How about those Sabres!

[ottawasub]

Another win tonight. 2nd in the East now only behind Ottawa. Biron has won 12 in a row. They tried trading him a couple months ago but nobody was offering enough; now apparently Vancouver wants him but the price has obviously now gone up.

They`re playing solid on both offence and defence, the only weak link on the team is Afinogenov (when will they give up on him?). This team hasn`t made the playoffs since Hasek left, but it would take a total collapse for them to miss this year.

Not bad considering that they have one of the lowest payrolls in the NHL, and before the season started nearly every media "expert" picked them to finish near the bottom of the East. People were overrating how much losing Satan and Zhitnik would hurt, personally I think Satan is an overrated, selfish hotdog while Zhitnik is very solid- if he`s in the last year of a contract; otherwise he`s invisible. Buffalo is better off without those two.

 

[21pro]

Buffalo is 2nd in the Northeast, but 4th in the Conference. Can't see Vancouver wanting Biron unless it was for a back up role as Auld is playing just as good if not better then Biron and is much better stat wise.

A. Auld 21 12 6 1 2.65 .909

M. Biron 20 13 4 1 3.05 .898

but if you look at the trend.... Auld stats are weakening and Biron's are strengthening over the last 10 games...

in the long run, Biron is a better goaltender. not taking anything away from Auld, though. He's done a better job of stepping in than anyone imagined.

 

[GlavaMan]

The Sens could learn something from the Sabres.....like how to not take so many penalties!

 

[21pro]

truckloads of leaf fans make the trip to see budget NHL hockey and guess what happens?

they see how real hockey is played!

same goes for Ottawa and Montreal...(why i see maple leaf jerseys at these games when the leafs aren't even in town is beyond me)

What's next, NYC?

 

[Scenicdrive]

Go Sabres!!!

The Sabres are the only thing that the Buffalo fans can cheer on this year. They play like they are on fire. If this is the trend, look for them to go far and deep into NHL playoffs. I hope they do not meet the Senators in playoffs though, as the Senators seem to jinx them so far. May be it is because of 'The Diminator' Hasek has the Sabres' number.

 

[Scenicdrive]

Watch Out Ottawa Senators!!!

The feisty Sabres are catching up!!! With an 8 to 5 win over the Defending Stanley Cup Champ Tampa Bay Lightening, the Sabres (85) are only 2 points behind the first place Ottawa Senators (87) in the Northeast division of Eastern Conference. Hasek is still hurting and without a solid goaltender in net, the Senators may not be able to hang on for too long.

 

[the boy wonder]

The Sabres are the only thing that the Buffalo fans can cheer on this year. They play like they are on fire. If this is the trend, look for them to go far and deep into NHL playoffs. I hope they do not meet the Senators in playoffs though, as the Senators seem to jinx them so far. May be it is because of 'The Diminator' Hasek has the Sabres' number.

Actaully they have the Buffalo Bandits(bandits.com the excellent Lacrosse team there aswell

They play the Toronto Rock at the HSBC arena saturday night, and Unlike the Make Believes the ROCK can actually win in Buffalo

like the leafs/sabres games these rock/bandit game are always fun to watch!

 

[ottawasub]

The feisty Sabres are catching up!!! With an 8 to 5 win over the Defending Stanley Cup Champ Tampa Bay Lightening, the Sabres (85) are only 2 points behind the first place Ottawa Senators (87) in the Northeast division of Eastern Conference. Hasek is still hurting and without a solid goaltender in net, the Senators may not be able to hang on for too long.

I would love to see the Sabres overtake Ottawa for first place just to see all the Sens fans here get upset about it; but it`s not a priority. Don`t wear yourselves out going after a meaningless 1st place spot and then have nothing in the tank at playoff time. 1st place is sometimes a bad thing because you have to play #8 and that`s usually a team who got hot at the end of the year beating out other teams for that last spot and carried that over into the playoffs.

 

[licka daclit]

If the season were to end today I believe the Sabres would play the Flyers in the first round. That would be great. The Sabres have owned to Flyers in the playoffs the last few times the have meet.

 

[A-ROD]

I go to about 20 Sabre games every year. They have a young and fast team. They are a perfect example of a well coached team. Their star player is Chris Drury, a third liner with Colorado, yet, he seems to be carrying this team to the next level.
They are a little week on defence but can explode out of their own end like there is no tomorrow.
They should be able to make it into the second round. I also believe that if they have to meet Ottawa they are a good match for them.

 

[Hard Idle]

Saber Questions:

I go to about 20 Sabre games every year. They have a young and fast team... .

Can you imagine where they would be if they had a healthy Briere playing up to his potential in the No-Redline NHL??

As it is, despite a more offensive league, the Sabers are successful without a single point-per-game player and only Kotalik having borderline 1st line stats.

Their GAA is skewed by Biron's horrible start. After that it seems their defensive performance is better than last year relative to increased scoring in the League as whole.

From the outside it would appear that taking a chance on (+12) Tommi Lydman's health has paid big dividends.

Seeing Lydman play 7 times with the Flames in '04 was the same as 7 games in the Olympics - there were no shots or passes completed from the Left Wing when he's on the ice. What are your obesravtions of him in all the Sabers' games you've seen??

 

[Choron]

I would love to see the Sabres overtake Ottawa for first place just to see all the Sens fans here get upset about it; but it`s not a priority. Don`t wear yourselves out going after a meaningless 1st place spot and then have nothing in the tank at playoff time. 1st place is sometimes a bad thing because you have to play #8 and that`s usually a team who got hot at the end of the year beating out other teams for that last spot and carried that over into the playoffs.

dude ottawa is in second in the East...Carolina is still in first....

 

[Scenicdrive]

I go to about 20 Sabre games every year. They have a young and fast team. They are a perfect example of a well coached team. Their star player is Chris Drury, a third liner with Colorado, yet, he seems to be carrying this team to the next level.
They are a little week on defence but can explode out of their own end like there is no tomorrow.
They should be able to make it into the second round. I also believe that if they have to meet Ottawa they are a good match for them.

In many ways, the good doc thinks the Sabres surprised even themselves by doing so well. I do think the team now believes that it can go deep into playoffs. Keeping Biron as the backup goalie is a good sign to that direction. Whether they think they can win the Stanley Cup this time is anybody’s guess. It will be nice if they would further fortify their defense by trading for a playoff caliber defenseman. In the end, that was not done. Perhaps the decision makers want to tell the team that they have enough to win the way they are and it is not worth the while tempering with team chemistry now.

The Sabres had high hopes for defenseman Dimitri Kalinin. So far he has been a disappointment. He is back from injuries. If he plays up to his potential, the Sabres’ defense will improve. It has been more fun than sorrow watching them play so far. Hope better times are ahead for them.

 

[ottawasub]

In many ways, the good doc thinks the Sabres surprised even themselves by doing so well.

Supposedly Golisano`s top priority this year was to keep the payroll low enough to qualify for revenue sharing and then spend that money on players next season. Making the playoffs was the secondary priority and wasn`t expected.

Majority of their key guys have been players they drafted and kept in Rochester for awhile to hone their skills. Compare that with Pittsburgh spending big $$ on over-the-hill free agents and filling out the roster with kids who aren`t ready for the NHL yet.