockin’ pretty early on in this one, as Daniel Paille began the scoring early in the first, and then Adam Mair made it 2-0 Buffalo just 22 seconds later on a cross ice pass.

Derek Roy scored a short handed goal at the 10:51 mark on a two on one break following yet another bad giveaway from Carolina at the other end. Paul Gaustad then made it 4-0 on a bouncer in the goal mouth. The Sabres penalty kill was solid, facing back to back to back calls which at one point would have made them two men short, had the Hurricane’s Matt Cullen not taken a stupid unsportsmanlike conduct penalty, after arguing being thrown out of the faceoff circle.

The Sabres scored two more goals in the second period to make it 6-0, first by Patrick Kaleta, his 3rd of the season as he crashed the net, then later in the period Derek Roy got his second of the game after Danny Paille worked the puck up to him on a nifty up ice play. Those looking for Kaleta’s trademark “Leap” were left a bit disappointed, however. “Yeah I kinda cut it in half” Kaleta explained after the game. “I wanted to celebrate the goal with my teammates and I was down on my knees when the puck went in.” Kaleta gave assurances that he has not abandoned The Leap.

It could have been worse for Carolina… Maxim Afinogenov was at the end of a tic tac toe move on the power play and had nothing but net, and shot the puck squarely on the post. Roy had a shorthanded breakaway opportunity but could not get the puck past ‘Canes reliever John Grahame.

Frustrations started to boil for the Hurricanes in the 3rd… Goaltender John Grahame earned a penalty for his dumb slash on Daniel Paille, then minutes later Tim Conboy took on Buffalo’s Adam Mair, and for a change it was Mair dishing out most of the punishment. Both earned 5 minute fighting majors, with Conboy earning an extra five minute major for “interference” as well as a well deserved game misconduct. Mair earned the game’s first star, scoring three points and being a force on the ice all night long.

Buffalo promptly went to snooze mode on that man advantage, and surrendered a goal on a two on one break to spoil Ryan Miller’s shutout bid. Ales Kotalik added a late power play goal into an open net, and this game would end 7-1 Buffalo.

The Washington Capitals and Florida Panthers both won tonight to keep pace one point behind the Sabres, while Buffalo pulled to within two points of idle Philadelphia. Think tomorrow’s game in Toronto against the surging Leaves isn’t HUGE? “Absolutely” said Toni Lydman, while Derek Roy said “At this point every game is huge.”

Lindy Ruff said after the game “I said this morning that tomorrow’s headline should read ‘desperate team wins game’. There’s no reason we shouldn’t be by far the more desperate team.”

Faceoff tomorrow night at the Air Canada Centre is 7:00PM, with TV coverage from our boys on MSG and viewers across Canada watching on CBC.

-Still beloved… Tonight’s “Spelling Bee” on the HD board asked fans to spell “Jeanneret”. Took about eight takes before someone got it right, and the fans gave Rick Jeanneret one of the loudest ovations of the night when they gave him an appearance on the screen. So what was up with the moron in the next booth flailing his arms and waving like an idiot? It’s not about you pal!

-Best dancer … The usher in the tunnel at Secs 310-311 was in rare form.

-Take off that shirt!… We got plenty of eye candy tonight on the video board, if your thing is bare chested 12 year old boys. Gotta ask – Is the video crew’s newest hire a member of Catholic clergy?

-Our awesome “D”… Andrej Sekera was a +5 and Mike Weber a +4. The Sabres beleaguered defense played a superb game with few glaring giveaways or mental mistakes. “That Mike Funk fella didn’t do too badly either” joked Toni Lydman, well within earshot of Funk, who occupies the next stall in the clubhouse.

-Sabres outscore Carolina 15-2 in two appearances at the H this season.

Rangers 4, Sabres 3: Kotalik's great night ends in heartbreak

The Sabres had a lot to overcome tonight.

It was bad enough that the team had to deal with a spate of injuries to mess up their lineup. But before the puck was even dropped to start the game, they would have to face more adversity.

Yes, in town to follow Doug Allen and the national anthems of our two countries, there he was – Ronan Tynan, the Irish tenor and the Sabres’ favorite jinx, to croon The Dead Fat Woman’s Song. The crowd loved it, from what I heard of the reaction. Since I was in the pressbox, I didn’t want to look like a total schmeck and sit during the song, which is what we always do in silent protest when we’re in the stands. So I took a quick walk and back once it was over, got settled, just shaking my head again. Why oh why does the Sabres management love this guy so much?

In the end, the Ronan Curse prevailed once again, as a late goal by the Rangers’ Sean Avery was enough to give New York a 4-3 win before 18,690 mostly disappointed fans at HSBC Arena.

The New York Rangers would take the early lead on their first shot on goal on a nifty tip by Jaromir Jagr. Buffalo would answer a couple minutes later when Ales Kotalik scored his 17th of the season off the point. The tie was broken shortly after when the Rangers Nigel Dawes hit a perfect one timer over the top of Ryan Miller’s shoulder.

As the period wound down Rangers bad boy Sean Avery and the Sabres Pat Kaleta dropped the gloves and went at it, with Avery landing the only meaningful punches. Both got five minutes for fighting. So what words did the two exchange before the fight? Kaleta replied “I probably can’t say it on camera. That’s just what my job is, to agitate a bit out there. We’re both doing our jobs and that’s what happens sometimes.”

Jason Pominville tied the game in the second period, and mid period Buffalo would take his first lead of the night when Kotalik got his 18th, a nifty over the shoulder shot which was placed perfectly. New York would tie it a minute later on a rebound by Brandon Dubinsky, after New York had numerous chances in the crease and Buffalo could not clear the puck.

Buffalo had many opportunities to takes the lead in the third, none more so than when forward Thomas Vanek broke in all alone on Rangers goalie Henrik Lundqvist but shot the puck right into the body. A short time later, memories of Kotalik’s two goal night were quickly erased when he sent a blind pass into the middle of the ice; the first shot was missed but the puck rolled over to Sean Avery who had nothing but net and the Rangers had themselves a lead.

Buffalo would pull the goaltender but didn’t develop much of a scoring threat in the closing minute. A 6 on 4 chance with less than 30 seconds to play resulted in no chances as the Rangers managed to successfully keep the puck moving along the boards and out of harms way.

Coach Lindy Ruff was visibly angry during his short postgame press conference. “The first of the play was going down the ice and not shooting the puck. We turned the puck over in the offensive zone when we could have had a great scoring chance. Second part was our goaltender could have frozen the puck. We didn’t have to throw it away against that line. And the third part was Al’s (Kotalik’s) turnover.” Ruff insisted that the Sabres were the better team, the more desperate team. “I like the way we played.” Ruff lamented Vanek’s breakaway opportunity in the third, throwing a small crumpled piece of paper on the lectern as he spoke.

With the loss, the Sabres cling to 8th seed in the East, thanks to losses today by the Islanders and the Flyers, who trail Buffalo by a point. The reeling Flyers come to town Monday to face the Sabres, who will play 4 home games in 7 nights this coming week.

Chris Drury watch:
Drury received loud and almost universal boos when his name was announced as part of the starting lineup. He was mostly a non factor in the game, earning one assist, and fans saved their scorn for Jaromir Jagr and Sean Avery.

Behind the scenes stuff that you’ll only read here
For each game the Sabres hosts a high school hockey team up in the pressbox. The youngsters view the action from the auxiliary box in the corner and get to watch Lindy’s conference from the back of the interview room.

As I walked into the room tonight, there was Rob Ray, microphone in hand ready to do his MSG intro, he is cracking jokes with the players, and at one point calls out one of the teammates for his shaggy mop of long hair. I’m sitting a few feet away, and Rayzor turns to me and says “what are you smirking about?”

I reply…”Just wondering if you will critique my haircut?” He then pays me the ultimate compliment – “You’ve got a fine haircut, very professional.” At that moment WGR Radio’s Nick Mendola walks in. If you had seen Nick this morning, he had the full beard going to match his scruffy hair, but by tonight he was shorn and shaven and sporting this choir boy look. “How ’bout Mendola?” I call out to Ray. He apparently approved, telling the young hockey players “See this guy? Now that’s what a good looking haircut should look like.”

My partner Pete just got his first haircut in nine months. He would have savored the moment.

Zednik injury overshadows Sabres win.

As sports fans we tend to invest plenty of time, emotion, and money into sports, their leagues, and the teams and players that we follow. We celebrate long into the night after a big win. We lose sleep and feel sick to our stomach for days at a time following a gutwrenching loss. We bitch about a team that seems to be underacheiving and can’t hang onto late two goal leads, and we worry intensely about losing our pro football team. We spend hours poring over the successes and failures of our fantasy football teams, and plenty more filling out a gazillion bracket pools come every March. I could go on and on.

And every now and then, these same athletic events give us a moment in time that makes all the above seem incredibly irrelevant and somewhat silly by comparison.One of those moments took place in tonight’s game at about the halfway point of the third period of a tie game as Panther Olli Jokinen fell weirdly to the ice and in the process slashed the neck of his teammate Richard Zednik with a skate.

It happened so quickly that one would have to have been following closely to see it. The play had moved further down the ice when a huge collective gasp came from the crowd as Zednik raced frantically toward the Panther bench covering his neck as best he could while leaving a gory trail of blood from the spot where he had been slashed. It was a frightening scene better left for a horror flick, or maybe at the Aud about 1989ish.

I’d never heard the building so quiet, you could hear a pin….hell, you could hear a feather hit the ground at that moment. The game was delayed obviously, if nothing else to clear the ice of its newfound red color.

After about fifteen minutes the PA announcer stated that Zednik was stabilized and that brought a big cheer and standing ovation from the sellout crowd. A salute from the gallery for those who went right to work to keep a catastrophic injury, if not worse from occurring.

The game ended soon after, and it was easy to see that players’ minds weren’t fully on hockey at that moment. None moreso than Jokinen who clearly seemed to be shaken and despondent about it to the point where he went off at a reporter for asking a question “how scared were you” deemed unworthy by him.

Lindy was more matter of fact in his post game comments. “We’re going to have to finish…I don’t if you
(the players) can put yourself in the right mindset because after that, it wasn’t about the game.”

The Zednik incident overshadowed what was a darned good effort by the Sabres in getting a 5-3 win over the Panthers. Special teams were successful in converting three power play goals, two of them coming in the third stanza to break a 3-3 deadlock. And Patrick Kaleta scored his first career NHL goal on a tip in of a blast from Adam Mair. Said Kaleta “When I heard the buzzer go off I did a little swoop to the ice and did a Lambeau Leap into the boards”.

At last report, Zednik is in surgery at Buffalo General in stable condition.

The W keeps the Sabres just one point out of eighth place in the standings, next up is a road game in Ottawa.

Morning Skate – Sabs/Bruins 2/8/08

Just about everybody was on the ice this morning at HSBC Arena as the Buffalo Sabres get ready to face the Boston Bruins tonight in a showdown game.

Just how important is this game? “Every game is important” said Coach Lindy Ruff to the media following the practice. But this one looms large. Given up for dead just three weeks ago, the team could forge a tie for 8th place tonight with a regulation win, and that puts the boys right back in the playoff mix.

Tim Connolly skated today, and Coach Ruff reported that they had a long meeting with Connolly just yesterday, and are monitoring his progress very closely. From the looks of things, Connolly might be ready to go in time for Sunday’s game against Florida. Maxim Afinogenov, however, is a whole other story, and it looks like his recovery has actually regressed.

The other guy on the sudden “sick list” is Dmitri Kalinin, who did not practice this morning and is apparently under the weather. Ruff stated that Kalinin should be OK for tonight, but if not then Nathan Paetsch will be pressed into service on the blue line.

One of the guys adding a huge physical presence on the ice is Patrick Kaleta, and if the Sabres suddenly become totally healthy, he might be sent back to Rochester, and from where I’m watching, that would be a bad thing. His style of play is rubbing off on the entire team.

Ryan Miller will be looking for his 100th career NHL victory tonight… he got 99 in Wednesday’s shootout win over the Devils. And speaking of that shootout, Henrik Tallinder made history with his awesome goal, when he became the first blueliner to ever attempt a shot in a shootout, and obviously, the first one to ever score a goal.

There are only a few scattered singles remaining, so look for another sellout tonight for a 7:30 start.