NHL:EHM - Bringing Glory to the Buffalo Sabres

[NoSkillz]

I was just a lowly regional scout for the NHL's Buffalo Sabres, anonymously going about my business in Southern Ontario's Niagara Region. My claim to fame in the short period of time on the job was the fact that I recommended local product Daniel Paille to GM Darcy Regier, saying the Guelph Storm prospect had 'future captain' written all over him. Regier thought so highly of my opinion that he drafted Paille with the 20th overall pick in the first round of the 2002 NHL Draft. I was literally on cloud nine!

My elation was tempered by the fact that the Sabres were in financial disarray. The team was bankrupt, as owner John Rigas had been charged with illegally siphoning over a billion dollars from his major holding, Adelphia Cable. The NHL took over operation of the Sabres during the 2002-03 season and went looking for a new owner. Salvation came when Thomas Golisano, founder and CEO of the Rochester, N.Y.-based Paychex Inc, stepped forward to become owner of the club on March 14, 2003.

Like all staff, I was called in to meet with Mr. Golisano and his Managing Director, Larry Quinn, after the ownership change had been made official. We talked about the club, my thoughts on hockey strategy, ways to improve our scouting system and many other topics for over two hours. He ended the conversation by congratulating me on Paille, who was on his way to scoring 30 goals in only 54 OHL games for Guelph. "You have a great eye for talent Mr. Bosela", Golisano said. "I think you're a big part of the future here." After the requisite handshakes, I left, thinking things went really well. Little did I know how well things had gone...

Everyone had heard the rumours about GM Darcy Regier; he had an impossible job during the tumultuous 2002/03 campaign, trying to maintain order with a team devoid of funds. He was looking for something secure and found it when the Canadian National Team came calling for a General Manager. The Sabres were now on solid ground, but this was a position Regier couldn't turn down. He submitted his resignation right after the 2003 NHL Entry Draft.

I was summoned to Golisano's office the next week. "We share the same beliefs regarding the direction of this franchise, Matt. We also share the same tactical philosophies, the need to bring attacking hockey back to the city of Buffalo. Your educational background in finance is also a huge plus for a team operating in a small market. Before he left, Darcy spoke glowingly of the work you've done in a scouting capacity and felt that you were more than capable of stepping into a bigger role." I sat in complete silence. "Matt, Larry and I would like to offer you the opportunity to become General Manager of the Buffalo Sabres."

My dream had come true...

[NoSkillz]

Buffalo Sabres 1970-2003: A Brief History

The NHL officially came to Buffalo on Dec. 2, 1969, when the league awarded Seymour and Northrup Knox the franchise that would soon be named "Sabres." The brothers wasted little time in hiring George "Punch" Imlach, formerly of the Toronto Maple Leafs, as the team's first Head Coach and General Manager. In June 1970, the Sabres won the first pick in the NHL Entry Draft over the other expansion team in Vancouver, and Imlach selected highly touted center Gilbert Perreault from the Montreal Jr. Canadiens. Perreault lived up to his advance billing, scoring 38 goals in his rookie season en route to winning the Calder Trophy as the NHL's Rookie of the Year.

Another Junior Canadien, left winger Rick Martin, joined Perreault on the team's front line as the Sabres' top pick in 1971. That dominating duo turned trio when Rene Robert was acquired from the Pittsburgh Penguins near the end of the 1971-72 season. The line of Martin-Perreault-Robert would be dubbed "The French Connection" and would become one of the most dominating scoring lines in the history of the NHL.

By 1974-75, the young team was maturing and finished the season with a 49-16-15 record - still the best single-season record in franchise history. Buffalo defeated Chicago in the first round of the playoffs and followed that with a second-round victory over Montreal to earn its first-ever berth in the Stanley Cup Finals vs. Philadelphia. The Flyers defeated the Sabres in a very memorable six game series but the loss did not blemish the accomplishment of a team which had only been in the league for five years.

One of the most memorable moments in the franchise's first decade occurred Jan. 4, 1976, when the Sabres played the powerful Soviet Wings in an exhibition game at The Aud. With Cold War tensions still running high, the game had an intensity level far beyond the average regular-season game. Buffalo put on a dominating performance, defeating the Wings 12-6 in what ranked at the time as the worst-ever loss by a Soviet team in international competition.

The Sabres had an opportunity to hire one of the game's all-time coaching greats, Scotty Bowman, and did so in 1979. In his first season as Head Coach, Bowman led the Sabres to the Wales Conference Finals before they lost in six games to the eventual Stanley Cup Champion New York Islanders. Bowman finished with an impressive 210-134-60 mark as Sabres coach.

General Manager Bowman spent the next few seasons revamping the Sabres' lineup, adding dynamic young players such as Mike Ramsey, Phil Housley, Mike Foligno, Dave Andreychuk and Tom Barrasso. Those players formed the core of some successful teams, and helped continue the tradition of winning hockey.

Through the good times and the bad times, there was always Gilbert Perreault. Linemates Robert and Martin had both been traded by the early 1980s, but the original Sabre remained and continued to flourish. On March 9, 1986, Perreault and an Aud full of fans celebrated together as the franchise's favorite son scored his 500th career goal, making him the 12th player in history (at the time) to reach that milestone. Four years later, in 1990, Perreault was immortalized with induction into Hockey's Hall of Fame. This would be an omen of better things to come for the franchise.

Five-time Stanley Cup Champion John Muckler was chosen in 1991 to be the team's Director of Hockey Operations and soon assumed the title of head coach. He was instrumental in acquiring Pat LaFontaine from the Islanders in October 1991, arguably the greatest trade in franchise history. LaFontaine teamed with Russian Alexander Mogilny to form a dynamic duo that combined to score 129 goals in 1992-93, including a franchise-record 76 goals from Mogilny. Buffalo capped that season by sweeping the Bruins in the first round of the playoffs to post its first playoff series win in 10 years.

That playoff excitement was just a precursor to Game Six of the 1994 Eastern Conference Quarter Finals vs. the New Jersey Devils. Buffalo won that game 1-0 in four overtimes on a goal by Dave Hannan. Dominik Hasek posted an incredible 70 saves in the victory, playing the entire 125:43 without allowing a goal. Following that season, Hasek would win the first of two consecutive Vezina Trophies as the NHL's top goaltender. But that would only set the stage for the 1996-97 season.

Before it even started, the 1996-97 campaign was already one of the most memorable in team history. On a sad note, the season would represent the first without founder Seymour H. Knox, III, who passed away in the spring of 1996. It would also represent the first time in the team's history that it would have new uniforms (red and black replaced blue and gold) as well as a new state-of-the-art arena (HSBC Arena replaced Memorial Auditorium). The Sabres shocked many of the so-called experts by winning the Northeast Division; the team's first-such title since winning the Adams Division championship in 1981. The end of the season also brought many notable achievements off the ice. The Sabres were the stars of the NHL's postseason awards banquet. Hasek won the Hart Trophy as league MVP, the first time a goalie had achieved such a feat since 1962. For good measure, Hasek also took home his third Vezina in four years, an equally stunning feat. Michael Peca, a 23-year-old center in just his second full season, joined Craig Ramsay as the only Sabres to win the Selke Trophy, symbolic of the league's best defensive forward. Ted Nolan won the Jack Adams Award as the Coach of the Year.

Turmoil in the front office during the offseason led to the departures of both Nolan and Muckler. Darcy Regier was hired as General Manager and Lindy Ruff was named head coach at the start of the season, and led Buffalo to the Eastern Conference Finals. The Sabres eventually fell to the Capitals in six games, but their performance marked the team's best playoff finish since 1980. Hasek once again shone brightly, taking home his fourth Vezina Trophy and becoming the first goaltender ever to win two consecutive Hart Trophies. Earlier in the year, Hasek had also been instrumental in leading the underdog Czech Republic to a Gold Medal at the Winter Olympic Games in Nagano, Japan. The year ended on a sad note when team co-founder Northrup Knox passed away in July 1998. The Knox brothers persistence in acquiring a franchise and their determination to keep it in Buffalo will forever resonate with hockey fans in Western New York. Shortly before his death, Knox orchestrated the sale of the team to John Rigas of Adelphia Cable Communications.

Buffalo returned to the Eastern Conference Final the following year, this time facing its geographical rival, the Toronto Maple Leafs. In what would be known as the Cross-Border Series, the Sabres defeated Toronto 4-1 to reach the Stanley Cup Finals for just the second time in team history. The Dallas Stars would be the Sabres' opponent and the two teams proved to be evenly matched in the lowest-scoring Stanley Cup in history. With Buffalo trailing 3 games to 2 in Game Six, Brett Hull slid the puck past Hasek in the third overtime to clinch the Cup for the Stars. Replays would later show that Hull's skate was in the crease, but officials let the goal stand to the dismay of Sabres fans.

Buffalo celebrated its 30th anniversary season in the NHL in 1999-2000 with the impressive rookie debuts of Martin Biron and Maxim Afinogenov. Their development, combined with the late-season additions of veterans Doug Gilmour and Chris Gratton enabled the Sabres to continue their winning ways as they began their fourth decade of play in the NHL.

The 2000-01 campaign will be remembered as one of the most successful seasons in recent memory as the Sabres won the fourth-most games in team history (46). Once again, Miroslav Satan led the team in goals scored and total points in the regular season and had a stellar postseason with three goals, a team-high 10 assists and 13 total points. Dominik Hasek continued to prove why he was one of the best goalies in the NHL, posting a 34-24-4 record with 2.11 goals against and 11 shutouts en route to his sixth Vezina Trophy.

Despite not making the playoffs in 2001-02, the Sabres were one of the better teams in the NHL over the second half of the season. Strong offensive years from Satan, Stu Barnes and Tim Connolly as well as the emergence of Taylor Pyatt late in the year were just a few of the bright spots of the season.

The 2002-03 season was bleak in Buffalo, as the franchise went into bankruptcy. The NHL was forced to take over operations of the club until new ownership was found. The season saw Lindy Ruff became the team's all-time winningest head coach after a 5-2 win over Philadelphia on Feb. 18, 2003. Ales Kotalik broke onto the scene by scoring 21 goals, the second most by a rookie in 2002-03 while Satan once again led the Sabres in goals, assists and points. B. Thomas Golisano became the Sabres' owner in March and brought a new enthusiasm level to the franchise. The acquisitions of Daniel Briere (at the 2002-03 trade deadline), Jeff Jillson, Mike Grier and Chris Drury have raised expectations for the 2003-04 campaign.

[NoSkillz]

September 2003: Buffalo Sabres Training Camp

The first order of business was to pour over my roster and decide who to invite to my first training camp. Here is the list of players segregated by position, along with brief notes on each guy, starting with our netminders:

Training Camp Roster: Goaltending


Martin Biron, 26 years old, 6'2", 168 lbs, Shoots Left, Canadian
Drafted First Round (#16) by Buffalo in 1995
2002/03 Stats: Buffalo (NHL) 54GP 17-28-6 2.56GAA 4 SO
NHL Totals: 194GP 75-85-20 2.42GAA 15 SO
Coming off his worst professional season, Martin needs to develop more consistency if he's to become a top-drawer keeper. I want him to hate giving up goals; too often he seems disinterested. On the plus side, he is a workhorse, is quite acrobatic, and is popular in Buffalo.

Ryan Miller, 23 years old, 6'2", 150 lbs, Shoots Left, American
Drafted Fifth Round (#138) by Buffalo in 1999
2002/03 Stats: Buffalo (NHL) 15GP 6-8-1 2.63GAA 1 SO
Rochester (AHL) 47GP 23-18-5 2.34GAA 2 SO
NHL Totals: 15GP 6-8-1 2.63GAA 1 SO
A late round pick turned Super Prospect, Miller won the Hobey Baker Award (Top Player in NCAA) in 2001. Wiry goaltender, very acrobatic, extremely aggressive, but needs work positionally to be successful at top level. May be ready this year.

Mika Noronen, 24 years old, 6'2", 196 lbs, Shoots Left, Finnish
Drafted First Round (#21) by Buffalo in 1997
2002/03 Stats: Buffalo (NHL) 16GP 4-9-3 2.42GAA 1 SO
Rochester (AHL) 19GP 5-9-5 2.82GAA 2 SO
NHL Totals: 28GP 10-12-4 2.53GAA 1 SO
Mika has never really had a chance to shine, stuck behind Biron and Hasek in the organizational depth chart. With the development of Miller, Noronen again looks to be third in line. Pretty consistent player, good workrate.

Pre-Training Camp Thoughts:
I want to give Miller a chance to earn the job. If he does win it, I'll be forced to trade either Biron or Noronen, since neither can be sent to the farm club in Rochester without going on waivers. If Miller doesn't perform well, he can get sent down to the AHL for another year of development.

[NoSkillz]

Training Camp Roster: Defensemen

Brad Brown (RD), 27 years old, 6'4", 220 lbs, Shoots Right, Canadian
Drafted First Round (#18) by Montreal in 1994
2002/03 Stats: Minnesota (NHL) 57GP 0g 1a 1pt -1 90PIM
NHL Totals: 287GP 2g 24a 26pts -18 681PIM
Big, physical defenseman who is good in his own zone. Has no offensive skill whatsoever and is a below average skater. A depth player.

Brian Campbell (LD), 24 years old, 6'0", 190 lbs, Shoots Left, Canadian
Drafted Sixth Round (#156) by Buffalo in 1997
2002/03 Stats: Buffalo (NHL) 65GP 2g 17a 19pts -8 20PIM
NHL Totals: 114GP 6g 24a 30pts -12 38PIM
Small, skilled offensive defenseman with great skating and puckhandling skills. Doesn't possess a great shot, however, and is often overmatched in his own zone. Former Canadian Junior Player of the Year in 1999. Needs to get better defensively, bulk up and develop consistency.

Brian Chapman (LD), 35 years old, 6'1", 195 lbs, Shoots Left, Canadian
Drafted Fourth Round (#74) by Hartford in 1986
2002/03 Stats: Manitoba (AHL) 60GP 3g 14a 17pts 65PIM
NHL Totals: 3GP 0g 0a 0pts +0 29PIM
Destined for Rochester. Will provide depth and leadership on the farm team.

David Cullen (RD), 26 years old, 6'2", 209 lbs, Shoots Right, Canadian
Not Drafted
2002/03 Stats: Houston (AHL) 72GP 2g 27a 29pts 42PIM
NHL Totals: 19GP 0g 0a 0pts -7 6PIM
Like myself, born in St. Catharines, Ontario. Another player signed to provide depth in Rochester. Decent offensive skills.

Rory Fitzpatrick (RD), 28 years old, 6'2", 215 lbs, Shoots Right, American
Drafted Second Round (#47) by Montreal in 1993
2002/03 Stats: Buffalo (NHL) 36GP 1g 3a 4pts -7 16PIM
Rochester (AHL) 41GP 5g 11a 16pts 65PIM
NHL Totals: 94GP 1g 6a 7pts -25 50PIM
Third year with the Sabres organization. Has provided depth over that time, racking up tons of mileage travelling back and forth from Rochester. Good leader, average skills both offensively and defensively. Likely will captain Rochester this season.

Doug Janik (LD), 23 years old, 6'2", 209 lbs, Shoots Left, American
Drafted Second Round (#55) by Buffalo in 1999
2002/03 Stats: Buffalo (NHL) 6GP 0g 0a 0pts +1 2PIM
Rochester (AHL) 75GP 3g 13a 16pts 120PIM
NHL Totals: 6GP 0g 0a 0pts +1 2PIM
Has developed nicely over past two years in AHL but may never be more than a depth player. Below average offensively but pretty solid in own zone and tough.

Jeff Jillson (RD), 23 years old, 6'3", 220 lbs, Shoots Right, American
Drafted First Round (#14) by San Jose in 1999
2002/03 Stats: San Jose (NHL) 26GP 0g 6a 6pts -7 9PIM
Cleveland/Providence (AHL) 49GP 7g 16a 23pts 38PIM
NHL Totals: 74GP 5g 19a 24pts -5 38PIM
Acquired in trade for Curtis Brown, Jillson has fantastic offensive potential while having great size as well. Has an absolute howitzer of a slapshot but makes poor decisions with the puck and still is learning about his defensive responsibilities. Should be in Sabres lineup this year.

Ryan Jorde (RD/RW), 21 years old, 6'3", 223 lbs, Shoots Right, Canadian
Drafted Ninth Round (#279) by Buffalo in 2001
2002/03 Stats: Rochester (AHL) 70GP 0g 2a 2pts 136PIM
NHL Totals: None
Big, strong defenseman/winger. Not an offensive threat at all, will likely be a career minor leaguer.

Dmitri Kalinin (LD), 23 years old, 6'3", 215 lbs, Shoots Left, Russian
Drafted First Round (#18) by Buffalo in 1998
2002/03 Stats: Buffalo (NHL) 65GP 8g 13a 21pts -7 57PIM
Rochester (AHL) 1GP 0g 0a 0pts 0PIM
NHL Totals: 206GP 14g 42a 56pts -15 125PIM
Developing into a two-way force at the backend. Aggressive player with very good off-the-puck movement. Can play a lot of hockey without tiring. Still takes careless penalties but age will help in that regard. Has potential to be a 40-50 point per year player and will play on top defensive unit this year.

Jay McKee (LD), 26 years old, 6'4", 212 lbs, Shoots Left, Canadian
Drafted First Round (#14) by Buffalo in 1995
2002/03 Stats: Buffalo (NHL) 59GP 0g 5a 5pts -16 49PIM
NHL Totals: 464GP 10g 67a 77pts +39 372PIM
Injuries and an inability to adjust to the new NHL rules on obstruction contributed to McKee's worst year in the NHL. At his best, he's one of the stronger defensive players in the league, with great hitting ability and good leadership. While he put up points in junior from the backend, he's never realized his offensive potential in the NHL. Top four defenseman.

Rick Mrozik (LD), 28 years old, 6'2", 185 lbs, Shoots Left, American
Drafted Sixth Round (#136) by Dallas in 1993
2002/03 Stats: Calgary (NHL) 2GP 0g 0a 0pts +0 0PIM
Saint John (AHL) 68GP 2g 10a 12pts 46PIM
NHL Totals: 2GP 0g 0a 0pts +0 0PIM
Signed as a free agent and will play in Rochester. Strictly a depth player for organization.

Nathan Paetsch (LD/RD), 21 years old, 6'0", 195 lbs, Shoots Left, Canadian
Drafted Seventh Round (#202) by Buffalo in 2003
2002/03 Stats: Moose Jaw (WHL) 59GP 15g 39a 54pts 81PIM
NHL Totals: None
Was originally a first round pick of Washington but re-entered the draft this year. Solid offensive defenseman who will have to become better in his own zone before getting an opportunity with the big club. His first professional season will see him in Rochester.

James Patrick (RD), 40 years old, 6'2", 202 lbs, Shoots Right, Canadian
Drafted First Round (#9) by New York Rangers in 1981
2002/03 Stats: Buffalo (NHL) 69GP 4g 12a 16pts -3 26PIM
NHL Totals: 1225GP 145g 483a 628pts +93 747PIM
One of the oldest players in the NHL; had a great year for the Sabres last year, playing much more than anticipated. Once a feared offensive force from the blueline, now a solid defensive backliner with good instincts. Age has taken it's toll, however: he is among the slowest players in the league now. Coach material.

Henrik Tallinder (RD), 24 years old, 6'3", 210 lbs, Shoots Left, Swedish
Drafted Second Round (#48) by Buffalo in 1997
2002/03 Stats: Buffalo (NHL) 46GP 3g 10a 13pts -3 28PIM
NHL Totals: 48GP 3g 10a 13pts -4 28PIM
Unheralded defensive backliner impressed last year with his sound positioning and smart play. Rarely out of position and doesn't make mistakes; one of those guys you don't notice in games because he isn't flashy but just does his job. Should be a lock for top-six in Buffalo.

Alexei Zhitnik (RD), 30 years old, 5'11", 215 lbs, Shoots Left, Russian
Drafted Fourth Round (#81) by Los Angeles in 1991
2002/03 Stats: Buffalo (NHL) 70GP 3g 18a 21pts -5 85PIM
NHL Totals: 814GP 77g 291a 368pts -37 928PIM
One of the true workhorses in the league, averaging over 26 minutes played per game. Never lived up to his vast offensive potential but developed into a nasty, physical defenseman. Ultra-smooth skater with great passing ability but age hasn't cured his tendency to take dumb penalties and make boneheaded plays. An unrestricted free agent after the year is over, we may have to look at trading him. #1 Defenseman.

Pre-Training Camp Thoughts:
Zhitnik, Kalinin, McKee and Tallinder are locks. Jillson, Campbell, Brown and Patrick will likely fight for other spots in the lineup. Longshots include Janik and Fitzpatrick while the other guys are either career minor leaguers or green prospects. My hope is that Jillson impresses in camp, because I'm lacking offense from the backline and he has the most potential in the organization.

[sachmo71]

Impossible task, but good luck.



I kid because I love! No goal and all of that! :D

[NoSkillz]

Training Camp Roster: Forwards

Maxim Afinogenov (RW/LW), 24 years old, 6'0" 190 lbs, Shoots Left, Russian
Drafted Third Round (#69) by Buffalo in 1997
2002/03 Stats: Buffalo (NHL) 35GP 5g 6a 11pts -12 21PIM
NHL Totals: 259GP 56g 65a 121pts -24 171PIM
Highly skilled offensive player that I'll have to introduce to his own end (no defensive awareness). Blazing speed, slick moves and wicked shot bring fans out of their seats but he hasn't shown the finishing ability possessed by the greats. Post-concussion syndrome sidelined him for over half the 2002/03 campaign.

Milan Bartovic (RW/LW), 22 years old, 5'11" 192 lbs, Shoots Left, Slovakian
Drafted Second Round (#35) by Buffalo in 1999
2002/03 Stats: Buffalo (NHL) 3GP 1g 0a 1pts +0 0PIM
Rochester (AHL) 74GP 18g 10a 28pts 84PIM
NHL Totals: 3GP 1g 0a 1pts +0 0PIM
Stocky, agitating forward in the Vaclav Varada mold. Good workrate but green offensively. Would like to see him explode offensively in Rochester to develop confidence before playing in the NHL.

Jason Botterill (LW/RW), 27 years old, 6'4" 220 lbs, Shoots Left, Canadian
Drafted First Round (#20) by Dallas in 1994
2002/03 Stats: Buffalo (NHL) 17GP 1g 4a 5pts +1 14PIM
Rochester (AHL) 64GP 37g 22a 59pts 105PIM
NHL Totals: 69GP 3g 8a 11pts -16 75PIM
First round flop in Dallas turned AHL star in Rochester. Played well in call-up to Buffalo and will be in running for a fourth line spot this year.

Eric Boulton (LW), 27 years old, 6'0" 222 lbs, Shoots Left, Canadian
Drafted Ninth Round (#234) by New York Rangers in 1994
2002/03 Stats: Buffalo (NHL) 58GP 1g 5a 6pts +1 178PIM
NHL Totals: 128GP 4g 10a 14pts -1 401PIM
Team enforcer. Solid enough defensive player ensures he's not a liability on the ice.

Daniel Briere (C/LW), 25 years old, 5'10" 178 lbs, Shoots Right, Canadian
Drafted First Round (#24) by Phoenix in 1996
2002/03 Stats: Phoenix/Buffalo (NHL) 82GP 24g 34a 58pts -20 62PIM
NHL Totals: 272GP 77g 81a 158pts -18 158PIM
Trade deadline steal in March for enigma Chris Gratton, Briere put up 12 points in 14 games in Buffalo. Small, highly skilled forward with great nose for net. Will be on one of top two offensive lines and could become a fan favourite here.

Tim Connolly (C), 22 years old, 6'1" 182 lbs, Shoots Right, American INJURED FOR THREE MONTHS
Drafted First Round (#5) by New York Islanders in 1999
2002/03 Stats: Buffalo (NHL) 80GP 12g 13a 25pts -28 32PIM
NHL Totals: 325GP 46g 99a 145pts -63 152PIM
Look up 'Enigma' in the dictionary and you'll find Connolly's picture. Unbelievably skilled, with jaw-dropping one-on-one moves, great passing skills and smooth skating ability. Completely one-dimensional player: doesn't compete for puck, has never shown interest in defensive assignments and is pushed off the puck easily. Had a terrible year and suffered severe concussion in summer: out for at least three months. The Islanders rushed him into league too quickly and this is going to be a project.

Chris Drury (C/LW), 27 years old, 5'10" 180 lbs, Shoots Right, American
Drafted Third Round (#72) by Quebec in 1994
2002/03 Stats: Calgary (NHL) 80GP 23g 30a 53pts -9 33PIM
NHL Totals: 394GP 108g 167a 275pts +15 222PIM
Just arrived in deal for Rhett Warrener and Steven Reinprecht. Former Calder Trophy winner as NHL Rookie of the Year, Drury is a well known 'big-game' player, with slick moves, great awareness and budding leadership skills. A complete player who will vie for club captaincy in his first year with the Sabres.

J.P. Dumont (RW/LW), 25 years old, 6'1" 205 lbs, Shoots Left, Canadian
Drafted First Round (#3) by New York Islanders in 1996
2002/03 Stats: Buffalo (NHL) 76GP 14g 21a 35pts -14 44PIM
NHL Totals: 303GP 79g 84a 163pts -22 168PIM
Big, hard hitting forward with immense offensive potential, but running out of time. Huge scorer in junior has battled consistency problems in pro career and loses track of defensive assignments at times. I want this guy to succeed and will pair him with fellow Quebecer Daniel Briere in hopes of realizing his scoring potential.

Paul Gaustad (C/LW), 21 years old, 6'4" 217 lbs, Shoots Left, American
Drafted Seventh Round (#220) by Buffalo in 2000
2002/03 Stats: Buffalo (NHL) 1GP 0g 0a 0pts +0 0PIM
Rochester (AHL) 80GP 14g 39a 53pts 137PIM
NHL Totals: 1GP 0g 0a 0pts +0 0PIM
Nice story here, as Gaustad was drafted as future enforcer but he developed his offensive skills in junior and was extremely impressive in his first pro year last season. Could eventually earn a spot on the roster if he continues to improve.

Mike Grier (LW), 28 years old, 6'1" 227 lbs, Shoots Right, American
Drafted Ninth Round (#219) by St. Louis in 1993
2002/03 Stats: Washington (NHL) 82GP 15g 17a 32pts -14 36PIM
NHL Totals: 530GP 96g 119a 215pts +16 328PIM
Ninth round pick that worked his butt off to become solid NHL'er. Strong as an ox, impossible to beat on the boards, with great defensive awareness. Doesn't possess 'great hands', which means third line duty. Went to college with Drury and should fit in well on this club.

Jochen Hecht (LW), 26 years old, 6'1" 200 lbs, Shoots Left, German
Drafted Second Round (#49) by St. Louis in 1995
2002/03 Stats: Buffalo (NHL) 49GP 10g 16a 26pts +4 30PIM
NHL Totals: 269GP 58g 86a 144pts +37 166PIM
One of the most underrated players in the league and a personal favourite, Hecht will get a chance to shine under my watch. Excellent defensively with very good puck and skating skills. Never makes mistakes and is always working. Only knock on him is that he's been prone to injury in his career. He will play in all circumstances, including the powerplay and hopefully I can get him Selke Trophy recognition.

Ales Kotalik (RW), 24 years old, 6'1" 217 lbs, Shoots Right, Czech
Drafted Sixth Round (#164) by Buffalo in 1998
2002/03 Stats: Buffalo (NHL) 68GP 21g 14a 35pts -2 30PIM
Rochester (AHL) 8GP 0g 2a 2pts 4PIM
NHL Totals: 81GP 22g 17a 39pts -3 32PIM
Great find in draft, as Kotalik literally came out of nowhere to post 21 goals in his rookie season and finish fourth in Calder Trophy voting. Lightning quick release means he'll likely avoid a sophomore slump, and he's a solid, responsible defensive player. I'd like to move him over to left wing because of our tremendous depth on the right side.

Adam Mair (C/LW), 24 years old, 6'2" 215 lbs, Shoots Right, Canadian
Drafted Third Round (#84) by Toronto in 1997
2002/03 Stats: Buffalo (NHL) 79GP 6g 11a 17pts -4 146PIM
NHL Totals: 131GP 8g 14a 22pts -4 229PIM
Made great impression in his first year with Buffalo; fearless with a motor that never stops. Will fight for his teammates, has great leadership ability and is excellent defensively. Underrated skater, but very limited offensively. Perfect fourth line centre.

Sean McMorrow (RW/LW), 21 years old, 6'4" 214 lbs, Shoots Right, Canadian
Drafted Eighth Round (#258) by Buffalo in 2000
2002/03 Stats: Buffalo (NHL) 1GP 0g 0a 0pts +0 0PIM
Rochester (AHL) 64GP 0g 1a 1pt 315PIM
NHL Totals: 1GP 0g 0a 0pts +0 0PIM
Converted defenseman who will be an enforcer in Rochester. Injury prone in junior and lacks skill.

Norm Milley (LW/RW), 23 years old, 6'0" 200 lbs, Shoots Right, Canadian
Drafted Second Round (#47) by Buffalo in 1998
2002/03 Stats: Buffalo (NHL) 8GP 0g 2a 2pts -2 6PIM
Rochester (AHL) 67GP 16g 32a 48pts 39PIM
NHL Totals: 13GP 0g 3a 3pts -2 6PIM
Milley isn't developing as well as originally thought; he's coming off his finest professional campaign but more was expected of the two time junior 50-goal scorer. Will compete for a fourth line role on club.

Jiri Novotny (C/RW), 20 years old, 6'2" 194 lbs, Shoots Right, Czech
Drafted First Round (#22) by Buffalo in 2001
2002/03 Stats: Rochester (AHL) 43GP 2g 9a 11pts 14PIM
NHL Totals: None
Had a disasterous first season in North America, as he had trouble adjusting to life in a new country. Defensively sound, but not panning out offensively. Will need to gain confidence in Rochester.

Andrew Peters (LW/RW), 23 years old, 6'4" 223 lbs, Shoots Left, Canadian
Drafted Second Round (#34) by Buffalo in 1998
2002/03 Stats: Rochester (AHL) 57GP 3g 0a 3pts 223PIM
NHL Totals: None
Monstrous player who has served as Rochester's enforcer for his three years in professional hockey. Very limited from a skill standpoint but is a great fighter and won't hurt us defensively. Whoever recommended him as a second round pick should have been fired! Could contend for our enforcer spot this year.

Domenic Pittis (C/LW), 28 years old, 5'11" 190 lbs, Shoots Left, Canadian
Drafted Second Round (#52) by Pittsburgh in 1993
2002/03 Stats: Nashville (NHL) 2GP 0g 0a 0pts +0 2PIM
Milwaukee (AHL) 30GP 11g 21a 32pts 65PIM
NHL Totals: 82GP 5g 11a 16pts -7 67PIM
Signed as a free agent and will compete for our third line centre job due to Connolly's injury. Scored 104 points in Rochester a few years back and has never received a fair chance to showcase skills in the NHL.

Jason Pominville (RW/C), 20 years old, 6'0" 178 lbs, Shoots Right, Canadian
Drafted Second Round (#55) by Buffalo in 2001
2002/03 Stats: Rochester (AHL) 73GP 13g 21a 34pts 16PIM
NHL Totals: None
High scoring junior player coming off decent first pro season in Rochester. Will hopefully light it up in the AHL this year and force his way into my plans next season in Buffalo. Highly touted prospect.

Taylor Pyatt (LW), 22 years old, 6'4" 222 lbs, Shoots Left, Canadian
Drafted First Round (#8) by New York Islanders in 1999
2002/03 Stats: Buffalo (NHL) 78GP 14g 14a 28pts -8 38PIM
NHL Totals: 204GP 28g 38a 66pts -21 112PIM
The gentle giant. Has been a whipping boy for Buffalo fans due to his lack of a mean-streak, perhaps unfairly. Came over in trade with Connolly for fan favourite Michael Peca. Pyatt is impossible to beat on the boards and is good defensively but hasn't shown any consistency with his offense in the NHL. Like Connolly, was rushed to the NHL too soon by the Islanders, but will be given a chance to play on a top line. Another guy I want to succeed.

Derek Roy (C), 20 years old, 5'9" 186 lbs, Shoots Left, Canadian
Drafted Second Round (#32) by Buffalo in 2001
2002/03 Stats: Kitchener (OHL) 49GP 28g 50a 78pts 73PIM
NHL Totals: None
Top prospect in the organization, along with 2003 draft pick Thomas Vanek. Roy won the Memorial Cup MVP for his playoff performance with Kitchener in 2003 and the third line spot on the Sabres is his to lose going into camp. Gritty, agitating player with great creativity and awareness in both ends of the rink. Would like to see him develop in Rochester but may be forced to play him due to Connolly's injury.

Miroslav Satan (RW/LW), 28 years old, 6'3" 190 lbs, Shoots Left, Slovakian
Drafted Fifth Round (#111) by Edmonton in 1993
2002/03 Stats: Buffalo (NHL) 79GP 26g 49a 75pts -3 20PIM
NHL Totals: 622GP 230g 232a 462pts +55 247PIM
Easily the most talented player on the squad. Feared sniper, with great one-on-one moves, quick release and fantastic puck skills. Not a liability defensively, but lacks ideal work ethic, is moody, and isn't as consistent as other top players. However, when he's hot, he's unstoppable. I want to team him with Chris Drury and let them cause havoc for other teams.

Chris Taylor (C/RW), 31 years old, 6'2" 192 lbs, Shoots Left, Canadian
Drafted Second Round (#27) by New York Islanders in 1990
2002/03 Stats: Buffalo (NHL) 11GP 1g 3a 4pts -1 2PIM
Rochester (AHL) 61GP 12g 55a 67pts 44PIM
NHL Totals: 95GP 5g 15a 20pts -3 26PIM
Solid scorer in the minors but hasn't translated to the NHL. Will get a chance to compete with Roy and Pittis for the third line centre job. Good playmaker with solid defensive skills.

Pre-Training Camp Thoughts:
I've got ideas on my top two lines already: Briere centring Hecht and Dumont on a scoring line and Drury centring Satan and Kotalik on the other. I'm not sure how Kotalik will react to playing the left side but if he gets upset, I'll move Satan over to the left. Pyatt and Afinogenov will likely play on the third line with either Roy, Pittis or Taylor. It's Roy's job to lose: if he has a decent camp, he's the guy. Fourth line will see Mair centring Grier and a rotating crew of right wingers (Boulton, Peters, Botterill, Milley and Taylor will get consideration).

[NoSkillz]

Sunday October 5, 2003

The preseason ended last night with us losing a heartbreaker to Calgary 3-2. Marty Biron let in the winning goal from an awful angle with only 9 seconds left in the game. We ended up an even 4-4-1 in our nine preseason games.

Training camp and the preseason games allowed us to look at a number of players vying for positions on the team. Unfortunately, I was disappointed in the efforts of most players that were 'on the bubble'.

I had hoped that Jeff Jillson would step up and show the promise expected of him; Jillson was awful in his five games, notching no points and a -6 rating. Since he's exempt from waivers, I'll be sending him down to Rochester so he can gain some confidence.

I had also given rookie Derek Roy every opportunity to earn the third line centre job but again was left disappointed. Roy had only one assist in six games and was a -1. Domenic Pittis didn't do much himself, gaining two assists while posting an awful -5 mark but in the end I think the team will be better off with Pittis staying in Buffalo for now. Roy can learn the trade in Rochester and he'll be the first guy I call up if things go awry or if Pittis isn't producing.

Some positives did come out of camp with respect to goaltending; Ryan Miller was solid in allowing only seven goals in three games and he'll get the start on opening night in New Jersey. I'll carry three goaltenders for now just to be safe.

Tactically, we went with an up-tempo, high energy system. Here are the details:

Mentality: Attacking
Off. System: Skating
Off. Zone: Crash the Net
Forecheck: High
Defensive Coverage: Zone
Backchecking: Hard
Pressing: Normal (Road), High (Home)
Hitting: Hard (Skill Teams), Normal (Other Teams)
Boardplay: Power

Here are the stats from the 2003 Preseason: ('*' = Rookie)


PLAYER GP G A PTS +/- PIM
Miroslav Satan 7 5 3 8 5 2
J.P. Dumont 6 0 6 6 4 0
Chris Drury 6 3 2 5 3 2
Jochen Hecht 6 3 2 5 2 0
Ales Kotalik 7 3 2 5 -4 2
Taylor Pyatt 7 2 3 5 3 2
Daniel Briere 6 1 3 4 4 6
*Jason Pominville 4 2 1 3 2 0
Brian Campbell 6 0 3 3 5 10
Jason Botterill 5 1 1 2 0 4
Maxim Afinogenov 7 2 0 2 -4 2
Domenic Pittis 7 0 2 2 -5 8
David Cullen 2 1 0 1 1 0
Rick Mrozik 2 0 1 1 2 0
*Nathan Paetsch 2 0 1 1 2 2
*Norm Milley 3 1 0 1 0 9
Adam Mair 6 1 0 1 2 4
Mike Grier 6 1 0 1 0 4
Dmitri Kalinin 6 0 1 1 4 4
Henrik Tallinder 6 0 1 1 0 2
*Derek Roy 6 0 1 1 -1 2
Brian Chapman 1 0 0 0 0 2
*Ryan Jorde 1 0 0 0 1 0
Sean McMorrow 1 0 0 0 0 0
Jiri Novotny 1 0 0 0 0 0
*Doug Janik 2 0 0 0 1 0
*Paul Gaustad 2 0 0 0 0 4
Rory Fitzpatrick 3 0 0 0 2 4
*Andrew Peters 3 0 0 0 0 9
Eric Boulton 3 0 0 0 -2 4
James Patrick 4 0 0 0 2 2
Brad Brown 4 0 0 0 0 13
Chris Taylor 4 0 0 0 -2 4
*Milan Bartovic 5 0 0 0 0 2
Alexei Zhitnik 6 0 0 0 2 12
Jeff Jillson 6 0 0 0 -6 2
Jay McKee 6 0 0 0 -10 6

PLAYER GP W L T GAA SV%
*Ryan Miller 3 1 1 1 2.33 .926
Mika Noronen 3 2 1 0 2.33 .919
Martin Biron 3 1 2 0 3.00 .909

We were fortunate to not lose any players during the waiver draft. The fact that we have the youngest team in the NHL helped us, as I only had about five players that were eligible after I submitted my protected list. Here is how the team looks as we prepare for our opening night game in New Jersey, taking place in four nights:

Forwards:
J. Hecht D. Briere J.P. Dumont
A. Kotalik C. Drury M. Satan
T. Pyatt D. Pittis M. Afinogenov
M. Grier A. Mair J. Botterill
Spares: E. Boulton, C. Taylor

Defensemen:
D. Kalinin A. Zhitnik
J. McKee H. Tallinder
B. Campbell B. Brown
Spare: J. Patrick

Goaltenders:
R. Miller
M. Biron
Spare: M. Noronen

On Tap Next Week:
Thursday October 9, 2003: at New Jersey
Saturday October 11, 2003: vs New York Islanders

[NoSkillz]

Monday October 6, 2003

Chris Drury got injured in practice today (shoulder contusion) and is doubtful for our season opener in New Jersey. This causes problems, as Drury was going to be named captain for the month of October (I'm going with a rotating captaincy right now). If Drury can't go, I'll call up Derek Roy and slot him into the second line centre position.

Thursday October 9, 2003: Buffalo Sabres at New Jersey Devils

Drury still isn't ready to go, unfortunately, so Roy is in the opening night lineup:

OPENING NIGHT LINEUP
LW C RW LD RD
J. Hecht D. Briere J.P. Dumont A. Zhitnik D. Kalinin
T. Pyatt D. Roy M. Satan J. McKee B. Brown
A. Kotalik D. Pittis M. Afinogenov B. Campbell H. Tallinder
M. Grier A. Mair J. Botterill
GOAL: R. Miller

TEAM 1 2 3 TOT
Buffalo 1 1 1 3 (L: R. Miller 0-1-0)
New Jersey 1 3 2 6 (W: C. Schwab 1-0-0)
--------------------------------------------------------------------
GOALS:
Buffalo: J. Botterill, A. Mair, T. Pyatt
New Jersey: J. Friesen (2), G. Marshall (2), B. Rafalski, S. Brylin
--------------------------------------------------------------------
SHOTS: POWERPLAY:
Buffalo: 24 Buffalo: 0-3
New Jersey: 42 New Jersey: 0-5
--------------------------------------------------------------------
STARS:
1. J. Friesen (NJ) 2g
2. B. Rafalski (NJ) 1g
3. S. Gomez (NJ) 2a

Nothing went right tonight, as Jersey just swarmed us all night with shot after shot. Ryan Miller seemed overmatched in goal and I pulled him three minutes into the third period with us down 5-2. Derek Roy got an assist in his first NHL game on Pyatt's goal. Jason Botterill had an eventful night too, scoring the first goal of the game and also getting a game misconduct penalty for kneeing.

Friday October 10, 2003

Well, Jason Botterill has been suspended for three games for the kneeing incident last night. I'm appealing the decision but it looks like he's going to be out of the lineup for my home opener tomorrow night.

Saturday October 11, 2003: New York Islanders at Buffalo Sabres

I want Chris Drury in the lineup and will play him injured against the Islanders. Jason Botterill will have to sit out while the league goes over my appeal, so I'll have Domenic Pittis play RW on the fourth line. I decided to send Ryan Miller down to the farm; maybe I'm being a bit quick with the trigger but he looked awful that first game. Martin Biron will start in net.

TEAM 1 2 3 TOT
N.Y. Islanders 0 0 1 1 (L: R. DiPietro 0-1-0)
Buffalo 0 2 0 2 (W: M. Biron 1-0-0)
--------------------------------------------------------------------
GOALS:
N.Y. Islanders: M. Czerkawski
Buffalo: J.P. Dumont (2)
--------------------------------------------------------------------
SHOTS: POWERPLAY:
N.Y. Islanders: 25 N.Y. Islanders: 0-3
Buffalo: 27 Buffalo: 2-6
--------------------------------------------------------------------
STARS:
1. J.P. Dumont (BUF) 2g
2. M. Biron (BUF) 24 saves
3. A. Zhitnik (BUF) 1a

Much better performance, with Dumont finally scoring after getting shutout in the preseason. Chris Drury got an assist in his first game as a Sabre and Biron was solid in goal.

We've got a home game on Monday night against Phoenix and then go on the road for six games, our longest trip of the year.

On Tap Next Week:
Monday October 13, 2003: vs. Phoenix Coyotes
Thursday October 16, 2003: AT VANCOUVER CANUCKS
Saturday October 18, 2003: AT EDMONTON OILERS

[NoSkillz]

Monday October 13, 2003: Phoenix Coyotes at Buffalo Sabres

The NHL took one game off Botterill's suspension so he'll be back for the road trip. I go with the exact same lineup as the Islanders game.


TEAM 1 2 3 TOT
Phoenix 0 1 0 1 (L: B. Boucher 0-2-0)
Buffalo 1 1 1 3 (W: M. Biron (2-0-0)
----------------------------------------------------------
GOALS:
Phoenix: T. Nash
Buffalo: T. Pyatt, M. Grier, J.P. Dumont (EN)
----------------------------------------------------------
SHOTS: POWERPLAY:
Phoenix: 19 Phoenix: 0-3
Buffalo: 29 Buffalo: 1-5
----------------------------------------------------------
STARS:
1. M. Biron (BUF) 1ga 18 saves
2. B. Boucher (PHO) 2ga 26 saves
3. J. McKee (BUF) 2a +2

Pretty tight game but another good one. I sent Derek Roy (3GP 0g 1a 1pt) down to the minors after the game, as Jason Botterill has finished serving his suspension and Chris Drury is back to full fitness. Big road trip ahead.

Thursday October 16, 2003: Buffalo Sabres at Vancouver Canucks

Botterill is back in as the fourth line RW and Domenic Pittis steps into the third line centre position.

TEAM 1 2 3 TOT
Buffalo 1 0 1 2 (L: M. Biron 2-1-0)
Vancouver 2 1 1 4 (W: D. Cloutier 2-1-0)
----------------------------------------------------------
GOALS:
Buffalo: M. Satan, M. Grier
Vancouver: M. Naslund, T. Bertuzzi, S. Salo, M. Cooke
----------------------------------------------------------
SHOTS: POWERPLAY:
Buffalo: 28 Buffalo: 0-3
Vancouver: 36 Vancouver: 1-7
----------------------------------------------------------
STARS:
1. E. Jovanovski (VAN) 0pts
2. T. Bertuzzi (VAN) 1g 1a +1
3. D. Cloutier (VAN) 1ga 27 saves

Can't get too upset about this one, as Vancouver is a fine club. Taylor Pyatt, Martin Biron and Brian Campbell had '6' ratings, which qualifies as below average to me.

Saturday October 18, 2003: Buffalo Sabres at Edmonton Oilers

I'll give Biron a rest and give the netminding honours to Mika Noronen tonight. I'm also putting James Patrick in on defense for Brad Brown.

TEAM 1 2 3 TOT
Buffalo 1 1 0 2 (W: M. Noronen 1-0-0)
Edmonton 0 0 0 0 (L: J. Markkanen 1-2-0)
------------------------------------------------------------
GOALS:
Buffalo: M. Afinogenov, B. Campbell
Edmonton: None
------------------------------------------------------------
SHOTS: POWERPLAY:
Buffalo: 23 Buffalo: 1-6
Edmonton: 27 Edmonton: 0-4
----------------------------------------------------------
STARS:
1. M. Noronen (BUF) Shutout 27 saves
2. M. Afinogenov (BUF) 1g 1a +1
3. J. Markkanen (EDM) 2ga 21 saves

First shutout of the season, and on the road to boot. Jochen Hecht (2a) joined Afinogenov with a multipoint game. Excellent effort all around and a nice start to the road trip for us.

On Tap Next Week:
Monday October 20, 2003: AT CALGARY FLAMES
Thursday October 23, 2003: AT SAN JOSE SHARKS
Friday October 24, 2003: AT LOS ANGELES KINGS
Sunday October 26, 2003: AT MINNESOTA WILD

[NoSkillz]

Monday October 20, 2003: Buffalo Sabres at Calgary Flames

We're going to put Biron back in net for tonight's game. Other than that, the lineup remains the same as in Edmonton.

TEAM 1 2 3 TOT
Buffalo 1 4 1 6 (L: M. Biron 2-2-0)
Calgary 1 3 5 9 (W: M. Kiprusoff (2-1-0)
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
GOALS:
Buffalo: J.P. Dumont (2), J. Hecht (2), A. Mair, M. Satan
Calgary: C. Simon (2), S. Yelle, R. Warrener, S. Donovan, J. Iginla, S. Reinprecht, S. Montador, M. Gelinas
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
SHOTS: POWERPLAY:
Buffalo: 23 Buffalo: 2-5
Calgary: 45 Calgary: 2-5
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
STARS:
1. R. Warrener (CAL) 1g 2a +1
2. D. McCammond (CAL) 2a
3. J. Leopold (CAL) 2a +2

The fans must have loved this one, but a G.M. just pulls his hair out. No defense, no goaltending, no win. Kiprusoff was bad for Calgary too. Jochen Hecht (2g 1a), Daniel Briere (2a) and Maxim Afinogenov (2a) joined J.P. Dumont with multipoint games. Biron, Dimitri Kalinin & Alexei Zhitnik (both -4) were given '5' ratings. Hopefully, this is just an abberation...time will tell.

Wednesday October 22, 2003

Defenseman Alexei Zhitnik came down with a groin injury in practice today and the doctors say he'll be out for about three weeks. This means Brad Brown will get out of the press box for the San Jose game tomorrow night.

Thursday October 23, 2003: Buffalo Sabres at San Jose Sharks

Mika Noronen is going in the net after Biron's dismal performance on Monday night. I've shuffled up the defense a bit too, putting the steady Henrik Tallinder with the struggling Dimitri Kalinin, who is a -7 in only 6 games.

TEAM 1 2 3 TOT
Buffalo 2 0 1 3 (L: M. Noronen 1-1-0)
San Jose 2 1 3 6 (W: E. Nabokov (3-3-0)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
GOALS:
Buffalo: D. Briere, J. Hecht, M. Satan
San Jose: N. Dimitrakos (2), M. Ricci, M. Michalek, P. Marleau, R. Reichel
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
SHOTS: POWERPLAY:
Buffalo: 23 Buffalo: 0-2
San Jose: 41 San Jose: 0-4
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
STARS:
1. N. Dimitrakos (SJ) 2g 1a +1
2. K. McLaren (SJ) 1a +1
3. M. Michalek (SJ) 1g 1a +2

Another disastrous performance by my defense. It was tied at three with about ten minutes remaining before they scored three unanswered before the final whistle. Veteran James Patrick (-2) and Ales Kotalik (-4) were given '5' ratings in the game. I'm going to have to take a serious look at my tactics in the next couple games, as I'm giving up entirely too many shots.

Changes need to be made, so I'm going to fly in a couple of the kids from the farm club to play in tomorrow's game against Los Angeles. Defenseman Jeff Jillson (6GP 2g 2a 4pts +2 in Rochester) and rookie centre Derek Roy (4GP 4g 2a 6pts +3 in Rochester) will be pressed into action.

Friday October 24, 2003: Buffalo Sabres at Los Angeles Kings

I made a number of lineup changes in light of our recent stuggles. Ales Kotalik was demoted to the third line with Taylor Pyatt and Roy. Maxim Afinogenov will move up to the first line alongside Chris Drury and Miroslav Satan. Jillson will take James Patrick's place while Domenic Pittis will also sit down.

TEAM 1 2 3 TOT
Buffalo 2 1 0 3 (L: M. Biron 2-3-0)
Los Angeles 2 3 1 6 (W: R. Cechmanek 6-0-0)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
GOALS:
Buffalo: D. Roy, A. Kotalik, M. Afinogenov
Los Angeles: Z. Palffy, T. Klatt, L. Robitaille, E. Belanger, A. Carter, I. LaPerriere
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
SHOTS: POWERPLAY:
Buffalo: 27 Buffalo: 1-5
Los Angeles: 37 Los Angeles: 0-3
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
STARS:
1. A. Carter (LA) 1g 3a +4
2. L. Robitaille (LA) 1g 1a +2
3. E. Belanger (LA) 1g +1

Boy oh boy are we playing poorly right now. I'm definitely changing our tactics after watching this horror show. The forechecking system seems great at home but too aggressive on the road. The only positives in this 'performance' were those provided by Roy, who scored his first NHL goal, and Jillson, who had an assist in his official debut as a Sabre. Ales Kotalik (1g 1a) had a multipoint game, answering his demotion with a decent game. Martin Biron again was subpar, garnering a '5' rating.

Sunday October 26, 2003: Buffalo Sabres at Minnesota Wild

Well, we're currently 1-4-0 on the road trip and morale is low. I made some tactical changes for this game, going with a one-man passive forecheck as opposed to sending two men in. Hopefully that will eliminate some of the chances in our end of the rink. I'm only making one lineup change, throwing in tough guy Eric Boulton for the first time this season. I think we're being taken advantage of a bit and Boulton will ensure that our finesse players are protected.

TEAM 1 2 3 TOT
Buffalo 1 1 4 6 (W: M. Biron 3-3-0)
Minnesota 3 0 1 4 (L: M. Fernandez 0-3-1)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
GOALS:
Buffalo: M. Afinogenov, C. Drury, J. Hecht, T. Pyatt, A. Kotalik, J. Jillson
Minnesota: F. Kuba, M. Gaborik, A. Daigle, M. Chouinard
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
SHOTS: POWERPLAY:
Buffalo: 33 Buffalo: 1-5
Minnesota: 30 Minnesota: 1-5
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
STARS:
1. T. Pyatt (BUF) 1g 1a +3
2. J. Jillson (BUF) 1g 1a +4
3. M. Afinogenov (BUF) 1g 1a +1

Did we ever need this win! Down 3-1 after a period, I thought it was another one of those nights. However, Chris Drury finally scored his first Sabres goal late in the second to give us momentum then we stormed out of the gate in the third, scoring four times in eleven minutes. Jillson scored his first goal in a Buffalo uniform and was fantastic all night. Drury (1g 1a) and Ales Kotalik (1g 1a) also had multipoint nights. We finish off the longest road trip of the year with a 2-4-0 record and see our season record go to 4-5-0.

On Tap Next Week:
Tuesday October 28, 2003: vs. Colorado Avalanche
Thursday October 30, 2003: vs. Toronto Maple Leafs
Saturday November 1, 2003: AT OTTAWA SENATORS

[Johnny93g]

I think i know why your losing....................








THE SABRES SUCK!!!!!!!!

[NoSkillz]

Originally posted by Johnny93g
I think i know why your losing....................








THE SABRES SUCK!!!!!!!!

{cough}1967{cough}

:D ;)

[NoSkillz]

Tuesday October 28, 2003: Colorado Avalanche (3-6-0-0) at Buffalo Sabres (4-5-0-0)

I'm happy with how Derek Roy is fairing so far, so I'm rolling the dice and trying to send Domenic Pittis down to Rochester. Colorado comes into the game struggling quite a bit. We'll go with the exact same lineup as Sunday night.

TEAM 1 2 3 TOT
Colorado 1 2 1 4 (W: D. Aebischer 2-3-0)
Buffalo 2 0 0 2 (L: M. Biron 3-4-0)
------------------------------------------------------------
GOALS:
Colorado: S. Konowalchuk (3), M. Hejduk
Buffalo: A. Kotalik, J.P. Dumont
------------------------------------------------------------
SHOTS: POWERPLAY:
Colorado: 21 Colorado: 0-2
Buffalo: 28 Buffalo: 0-5
------------------------------------------------------------
STARS:
1. S. Konowalchuk (COL) 3g +3
2. J. Sakic (COL) 2a +2
3. J.P. Dumont (BUF) 1g

Blew the first period lead but played really solid defensive game. I put Jochen Hecht on Peter Forsberg and we completely held him in check. Unfortunately, every thing Steve Konowalchuk touched turned to gold. Martin Biron is just not playing well.

Wednesday October 29, 2003:

Well, that didn't take long: Domenic Pittis (7GP 0g 1a 1pt +0 0PIM) got taken away by the Pittsburgh Penguins off the waiver wire. Not a spectacular loss, but we could have used him in Rochester as organizational depth.

Thursday October 30, 2003: Toronto Maple Leafs (6-1-2-0) at Buffalo Sabres (4-6-0-0)

Big rival in town tonight...should be a sellout, with half the crowd coming from Canada to see their beloved first place Leafs. I'm gonna stick with Biron for this game, a historically strong player versus the Leafs. James Patrick will come in for Brad Brown.

TEAM 1 2 3 TOT
Toronto 1 2 0 3 (W: E. Belfour 4-1-2)
Buffalo 1 1 0 2 (L: M. Biron 3-5-0)
----------------------------------------------------------
GOALS:
Toronto: C. Kilger, J. Nieuwendyk, G. Roberts
Buffalo: M. Afinogenov, D. Briere
----------------------------------------------------------
SHOTS: POWERPLAY:
Toronto: 27 Toronto: 0-5
Buffalo: 21 Buffalo: 0-2
----------------------------------------------------------
STARS:
1. J. Nieuwendyk (TOR) 1g 1a +1
2. G. Roberts (TOR) 1g +1
3. D. Briere (BUF) 1g +2

That's five losses in six games to end the month for us. I HATE losing to Toronto in my own building! We're starting to keep the chances down for the opposition but aren't creating any of our own.

Friday October 31, 2003:

I decided to look over the stats year-to-date for the Sabres to see if anything stands out.

Buffalo Sabres Statistics (As of October 31, 2003):

POS PLAYER GP G A PTS +/- PIM PPG SHG GWG
LW Jochen Hecht 11 4 5 9 -2 0 1 0 0
RW Maxim Afinogenov 11 4 5 9 -3 2 1 0 1
RW Miroslav Satan 11 3 4 7 -8 4 0 0 0
C Chris Drury 10 1 5 6 -9 4 1 0 0
RW J.P. Dumont 11 6 0 6 -6 2 3 0 1
LW Taylor Pyatt 11 3 3 6 -1 0 0 0 0
RW Ales Kotalik 11 3 3 6 -4 2 0 0 1
C Daniel Briere 11 1 5 6 -3 10 0 0 0
LW Mike Grier 11 2 2 4 -2 15 0 0 1
C Adam Mair 11 2 2 4 -3 12 0 0 0
D Jay McKee 11 0 4 4 3 24 0 0 0
D Jeff Jillson 4 1 2 3 2 0 0 0 0
C *Derek Roy 7 1 2 3 5 2 0 0 0
D Brian Campbell 11 1 2 3 -6 8 1 0 0
LW Jason Botterill 6 1 1 2 -1 17 0 0 0
D Henrik Tallinder 11 0 2 2 2 0 0 0 0
D Dmitri Kalinin 11 0 2 2 -11 24 0 0 0
D Alexei Zhitnik 6 0 1 1 -8 4 0 0 0
D Brad Brown 8 0 1 1 -6 29 0 0 0
G Martin Biron 9 0 1 1 --- 0 0 0 0
G Ryan Miller 1 0 0 0 --- 0 0 0 0
LW Eric Boulton 3 0 0 0 -4 0 0 0 0
G Mika Noronen 4 0 0 0 --- 0 0 0 0
D James Patrick 4 0 0 0 -4 0 0 0 0
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
POS PLAYER GP W L T MIN GA GAA SHO SV%
G Martin Biron 9 3 5 0 472 29 3.69 0 .878
G Mika Noronen 4 1 1 0 143 9 3.78 1 .889
G Ryan Miller 1 0 1 0 43 5 6.98 0 .833

There is a LOT to be concerned with here: awful even-strength play is underlined by our poor plus/minus statistics and our goals against average is horrific (last in the NHL right now). We are near the top of the league in goals for, but it is meaningless in defeat.

Saturday November 1, 2003: Buffalo Sabres (4-7-0-0) at Ottawa Senators (5-3-0-0)

A couple changes to the lineup tonight: Jason Botterill is back in for Boulton and Brad Brown returns in James Patrick's place. I'm starting Mika Noronen in goal.

TEAM 1 2 3 TOT
Buffalo 0 0 1 1 (L: M. Noronen 1-2-0)
Ottawa 0 1 1 2 (W: M. Prusek 1-1-0)
----------------------------------------------------------
GOALS:
Buffalo: C. Drury
Ottawa: T. White, W. Redden
----------------------------------------------------------
SHOTS: POWERPLAY:
Buffalo: 24 Buffalo: 0-4
Ottawa: 42 Ottawa: 2-10
----------------------------------------------------------
STARS:
1. T. White (OTT) 1g 1a
2. M. Prusek (OTT) 1GA 23 saves
3. Z. Chara (OTT) 1a -1

The losses continue to mount for us; we were pretty undisciplined, with Ottawa seemingly on the powerplay for the entire game. I put in a complaint to the NHL after the game regarding the refereeing but was told that the league stood behind the officials. Mika Noronen was very strong in the loss. An 0-3 week is not was I needed at this point...I got an email from the board stating their displeasure over my results so far.

On Tap Next Week:
Wednesday November 5, 2003: vs. Florida Panthers
Friday November 7, 2003: vs. Montreal Canadiens
Saturday November 8, 2003: AT MONTREAL CANADIENS

[NoSkillz]

Wednesday November 5, 2003: Florida Panthers (3-8-1-0) at Buffalo Sabres (4-8-0-0)

It's the battle of the basement, as Florida is the only team worse than us in the Eastern Conference. They started out the year on fire, going 3-1-1 with a 9-1 victory over Detroit to their credit. However, they come into this game having lost 7 in a row. I'm going to keep Mika Noronen in there after his fine performance in defeat against Ottawa. Eric Boulton also goes back in for Jason Botterill. The biggest change I'm making though is with regard to the on-ice leadership. Keeping with our plan for a rotating captaincy, Chris Drury is giving way to Miroslav Satan for the rest of the month.

TEAM 1 2 3 TOT
Florida 1 1 1 3 (L: R. Luongo 2-8-1)
Buffalo 1 1 3 5 (W: M. Noronen 2-2-0)
-------------------------------------------------------------------
GOALS:
Florida: O. Jokinen, P. Trnka, K. Huselius
Buffalo: M. Afinogenov, M. Satan, A. Kotalik, J.P. Dumont, C. Drury
-------------------------------------------------------------------
SHOTS: POWERPLAY:
Florida: 34 Florida: 1-6
Buffalo: 29 Buffalo: 2-6
-------------------------------------------------------------------
STARS:
1. M. Satan (BUF) 1ga 1a +2
2. M. Afinogenov (BUF) 1g 1a
3. H. Tallinder (BUF) 2a +2

Obviously, Satan responded well to the new responsibilities and led the team to victory. I've gone to a left wing lock forechecking system but I'm still not impressed with all the shots I'm giving up. I still use an attacking mentality, which might have something to do with it. A win is a win! Maxim Afinogenov has been excellent since moving to the first line with Drury and Satan.

Friday November 7, 2003: Montreal Canadiens (4-6-3-0) at Buffalo Sabres (5-8-0-0)

Should be another big crowd in Buffalo tonight with Montreal in town. I'm going back to Martin Biron for the game in an effort to get him on track against his hometown team. Otherwise, the lineup from the Florida game remains intact.

TEAM 1 2 3 TOT
Montreal 1 2 2 5 (W: J. Theodore 4-5-3)
Buffalo 0 2 1 3 (L: M. Biron 3-6-0)
-----------------------------------------------------------
GOALS:
Montreal: S. Koivu (2), R. Zednik (2), A. Kovalev
Buffalo: J. Hecht, B. Brown, A. Kotalik
-----------------------------------------------------------
SHOTS: POWERPLAY:
Montreal: 24 Montreal: 1-7
Buffalo: 24 Buffalo: 0-3
-----------------------------------------------------------
STARS:
1. S. Koivu (MON) 2g 3a +3
2. A. Kovalev (MON) 1g 3a +3
3. R. Zednik (MON) 2g +1

It was the Saku Koivu show and we had no answer for him or Kovalev all night. Martin Biron was awful again, getting a '5' rating which I think was generous. Everyone else on my team was rated at '7' or above so the loss is on Biron. I gave him an official warning after the game for poor performance and he took it well, saying he will work hard to improve his play. Nice! We'll see how he does tomorrow night back in his hometown.

Saturday November 8, 2003: Buffalo Sabres (5-9-0-0) at Montreal Canadiens (5-6-3-0)

TEAM 1 2 3 TOT
Buffalo 0 3 2 5 (W: M. Biron 4-6-0)
Montreal 2 0 1 3 (L: M. Garon 1-2-0)
--------------------------------------------------------------
GOALS:
Buffalo: A. Kotalik, M. Afinogenov, C. Drury, D. Roy, J. Hecht
Montreal: J. Ward, R. Zednik, A. Dackell
--------------------------------------------------------------
SHOTS: POWERPLAY:
Buffalo: 32 Buffalo: 1-4
Montreal: 30 Montreal: 0-3
--------------------------------------------------------------
STARS:
1. A. Kotalik (BUF) 1g 1a
2. A. Dackell (MON) 1g 1a
3. D. Roy (BUF) 1g 1a +1

Biron responded nicely from my criticism to win for the first time in a couple weeks. Chris Drury and Maxim Afinogenov both had a goal and assist to join Kotalik and Roy with multiple point nights.

On Tap Next Week:
Wednesday November 12, 2003: vs. Pittsburgh Penguins
Friday November 14, 2003: vs. Philadelphia Flyers

[NoSkillz]

Wednesday November 12, 2003: Pittsburgh Penguins (6-6-1-0) at Buffalo Sabres (6-9-0-0)

The Penguins are playing quite well early in the season, as Mario Lemieux is healthy at the moment. I'm going to go with Noronen in net tonight and keep the rest of the lineup the same.

TEAM 1 2 3 OT TOT
Pittsburgh 1 2 1 0 4 (T: S. Caron 4-3-2)
Buffalo 2 0 2 0 4 (T: M. Noronen 2-2-1)
---------------------------------------------------------------
GOALS:
Pittsburgh: R. Fata (2), M. Lemieux, R. Malone
Buffalo: C. Drury (2), J. Hecht, M. Grier
---------------------------------------------------------------
SHOTS: POWERPLAY:
Pittsburgh: 22 Pittsburgh: 2-2
Buffalo: 39 Buffalo: 0-2
---------------------------------------------------------------
STARS:
1. R. Fata (PIT) 2ga 1a
2. C. Drury (BUF) 2g +1
3. R. Malone (PIT) 1g

We needed two goals in the last eight minutes to tie the game, as Sebastien Caron was spectacular for Pittsburgh. Can't fault the effort, although I'm just not getting any consistency with my goaltending.

Friday November 14, 2003: Philadelphia Flyers (5-7-2-0) at Buffalo Sabres (6-9-1-0)

The Flyers are having a tough go of it to start the season as well, coming off a shutout loss against the Rangers. These games against Philly are always physical, so Eric Boulton is in and Jason Botterill is out for my only lineup change. Martin Biron will get the start in net.

TEAM 1 2 3 TOT
Philadelphia 0 0 0 0 (L: S. Burke 3-2-1)
Buffalo 2 1 0 3 (W: M. Biron 5-6-0)
-------------------------------------------------------
GOALS:
Philadelphia: None
Buffalo: M. Grier, J.P. Dumont, M. Satan
-------------------------------------------------------
SHOTS: POWERPLAY:
Philadelphia: 24 Philadelphia: 0-5
Buffalo: 27 Buffalo: 1-3
-------------------------------------------------------
STARS:
1. M. Biron (BUF) SHO 24 saves
2. M. Grier (BUF) 1g +1
3. M. Satan (BUF) 1g +1

Hey, we're undefeated in three games! And a shutout against the Flyers! Not too shabby! Just a solid game all around and the result was much deserved. The only concern is the fact that Jay McKee, who's been excellent thus far, got kicked out of the game for injuring a Philly player with a knee-on-knee hit. I could be looking at a suspension.

Sunday November 16, 2003:

Jay McKee was given a two-game suspension from the NHL for the kneeing major, just like Jason Botterill got earlier in the season. We may not miss a beat, as it looks like Alexei Zhitnik will be ready to go tomorrow night after missing eleven games with a groin strain.

On Tap Next Week:
Monday November 17, 2003: AT OTTAWA SENATORS
Wednesday November 19, 2003: AT PITTSBURGH PENGUINS
Friday November 21, 2003: vs. Tampa Bay Lightning
Saturday November 22, 2004: AT ATLANTA THRASHERS

[NoSkillz]

Monday November 17, 2003: Buffalo Sabres (7-9-1-0) at Ottawa Senators (10-4-1-0)

The Sens have moved up near the top of the Eastern Conference standings by this point, having lost only one game in their last eleven. Alexei Zhitnik will move into the suspended Jay McKee's left defense position while the rest of the lineup remains unchanged.

TEAM 1 2 3 TOT
Buffalo 1 1 0 2 (L: M. Biron 5-7-0)
Ottawa 1 0 3 4 (W: P. Lalime 10-3-1)
----------------------------------------------------------
GOALS:
Buffalo: E. Boulton (2)
Ottawa: M. Hossa (2), B. Smolinski, C. Neil (EN)
----------------------------------------------------------
SHOTS: POWERPLAY:
Buffalo: 19 Buffalo: 0-3
Ottawa: 34 Ottawa: 0-5
----------------------------------------------------------
STARS:
1. B. Smolinski (OTT) 1g +1
2. M. Hossa (OTT) 2g
3. E. Boulton (BUF) 2g

This was a heartbreaker, as we had a 2-1 lead with less than five minutes remaining and just fell apart in letting in three goals (including an empty netter) before the final horn. There were no real poor performances out there; I thought we played a perfect road game until the end.

Wednesday November 19, 2003: Buffalo Sabres (7-10-1-0) at Pittsburgh Penguins (8-6-2-0)

The Penguins continue to roll, having won both games since we played our 4-4 draw last week. Mika Noronen gets the start, while the rest of the lineup stays the same.

TEAM 1 2 3 TOT
Buffalo 0 0 0 0 (L: M. Noronen 2-3-1)
Pittsburgh 3 1 1 5 (W: J.S. Aubin 5-3-0)
---------------------------------------------------------------
GOALS:
Buffalo: None
Pittsburgh: M. Kraft (2), R. Jackman, K. Koltsov, K. Buchberger
---------------------------------------------------------------
SHOTS: POWERPLAY:
Buffalo: 28 Buffalo: 0-8
Pittsburgh: 30 Pittsburgh: 0-3
---------------------------------------------------------------
STARS:
1. R. Jackman (PIT) 1g 2a +5
2. L. Pirjeta (PIT) 3a +3
3. J.S. Aubin (PIT) SHO 28 saves

Well, we've hit rock bottom. We were completely outclassed this game; we generated hardly any chances on our powerplay and our team as a whole weren't hitting anything. I pulled Noronen after he let in three goals in just over 10 minutes. I might have to look at bringing up Ryan Miller from Rochester. I gave Noronen a warning after the game and he agreed with my assessment of his performance. We'll see if he can bounce back.

Friday November 21, 2003: Tampa Bay Lightning (8-7-4-0) at Buffalo Sabres (7-11-1-0)

The dangerous Lightning come to town. I'm changing my tactics for this game, grudgingly going to a 'Neutral Zone Trap' forechecking system. I hate the trap but I'll likely need it against the likes of Martin St. Louis and Vincent Lecavalier. I'm going to stick with the 'Attacking' mentality, which as far as I'm concerned means I'm playing a 'counter-attack' style when matched with the trap. Jay McKee has finished serving his suspension and will be back in the lineup, not one second too soon! Alexei Zhitnik will revert back to the right side, with James Patrick getting scratched. The revolving door in goal means Biron is back in.

TEAM 1 2 3 TOT
Tampa Bay 1 0 0 1 (L: N. Khabibulin 6-5-4)
Buffalo 1 1 2 4 (W: M. Biron 6-7-0)
-------------------------------------------------------------
GOALS:
Tampa Bay: F. Modin
Buffalo: D. Briere (3), M. Satan
-------------------------------------------------------------
SHOTS: POWERPLAY:
Tampa Bay: 19 Tampa Bay: 1-3
Buffalo: 33 Buffalo: 1-4
-------------------------------------------------------------
STARS:
1. D. Briere (BUF) 3g +2
2. M. Satan (BUF) 1g 2a +2
3. J.P. Dumont (BUF) 2a +1

Wow, what a win this was. Emphatic to say the least! We totally dominated this one, holding an excellent offensive team to only 19 shots. Dmitri Kalinin (2a) joined the three stars listed above with a multipoint game. Really bad news came out of this one, however, as Maxim Afinogenov, who was playing the best hockey of his career (20GP 6g 8a 14pts +1) suffered a separated shoulder in the second period and will likely miss two months. I may have to look to the farm for help now.

Saturday November 22, 2003: Buffalo Sabres (8-11-1-0) at Atlanta Thrashers (6-7-2-0)

Tough game for me here, having to fly to Atlanta right after the big win vs. Tampa and play the next night. The Thrashers have had a light early schedule and have played decently, winning two in a row coming into this game. I'm forced to do a bunch of lineup juggling: defenseman Jay McKee, just one game removed from his NHL suspension, cut his leg in warmups and is out. I have to move Jeff Jillson to the left side and bring in Brad Brown, who hasn't seen much action lately. At forward, Jason Botterill will take the roster spot of the injured Maxim Afinogenov and will play on the fourth line with Adam Mair and Eric Boulton. Mike Grier moves up to the third line and will play RW alongside centreman Derek Roy and LW Taylor Pyatt. Ales Kotalik moves into Afinogenov's spot on the top line with Chris Drury and Miro Satan. The Hecht-Briere-Dumont line remains intact, as it has all season. Biron will start again in goal.

TEAM 1 2 3 TOT
Buffalo 0 2 2 4 (W: M. Biron 7-7-0)
Atlanta 1 0 1 2 (L: K. Lehtonen 3-3-2)
-----------------------------------------------------------
GOALS:
Buffalo: T. Pyatt (3), J.P. Dumont
Atlanta: I. Majesky, B. Lindsay
-----------------------------------------------------------
SHOTS: POWERPLAY:
Buffalo: 37 Buffalo: 1-10
Atlanta: 26 Atlanta: 0-3
-----------------------------------------------------------
STARS:
1. T. Pyatt (BUF) 3g +3
2. B. Lindsay (ATL) 1g
3. J.P. Dumont (BUF) 1g -1

Two road wins in a row makes for a happy general manager (and a happy board, who congratulated me after the game). We benefited from Atlanta's undisciplined play, taking it to them most of the game. Our offense continues to roll this year, with two hat tricks in two games.

On Tap Next Week:
Monday November 24, 2003: AT WASHINGTON CAPTIALS
Wednesday November 26, 2003: vs. Carolina Hurricanes
Friday November 28, 2003: vs. Washington Capitals
Saturday November 29, 2003: AT ST. LOUIS BLUES

[condors]

heyas, always nice to see a EHM:FE dynasty, take it easy on the flyers next time :)

[Johnny93g]

{cough}1967{cough}

:D ;)

Im sorry, my memory is a little fuzzy, the Sabres won the cup in 19NEVER ;)

[NoSkillz]

Originally posted by Johnny93g
Im sorry, my memory is a little fuzzy, the Sabres won the cup in 19NEVER ;)

Ahh...this is like the million back-and-forth's I've had with my Leaf-loving buddies after our own hockey games. :)

You are right...the Sabres haven't won a damn thing. But, I'd rather at least get to the dance (as they have in 1975 and 1999) then not get there at all.

In the end though, it's 'what have you done for me lately', and the Sabres have done nothing, missing the playoffs now for three years. I only hope I can change that in my 'fake universe'!

[NoSkillz]

Monday November 24, 2003: Buffalo Sabres (9-11-1-0) at Washington Capitals (14-7-1-0)

Washington is playing fantastic hockey right now and is in the midst of a five game winning streak. James Patrick will be slotted in for Brad Brown with the rest of the lineup remaining the same.

TEAM 1 2 3 TOT
Buffalo 0 1 2 3 (W: M. Biron 8-6-0)
Washington 1 0 1 2 (L: O. Kolzig 11-7-1)
----------------------------------------------------------
GOALS:
Buffalo: A. Kotalik, M. Grier, J. Hecht
Washington: B. Witt, J. Aulin
----------------------------------------------------------
SHOTS: POWERPLAY:
Buffalo: 25 Buffalo: 1-4
Washington: 33 Washington: 1-8
----------------------------------------------------------
STARS:
1. A. Kotalik (BUF) 1g 1a +1
2. B. Witt (WAS) 1g -1
3. J. Aulin (WAS) 1g +1

This was pretty tight, 1-1 with less than 8 minutes remaining, when Grier scored against his former team to give us the advantage. Jared Aulin struck back with 5 minutes left in the game, seemingly sending the game into extra time but Jochen Hecht was up to the challenge, slotting in a backhander 35 seconds later for our third win in a row. Rookie centre Derek Roy (2a) joined Ales Kotalik with a multipoint game.

Wednesday November 26, 2003: Carolina Hurricanes (9-11-1-0) at Buffalo Sabres (10-11-1-0)

Carolina have not been able to put together a good stretch of hockey yet, with a lot of wins following losses and vice-versa. Carolina is going with Kevin Weekes tonight, who is really struggling with a 4-10-1 record. I made a couple changes to my lineup for tonight's contest: defenseman Jay McKee is fully healed after cutting his leg a week ago and is back in for James Patrick. Jason Botterill has gone pointless in 7 games so he's giving way to rookie Milan Bartovic, a call-up from Rochester who posted 9 goals and 12 points in 13 games in the AHL so far this season.

TEAM 1 2 3 TOT
Carolina 3 1 0 4 (W: K. Weekes 5-10-1)
Buffalo 0 1 1 2 (L: M. Biron 8-7-0)
----------------------------------------------------------
GOALS:
Carolina: A. Ward, J. Williams, E. Cole, J. O'Neill
Buffalo: A. Kotalik, J. Jillson
----------------------------------------------------------
SHOTS: POWERPLAY:
Carolina: 23 Carolina: 0-4
Buffalo: 36 Buffalo: 0-9
----------------------------------------------------------
STARS:
1. E. Cole (CAR) 1g 2a +2
2. J. Williams (CAR) 1g 2a +3
3. A. Ward (CAR) 1g +1

Two things let us down here in a bid for our first four-game win streak: first, our powerplay was BAD, getting opportunity after opportunity without results; secondly, our goaltending was subpar again. Biron received yet another '5' rating and his inconsistency continues to be an issue. I can't take anything away from Cole and Williams, however: they were excellent for the Hurricanes.

Friday November 28, 2003: Washington Captials (14-9-1-0) at Buffalo Sabres (10-12-1-0)

The Capitals come back in the second game of a 'separated' home-and-home series (they lost to the Rangers on Wednesday night). I must be a masochist, as I'm sticking with the on-and-off Martin Biron for this game. The only other change sees Jason Botterill going in to play the left side on the fourth line in Eric Boulton's place.

TEAM 1 2 3 TOT
Washington 1 1 0 2 (L: O. Kolzig 11-9-1)
Buffalo 1 2 1 4 (W: M. Biron 9-7-0)
----------------------------------------------------------
GOALS:
Washington: B. Witt, M. Pettinger
Buffalo: M. Bartovic (2), D. Kalinin, A. Mair
----------------------------------------------------------
SHOTS: POWERPLAY:
Washington: 30 Washington: 0-4
Buffalo: 29 Buffalo: 0-7
----------------------------------------------------------
STARS:
1. M. Bartovic (BUF) 2g +1
2. M. Pettinger (WAS) 1g -1
3. B. Witt (WAS) 1g +1

Milan Bartovic responds to his callup with a fine game, scoring twice. Continuing his Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde routine, goaltender Martin Biron came through with an excellent rebuttal to the Carolina disaster. I'm getting a bit concerned with my sputtering powerplay: I'm scoring goals at a league leading clip right now but the lights seem to be off with the man-advantage. I may have to look at either changing my tactic or changing personnel.

Saturday November 29, 2003: Buffalo Sabres (11-12-1-0) at St. Louis Blues (10-9-3-0)

Tough back-to-backer here for me, as I have to fly to St. Louis immediately after our Washington win and play the next night against the Blues. Hopefully we get the same type of effort as we did last weekend in a similar circumstance. A positive is that the Blues are going with little used Reinhard Divis between the pipes. I've instructed my team to 'Shoot Low' and 'Crash the Net' for rebounds in this game after seeing some things stand out when scouting Divis. I'm going with Mika Noronen in net tonight to give Biron a rest; I'm not big on playing goalies on back-to-back nights. The rest of the lineup remains unchanged.

TEAM 1 2 3 TOT
Buffalo 3 2 1 6 (W: M. Noronen 3-4-1)
St. Louis 0 1 1 2 (L: R. Divis 2-6-0)
---------------------------------------------------------------
GOALS:
Buffalo: M. Satan (2), T. Pyatt, A. Kotalik, A. Mair, D. Briere
St. Louis: R. Low, P. Rheaume
---------------------------------------------------------------
SHOTS: POWERPLAY:
Buffalo: 31 Buffalo: 1-6
St. Louis: 36 St. Louis: 0-5
---------------------------------------------------------------
STARS:
1. M. Satan (BUF) 2g 1a +1
2. R. Low (STL) 1g 1a +1
3. A. Kotalik (BUF) 1g 1a -1

Yes! A fantastic victory on the road! My instruction to shoot low really seemed to work, as we cleaned up in front of their net all night! Noronen was excellent in goal and the entire team was given 'above average' ratings. Defenseman Jay McKee continued his stellar play on the backline this season, garnering 2 assists in the game to join Satan and the improving Kotalik as multiple point men. We've finally evened our record, as we're back at .500 for the first time since October 20th. The Board of Directors dropped me a line after the game, saying they were "absolutely thrilled with our impressive road victory". I hope we're on to something here!

Sunday November 30, 2003:

We've reached the end of a pretty successful month. Here's how the stats look:

Buffalo Sabres Statistics (As of November 30, 2003):

POS PLAYER GP G A PTS +/- PIM PPG SHG GWG
RW Miroslav Satan 25 7 14 21 -4 8 0 0 0
RW Ales Kotalik 25 9 8 17 -3 6 3 0 2
LW Jochen Hecht 25 8 9 17 -1 2 1 0 1
C Daniel Briere 25 5 12 17 5 24 1 0 1
RW J.P. Dumont 25 9 6 15 -6 6 5 0 2
RW Maxim Afinogenov 20 6 8 14 1 4 3 0 1
C Chris Drury 24 6 8 14 -12 8 1 0 0
LW Taylor Pyatt 25 7 6 13 1 4 0 0 1
D Jeff Jillson 18 2 9 11 2 16 0 0 0
C *Derek Roy 21 2 8 10 7 12 0 0 1
D Jay McKee 21 0 10 10 10 48 0 0 0
LW Mike Grier 25 5 4 9 -2 26 0 0 2
D Henrik Tallinder 25 0 7 7 8 2 0 0 0
D Dmitri Kalinin 24 1 5 6 -10 46 0 0 1
C Adam Mair 25 4 2 6 -3 16 0 0 0
D Brian Campbell 25 1 4 5 -8 12 1 0 0
LW Jason Botterill 13 1 3 4 1 21 0 0 0
RW *Milan Bartovic 3 2 1 3 2 2 0 0 0
LW Eric Boulton 12 2 1 3 -6 27 0 0 0
D Brad Brown 13 1 1 2 -9 46 0 0 0
D Alexei Zhitnik 14 0 2 2 -4 28 0 0 0
D James Patrick 10 0 1 1 -5 0 0 0 0
G Martin Biron 19 0 1 1 --- 0 0 0 0
G Ryan Miller 1 0 0 0 --- 0 0 0 0
G Mika Noronen 10 0 0 0 --- 0 0 0 0
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
POS PLAYER GP W L T MIN GA GAA SHO SV%
G Martin Biron 19 9 7 0 1048 53 3.03 1 .894
G Mika Noronen 10 3 4 1 409 23 3.37 1 .898
G Ryan Miller 1 0 1 0 43 5 6.98 0 .833

November can only be deemed a success for us, as we went 8-5-1 during the month to climb back into the thick of things. We really seemed to turn things around after going to the 'Attacking Trap' tactic for the Tampa Bay victory. We've scored 23 goals in those 6 games (a not too shabby 3.83 Goals Per Game) and only allowed 13. The club went an excellent 8-4-1 with Miroslav Satan as our captain and I'm not really keen on making changes to a hot team (we've won five of our last six games). Satan stepped up his production as well, with 14 points in 14 November games. Ales Kotalik was also good, scoring a team-high 6 goals in the month along with 5 assists. Chris Drury was the only player who dropped off a bit and I'm concerned with his very poor plus/minus rating. On defense, Jay McKee, Henrik Tallinder and Jeff Jillson have been uniformly excellent all season and even Dmitri Kalinin seems to be coming around.

On Tap Next Week
Wednesday December 3, 2003: AT DETROIT RED WINGS
Thursday December 4, 2003: vs. Mighty Ducks of Anaheim
Saturday December 6, 2003: vs. Atlanta Thrashers

[NoSkillz]

Wednesday December 3, 2003: Buffalo Sabres (12-12-1-0) at Detroit Red Wings (12-10-3-0)

Now this is a good measuring stick for us, going into 'The Joe' against the feared Red Wings. Detroit has been uncharacteristically average this year and have allowed goals in bunches at times. Former Sabres superstar Dominik Hasek has been solid for the Wings but backup Manny Legace (3-6-0 with a GAA over 4.00) has really hurt them in the games he's played. Detroit must regret losing Curtis Joseph in the Waiver Draft to Washington earlier this year. Hasek is starting, so I've set my instructions to 'Shoot High'. The only change to my lineup from the St. Louis game is in goal, with Martin Biron getting the call against his former tutor.

TEAM 1 2 3 OT TOT
Buffalo 0 0 3 1 4 (W: M. Biron 10-7-0)
Detroit 0 0 3 0 3 (L: D. Hasek 9-5-3)
--------------------------------------------------------------
GOALS:
Buffalo: D. Briere, J.P. Dumont, J. Hecht, B. Campbell
Detroit: D. McCarty (2), K. Draper
--------------------------------------------------------------
SHOTS: POWERPLAY:
Buffalo: 29 Buffalo: 1-6
Detroit: 38 Detroit: 0-5
--------------------------------------------------------------
STARS:
1. B. Campbell (BUF) 1g 2a +3
2. D. Briere (BUF) 1g 1a +3
3. J.P. Dumont (BUF) 1g 1a +3

Overtime win in Detroit for the Sabres! What a game! Goaltending was strong on both sides through two periods and then the offenses took centre stage. J.P. Dumont tied the game up with three minutes left and then Brian Campbell topped off the best game of his career with an end-to-end rush in the opening minute of OT to give us the victory.

Thursday December 4, 2003: Mighty Ducks of Anaheim (11-9-3-1) at Buffalo Sabres (13-12-1-0)

The Ducks are very hot right now, having only lost once in their past nine games. My scouting staff says they lack mobility on D so I've asked my team to take the body hard in this game to cause some turnovers. I was told that Eric Boulton strained his groin in practice and will be out a week: not a big deal since he wasn't playing much anyway. I've made a couple of lineup changes, scratching the ineffective Dmitri Kalinin and inserting Brad Brown, while Mika Noronen gets the start in net.

TEAM 1 2 3 OT TOT
Anaheim 1 0 2 1 4 (W: J.S. Giguere 9-7-2)
Buffalo 0 2 1 0 3 (L: M. Noronen 3-5-1)
-----------------------------------------------------------------
GOALS:
Anaheim: T. Parssinen, J. Lupol, K. Carney, P. Sykora
Buffalo: J.P. Dumont, D. Roy, M. Satan
-----------------------------------------------------------------
SHOTS: POWERPLAY:
Anaheim: 13 Anaheim: 1-3
Buffalo: 23 Buffalo: 2-7
-----------------------------------------------------------------
STARS:
1. P. Sykora (ANA) 1g 1a +1
2. S. Ozolinsh (ANA) 2a +2
3. T. Parssinen (ANA) 1g 1a +2

Our first overtime loss, and this one hurts, as our second attempt at getting four wins in a row gets rebuffed. We dominated them all game, allowing a measly 13 shots but Mika Noronen couldn't stop the proverbial beach ball and was given a '4' rating, the worst number I've seen thus far. I gave him his second official warning of the season for poor play and he accepted it without comment. Interesting. We should have won this game...

In other league news, media sources reporting on the worst signings of the off-season have put the spotlight on Edmonton's Adam Oates. Checking his stats, I'd agree, as he only has 6 points in 23 games and the Oilers are struggling with a 8-12-3-0 record.

Friday December 5, 2003:

Denis Ezhov, my fourth round pick in the 2003 Draft, was signed to a contract extension by Metallurg Novokuznetsk, a Russian Super League club. Ezhov (34GP 1g 4a 5pts -3 16PIM) is a long way from the NHL at this point.

Saturday December 6, 2003: Atlanta Thrashers (8-11-3-0) at Buffalo Sabres (13-12-1-1)

We're looking to bounce back after the disappointing loss Thursday night against the Thrashers, still missing the injured Dany Heatley (which is a relief to our scouts!). I'm going to play Noronen in net again, hoping my warning will motivate him to rebound from his awful performance the other night. I'm also inserting Dmitri Kalinin after his one night benching - I need him to turn things around as well. The rest of the lineup remains unchanged.

TEAM 1 2 3 TOT
Atlanta 1 1 0 2 (L: P. Nurminen 4-8-0)
Buffalo 1 2 1 4 (W: M. Noronen 4-5-1)
----------------------------------------------------------
GOALS:
Atlanta: I. Kovalchuk, D. Hinote
Buffalo: M. Satan (2), D. Kalinin, J. Hecht
----------------------------------------------------------
SHOTS: POWERPLAY:
Atlanta: 23 Atlanta: 1-4
Buffalo: 37 Buffalo: 2-4
----------------------------------------------------------
STARS:
1. J. Hecht (BUF) 1g 1a +2
2. M. Satan (BUF) 2g -1
3. D. Kalinin (BUF) 1g 1a +1

Complete domination in every phase of the game, as we outshot, outchanced, outhit and outhustled the Thrashers all game. Big bounce back games for both Noronen and Kalinin. Taylor Pyatt (2a) also had a multipoint game in the win. Every player on the team was rated 'Above Average'.

On Tap Next Week:
Wednesday December 10, 2003: vs. Nashville Predators
Friday December 12, 2003: vs. New York Rangers
Saturday December 13, 2003: AT COLORADO AVALANCHE

[NoSkillz]

Tuesday December 9, 2003:

NHL Offensive Player of the Week: Petr Cajanek (STL) 3GP 3g 3a 6pts +6
NHL Defensive Player of the Week: Scott Stevens (NJ) 4GP 1g 3a 4pts +4

Wednesday December 10, 2003: Nashville Predators (12-11-5-1) at Buffalo Sabres (14-12-1-1)

Eric Boulton returned to practice this morning with his groin injury healed. I'm not changing our lineup with the exception of inserting Biron in goal.

TEAM 1 2 3 TOT
Nashville 1 0 0 1 (L: T. Vokoun 9-11-4)
Buffalo 0 0 3 3 (W: M. Biron 11-7-0)
----------------------------------------------------------
GOALS:
Nashville: S. Walker
Buffalo: D. Briere (2), M. Satan
----------------------------------------------------------
SHOTS: POWERPLAY:
Nashville: 20 Nashville: 0-3
Buffalo: 24 Buffalo: 1-6
----------------------------------------------------------
STARS:
1. D. Briere (BUF) 2ga +2
2. M. Biron (BUF) 1 GA 19 saves
3. H. Tallinder (BUF) 1a +1

Nashville played a fine, patient defensive game and it took awhile to break them down. We finally scored at the beginning of the third and the pivotal moment in the game was when Biron stopped Nashville sniper David Legwand on a penalty shot with us up 2-1 late in the game. Derek Roy got booted from the game with a kneeing major and I was told he's getting the old three game suspension. I'm appealing and guessing it'll be knocked down a game.

In NHL news, there was a huge trade between Dallas and Montreal: Alexei Kovalev goes to Dallas for the rights to Eero Kilpelainen, an 18 year old Finnish goalie plus Dallas' first round picks in both 2004 & 2005! Wow! Steep price for a guy who's unrestricted next year!

Thursday December 11, 2003:

A couple big things happened today. First of all, Tim Connolly was deemed fully fit by my training staff today, although they have HUGE concerns about his long-term health, saying that a future concussion is likely. I'll watch his ice time early on, but the timing is impeccable with Roy's suspension needing to be served. The second big thing was me pulling aside our prized off-season acquisition Chris Drury and giving him an official warning for poor play. This was tough for me: his game ratings were fine (nothing below average) but the guy is here to produce and he was in a BIG slump, posting no goals and only two assists in his last 12 games with a -8 rating. He did not take it well, telling me I was unfair with the criticism before walking off. Uh oh. He's a character guy so I hope he'll bounce back.

Friday December 12, 2003: New York Rangers (15-11-1-1) at Buffalo Sabres (15-12-1-1)

The Rangers come into town playing good hockey and find themselves tied with us in the overall standings. I'm only making one change to the lineup tonight, with Tim Connolly making his first appearance this year after the major concussion in place of the suspended Derek Roy. Connolly will play third line and I'm going to try to limit his minutes for a few games; he'll play the powerplay for sure, however.

TEAM 1 2 3 TOT
N.Y. Rangers 0 0 0 0 (L: M. Dunham 12-12-1)
Buffalo 2 0 0 2 (W: M. Biron 12-7-0)
----------------------------------------------------------
GOALS:
N.Y. Rangers: None
Buffalo: J. Hecht, J. McKee
----------------------------------------------------------
SHOTS: POWERPLAY:
N.Y. Rangers: 25 N.Y. Rangers: 0-5
Buffalo: 29 Buffalo: 1-5
----------------------------------------------------------
STARS:
1. M. Biron (BUF) SHO 25 saves
2. J. Hecht (BUF) 1g 1a +1
3. M. Satan (BUF) 2a +1

Great game with disastrous repercussions: I lost both Jean-Pierre Dumont and Jochen Hecht to injuries this game. Dumont separated his shoulder and is likely gone for over two months while Hecht's injury is much less serious (cut hand) and will only see him miss a few days. Connolly was forced to play over 16 minutes for me and was a +1 with no points. Chris Drury was a non-factor in his first game since the warning.

Saturday December 13, 2003: Buffalo Sabres (16-12-1-1) at Colorado Avalanche (18-8-2-1)

Another crazy, long flight to Colorado after playing the night before against a scorching hot Avalanche team. They've only lost two games (out of 19) since I played them on October 28th. I've called up young winger Jason Pominville from Rochester to take the place of the injured Dumont. Pominville had 9 goals and 7 assists in 19 games with the Amerks and will get into his first NHL game tonight as the second line right winger. I've asked Jochen Hecht to play through his injury; my roster is full and I can't bring anyone else up right now without putting another guy on waivers. I'll have to address this soon. Mika Noronen gets the start in goal tonight.

TEAM 1 2 3 TOT
Buffalo 1 1 1 3 (L: M. Noronen 4-6-1)
Colorado 1 2 2 5 (W: T. Salo 8-3-0)
----------------------------------------------------------
GOALS:
Buffalo: C. Drury (2), J. Pominville
Colorado: A. Foote (2). A. Tanguay (2), J. Sakic
----------------------------------------------------------
SHOTS: POWERPLAY:
Buffalo: 22 Buffalo: 0-4
Colorado: 33 Colorado: 2-6
----------------------------------------------------------
STARS:
1. P. Forsberg (COL) 3a
2. A. Foote (COL) 2g
3. C. Drury (BUF) 2g +2

Well, this was a tough spot for us, having played last night, but we performed alright. Noronen was given a '5' rating for this one but I didn't think he was that bad so I didn't discipline him. A couple positives: Chris Drury had a GREAT game against his former club: maybe he's responding to my criticism with solid play! Also, Jason Pominville scored in his first NHL game and didn't look out of place.

I found out after the game that the NHL did in fact reduce Derek Roy's suspension down to two games. I've decided to send down Jason Botterill to Rochester to free up roster space; with Connolly back and needing a spot once Roy gets back in, Botterill is just taking up space. I hope he doesn't get taken from me off waivers.

On Tap Next Week:
Tuesday December 16, 2003: AT PHILADELPHIA FLYERS
Friday December 19, 2003: vs. Pittsburgh Penguins

[NoSkillz]

Monday December 15, 2003:

A rumour has been floating around that the St. Louis Blues are looking at landing my leading scorer Miroslav Satan and the press came looking for my thoughts. I told them that I have no intention whatsoever in moving Satan.

Tue. December 16, 2003: Buffalo Sabres (16-13-1-1 4th) at Philadelphia Flyers (8-9-9-3 12th)

Philly continues to struggle this year, mired in 12th place in the conference right now. Sean Burke will get the call for the Flyers tonight. Eric Boulton will go back into the lineup against the physical Flyers and I'm going to start Mika Noronen again in an effort to get him back on track.

TEAM 1 2 3 TOT
Philadelphia 1 0 2 3 (L: S. Burke 4-4-5)
Buffalo 2 1 3 6 (W: M. Noronen 5-6-1)
----------------------------------------------------------------
GOALS:
Philadelphia: M. Ragnarsson, S. Gagne, K. Primeau
Buffalo: C. Drury (2), J. Hecht, M. Bartovic, M. Satan, T. Pyatt
----------------------------------------------------------------
SHOTS: POWERPLAY:
Philadelphia: 29 Philadelphia: 0-4
Buffalo: 35 Buffalo: 1-4
----------------------------------------------------------------
STARS:
1. C. Drury (BUF) 2ga 1a +1
2. M. Satan (BUF) 1g 1a +2
3. M. Ragnarsson (PHI) 1g

Look out, Chris Drury is officially on fire! He's taken my criticism positively, as I hoped he would, and posted 5 big points in two games. Beautiful! Just a great effort all around: my tactics are really doing wonders right now, as I've picked up points in 11 of my last 13 games. The board of directors notices, and again sent me an email saying how delighted they were with the effort against Philly.

Wed. December 17, 2003:

Whew! Jason Botterill officially cleared waivers today and can be sent to Rochester. I didn't want to lose him.

Fri. December 19, 2003: Pittsburgh Penguins (15-12-3-0 T-8th) at Buffalo Sabres (17-13-1-1 4th)

Here we go against the Penguins, who humiliated us 5-0 exactly one month ago in the game that proved to be the turning point in our season. We went to the 'Attacking Trap' for the next game against Tampa and we've proceeded to play great hockey since. We might be fortunate to miss out on playing Mario Lemieux tonight, as he's 'exhausted' and didn't play in Pittsburgh's win last night against Florida. The lineup for me remains exactly the same as the Flyers game, except Martin Biron is back in goal.

TEAM 1 2 3 TOT
Pittsburgh 0 1 1 2 (L: M. Brochu 2-2-1)
Buffalo 1 3 1 5 (W: M. Biron 13-7-0)
---------------------------------------------------------
GOALS:
Pittsburgh: K. Koltsov, R. Fata
Buffalo: T. Pyatt (2), M. Satan, A. Kotalik, E. Boulton
---------------------------------------------------------
SHOTS: POWERPLAY:
Pittsburgh: 28 Pittsburgh: 0-4
Buffalo: 24 Buffalo: 2-4
---------------------------------------------------------
STARS:
1. T. Pyatt (BUF) 2ga 1a -1
2. M. Satan (BUF) 1g 1a +1
3. A. Kotalik (BUF) 1g 1a

A good win but we suffered another devasating injury, as slick centreman Daniel Briere suffered a dislocated shoulder and had to be stretchered off the ice. My medical staff says he's out for two months. That makes THREE top guys on my club out with shoulder injuries! Tim Connolly had his first two points on the season tonight, both assists, as the Connolly-Kotalik-Pyatt line had a big night. Derek Roy has one game to serve on his suspension and I'll be needing him to man the second line when he comes back. In the meantime, I had to call up Chris Taylor (19GP 2g 11a 13pts +10) from Rochester to play in Briere's place for our next contest.

Sat. December 20, 2003:

I offered 21-year old centreman Chris Thorburn a two-way contract today (2 years, $500,000 total). Thorburn was a second round pick back in 2001 and was playing well in Rochester, posting 6 goals and a team leading 16 assists in 26 games. He also is an excellent +19 down on the farm. I also sent a bunch of my scouts over to Finland to scout the upcoming World Junior Championships.

On Tap Next Week:
Tuesday December 23, 2003: vs. Ottawa Senators
Friday December 26, 2003: vs. Tampa Bay Lightning
Saturday December 27, 2003: AT CAROLINA HURRICANES

[NoSkillz]

Mon. December 22, 2003:

My young Russian prosect Denis Ezhov is once again in the news. A former GM of Metallurg, Ezhov's club, stated in the media that if he was still running the club, Ezhov wouldn't be playing such an active role. In an absolutely hilarious comeback, current Metallurg GM Aleksandr Fedorov replied "maybe this lack of judgement is why he's the former GM of this club." :D

Tue. December 23, 2003: Ottawa Senators (20-9-3-0 2nd) at Buffalo Sabres (18-13-1-1 5th)

Ottawa comes to town playing great hockey thus far. Martin Prusek will get the starting nod for the Senators tonight while Martin Biron once again mans the pipes for me. I've instructed my club to take the body hard this game, as Ottawa isn't a really physical team.

TEAM 1 2 3 TOT
Ottawa 0 1 1 2 (L: M. Prusek 1-3-1)
Buffalo 0 1 2 3 (W: M. Biron 14-7-0)
---------------------------------------------------------
GOALS:
Ottawa: P. Bondra (2)
Buffalo: C. Taylor, D. Kalinin, J. Jillson
---------------------------------------------------------
SHOTS: POWERPLAY:
Ottawa: 20 Ottawa: 0-2
Buffalo: 27 Buffalo: 2-8
---------------------------------------------------------
STARS:
1. P. Bondra (OTT) 2g +2
2. D. Kalinin (BUF) 1g -1
3. C. Taylor (BUF) 1g +1

Another great win, another big injury. Jochen Hecht went down with a sprained ACL tonight and is out for a month, making it four top players on the Injured Reserve. It's amazing my team is playing so well right now with all these injuries. Chris Taylor stepped in and contributed a goal in his first game of the season and the goals from two defensemen helped seal the win. I'll let the boys enjoy their Christmas break and hopefully the injured will start healing quickly...

NHL Offensive Player of the Week: Jaromir Jagr (NYR) 2GP 1g 2a 3pts +1
NHL Defensive Player of the Week: Garth Snow (NYI) 2GP 1-0-1 0.48GAA .982 SA% 1 SHO

Wed. December 24, 2003:

Merry Christmas to you too Chris! Chris Thorburn rejected my contract offer today. I did lowball him a bit but come on...you could have bought quite a few nice X-Mas presents for your girlfriend with that money! No biggie. I'll try again soon.

Fri. December 26, 2003: Tampa Bay Lighting (17-11-4-1 6th) at Buffalo Sabres (19-13-1-1 T-4th)

Another hot team comes to town, as Tampa has won 6 of 7 to get back into contention in the Southeast. They are battling injuries as well, as they're missing Vincent Lecavalier, Darryl Sydor and Cory Sarich. Lots of changes for me: Derek Roy is back from suspension and centres the third line between the promoted Milan Bartovic and Jason Pominville. The second line is the Pyatt-Connolly-Kotalik trio. The first line is Grier-Drury-Satan and the fourth line is Boulton-Mair-Taylor. Martin Biron gets his third straight start in goal while John Grahame gets the nod for Tampa.

TEAM 1 2 3 TOT
Tampa Bay 1 1 1 3 (L: J. Grahame 1-4-0)
Buffalo 1 3 1 5 (W: M. Biron 15-7-0)
-----------------------------------------------------------------
GOALS:
Tampa Bay: F. Modin (2), B. Richards
Buffalo: M. Bartovic, A. Zhitnik, T. Connolly, T. Pyatt, M. Satan
-----------------------------------------------------------------
SHOTS: POWERPLAY:
Tampa Bay: 28 Tampa Bay: 0-2
Buffalo: 22 Buffalo: 1-2
-----------------------------------------------------------------
STARS:
1. F. Modin (TB) 2g
2. B. Richards (TB) 1g 2a -1
3. A. Zhitnik (BUF) 1g

I finally get the elusive fourth win in a row! We were badly outplayed in the first period, with Tampa outshooting us 13-2 but we turned up the 'O' in the second period. Tim Connolly scored his first of the season and added an assist in the win, and Miroslav Satan (1g 1a) also contributed a multipoint game. The only thing I'm not happy with these days is the play of Mike Grier who I have playing on the first line and isn't contributing offensively. However, I'm not about to experiment with things when I'm winning games so he stays for now. Maxim Afinogenov has begun light practice and maybe close to returning after his shoulder injury.

Sat. December 27, 2003: Buffalo Sabres (20-13-1-1 4th) at Carolina Hurricanes (17-14-3-1 7th)

The World Junior Championships started in Finland in the early morning and I was off my chair laughing as ALL 7 SCOUTS I sent over to Finland to watch the tournament ended up watching Super Prospect Sidney Crosby in the first game! Can't blame them, I guess! He was held pointless in a 5-1 Canada win over the hosts Finland. Speaking of the World Juniors, I have three prospects playing in the tournament this year: Dan Paille, a left winger playing for Canada; Branislav Fabry, another LW, suits up for Slovakia and my prized possession, LW Thomas Vanek, will lead Austria's club in the championship.

Back to the task at hand: playing the Carolina Hurricanes. I'm going with the exact same lineup tonight but putting Mika Noronen in goal due to the games in back-to-back nights. Erik Cole and Jeff O'Neill lead the Hurricanes in points with 29 thus far. Jamie Storr starts in net for Carolina as I continue to get a lot of backups playing against me, something you will not hear me complain about!

TEAM 1 2 3 OT TOT
Buffalo 1 1 0 0 2 (T: M. Biron 15-7-1)
Carolina 2 0 0 0 2 (T: J. Storr 7-3-3)
--------------------------------------------------------------
GOALS:
Buffalo: C. Taylor, M. Grier
Carolina: R. Brind'Amour, J. Svoboda
--------------------------------------------------------------
SHOTS: POWERPLAY:
Buffalo: 29 Buffalo: 0-4
Carolina: 32 Carolina: 0-4
--------------------------------------------------------------
STARS:
1. M. Grier (BUF) 1g
2. S. Hill (CAR) -1
3. R. Brind'Amour (CAR) 1g +1

We were down 2-0 very early in this one but stayed composed and pulled out a tie. Game was really back and forth with great goaltending, especially from Storr, who stopped about 4 breakaways in the game. Mike Grier responded after I demoted him to the third line in the second period by scoring the game-tying goal. I moved Derek Roy up to the first line centre position and moved Chris Drury over to the left wing for the last two periods but the line never really got going. We had numerous chances in overtime to win it but Storr was up to the task every time. Good road game though, especially after playing the night before. And another great week record-wise for the club, going 2-0-1 and continuing our climb to the top of the standings.

Sun. December 28, 2003:

Thomas Vanek scored a goal and was first star in Austria's 2-1 loss to Sweden in the World Junior Championships. Austria is now 0-2 in the tournament.

On Tap Next Week:
Monday December 29, 2003: AT TAMPA BAY LIGHTNING
Wednesday December 31, 2003: vs. Carolina Panthers
Friday January 2, 2003: vs. Los Angeles Kings
Saturday January 3, 2003: AT TORONTO MAPLE LEAFS

[NoSkillz]

Mon. December 29, 2003: Buffalo Sabres (20-13-2-1 4th) at Tampa Bay Lightning (18-12-4-1 6th)

Vincent Lecavalier is still out for Tampa, as are Sarich and Sydor. Nikolai Khabibulin will tend goal for Tampa tonight. I go with the same lineup from the Carolina game except Martin Biron will start in net. Mike Grier is back on the first line for his defensive ability.

TEAM 1 2 3 TOT
Buffalo 2 1 0 3 (L: M. Biron 15-8-0)
Tampa Bay 1 1 2 4 (W: N. Khabibulin 18-9-4)
-------------------------------------------------------------
GOALS:
Buffalo: J. Jillson, M. Satan, A. Kotalik
Tampa Bay: B. Richards, C. Dingman, F. Modin, A. Roy
-------------------------------------------------------------
SHOTS: POWERPLAY:
Buffalo: 36 Buffalo: 0-1
Tampa Bay: 27 Tampa Bay: 0-3
-------------------------------------------------------------
STARS:
1. F. Modin (TB) 1g 1a +1
2. B. Richards (TB) 1g 1a
3. J. Jillson (BUF) 1g 1a

We blew a 3-1 lead in this game to lose it. Hard to say what went wrong, as I felt we played a strong road game. That's it for Mike Grier on the first line; he played well, with 8 shots on goal but just isn't talented enough to keep a top spot like that. I need scoring on my first line. Dmitri Kalinin was brutal for us, going -4 and was given a '5' rating. I think I'm going to scratch him our next game as opposed to warning him.

Tue. December 30, 2003:

NHL Offensive Player of the Week: Brendan Shanahan (DET) 4GP 5g 5a 10pts +4
NHL Defensive Player of the Week: Miikka Kiprusoff (CAL) 2GP 1-1-0 1.50GAA .945 SA% 1 SHO

Wed. December 31, 2003: Carolina Hurricanes (17-15-4-1 T-7th) at Buffalo Sabres (20-14-2-1 T-4th)

The huge run of games lately, along with all of the injuries, is taking its toll on my club. I've got a bunch of tired guys right now. I'll have to monitor this closely, but won't make any changes to the 20-man roster other than scratching Kalinin and replacing him with James Patrick, who hasn't played in over FIVE weeks! Might be a bit rusty! I've done some editing to my lineup as well with the forwards: line one will be Drury-Connolly-Satan, line two is Pyatt-Roy-Kotalik, line three is Grier-Taylor-Pominville and line four is Boulton-Mair-Bartovic. The Campbell-Jillson defensive pairing has been very good lately and will be moved up to second line, with Alexei Zhitnik getting moved down to the third group because of lackluster play. This is always a fun night in Buffalo: "Tux n' Pucks Night" on New Years Eve.

TEAM 1 2 3 TOT
Carolina 0 2 1 3 (W: J. Storr 8-3-3)
Buffalo 1 1 0 2 (L: M. Biron 15-9-0)
---------------------------------------------------------
GOALS:
Carolina: E. Cole (2), K. Adams
Buffalo: M. Satan, A. Kotalik
---------------------------------------------------------
SHOTS: POWERPLAY:
Carolina: 25 Carolina: 0-2
Buffalo: 29 Buffalo: 2-11
---------------------------------------------------------
STARS:
1. E. Cole (CAR) 2g +2
2. J. Williams (CAR) 2a +2
3. C. Drury (BUF) 2a

Ugh. Our first two game losing streak in well over 5 weeks. It had to happen sooner or later. I've got to get back to basics with the lines. I can't look strictly at offensive production when analyzing my club; wins are what's important. If it means Grier on the top line, so be it. Biron stopped a penalty shot with us down 2-1 in the second and I thought that would be the turning point, especially after Ales Kotalik fired home a powerplay marker with 12 seconds left in the frame. Ultimately, Carolina stayed patient and Erik Cole once again came through for the Hurricanes.

Nevertheless, I can't complain too much after posting a fantastic 8-3-1-1 record in December, especially after dealing with so many crucial injuries. Here are the updated stats:

Buffalo Sabres Statistics (As of December 31, 2003):

POS PLAYER GP G A PTS +/- PIM PPG SHG GWG
RW Miroslav Satan 38 17 19 36 -6 8 6 0 1
LW Jochen Hecht 34 12 15 27 6 4 1 0 4
RW Ales Kotalik 38 12 15 27 -5 10 4 0 0
C Daniel Briere 33 9 15 24 11 28 1 0 2
C Chris Drury 37 10 14 24 -12 10 2 0 1
LW Taylor Pyatt 38 11 12 23 -3 10 2 0 2
RW J.P. Dumont 30 11 7 18 -2 6 8 0 3
D Jeff Jillson 31 4 14 18 5 24 1 0 1
RW Maxim Afinogenov 20 6 8 14 1 4 3 0 1
D Jay McKee 34 1 12 13 7 61 1 0 0
C *Derek Roy 29 3 8 11 1 31 0 0 0
LW Mike Grier 38 6 5 11 -1 32 0 0 2
D Henrik Tallinder 38 0 11 11 3 2 0 0 0
D Dmitri Kalinin 35 3 7 10 -13 56 1 0 1
D Brian Campbell 38 2 8 10 -2 14 1 0 1
C Adam Mair 38 4 5 9 -2 35 0 1 1
RW *Jason Pominville 8 1 5 6 -1 0 0 0 0
RW *Milan Bartovic 16 4 1 5 -3 6 0 0 0
LW Eric Boulton 19 3 2 5 -3 52 0 0 0
D Alexei Zhitnik 27 1 4 5 -2 32 0 0 1
C Tim Connolly 9 1 3 4 1 6 0 0 0
LW Jason Botterill 19 1 3 4 -1 23 0 0 0
C Chris Taylor 5 2 1 3 2 4 0 0 0
D Brad Brown 14 1 1 2 -9 48 0 0 0
G Martin Biron 27 0 2 2 --- 0 0 0 0
D James Patrick 11 0 1 1 -6 0 0 0 0
G *Ryan Miller 1 0 0 0 --- 0 0 0 0
G Mika Noronen 15 0 0 0 --- 0 0 0 0
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
POS PLAYER GP W L T MIN GA GAA SHO SV%
G Martin Biron 27 15 9 0 1525 71 2.79 2 .900
G Mika Noronen 15 5 6 2 714 39 3.28 1 .890
G *Ryan Miller 1 0 1 0 43 5 6.98 0 .833

NHL Offensive Player of the Month: Brendan Shanahan (DET) 14GP 7g 7a 14pts +5 20PIM
NHL Defensive Player of the Month: Jamie Storr (CAR) 6GP 3-0-3 1.60GAA .938 1 SHO
NHL Rookie of the Month: Brooks Orpik (PIT) 12GP 2g 4a 6pts +4 22PIM

In other NHL news, radio stations in Philadelphia are attacking the play of winger John LeClair, saying his poor play recently has cost the team points. LeClair only has 11 points in 32 games this year.

Thu. January 1, 2004:

The board of directors emailed me saying that they're still very pleased with my overall performance as general manager. In other news, the International Scouting Service came out with their Mid-Season Rankings for the 2004 NHL Entry Draft, rating Czech centreman Rostislav Olesz from Vitkovice the #1 prospect. Following Olesz are Russians Alexander Ovechkin and Yevgeni Malkin.

Fri. January 2, 2004: Los Angeles Kings (18-12-7-0 3rd) at Buffalo Sabres (20-15-2-1 T-6th)

The Los Angeles Kings come to town to try to run my losing streak to three. The Kings are on top out west despite a rash of injuries this year to guys like Jason Allison and Adam Deadmarsh. Allison is close to returning but will sit this game. Zigmund Palffy leads the club with 16 goals and 33 points, while Roman Cechmanek has been his usual self (when it comes to regular season play :p) with a 14-7-1 record and 2.21 GAA. Mika Noronen gets the start in net for the Sabres tonight and I've made a bunch of lineup changes again, bringing things back inline with what I was doing before. First of all, Dmitri Kalinin is back in the lineup after the one game benching and will team up with partner Alexei Zhitnik. Jason Pominville will be rewarded for his fine rookie play by moving to the top line with Chris Drury and Miro Satan. The Pyatt-Connolly-Kotalik line is back together and the third line is Grier-Roy-Bartovic. Boulton-Mair-Taylor round things out.

TEAM 1 2 3 TOT
Los Angeles 0 0 2 2 (L: R. Cechmanek 14-8-6)
Buffalo 2 1 1 4 (W: M. Noronen 6-6-2)
-------------------------------------------------------------
GOALS:
Los Angeles: L. Robitaille, A. Carter
Buffalo: T. Pyatt, A. Kotalik, M. Satan, J. Pominville
-------------------------------------------------------------
SHOTS: POWERPLAY:
Los Angeles: 35 Los Angeles: 2-5
Buffalo: 31 Buffalo: 2-3
-------------------------------------------------------------
STARS:
1. M. Satan (BUF) 1g 1a
2. A. Kotalik (BUF) 1g 1a +2
3. T. Connolly (BUF) 2a +2

Pretty solid comeback game that was never really in doubt. The score flattered the Kings, who benefitted from a couple powerplays in the third to make it closer than it really was. Both Kotalik and Satan have scored in three consecutive games.

Sat. January 3, 2004: Buffalo Sabres (21-15-2-1 T-4th) at Toronto Maple Leafs (18-12-8-1 T-4th)

Hockey Night in Canada! Always a huge thrill for the players! This should help get the legs going after playing last night. The Leafs come into the game tied with me for 4th in the Eastern Conference. Alexander Mogilny leads the team with 15 goals and 30 points in 38 games while Mats Sundin continues to struggle this year with only 23 points. Martin Biron is back in the net for us this game, with no other changes.

TEAM 1 2 3 TOT
Buffalo 1 1 0 2 (L: M. Biron 15-10-0)
Toronto 2 1 2 5 (W: E. Belfour 10-11-6)
------------------------------------------------------------------
GOALS:
Buffalo: A. Zhitnik, J. Jillson
Toronto: J. Nieuwendyk (2), A. Mogilny, B. Leetch, A. Ponikarovsky
------------------------------------------------------------------
SHOTS: POWERPLAY:
Buffalo: 34 Buffalo: 1-7
Toronto: 32 Toronto: 2-5
------------------------------------------------------------------
STARS:
1. A. Mogilny (TOR) 1g 3a +1
2. B. Leetch (TOR) 1g 2a +2
3. J. Nieuwendyk (TOR) 2g

Toronto dominated this game from the first whistle. We somehow kept it close until the end and had a four minute powerplay in the third that we couldn't convert. They scored into an empty net late in the game as well. Not much good in this one...This was our toughest week in quite awhile, going 1-3 to fall back in the conference standings.

On Tap Next Week:
Tuesday January 6, 2004: AT MONTREAL CANADIENS
Wednesday January 7, 2004: vs. New Jersey Devils
Friday January 9, 2004: vs. Ottawa Senators

[NoSkillz]

Tue. January 6, 2004: Buffalo Sabres (21-16-2-1 6th) at Montreal Canadiens (14-20-7-0 13th)

I just was looking at my roster and noticed that I have a second unhappy player (other than Drury, who's still holding a grudge with me over the disciplinary action I took against him). Now unhappy is goaltender Mika Noronen, as he's looking for a contract offer from me. Interesting. I fancy myself the type of GM who negotiates after the season ends...I'll wait it out for a bit before offering him a new deal. I'm in Montreal to face the struggling Canadiens. I'm told that defenseman Jay McKee "needs a rest", so I'm going to insert Brad Brown against his former team for the game tonight. I HATE sitting McKee since he's been one of my steadiest backliners but I want to get Brown into a game anyway so this works out. Martin Biron gets the start in his hometown tonight. Maxim Afinogenov still hasn't returned to full practice so the rest of the lineup remains unchanged.

TEAM 1 2 3 TOT
Buffalo 2 0 1 3 (W. M. Biron 16-10-0)
Montreal 0 0 2 2 (L: J. Theodore 12-16-6)
-------------------------------------------------------------
GOALS:
Buffalo: T. Pyatt, M. Satan, D. Roy
Montreal: Y. Perreault (2)
-------------------------------------------------------------
SHOTS: POWERPLAY:
Buffalo: 27 Buffalo: 1-4
Montreal: 36 Montreal: 1-6
-------------------------------------------------------------
STARS:
1. T. Pyatt (BUF) 1g 1a
2. M. Satan (BUF) 1g +1
3. D. Roy (BUF) 1g +1

We had a comfortable 3-0 lead in this one and started playing undisciplined late, allowing them back in the contest. In fact, Montreal ended the game with a two man advantage PLUS their goalie pulled...to say I was nervous would be a drastic understatement! A nice win on the road to erase the memory of the Toronto game. Brad Brown was strong in place of the tired McKee, another positive.

Wed. January 7, 2004: New Jersey Devils (23-10-6-1 2nd) at Buffalo Sabres (22-16-2-1 6th)

New Jersey comes to town winless in three games. Patrik Elias and Scott Gomez are tied for the NHL lead in points with 44. They team up with Brian Gionta to form a devastating trio. I contemplated putting a checking line on them but decided it might be taxing on the players, who are already tired from playing the night before. We'll trust our four line system. Afinogenov looks like he'll be another week before being completely fit according to one of my physiotherapists. Mika Noronen gets the start in goal tonight; we'll see how he does, considering his 'unhappy' mood. By the way, his agent is asking for a four year, $4,000,000 deal. I'm definitely not interested in signing him to a deal that large and certainly don't have to: he's only making $500,000 this year and I can just offer him the requisite 10% increase through a qualifying offer in June.

TEAM 1 2 3 TOT
New Jersey 4 1 2 7 (W: M. Brodeur 19-11-6)
Buffalo 0 1 1 2 (L: M. Noronen 6-7-2)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
GOALS:
New Jersey: B. Gionta (2), P. Sykora, S. Gomez, V. Kozlov, P. Martin, J. Langenbrunner
Buffalo: T. Pyatt, M. Satan
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
SHOTS: POWERPLAY:
New Jersey: 36 New Jersey: 4-9
Buffalo: 20 Buffalo: 1-4
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
STARS:
1. P. Elias (NJ) 4a +1
2. S. Gomez (NJ) 1g 2a +1
3. B. Rafalski (NJ) 3a

Just awful play in this one. New Jersey scored four powerplay goals in the first period to chase the dreadful Mika Noronen, who once again got disciplined for poor play. Just penalty after penalty in the first. I made an official complaint after the game to the NHL about referee Paul Devorski and unbelievably, they agreed that "the standard of officiating in our match was poor" and that "they will be reviewing the official's future games with great interest". Doesn't help me though! The team has to shake this off!

NHL Offensive Player of the Week: Alexander Mogilny (TOR) 4GP 4g 5a 9pts +2
NHL Defensive Player of the Week: Brian Rafalski (NJ) 3GP 0g 3a 3pts +0

Something I don't understand is the fact that the players of the week were announced TODAY, a Wednesday, and Rafalski won the award. Looking at his stats, he HAD to have won it based on this game, since he had no other points in the last seven days. It seems as if the tracking period went from Tuesday-Monday to Thursday-Wednesday. May be a bug...

Thu. January 8, 2004:

Great...another unhappy camper in Buffalo. Ales Kotalik also wants a contract extension. Ugh. I may have to change my philosophy for this game. His offer seems reasonable enough ($6,000,000 over 5 years plus bonuses), as he's producing good numbers for me. I may budge here.

Fri. January 9, 2004: Ottawa Senators (26-11-3-0 1st) at Buffalo Sabres (22-17-2-1 6th)

Just what I needed: a first place club coming into town against my battered club. Gut check time! We'll try to play a physical game again, a tactic that worked last time. In an effort to shore up the defensive aspect of our game, Mike Grier is going back on a line with Drury-Satan. If the club doesn't come up with a good effort here, they can expect changes for sure.

TEAM 1 2 3 TOT
Ottawa 0 2 1 3 (L: M. Prusek 2-3-1)
Buffalo 1 0 1 2 (L: M. Biron 16-11-0)
----------------------------------------------------------
GOALS:
Ottawa: W. Redden, J. Spezza, M. Hossa
Buffalo: J. McKee, M. Satan
----------------------------------------------------------
SHOTS: POWERPLAY:
Ottawa: 24 Ottawa: 0-7
Buffalo: 20 Buffalo: 0-0
----------------------------------------------------------
STARS:
1. M. Satan (BUF) 1g +1
2. M. Hossa (OTT) 1g +1
3. J. Spezza (OTT) 1g

The refs were at it again, giving them 7 powerplays to my zero. Hard to get scoring chances when you're shorthanded for 25% of the game. I can't just wait for my four guys (Hecht, Briere, Dumont & Afinogenov) to come back, but I don't have a lot of options on the farm when it comes to scoring goals. I definitely need a spark right now.

In other news, Sweden won the World Junior Championships in a 2-1 win over Canada. Unfortunately, Sabres prospect Dan Paille was not dressed for any of Canada's games in the championship.

On Tap Next Week:
Monday January 12, 2004: AT BOSTON BRUINS
Tuesday January 13, 2004: vs. New Jersey Devils
Thursday January 15, 2004: vs. Boston Bruins
Saturday January 17, 2004: AT NEW YORK ISLANDERS

[NoSkillz]

Mon. January 12, 2004: Buffalo Sabres (22-18-2-1 7th) at Boston Bruins (18-18-4-3 T-9th)

I received the great news I was looking for: forward Maxim Afinogenov is fully healthy and ready to play tonight! Afinogenov missed almost two months with his shoulder injury and will be inserted right onto the top line tonight with Drury and Satan. I have a lot of guys struggling right now, most importantly Tim Connolly and Derek Roy, my #2 & #3 centremen right now (with Daniel Briere injured). They will be scratched soon if their play doesn't improve. For now, Chris Taylor will sit in lieu of Afinogenov's return. I also threw contract offers at Ales Kotalik, Martin Biron and Mika Noronen. I pretty much low-balled both Biron and Noronen and won't be surprised to see them reject the offers. We'll see. Biron will play tonight and Noronen will get the chance to redeem himself again against the New Jersey Devils tomorrow night, the same team who torched him last week.

Boston is mired in 9th right now and have a couple of injuries to note: P.J. Axelsson and Felix Potvin are both out for this game; the Bruins will rely on leading scorer Sergei Samsonov (17g 43pts) and Joe Thornton (41pts).

TEAM 1 2 3 TOT
Buffalo 0 1 1 2 (L: M. Biron 16-12-0)
Boston 1 0 3 4 (W: A. Raycroft 13-9-1)
-------------------------------------------------------------
GOALS:
Buffalo: A. Zhitnik, T. Connolly
Boston: S. Samsonov, D. McGillis, G. Murray, M. Lapointe (EN)
-------------------------------------------------------------
SHOTS: POWERPLAY:
Buffalo: 29 Buffalo: 1-5
Boston: 35 Boston: 0-3
-------------------------------------------------------------
STARS:
1. G. Murray (BOS) 1g +1
2. S. Samsonvov (BOS) 1g 1a +2
3. D. McGillis (BOS) 1g +2

Unfortunately, Afinogenov didn't provide enough spark to get us a victory in this one. We tied it midway through the third but Glen Murray answered Tim Connolly's goal with the game winner only seconds later. As a coach/G.M. I shouldn't say this, but I'm at a loss right now with regard to tactics and lines, as nothing seems to be working. I'm going to simplify things big-time for tomorrow's game against the powerful Devils.

Tue. January 13, 2004: New Jersey Devils (25-11-7-1 1st) at Buffalo Sabres (22-19-2-1 7th)

Brian Gionta and Petr Sykora, who both figured in the scoring in our last contest, are out for the Devils with injuries tonight. I'm also shaking things up, scratching both Derek Roy, who only has 1 point in his last 12 games, and defenseman Brian Campbell, who's gone -5 in his last two. Chris Taylor replaces Roy as the third line centre and Brad Brown comes in on defense.

TEAM 1 2 3 OT TOT
New Jersey 1 0 2 0 3 (T: C. Schwab 5-0-1)
Buffalo 2 1 0 0 3 (T: M. Noronen 6-7-3)
---------------------------------------------------------------
GOALS:
New Jersey: G. Marshall (2), S. Brylin
Buffalo: A. Mair, T. Connolly, M. Satan
---------------------------------------------------------------
SHOTS: POWERPLAY:
New Jersey: 30 New Jersey: 1-3
Buffalo: 29 Buffalo: 1-4
---------------------------------------------------------------
STARS:
1. G. Marshall (NJ) 2g
2. M. Satan (BUF) 1g +1
3. C. White (NJ) 2a +1

We just can't buy a win. We came out storming in the first, outshooting the Devils 14-6 in the period. Brylin scored with less than two minutes remaining in regulation time to tie the game up (another bad angle goal on Noronen, by the way). Certainly our best game against New Jersey so far this year though, as I'm looking for positives anywhere right now.

Wed. January 14, 2004:

NHL Offensive Player of the Week: Eric Lindros (NYR) 2GP 2g 1a 3pts +1
NHL Defensive Player of the Week: Rhett Warrener (CAL) 4GP 1g 3a 4pts +5 2PIM

Injured forwards J.P. Dumont and Jochen Hecht have returned to practice but aren't cleared for contact drills for at least two weeks according to my physios. It will be really nice to get those two plus Briere back from injury, as the trio makes up my entire second line!

Thu. January 15, 2004: Boston Bruins (19-18-4-3 8th) at Buffalo Sabres (22-19-3-1 7th)

I've sent the very ineffective Chris Taylor down to Rochester, leaving 22 active players on the roster. I'll likely call another guy up soon; I'm looking at tough guy Andrew Peters, who's playing extremely well on the farm right now (25GP 11pts 55PIM). Derek Roy goes back into the lineup with Brian Campbell into their normal positions. I'm going to play more of a skating game against Boston tonight instead of a hitting game and have adjusted my tactics to reflect this. Martin Biron starts in goal tonight.

TEAM 1 2 3 TOT
Boston 1 3 2 6 (T: C. Schwab 5-0-1)
Buffalo 0 1 3 4 (T: M. Noronen 6-7-3)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
GOALS:
Boston: S. Gonchar, G. Murray, B. Rolston, M. Knuble, M. Lapointe, R. Zamuner (EN)
Buffalo: E. Boulton (2), M. Satan, T. Pyatt
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
SHOTS: POWERPLAY:
Boston: 36 Boston: 1-4
Buffalo: 29 Buffalo: 1-4
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
STARS:
1. R. Zamuner (BOS) 1g 1a +2
2. S. Gonchar (BOS) 1g 1a -1
3. E. Boulton (BUF) 2g +2

Oh boy, what a disaster! I pulled Biron when it was 4-1, and for a second, thought I might make a game of it. Goals by Pyatt and Boulton only 10 seconds apart in the third period brought the score to 5-4, all this after Adam Mair was stopped on a penalty shot only a minute earlier! Rob Zamuner scored into an empty net to end the threat, however. Forget about bringing up Andrew Peters; it's time to give goaltender Ryan Miller a shot again after these brutal goaltending performances. I also made changes to my lines midstream; Connolly moved up to centre Satan and Kotalik while Chris Drury and Maxim Afinogenov moved down to a line with big Taylor Pyatt. I'll likely keep that going for our next contest. We are now winless in five games, our longest such streak this season.

Fri. January 16, 2004:

Unbelievably, goaltender Martin Biron accepted my lowball contract offer and signed an extension today. He was looking for a six year, $14,000,000 deal with incentives; I offered a one-year extension at $2,400,000 (a $200,000 raise for next year) and he accepted. Maybe he did this because of his awful play, I don't know. Regardless, he's officially in my doghouse and will watch tomorrow's game from the pressbox.

Sat. January 17, 2004: Buffalo Sabres (22-20-3-1 7th) at New York Islanders (18-18-5-3 11th)

We stumble into Nassau Coliseum to face the Islanders, who are led by waiver draft pickup Scott Young, who has 33 points in 44 games. The Isles have been bit by the injury bug as well, with top forwards Michael Peca, Trent Hunter and Cliff Ronning all out for this game. With Alexei Yashin out there, I'm going to try to shadow him with Chris Drury and take the body hard this game.

TEAM 1 2 3 OT TOT
Buffalo 0 2 1 0 3 (T: R. Miller 0-1-1)
N.Y. Islanders 0 2 1 0 3 (T: R. DiPietro 8-14-4)
-----------------------------------------------------------------
GOALS:
Buffalo: M. Afinogenov (2), J. Jillson
N.Y. Islanders: M. Parrish, S. Young, S. Webb
-----------------------------------------------------------------
SHOTS: POWERPLAY:
Buffalo: 27 Buffalo: 2-7
N.Y. Islanders: 39 N.Y. Islanders: 0-4
-----------------------------------------------------------------
STARS:
1. M. Afinogenov (BUF) 2g 1a +1
2. J. Jillson (BUF) 1g 2a
3. A. Aucoin (NYI) 2a +3

Ryan Miller was excellent in this game and Jeff Jillson scored a tying goal with less than four minutes remaining in regulation to help us gain a point. We also had to kill a penalty in overtime. I'm starting to allow way too many shots again and will have to likely start resting players. If Miller keeps playing well, I'm going to have to trade one of the other goaltenders. Speaking of which, I found out after the game that Mika Noronen rejected my contract offer. Not surprising. However, Ales Kotalik happily signed a new contract and I'm very pleased with the deal (4 years, $4,400,000 total plus incentives). Kotalik is having a nice year, with 36 points in 47 games so far.

On Tap Next Week:
Tuesday January 20, 2004: AT FLORIDA PANTHERS
Thursday January 22, 2004: AT BOSTON BRUINS
Saturday January 24, 2004: AT NEW JERSEY DEVILS
Sunday January 25, 2004: AT TAMPA BAY LIGHTNING

[NoSkillz]

Mon. January 19, 2004:

I've placed three players on the trade block: defenseman Brad Brown and goaltender Mika Noronen from the parent team and defenseman Doug Janik from Rochester, who unfortunately isn't getting played on the farm. There are about 12 teams that show immediate interest in Brown.

Tue. Janurary 20, 2004: Buffalo Sabres (22-20-4-1 8th) at Florida Panthers (13-27-6-1 15th)

The Panthers are in last place in the conference, and is among the lowest scoring teams in the league thus far. Ryan Miller starts again for us while Florida counters with Roberto Luongo.

TEAM 1 2 3 OT TOT
Buffalo 0 1 2 0 3 (L: R. Miller 0-2-1)
Florida 1 0 2 1 4 (W: R. Luongo 11-25-6)
----------------------------------------------------------------
GOALS:
Buffalo: M. Afinogenov (2), M. Satan
Florida: O. Jokinen (3), K. Huselius
----------------------------------------------------------------
SHOTS: POWERPLAY:
Buffalo: 38 Buffalo: 1-5
Florida: 36 Florida: 0-4
----------------------------------------------------------------
STARS:
1. O. Jokinen (FLO) 3g 1a +4
2. K. Huselius (FLO) 1g 2a +3
3. A. Lilja (FLO) 3a +2

We were lucky to even get the point for the overtime loss. We were down two goals in the third and changed our tactics to a high forecheck system, which got us the equilizing goals. My inability to maintain consistency with our lines is hurting our team and I'm going to have to stick with something in order for the guys to get some chemistry. Jokinen was unstoppable for the Panthers in the win. Afinogenov continues to play impressive offensive hockey since coming back from his injury.

Wed. January 21, 2004:

I've offered the New York Islanders Brad Brown in a trade. I'm looking for a draft pick in return. I've never even attempted a trade in this game so we'll see if I can get something done. In other news, I've sent rookie Derek Roy back to Rochester, this time for the rest of the year (unless injuries really kill me). Roy just is out of his element now after starting the year really positively and needs to regain confidence. He leaves us having garnered only 1 point in his last 15 games and 12 points in 38 games on the year. Chris Taylor has been recalled to play until my injured players come back.

Thu. January 22, 2004: Buffalo Sabres (22-20-4-2 9th) at Boston Bruins (21-18-5-4 T-6th)

Wow. The Islanders offered me a pretty darn good player in Mattias Weinhandl for Brad Brown but I'm forced to reject it; Weinhandl is making $150,000/year more than Brown and I can't send him down to the farm without exposing him on waivers. He was really struggling with the Isles so far, garnering only 3 assists in 38 games this year and I wouldn't be able to offer him a position on a scoring line, so the offer is rejected. I counter with Brown and a 6th rounder for the Isles 2nd round pick.

Daniel Briere has resumed light practice and will return in three weeks. In the meantime, I've got the Bruins again to contend with. I've fallen out of the playoff picture with our poor play this month and need to get something going. Martin Biron will start tonight in goal and I've implemented a pressing style of play for this game to hopefully take advantage of the Bruins immobile defense corp.

TEAM 1 2 3 OT TOT
Buffalo 4 0 0 0 4 (T: M. Biron 16-13-1)
Boston 1 1 2 0 4 (T: A. Raycroft 13-10-3)
------------------------------------------------------------------
GOALS:
Buffalo: C. Drury (2), A. Kotalik, J. Pominville
Boston: N. Boynton, M. Grosek, M. Nylander, B. Rolston
------------------------------------------------------------------
SHOTS: POWERPLAY:
Buffalo: 34 Buffalo: 0-7
Boston: 37 Boston: 1-3
------------------------------------------------------------------
STARS:
1. B. Rolston (BOS) 1g +1
2. C. Drury (BUF) 2g +1
3. S. Samsonov (BOS) 2a +1

You can't possibly understand how furious I am with this tie. Chris Drury scored two goals in a seven second span with less than 30 seconds left in the first to put us up 4-1 but we slowly let Boston take the momentum away. Brian Rolston, with Boston's net empty, scored with about a minute left in regulation shorthanded to tie the game up. Just inexcusable! I just can't buy a win right now. I found out after the game that the Islanders rejected my trade proposal, just to add to my misery.

Fri. January 23, 2004:

Two trade offers for Mika Noronen came in today: first, Pittsburgh offered defenseman Ross Lupaschuk, who was playing in Wilkes-Barre for Noronen and a 7th rounder. REJECTED! Calgary then offered Chris Clark for Noronen straight up. Now that's interesting. I decide to negotiate and ask for a third round pick in 2005 as well.

Sat. January 24, 2004: Buffalo Sabres (22-20-5-2 9th) at New Jersey Devils (27-12-9-1 3rd)

Chris Thorburn agreed to our contract offer this afternoon, a two-year, two-way deal worth $525,000. He's playing very well in Rochester this year and could contend for a fourth line position with us next year. He also could be a late season call-up. More trade proposals come in for Brad Brown and again I negotiate with the Islanders, this time asking for a third round pick. I decide to slot Brown into the lineup tonight against the Devils and hope his physical presence helps us in the game; Brian Campbell will sit. I also decide to give Ryan Miller a chance to get revenge for his first game of the year, where he got shelled by New Jersey.

TEAM 1 2 3 TOT
Buffalo 1 2 1 4 (W: R. Miller 1-2-1)
New Jersey 1 0 2 3 (L: M. Brodeur 22-14-8)
------------------------------------------------------------
GOALS:
Buffalo: A. Kotalik (2), E. Boulton, M. Bartovic
New Jersey: D. Hale, J. Pandolfo, B. Gionta
------------------------------------------------------------
SHOTS: POWERPLAY:
Buffalo: 28 Buffalo: 1-3
New Jersey: 39 New Jersey: 0-2
------------------------------------------------------------
STARS:
1. A. Kotalik (BUF) 2g
2. J. Pandolfo (NJ) 1g 1a +1
3. B. Gionta (NJ) 1g

Big win!!! It was deja vu for us when New Jersey came back from 2 down to tie the game up at three but Ales Kotalik tipped home an Alexei Zhitnik shot with less than four minutes remaining to finally get our first win in nine games. Zhitnik contributed a pair of assists to join Kotalik with a multipoint game. Ryan Miller gets his first win of the season, playing a very strong game. I switched my tactics early in the first to a high forechecking system and it worked well against the dump and chase Devils. I'm now just starting to document my tactics game-by-game (I know...what a brutal manager) to refer to when playing the same teams in the future. By the way, my trade with Calgary was rejected.

Sun. January 25, 2004: Buffalo Sabres (23-20-5-2 7th) at Tampa Bay Lightning (25-16-6-2 5th)

We complete our very tough 4 game in 6 night stretch on the road versus Tampa Bay. We'll go back to our trap system and utilize a hard-hitting style. Brian Campbell comes back in to the lineup and sit Brad Brown, while Martin Biron goes back in net in place of an exhausted Ryan Miller.

TEAM 1 2 3 TOT
Buffalo 0 0 1 1 (L: M. Biron 16-14-1)
Tampa Bay 2 2 0 4 (W: N. Khabibulin 25-13-6)
---------------------------------------------------------------
GOALS:
Buffalo: D. Kalinin
Tampa Bay: M. St. Louis (2), B. Richards, V. Lecavalier
---------------------------------------------------------------
SHOTS: POWERPLAY:
Buffalo: 23 Buffalo: 0-5
Tampa Bay: 36 Tampa Bay: 2-5
---------------------------------------------------------------
STARS:
1. M. St. Louis (TB) 2g 2a +2
2. B. Richards (TB) 1g 1a +1
3. N. Khabibulin (TB) 1a 22 saves

We had held Martin St. Louis in check all year; it was just a matter of time before he exploded and boy did he ever do that. Tampa chased Biron from the net tonight. Just a tough stretch of games for us but I can't be too disappointed, as I did get four points in these four games.

On Tap Next Week:
Tuesday January 27, 2004: vs. Montreal Canadiens
Friday January 30, 2004: AT NEW YORK RANGERS
Saturday January 31, 2004: vs. New York Rangers

[NoSkillz]

Mon. January 26, 2004:

David Poille, Nashville's GM, offers me a 2004 3rd rounder, a 2005 5th rounder and tough guy Jim McKenzie for Brad Brown. I decide to accept the offer, making my first ever trade. Exciting! :rolleyes: In much more exciting news, Jochen Hecht has returned to full practice! I'm pretty sure J.P. Dumont will be ready soon as well. Now I've got to figure out what to do with my lines. I've played Chris Taylor in too many games, making him waiver-eligible. I unfortunately have to waive him in order to send him to Rochester and hope no one takes him.

Tue. January 27, 2004: Montreal Canadiens (17-26-7-0 13th) at Buffalo Sabres (23-21-5-2 7th)

I get a huge break here, as goaltender Jose Theodore is out with a rotator cuff strain and Mathieu Garon will tend goal tonight. I'll go back to my attacking trap system and try to hit them hard as Montreal isn't the most physical team. I'll ease Jochen Hecht into the lineup by putting him on the third line with the waived Chris Taylor and Jason Pominville.

TEAM 1 2 3 TOT
Montreal 0 0 2 2 (L: M. Garon 5-6-1)
Buffalo 0 2 2 4 (W: R. Miller 2-2-1)
---------------------------------------------------------
GOALS:
Montreal: S. Koivu, M. Ribeiro
Buffalo: J. Hecht, J. Pominville, A. Kotalik, M. Grier
---------------------------------------------------------
SHOTS: POWERPLAY:
Montreal: 25 Montreal: 0-2
Buffalo: 26 Buffalo: 1-2
---------------------------------------------------------
STARS:
1. A. Kotalik (BUF) 1g
2. S. Koivu (MON) 1g +1
3. J. Hecht (BUF) 1g

Looks good on the surface but I allowed another team to get back into a game they had no right to be in. Ribeiro scored with a little over 5 minutes remaining to tie the game at 2 but Ales Kotalik came right back ten seconds later to give us the lead back. We need to do a better job of finishing games! Regardless, the Board of Directors sends me an email after the game, praising our performance.

Wed. January 28, 2004:

In an interesting development, the New York Rangers fans are in a fury over their team's performance lately, especially in a 7-0 loss to Carolina last night. I play the Rangers in two games so hopefully I can take advantage of this!

NHL Offensive Player of the Week: Jarome Iginla (CAL) 3GP 5g 3a 8pts +4
NHL Defensive Player of the Week: Sean Burke (PHI) 2GP 1-0-1 0.96 GAA

Thu. January 29, 2004:

The Chicago Blackhawks have offered a contract to one of my Rochester players, Jason Jaffray, who's playing very well with 12 goals and 26 points in 34 games. He was signed by the Amerks early in the season from the ECHL and I don't have his rights. My scouts don't like him so I'm not going to offer a contract. In other news, Chris Taylor did clear waivers and I sent him down to Rochester. I immediately called up forward Milan Bartovic to take his place (I had to send him down for the Montreal game because of too many players on the roster).

Fri. January 30, 2004: Buffalo Sabres (24-21-5-2 9th) at New York Rangers (22-24-4-1 11th)

I've mixed up the lines again, just because. I'm a glutton for punishment, I guess. Since the Rangers are struggling, I plan on attacking big-time early in the game to get the fans on their back. That means a high forechecking, hard pressing system. Martin Biron starts in goal tonight. I have Pyatt-Drury-Kotalik on line one, Hecht-Connolly-Satan on line two, Grier-Pominville-Afinogenov on line three and Boulton-Mair-Bartovic on line four.

TEAM 1 2 3 TOT
Buffalo 2 2 1 5 (W: M. Biron 17-14-1)
N.Y. Rangers 0 0 2 2 (L: M. Dunham 19-22-4)
-----------------------------------------------------------
GOALS:
Buffalo: M. Afinogenov (2), M. Grier, A. Kotalik, A. Mair
N.Y. Rangers: J. Hlavac, D. Kasparaitis
-----------------------------------------------------------
SHOTS: POWERPLAY:
Buffalo: 41 Buffalo: 1-8
N.Y. Rangers: 31 N.Y. Rangers: 2-4
-----------------------------------------------------------
STARS:
1. M. Afinogenov (BUF) 2g +1
2. M. Grier (BUF) 1g +1
3. J. Jagr (NYR) 1a -1

The score flattered the beleaguered Rangers in this one, as they scored twice in the last four minutes on an extended powerplay to make it closer than it appeared. I even gave my fourth line big minutes in the third period just to rest the other guys. Chris Drury was excellent too, going +3 with a pair of assists, and Taylor Pyatt also had a pair of helpers. The Board of Directors emailed again, this time saying "we're very impressed with the way the team is performing lately". Well, I don't know about that, but I'll take the praise! I found out after the game that centre Adam Mair was hurt in practice earlier in the night and played through it. However, he reaggravated the thigh injury and is out for two weeks. I just can't catch a break with my team. I'm going to have to recall Chris Taylor to take his place.

Sat. January 31, 2004: New York Rangers (22-25-4-1 11th) at Buffalo Sabres (25-21-5-2 T-6th)

Back to back games means Ryan Miller goes in net. I'm going to revert back to the trap for this game in an effort to confuse the Rangers. Chris Taylor goes in for the injured Adam Mair, otherwise the lineup remains the same.

TEAM 1 2 3 TOT
N.Y. Rangers 0 2 1 3 (L: M. Dunham 19-23-4)
Buffalo 2 1 2 5 (W: R. Miller 3-2-1)
-----------------------------------------------------------
GOALS:
N.Y. Rangers: D. Lacouture, S. McCarthy, J. Lundmark
Buffalo: C. Taylor (3), M. Afinogenov, D. Kalinin
-----------------------------------------------------------
SHOTS: POWERPLAY:
N.Y. Rangers: 28 N.Y. Rangers: 0-3
Buffalo: 24 Buffalo: 0-7
-----------------------------------------------------------
STARS:
1. C. Taylor (BUF) 3g
2. H. Tallinder (BUF) 1a +1
3. M. Afinogenov (BUF) 1g +1

Chris Taylor has a huge game, scoring three times, including an empty netter to seal it while linemate Eric Boulton continues his excellent play this year with 2 assists. Their offensive performance is tempered by the fact they were on the ice for all three Rangers goals as well. I switched to a high forechecking style in the third period, as I seemed to be sitting back a bit too much and New York responded by getting to within one at the end of two. Worked out alright!

We end January on a high note, winning three straight and four of five to finish the month with a 6-6-3-1 record. I'm thrilled, considering how bad it looked a week ago. We have lost ground in a competitive Eastern Conference, however, and will need to keep winning to maintain our playoff position. Here are the stats as of January 31st:

Buffalo Sabres Statistics (As of January 31, 2004):

POS PLAYER GP G A PTS +/- PIM PPG SHG GWG
RW Miroslav Satan 54 24 22 46 -6 14 9 0 1
RW Ales Kotalik 54 18 24 42 -10 12 5 0 2
LW Taylor Pyatt 54 15 22 37 -10 12 4 0 4
C Chris Drury 53 12 20 32 -7 22 2 0 1
LW Jochen Hecht 37 13 16 29 8 6 1 0 4
D Jeff Jillson 47 6 20 26 7 28 1 0 1
RW Maxim Afinogenov 31 13 12 25 4 14 6 0 2
C Daniel Briere 33 9 15 24 11 28 1 0 2
RW J.P. Dumont 30 11 7 18 -2 6 8 0 3
D Dmitri Kalinin 51 5 12 17 -9 56 1 0 1
D Jay McKee 49 2 14 16 8 80 1 0 0
LW Mike Grier 54 8 8 16 0 45 0 0 3
RW *Jason Pominville 24 4 11 15 -8 2 2 0 0
C Adam Mair 53 6 9 15 0 50 0 1 1
LW Eric Boulton 35 6 7 13 -1 95 0 0 0
D Alexei Zhitnik 43 3 10 13 -4 50 2 0 1
D Henrik Tallinder 54 0 13 13 -1 2 0 0 0
RW *Milan Bartovic 31 5 7 12 0 8 0 0 0
C *Derek Roy 38 4 8 12 -5 35 0 0 0
D Brian Campbell 52 2 10 12 -8 18 1 0 1
C Tim Connolly 25 3 8 11 -3 8 1 0 0
LW Jim McKenzie (BUF) - - - - - - - - -
(NAS) 47 6 4 10 -7 151 0 0 1
(OVERALL) 47 6 4 10 -7 151 0 0 1
C Chris Taylor 16 5 2 7 -1 12 0 0 0
LW Jason Botterill 19 1 3 4 -1 23 0 0 0
G Martin Biron 36 0 2 2 --- 0 0 0 0
G *Ryan Miller 7 0 1 1 --- 0 0 0 0
D James Patrick 11 0 1 1 -6 0 0 0 0
G Mika Noronen 19 0 0 0 --- 0 0 0 0
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
POS PLAYER GP W L T MIN GA GAA SHO SV%
G Martin Biron 36 17 14 1 1990 99 2.98 2 .898
G *Ryan Miller 7 3 2 1 383 21 3.29 0 .900
G Mika Noronen 19 6 7 3 880 49 3.34 1 .891

NHL Offensive Player of the Month: Jarome Iginla (CAL) 15GP 13g 4a 17pts +4 10PIM
NHL Defensive Player of the Month: Rhett Warrener (CAL) 14GP 1g 7a 8pts +11 14PIM
NHL Rookie of the Month: Brooks Orpik (PIT) 13GP 0g 2a 2pts +3 8PIM :confused:

Sunday February 1, 2004:

More good news on the injury front, as winger Jean-Pierre Dumont returned to full practice today. I've played Dumont with Jochen Hecht and Daniel Briere all year but want to try to get Chris Drury going, so Dumont will play with him and Ales Kotalik. The Board of Directors sent their monthly email, saying they're "delighted with my overall performance as G.M.".

On Tap Next Week:
Thursday February 5, 2004: vs. Boston Bruins
Saturday February 7, 2004: NHL All-Star Game (Xcel Energy Center, St. Paul, Minnesota)

[NoSkillz]

Mon. February 2, 2004:

I noticed that Jochen Hecht was looking for a contract renewel so I decided to send him an offer. He was looking for a fair deal and in the end I offered him a five year deal worth around 9,000,000. In other news, I sent Milan Bartovic down to Rochester to gain more experience. He played very well in a fourth line role but I don't envision him getting much playing time now that my regular players are getting healthy. Ideally, I'd send Jim McKenzie down, but two factors are holding me back: first, I'd have to waive him before sending him down and secondly (and most importantly), I'm not wanting to tick off the other guys on the team by dropping a guy I just traded for.

I've also gone back to the rotating captaincy. I had Miroslav Satan as captain for the last two months but I'd like to see how we do with someone else. Therefore, Jay McKee will lead the team for the month of February, with J.P. Dumont and Satan set as assistants.

Here are my line combinations at the start of the month:

LW C RW LD RD
Dumont Drury Kotalik McKee Jillson
Hecht Pominville Satan Kalinin Zhitnik
Pyatt Connolly Afinogenov Campbell Tallinder
Boulton Taylor Grier
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Subs: McKenzie, Patrick
Goal: Miller, Biron, Noronen

Tue. February 3, 2004:

Rochester Americans forward Jason Jaffray accepted the contract from the Blackhawks this morning. I'm actually glad this has happened, as now there's a better chance that one of my prospects will get to take his position on a scoring line.

Wed. February 4, 2004:

NHL Offensive Player of the Week: Scott Pellerin (STL) 3GP 3g 4a 7pts +3
NHL Defensive Player of the Week: J.S. Giguere (ANA) 3GP 3-0-0 0.33 GAA 2 SHO .986 SA%

Thu. February 5, 2004: Boston Bruins (25-19-7-4 6th) at Buffalo Sabres (26-21-5-2 8th)

The tough Bruins are in Buffalo for the last game before the All-Star break. The team is really well rested, having had four days without a game. I'm going back to a trap system tonight against Boston, who's starting Felix Potvin tonight. I counter with Ryan Miller.

TEAM 1 2 3 TOT
Boston 4 0 1 5 (W: F. Potvin 11-12-2)
Buffalo 1 0 0 1 (L: R. Miller 3-3-1)
-----------------------------------------------------------------
GOALS:
Boston: J. Thornton (2), S. O'Donnell, S. Samsonov, P.J. Axelsson
Buffalo: J. Hecht
-----------------------------------------------------------------
SHOTS: POWERPLAY:
Boston: 27 Boston: 0-3
Buffalo: 30 Buffalo: 0-3
-----------------------------------------------------------------
STARS:
1. J. Thornton (BOS) 2g +4
2. F. Potvin (BOS) 1GA 29 saves
3. S. Samsonov (BOS) 1g 1a +3

Hecht opened the scoring only three minutes in but Boston took over from there, scoring four times in a 12 minute span, chasing Ryan Miller. We went to a high forechecking system and played pretty well from there but Potvin was up to the task, making countless great saves. Bad game going into the break.

I disciplined Miller for his poor performance and he actually offered an apology, saying that "I deserved the warning and I'll do a better job of motivating myself before games in the future." Damn straight!

Big news after the game! Pittsburgh accepted a trade that sees Mika Noronen, Buffalo's 3rd and 5th round draft picks in 2004 and a 2nd round pick in 2005 all going to Pittsburgh in exchange for Pittsburgh's first round pick in 2005. Wowza! Now, all I need is for Pittsburgh to suck next year so I get a chance at Sidney Crosby! Speaking of Crosby, he's been receiving praise from various journalists in Canada for his recent performances at Rimouski, where he's piled up 29 goals, 37 assists and a +41 rating in 47 games thus far. I also received word that Jochen Hecht has accepted my four year extension worth $7,000,000 plus incentives. A bargain, I say!

Sat. February 7, 2004:

The Western Conference All-Stars, behind a four goal, one assist performance from Calgary's Jarome Iginla, defeated the Eastern Conference 7-3. Buffalo had no representatives at the game.

Sun. February 8, 2004:

I've offered new contract extensions to both J.P. Dumont and Maxim Afinogenov.

On Tap Next Week:
Tuesday February 10, 2004: vs. Dallas Stars
Friday February 13, 2004: vs. San Jose Sharks
Saturday February 14, 2004: AT TORONTO MAPLE LEAFS

[NoSkillz]

Tue. February 10, 2004: Dallas Stars (25-26-4-0 9th) at Buffalo Sabres (26-22-5-2 8th)

I've placed two more veteran Rochester players on the trade block in Brian Chapman and Rick Mrozik. Dallas comes into town just on the outside of a playoff position and are led by Mike Modano and Jere Lehtinen with 33 points. Modano and Brendan Morrow lead the club with 17 goals. I'm going to stick with the exact same lineup as the last game, including Ryan Miller in goal, hoping that he responds after his poor effort against Boston.

TEAM 1 2 3 TOT
Dallas 0 2 0 2 (W: M. Turco 22-23-2)
Buffalo 0 0 1 1 (L: R. Miller 3-4-1)
----------------------------------------------------------
GOALS:
Dallas: B. Guerin, J. Klemm
Buffalo: E. Boulton
----------------------------------------------------------
SHOTS: POWERPLAY:
Dallas: 22 Dallas: 0-4
Buffalo: 25 Buffalo: 0-2
----------------------------------------------------------
STARS:
1. M. Turco (DAL) 1ga 24 saves
2. J. Klemm (DAL) 1g +2
3. E. Boulton (BUF) 1g +1

Another frustrating game, as our defensive play was pretty good but we just couldn't put the puck in the net. I can't maintain any consistency with my lines either, changing them in the third period looking for a spark to no avail. I just can't get any type of offense from Chris Drury or Tim Connolly right now.

Wed. February 11, 2004:

Forward Adam Mair has resumed non-contract drills in practice and should be game ready in a week or so.

NHL Offensive Player of the Week: Jamie Langenbrunner (NJ) 3GP 3g 2a 5pts +5 4 PIM
NHL Defensive Player of the Week: Chris Osgood (STL) 2GP 2-0-0 1.00 GAA 1 SHO .968 S%

Thu. February 12, 2004:

In the news I've been waiting for, centre Daniel Briere has resumed contact drills and will be ready to suit up against San Jose tomorrow night. In practice today, I reunited Briere with former linemates Jochen Hecht and J.P. Dumont. Line two sees Satan-Drury-Afinogenov while line three has Pyatt-Pominville-Kotalik. Line four remains unchanged, with Grier-Taylor-Boulton. The struggling Tim Connolly is on the outside looking in right now. I'll likely sit him against San Jose and play him against Toronto, hoping the benching adds a little spark to his game. Plus, Pominville is playing well offensively in his rookie season.

Fri. February 13, 2004: San Jose Sharks (19-29-7-1 12th) at Buffalo Sabres (26-23-5-2 9th)

We're back out of the playoff picture, but only by a single point. San Jose is a huge disappointment this year, allowing the most goals in the NHL so far with 184. Marco Sturm leads the team with 19 goals and 37 points thus far. I'm going with a high energy, high forechecking system for this game after being told by my advance scout that their team lacks mobility on defense. Miller starts in goal again tonight.

TEAM 1 2 3 OT TOT
San Jose 2 1 1 1 5 (W: E. Nabokov 16-27-6)
Buffalo 1 2 1 0 4 (L: R. Miller 3-5-1)
-----------------------------------------------------------------
GOALS:
San Jose: M. Sturm (2), M. Ricci, P. Marleau, C. Brown
Buffalo: A. Kotalik, J. Hecht, D. Briere, M. Afinogenov
-----------------------------------------------------------------
SHOTS: POWERPLAY:
San Jose: 26 San Jose: 2-7
Buffalo: 32 Buffalo: 2-8
-----------------------------------------------------------------
STARS:
1. M. Sturm (SJ) 2g 1a +1
2. P. Marleau (SJ) 1g 1a +2
3. D. Briere (BUF) 1g 1a +1

Ryan Miller received the worst rating I've seen yet, a '3' for his lack of effort in this contest. I warned him again after the game, and he accepted it without comment. Boy, maybe I made a mistake in getting rid of Mika Noronen. I'm not going to panic, as we played a pretty solid game here, coming back from a 3-1 deficit to take a late lead. Former Sabre Curtis Brown scored on a 5-on-3 man advantage with four minutes left to send it to overtime. At least we got a point. Now, on to Toronto.

Sat. February 14, 2004: Buffalo Sabres (26-23-5-3 9th) at Toronto Maple Leafs (30-15-9-3 4th)

Martin Biron goes in goal tonight for the Sabres. As promised, Tim Connolly goes back in for Jason Pominville, otherwise, no changes. I'm sticking with the high forecheck system for this game, only because my trap never works against Toronto.

TEAM 1 2 3 TOT
Buffalo 1 3 5 9 (W: R. Miller 4-5-1)
Toronto 4 2 2 8 (L: E. Belfour 18-13-7)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
GOALS:
Buffalo: T. Pyatt (3), M. Satan, M. Afinogenov, C. Taylor, E. Boulton, D. Kalinin, J. Jillson
Toronto: M. Sundin (3), M. Renberg, A. Mogilny, N. Antropov, O. Nolan, T. Fitzgerald
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
SHOTS: POWERPLAY:
Buffalo: 30 Buffalo: 2-7
Toronto: 41 Toronto: 0-4
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
STARS:
1. D. Kalinin (BUF) 1g 2a
2. M. Sundin (TOR) 3g 1a +2
3. T. Pyatt (BUF) 3g +3

:eek: Holy mother of God! That is not a typo!! This has to rank as one of the craziest games in NHL history! Toronto scored on 3 of their first 4 shots to chase Martin Biron and proceeded to build up a seemingly insurmountable 6-2 lead. Unbelievably, we chipped away at that lead (going to a high press system) and eventually tied it at six! Mats Sundin then seemed to salt it away, scoring his third to give Toronto a 7-6 lead but we stormed right back down the ice and Eric Boulton put one home to tie it again. Seconds later, we took our first lead as Dmitri Kalinin pinched in and knocked one home. Toronto would pull their goalie, and Jeff Jillson was able to score into the empty net but Tom Fitzgerald scored immediately after to end the scoring at 9-8! Jillson (1g 1a), Taylor (1g 1a), Connolly (2a), Briere (2a) and Afinogenov (1g 2a) joined Kalinin and Pyatt with multipoint games. I'm exhausted after just watching that game! :) Just a great come from behind victory and one that was much needed.

After the game, Ryan Miller, who still gave up five goals after replacing Biron, reported to the Buffalo News that he was "ecstatic at the team's change in fortune" after the Toronto game. All I know is that we somehow have to find a way to keep the puck out of our net!

Sun. February 15, 2004:

Maxim Afinogenov and J.P. Dumont have both signed contract extensions for the club. In other league news, the New York Islanders must be giving up on the season after trading two of their finest defensemen in separate deals. First, Roman Hamrlik goes to Colorado for Peter Budaj and two second round picks. Then, they trade Kenny Jonsson to Phoenix for Jeff Taffe and another second rounder. The Islanders are mired in 12th position in the Conference.

On Tap Next Week:
Monday February 16, 2004: vs. Florida Panthers
Wednesday February 18, 2004: vs. Washington Capitals
Friday February 20, 2004: vs. Atlanta Thrashers
Saturday February 21, 2004: AT NEW YORK ISLANDERS

[NoSkillz]

Mon. February 16, 2004: Florida Panthers (18-33-7-1 14th) at Buffalo Sabres (27-23-5-3 T-7th)

Florida has played us very well this year. They play a trapping system but have scored a bunch of goals against me this year. I'm going to go back to the trap myself this game in an effort to shore up things defensively. We'll press their young team hard on the puck, though, to try to cause turnovers. We also switch things up to a man-to-man defensive philosophy. Biron goes back in net for this one, with no other changes.

TEAM 1 2 3 TOT
Florida 0 1 2 3 (W: R. Luongo 15-30-7)
Buffalo 1 1 0 2 (L: M. Biron 17-15-1)
-----------------------------------------------------------
GOALS:
Florida: M. Cullen (2), S. Weiss
Buffalo: C. Drury, M. Satan
-----------------------------------------------------------
SHOTS: POWERPLAY:
Florida: 25 Florida: 0-1
Buffalo: 31 Buffalo: 0-3
-----------------------------------------------------------
STARS:
1. C. Drury (BUF) 1g 1a +2
2. K. Piros (FLO) 2a +2
3. M. Satan (BUF) 1g +1

Cullen scored twice in the last five minutes, including the winner with 63 seconds left. We just can NEVER hold a lead. I'm completely at wits end with this enigmatic team. I discipline Biron after the game and he thinks I'm being unfair! Ha! Stop the bloody puck, jerky! :mad:

Wed. February 18, 2004: Washington Capitals (33-21-5-0 3rd) at Buffalo Sabres (27-24-5-3 9th)

Washington is playing inspired hockey this year, led by Jared Aulin, of all people, with 46 points on the season. We've defeated the Capitals in both our games thus far and need to pull out a win here, as our play at home has been less than stellar. Adam Mair returned to full practice and will suit up on the fourth line with Grier and Boulton. To make room for Mair, I've sent Jason Pominville back to Rochester. Pominville played well for me, getting 16 points in 27 games, but his -11 mark shows he needs a bit of work defensively.

TEAM 1 2 3 TOT
Washington 0 2 3 5 (W: O. Kolzig 28-18-5)
Buffalo 1 1 2 4 (L: R. Miller 4-6-1)
-----------------------------------------------------------
GOALS:
Washington: J. Aulin (2), D. Zubrus (2), A. Semin
Buffalo: M. Afinogenov (2), M. Satan, T. Connolly
-----------------------------------------------------------
SHOTS: POWERPLAY:
Washington: 26 Washington: 0-2
Buffalo: 27 Buffalo: 2-6
-----------------------------------------------------------
STARS:
1. A. Semin (WAS) 1g 4a +5
2. J. Aulin (WAS) 2g 2a +5
3. D. Zubrus (WAS) 2g 1a +4

:( It never changes. We just can't get a goalie to stop a puck. 5 goals on 26 shots in a topsy turvy game that saw us take a 2-0 lead, only to give back 4 in a row. We'd eventually come back to tie and then Zubrus scores late to win it for them. I pulled Biron after the fourth goal. I'm now actively pursuing a number one goaltender for my playoff push.

NHL Offensive Player of the Week: Robert Lang (DET) 3GP 3g 2a 5pts +1 2PIM
NHL Defensive Player of the Week: Robert Esche (PHI) 2GP 1-0-1 1ga 0.48 GAA 1 SHO .981 S%

Fri. February 20, 2004: Atlanta Thrashers (18-35-6-0 15th) at Buffalo Sabres (27-25-5-3 9th)

Atlanta is the worst team in the conference this year and is really struggling to score goals, with only Ilya Kovalchuk producing. I'm going with Ryan Miller in goal tonight and will attempt to play a low press system. We're desperate for a victory tonight.

TEAM 1 2 3 TOT
Atlanta 1 0 0 1 (L. K. Lehtonen 8-16-5)
Buffalo 2 0 2 4 (W: R. Miller 5-6-1)
-----------------------------------------------------------
GOALS:
Atlanta: S. McEachern
Buffalo: T. Pyatt (3), M. Afinogenov
-----------------------------------------------------------
SHOTS: POWERPLAY:
Atlanta: 13 Atlanta: 1-4
Buffalo: 32 Buffalo: 2-4
-----------------------------------------------------------
STARS:
1. T. Pyatt (BUF) 3g 1a +2
2. M. Afinogenov (BUF) 1g 1a
3. D. Kalinin (BUF) 1a +1

Wow. Complete domination in this game, as we held them to only 13 shots and a single shot in the third period. Taylor Pyatt is having a tremendous season offensively and I'm offering him a contract extension right away. That was his third hat trick this season. Jeff Jillson and Ales Kotalik both had two assists as well. Unfortunately, defenseman Brian Campbell broke his wrist in the first period. He'll be out at least three weeks. This means James Patrick will hit the ice for the first time in a couple months! The board of directors emailed me after this game, praising our effort.

Sat. February 21, 2004: Buffalo Sabres (28-25-5-3 8th) at New York Islanders (22-27-7-4 12th)

The Islanders are still fighting to survive, even with the recent moves. Michael Peca and Mariusz Czerkawski are both injured for this game. Mark Parrish leads the club in goals with 17 and Scott Young still leads in points with 38. Ryan Miller is really tired but I'm starting him anyway. James Patrick will be my sixth defenseman tonight.

TEAM 1 2 3 TOT
Buffalo 0 4 2 6 (W: R. Miller 6-6-1)
NY Islanders 2 1 2 5 (L: R. DiPietro 9-20-4)
------------------------------------------------------------
GOALS:
Buffalo: M. Afinogenov (3), A. Kotalik (2), T. Connolly
NY Islanders: A. Asham (2), S. Young (2), T. Hunter
------------------------------------------------------------
SHOTS: POWERPLAY:
Buffalo: 32 Buffalo: 3-5
NY Islanders: 38 NY Islanders: 1-4
------------------------------------------------------------
STARS:
1. A. Kotalik (BUF) 2g 1a +2
2. M. Afinogenov (BUF) 3g -1
3. T. Connolly (BUF) 1g 1a +1

Another crazy game that saw the Islanders dominate to start, outshooting me 22-4 in the first period. I decided to leave things the same and we responded with an excellent second period, outshooting them 17-4 and taking a 4-3 lead. I lost Jochen Hecht again to injury, as a hit to his knee will keep him out of action for a couple weeks. Kalinin, Zhitnik, Pyatt and Drury all had two assists in the game. Maxim Afinogenov cashed in on a $50,000 bonus for scoring his 10th powerplay goal of the season.

On Tap Next Week:
Wednesday February 25, 2004: AT PITTSBURGH PENGUINS
Friday February 27, 2004: vs. New York Islanders
Saturday February 28, 2004: AT OTTAWA SENATORS

[condors]

nice big update :)
(gives me something to read while i am avoiding work)

[NoSkillz]

Mon. February 23, 2004:

Taylor Pyatt suffered a cut to the face in practice and will be out of action for a few days. Ah, he's tough and I'll make him play through it!

Wed. February 25, 2004: Buffalo Sabres (29-25-5-3 8th) at Pittsburgh Penguins (27-26-7-1 10th)

Pittsburgh is playing pretty well in spite of the completely ineffective Mario Lemieux, who only has 28 points in 52 games. Rico Fata is having a great year, with 26 goals and 48 points to lead the team. Pittsburgh will go with Sebastian Caron in goal tonight while Mika Noronen, my former goalie, rides the pine. I'm going to go with Miller again in goal. I've recalled Jason Pominville to take the place of injured Jochen Hecht and he immediately is slotted in on our first line with Briere and Dumont.

TEAM 1 2 3 TOT
Buffalo 2 2 0 4 (T: R. Miller 6-6-2)
Pittsburgh 0 3 1 4 (T: S. Caron 12-13-5)
----------------------------------------------------------
GOALS:
Buffalo: C. Drury, M. Grier, T. Pyatt, A. Kotalik
Pittsburgh: R. Fata (2), T. Surovy, L. Pirjeta
----------------------------------------------------------
SHOTS: POWERPLAY:
Buffalo: 32 Buffalo: 1-4
Pittsburgh: 32 Pittsburgh: 0-5
----------------------------------------------------------
STARS:
1. R. Fata (PIT) 2g +1
2. L. Pirjeta (PIT) 1g +2
3. A. Kotalik (BUF) 1g 1a +1

Great first period, awful second period, pedestrian third means a tie game. My offense continues to be a positive, scoring goals at an incredible rate; Chris Drury (1g 1a) and Maxim Afinogenov (2a) contributed multipoint games along with Kotalik. I'm having trouble making a trade for a top-notch goalie; I'm also looking for a solid defensive defenseman.

NHL Offensive Player of the Week: Peter Forsberg (COL) 2GP 1g 2a 3pts -1
NHL Defensive Player of the Week: Martin Brodeur (NJ) 2GP 2-0-0 0.50GAA 1 SHO .976 S%

Fri. February 27, 2004: New York Islanders (23-28-8-4 12th) at Buffalo Sabres (29-25-6-3 8th)

Michael Peca returns to Buffalo tonight in a game that our fans should be lively in (Peca is HATED in Buffalo). Garth Snow goes in goal for the Islanders tonight. I've promoted the Satan-Drury-Afinogenov line to number 1 due to solid play. Martin Biron will get the shot in goal tonight.

TEAM 1 2 3 TOT
NY Islanders 0 1 2 3 (T: G. Snow 14-12-4)
Buffalo 1 2 0 3 (T: M. Biron 17-15-2)
----------------------------------------------------------
GOALS:
NY Islanders: A. Yashin, A. Asham, S. Young
Buffalo: J. Jillson, T. Pyatt, M. Grier
----------------------------------------------------------
SHOTS: POWERPLAY:
NY Islanders: 30 NY Islanders: 1-5
Buffalo: 30 Buffalo: 1-7
----------------------------------------------------------
STARS:
1. S. Young (NYI) 1g
2. A. Yashin (NYI) 1g 1a
3. M. Parrish (NYI) 2a

We were up two goals going into the third period but blew another one. The Pyatt-Connolly-Kotalik trio continues their fine play. I am concerned about the poor play of Daniel Briere and J.P. Dumont, neither of whom have been great since coming back from injury, especially Dumont.

After the game, Dmitri Kalinin signed a three year contract extension worth $3,400,000.

Sat. February 28, 2004: Buffalo Sabres (29-25-7-3 8th) at Ottawa Senators (36-21-7-0 2nd)

Ottawa has a couple major injuries in Daniel Alfredsson and Zdeno Chara, two guys we won't miss! They're still a top notch team without them, led by Marian Hossa's 56 points. I'm going with the exact same lineup as last night.

TEAM 1 2 3 TOT
Buffalo 1 1 2 4 (W: M. Biron 18-15-2)
Ottawa 0 0 2 2 (L: P. Lalime 33-17-6)
-----------------------------------------------------------
GOALS:
Buffalo: M. Satan (2), J. Pominville, M. Afinogenov
Ottawa: K. Muller, M. Hossa
-----------------------------------------------------------
SHOTS: POWERPLAY:
Buffalo: 26 Buffalo: 1-2
Ottawa: 33 Ottawa: 0-3
-----------------------------------------------------------
STARS:
1. M. Satan (BUF) 2g 1a +2
2. W. Redden (OTT) 1a -1
3. J.P. Dumont (BUF) 2a

Nice way to end the month, defeating the Northeast Division leaders in their own building. Biron was very solid in goal for us, although again, we blew a two goal lead only to have them tie it. Thankfully, Satan scored his second of the game to give us a lead we wouldn't relinquish late. Jeff Jillson (2a) also had a multipoint game. The Board of Directors is once again pleased with the performance.

Sun. February 29, 2004:

We end February on a high note, undefeated in five games and complete the month with a 4-4-2-1 record. Here's a look at the Sabres stats as of February 29th.

Buffalo Sabres Statistics (As of February 29, 2004):

POS PLAYER GP G A PTS +/- PIM PPG SHG GWG
RW Miroslav Satan 65 29 26 55 -12 14 12 0 2
RW Ales Kotalik 65 22 29 51 -8 18 7 0 2
LW Taylor Pyatt 65 23 27 50 -8 16 5 0 5
RW Maxim Afinogenov 42 22 20 42 4 24 11 0 3
C Chris Drury 64 14 28 42 -11 32 2 0 1
D Jeff Jillson 58 8 25 33 0 28 3 0 1
LW Jochen Hecht 45 15 17 32 3 6 1 0 4
C Daniel Briere 42 10 19 29 10 36 2 0 2
D Dmitri Kalinin 62 6 22 28 -12 86 1 0 2
RW J.P. Dumont 41 11 12 23 -6 8 8 0 3
C Tim Connolly 35 5 15 20 -1 14 1 0 0
LW Mike Grier 65 10 10 20 -2 45 0 0 3
D Alexei Zhitnik 54 3 15 18 -6 62 2 0 1
RW *Jason Pominville 30 5 12 17 -13 4 2 0 0
D Jay McKee 60 2 15 17 3 91 1 0 0
LW Eric Boulton 46 8 8 16 -4 123 0 0 0
C Adam Mair 59 6 9 15 -4 54 0 1 1
D Brian Campbell 59 2 12 14 -9 18 1 0 1
D Henrik Tallinder 65 0 14 14 -3 2 0 0 0
RW *Milan Bartovic 31 5 7 12 0 8 0 0 0
C *Derek Roy 38 4 8 12 -5 35 0 0 0
LW Jim McKenzie (BUF) - - - - - - - - -
(NAS) 47 6 4 10 -7 151 0 0 1
(OVERALL) 47 6 4 10 -7 151 0 0 1
C Chris Taylor 21 6 3 9 -1 12 0 0 0
LW Jason Botterill 19 1 3 4 -1 23 0 0 0
G Martin Biron 42 0 2 2 --- 0 0 0 0
G *Ryan Miller 15 0 1 1 --- 0 0 0 0
D James Patrick 15 0 1 1 -7 2 0 0 0
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
POS PLAYER GP W L T MIN GA GAA SHO SV%
G Martin Biron 42 18 15 2 2264 115 3.05 2 .895
G *Ryan Miller 15 6 6 2 782 48 3.68 0 .879

Maxim Afinogenov must have contended for Offensive Player of the Month, garnering 9 goals and 17 points in 11 games. Taylor Pyatt, Dmitri Kalinin, Tim Connolly, Ales Kotalik and Chris Drury all had strong offensive months as well.

NHL Offensive Player of the Month: Peter Forsberg (COL) 11GP 3g 10a 13pts +3 8PIM
NHL Defensive Player of the Month: Scott Niedermayer (NJ) 14GP 4g 6a 10pts +16 2PIM
NHL Rookie of the Month: Nikolai Zherdev (CLB) 6GP 3g 5a 8pts +3 4PIM

On Tap Next Week:
Wednesday March 3, 2004: vs. Ottawa Senators
Saturday March 6, 2004: AT TORONTO MAPLE LEAFS
Sunday March 7, 2004: vs. Chicago Blackhawks

[NoSkillz]

Mon. March 1, 2004:

The Board of Directors are still "delighted with my overall performance as G.M." and indicate that our financial situation is "extremely secure". Good to know.

I've got a little over a week to make some trades in an effort to tighten up my defense. I've set my sights on getting a good, solid defenseman and a goaltender and have made offers for Sheldon Souray, Jason Smith, Eric Brewer, Rostislav Klesla and Darius Kasparaitis on 'D' and Jose Theodore and Miikka Kiprusoff in goal. The only offer that seems to peak interest is for Souray, but Montreal keeps demanding that Taylor Pyatt is included in the trade, something that just isn't going to happen!

Wed. March 3, 2004: Ottawa Senators (36-22-7-0 2nd) at Buffalo Sabres (30-25-7-3 8th)

The second in a 'delayed' back to back series between the Senators and the Sabres. Chara and Alfredsson are still injured; in fact, they'll both miss the beginning of the playoffs with serious injuries. I am going with the exact same lineup that won in Ottawa a few nights ago.

TEAM 1 2 3 TOT
Ottawa 1 0 1 2 (L: P. Lalime 34-18-6)
Buffalo 1 0 3 4 (W: M. Biron 19-15-2)
-----------------------------------------------------------------
GOALS:
Ottawa: V. Varada, C. Phillips
Buffalo: E. Boulton, J. Pominville, J.P. Dumont, T. Connolly (EN)
-----------------------------------------------------------------
SHOTS: POWERPLAY:
Ottawa: 24 Ottawa: 0-0
Buffalo: 29 Buffalo: 1-8
-----------------------------------------------------------------
STARS:
1. C. Phillips (OTT) 1g
2. E. Boulton (BUF) 1g 17PIM
3. V. Varada (OTT) 1g -1

Funny game that was highlighted by a big brawl in the second period. It started with a battle between Chris Neil and Jay McKee, then Eric Boulton went after Mike Fisher from Ottawa. Jeff Jillson also was ready to go with Brian Pothier and Mike Grier got tangled up with Greg Devries but both of those were broken up quickly. As far as the game, we were given an incredible eight powerplays to Ottawa's zero, and only were able to convert on the last one, with Dumont finally scoring for the first time since returning from injury. Biron was strong in net once again, as we are now unbeaten in six games. The Board notices and once again sends a message with their approval.

NHL Offensive Player of the Week: Sergei Samsonov (BOS) 4GP 5g 2a 7pts +2
NHL Defensive Player of the Week: J.S. Giguere (ANA) 3GP 2-1-0 1.67GAA .943 S%

Thu. March 4, 2004:

The San Jose media are attacking defenseman Scott Hannan, who is being defended by G.M. Doug Wilson. I decide to make a trade inquiry anyway, as Hannan would look good in a Buffalo uniform.

Fri. March 5, 2004:

Both Brian Campbell and Jochen Hecht returned to full practice this morning, with their injuries healed. Both will be in the lineup tomorrow night in a game versus the tough Toronto Maple Leafs. I'm going to send Jason Pominville back to Rochester in lieu of Hecht's return. Pominville has been a revelation this year, with 18 points in only 31 games for us; he is certainly in my plans for next year! I found out later in the evening that forward Taylor Pyatt accepted my contract extension, valued at $4,100,000 over the next three years plus bonuses. Pyatt has truly come into his own this season, with 23 goals and 51 points in 66 games.

Sat. March 6, 2004: Buffalo Sabres (31-25-7-3 8th) at Toronto Maple Leafs (33-21-10-4 4th)

We're having a hard time climbing the ladder in a very competitive Eastern Conference, and we're only a single point ahead of the Boston Bruins, so we must keep winning! Unfortunately, we head into Toronto for a big Saturday Night matchup with the Leafs on Hockey Night in Canada. Our last game was an absolute classic, a 9-8 come from behind victory for the Sabres in front of the national audience in Canada. I hope to keep the score down a bit in this one. Biron goes in goal again tonight; Jochen Hecht gets slotted in alongside Daniel Briere and J.P. Dumont while Brian Campbell goes in for James Patrick as our third line defenseman with Henrik Tallinder. Toronto likely will be missing Tomas Kaberle, who's nursing a groin strain. The Leafs are struggling, having lost three in a row and will start Trevor Kidd in goal. Kidd is actually having a strong season as Belfour's backup, compiling a 14-7-3 record thus far.

TEAM 1 2 3 OT TOT
Buffalo 1 4 1 0 6 (T: M. Biron 19-15-3)
Toronto 1 4 1 0 6 (T: T. Kidd 14-7-4)
------------------------------------------------------------------------
GOALS:
Buffalo: T. Pyatt (2), A. Kotalik, D. Briere, J.P. Dumont, M. Afinogenov
Toronto: B. McCabe (2), M. Sundin (2), M. Renberg, O. Nolan
------------------------------------------------------------------------
SHOTS: POWERPLAY:
Buffalo: 30 Buffalo: 1-3
Toronto: 39 Toronto: 0-2
------------------------------------------------------------------------
STARS:
1. B. McCabe (TOR) 2g 1a
2. M. Sundin (TOR) 2g +2
3. T. Pyatt (BUF) 2g 2a +2

Another crazy, unbelievably high paced game. My strategy to play a defensive game against Toronto always seems to backfire, as my trap was consistently broken down by the talented Leaf forwards. The score after one period was all due to Martin Biron, as Toronto outshot us 17-4. Biron couldn't hold on forever, and the Leafs reeled off three straight goals to take a 4-1 lead. I switched my tactics to a high forechecking system and we proceeded to score four goals in less than five minutes (with Toronto also scoring in-between) to make it 5-5 going into the third. We completely dominated the final frame, outshooting Toronto 14-3 but Mats Sundin was able to rifle a shot home with three minutes left in regulation to tie the game up. Taylor Pyatt is just in a zone right now and is only a point back of Miroslav Satan for the team lead. My new deal with Pyatt may have come at the wrong time: he ended up reaching the 25 goal and 55 point mark in the game, triggering two bonus payments of $120,000 each after the game! Oh well, he deserves it!! Linemates Tim Connolly (3a) and Ales Kotalik (1g 2a) helped the line reach 10 points on the night.

Sun. March 7, 2004: Chicago Blackhawks (21-40-6-0 15th) at Buffalo Sabres (31-25-8-3 8th)

San Jose rejected my inquiry for Scott Hannan, saying they had no plans to move him. I still really would like to get a good defenseman and only have three days to get one before the trade deadline passes.

Cool part about this game: It seems once you get close to the deadline, you can offer trades and get instant feedback from the opposing team, as opposed to waiting a day for their thoughts. This is excellent, as it shows the urgency of the teams at the deadline!

The Blackhawks are the worst team in the NHL and also the lowest scoring club in the league. Kyle Calder has been the lone shining light this year, with 18 goals and 39 points. Eric Daze is second on the club with a measly 29 points. I'm going with Ryan Miller in goal tonight because of the back-to-back games. We can't take this game lightly, as Boston has now tied us for the 8th playoff spot in the conference, although we have two games in hand at this point.

TEAM 1 2 3 TOT
Chicago 0 0 3 3 (L: M. Leighton 4-12-2)
Buffalo 2 1 2 5 (W: R. Miller 7-6-2)
-------------------------------------------------------------------
GOALS:
Chicago: T. Arnason, D. Quint, C. Ronning
Buffalo: J.P. Dumont, M. Grier, M. Satan, A. Kotalik, J. Hecht (EN)
-------------------------------------------------------------------
SHOTS: POWERPLAY:
Chicago: 22 Chicago: 0-3
Buffalo: 40 Buffalo: 1-6
-------------------------------------------------------------------
STARS:
1. A. Kotalik (BUF) 1g +1
2. M. Grier (BUF) 1g -1
3. J.P. Dumont (BUF) 1g

We dominated this game to such a degree after two periods that I was just wondering when I'd give the fourth line more playing time. However, Chicago scored three goals in a six minute span to tie the game up and cancel those plans! Thankfully, Kotalik restored order with about 10 minutes left in regulation and we were able to kill a big 5 on 3 disadvantage late in the game to win. Leighton was phenomenal for Chicago and singlehandedly kept them in the game.

On Tap Next Week:
Wednesday March 10, 2004: AT CAROLINA HURRICANES
Thursday March 11, 2004: vs. Boston Bruins
Saturday March 13, 2004: AT BOSTON BRUINS

[NoSkillz]

Mon. March 8, 2004:

I was able to swing a big deal with Detroit this morning, getting veteran defenseman Chris Chelios for only a seventh round pick!! Chelios had been on the block for some time in Detroit and wasn't playing much, as the Wings had picked up defenseman Andy Sutton earlier in the year from Atlanta and he was playing well. I think that Detroit wanted to get rid of Chelios' huge $6,000,000/year contract but I'm not too worried since he's just here as a 'rent-a-player'. Very exciting to get a guy who's won two Stanley Cups for our own playoff run. By the way, the win over Chicago propelled us into a three-way tie with Tampa and Carolina for 6th spot in the Eastern Conference.

Tue. March 9, 2004:

Well, it looks as if I'm going to have to ride Martin Biron in hopes of making the playoffs. I'm unable to extract any decent upgrades in goal from the NHL clubs and that's the key: UPGRADES. Here are the trade deadline deals:

- Boston trades C Andy Hilbert to Philadelphia for the rights to G Dov Grumet-Morris
- San Jose trades W Scott Thornton to Philadelphia for the rights to D Joey Mormina
- San Jose trades W Alexander Korolyuk and D Tom Preissing to Dallas for the rights to D Matt Nickerson and the rights to D Niko Vanio
- San Jose trades W Todd Harvey to Phoenix for the rights to D Marcus Smith and a 4th round pick in 2004
- Boston trades C Brad Boyes to Carolina for the rights to C Adam Taylor
- Dallas trades C Steve Ott to Boston for the rights to D Andrew Alberts, a 4th round pick in 2004 and a 5th round pick in 2005
- Pittsburgh trades C Domenic Pittis to Montreal for the rights to G Jaroslav Halak
- Los Angeles trades D Bryan Muir, D Joe Corvo and a 3rd round pick in 2004 to New York Islanders for W Shawn Bates
- Atlanta trades D Frantisek Kaberle to Phoenix for D David Tanabe
- Chicago trades D Jim Vandermeer to Detroit for the rights to D Johan Berggren, a 4th round pick in 2004 and a 4th round pick in 2005

Needless to say, I'm disappointed that bigger names weren't moved at the deadline! :(

Wed. March 10, 2004: Buffalo Sabres (32-25-8-3 T-8th) at Carolina Hurricanes (34-26-7-2 T-6th)

Carolina continues to play well despite a big injury to goaltender Kevin Weekes; Jamie Storr has been instrumental in their success this year. Jeff O'Neill leads the club with 56 points while Justin Williams and his 24 goals tops the club. Biron is back in goal tonight while new acquisition Chris Chelios plays his first game in a Buffalo uniform in place of Brian Campbell. Chelios will also man my penalty killing unit. We've had difficulty against Carolina this year and I hope that we can come up big against an opponent above us in the standings.

TEAM 1 2 3 TOT
Buffalo 0 3 1 4 (W: M. Biron 20-15-3)
Carolina 0 1 0 1 (L: P. DesRochers 3-2-1)
-------------------------------------------------------------
GOALS:
Buffalo: J. Hecht, J.P. Dumont, A. Mair, T. Pyatt
Carolina: C. Adams
-------------------------------------------------------------
SHOTS: POWERPLAY:
Buffalo: 25 Buffalo: 1-4
Carolina: 30 Carolina: 0-2
-------------------------------------------------------------
STARS:
1. J. Hecht (BUF) 1g +1
2. J.P. Dumont (BUF) 1g 1a +1
3. T. Pyatt (BUF) 1g 1a

Big win here, especially considering Carolina's dominance in the early going. They outshot us 17-6 in the first period, and I made a temporary change to a high forechecking system that culminated in Hecht's opening goal on surprise starter Patrick DesRochers. I went back to the trap and our team played strong the rest of the way. Chelios played a nice, solid game in his debut.

NHL Offensive Player of the Week: Boyd Devereaux (DET) 2GP 2g 2a 4pts +4
NHL Defensive Player of the Week: Sean Burke (PHI) 2GP 1-0-1 1.44GAA .946 S%

Thu. March 11, 2004: Boston Bruins (31-26-8-5 9th) at Buffalo Sabres (33-25-8-3 T-7th)

Boston continues to nip at my heels, standing two points back in the race for the final playoff spot. They are unbeaten in five while we are unbeaten in nine games, our best such streak this season. By the way, I haven't changed anything with our captain situation due to our fine play, as Jay McKee retained the captaincy this month with Briere and Satan maintaining their assistant captaincy duties. Boston has played us well this year, going 3-1-1 against us and they're led by Sergei Samsonov's 76 points, which leads the entire NHL. Joe Thornton isn't doing too badly himself with 72 points. I'm going with Martin Biron tonight, even with the back to back games. He's the man right now.

TEAM 1 2 3 TOT
Boston 0 1 3 4 (W: A. Raycroft 17-15-4)
Buffalo 0 0 1 1 (L: M. Biron 20-16-3)
-------------------------------------------------------------
GOALS:
Boston: G. Murray, M. Knuble, S. Samsonov, P. Bergeron
Buffalo: C. Drury
-------------------------------------------------------------
SHOTS: POWERPLAY:
Boston: 24 Boston: 2-2
Buffalo: 22 Buffalo: 1-7
-------------------------------------------------------------
STARS:
1. G. Murray (BOS) 1g 1a
2. S. Samsonov (BOS) 1g 1a
3. C. Drury (BUF) 1g -1

Tight defensive battle in the first period with shots 4-3 in our favour. Boston opened the scoring on a powerplay midway through the second. I tried to install a forechecking system in the third to break them down but it only served to leave things open on the backend for Boston who made no mistake in scoring three times. Drury was able to fire one home from the point on the powerplay late in the game to avoid the shutout. Biron wasn't great in back-to-back contests.

Fri. March 12, 2004:

Maxim Afinogenov is suffering from a strained neck and will be out of action for a week. I'm going to put in forward Jim McKenzie for the first time this year and promote Mike Grier to the Drury-Satan line until Afinogenov is healthy. I contemplated bringing up Jason Pominville but will resist for now.

Sat. March 13, 2004: Buffalo Sabres (33-26-8-3 T-7th) at Boston Bruins (32-26-8-5 T-7th)

I think I'm going to have the Kalinin-Zhitnik pair match up against the Thornton-Samsonov-Murray line to try to negate their offensive talents. I'm going back to Martin Biron again tonight.

TEAM 1 2 3 TOT
Buffalo 0 0 0 0 (L: M. Biron 20-17-3)
Boston 1 4 1 6 (W: F. Potvin 13-16-3)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
GOALS:
Buffalo: None
Boston: P. Bergeron, M. Nylander, T. Green, P.J. Axelsson, J. Thornton, B. Rolston
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
SHOTS: POWERPLAY:
Buffalo: 37 Buffalo: 0-5
Boston: 31 Boston: 0-2
-------------------------------------------------------------
STARS:
1. D. McGillis (BOS) 3a +4
2. F. Potvin (BOS) SHO 37 saves
3. P. Bergeron (BOS) 1g 1a +3

Just a disgraceful performance; I don't even know what to say after this loss. Disgusting.

On Tap Next Week:
Monday March 15, 2004: vs. Toronto Maple Leafs
Wednesday March 17, 2004: AT FLORIDA PANTHERS
Thursday March 18, 2004: AT ATLANTA THRASHERS
Saturday March 20, 2004: AT WASHINGTON CAPITALS

[NoSkillz]

Mon. March 15, 2004: Toronto Maple Leafs (34-21-13-4 2nd) at Buffalo Sabres (33-27-8-3 9th)

Desperation has set in here in Buffalo. I've called up Jason Pominville after the team's dreadful performance the other night and will scratch Jim McKenzie, even though he was okay in his first Sabres game. I need better efforts from Chris Drury and a struggling Miro Satan, who were just awful in the Boston game with -3's. Biron also needs to come through in the clutch against the Leafs. I'm going with the high forechecking, high pressing system that has helped me in two consecutive comebacks against the Leafs.

TEAM 1 2 3 TOT
Toronto 0 1 0 1 (L: E. Belfour 20-19-8)
Buffalo 2 1 1 4 (W: M. Biron 21-17-3)
------------------------------------------------------------
GOALS:
Toronto: T. Kaberle
Buffalo: J.P. Dumont, J. Hecht, D. Briere, M. Grier
------------------------------------------------------------
SHOTS: POWERPLAY:
Toronto: 24 Toronto: 0-5
Buffalo: 30 Buffalo: 1-7
------------------------------------------------------------
STARS:
1. M. Satan (BUF) 3a +2
2. M. Biron (BUF) 1GA 23 saves
3. J. Hecht (BUF) 1g +1

Whew. We needed this one and got a great performance from the entire team. Chris Drury joined Satan in the multipoint game parade with 2 assists. The team seems to have figured out Toronto...now if I could just figure out Boston! The board was "delighted with the excellent victory" over the Leafs.

Tue. March 16, 2004:

Now that we've only got ten games left, I might as well go into detail about the standings at this point. Here's how things are shaking down in the East and the West:

NHL Eastern Conference Standings: As of March 16, 2004:

POS TEAM GP W L T OTL PCT GF GA PTS
1 * New Jersey Devils 74 41 19 13 1 .649 236 160 96
2 * Toronto Maple Leafs 74 34 22 13 4 .582 210 204 85
3 * Washington Capitals 72 37 25 8 2 .583 183 155 84
4 Philadelphia Flyers 72 31 19 18 4 .583 192 172 84
5 Tampa Bay Lightning 72 36 25 8 3 .576 192 172 83
6 Ottawa Senators 72 37 27 8 0 .569 196 169 82
7 Carolina Hurricanes 72 35 28 7 2 .549 196 177 79
8 Buffalo Sabres 72 34 27 8 3 .549 242 240 79
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
9 Boston Bruins 72 33 26 8 5 .549 223 208 79
10 Pittsburgh Penguins 72 32 29 10 1 .521 204 206 75
11 N.Y. Islanders 71 26 30 11 4 .472 174 174 67
12 N.Y. Rangers 73 29 36 7 1 .452 167 202 66
13 Atlanta Thrashers 72 25 40 6 1 .396 150 211 57
14 Montreal Canadiens 73 22 38 12 1 .390 178 224 57
15 Florida Panthers 73 21 43 7 2 .349 165 221 51

* = Division Leaders

NHL Western Conference Standings: As of March 16, 2004:

POS TEAM GP W L T OTL PCT GF GA PTS
1 * Colorado Avalanche 71 44 20 6 1 .669 221 156 95
2 * Los Angeles Kings 72 35 25 12 0 .569 214 192 82
3 * Detroit Red Wings 71 36 26 5 4 .570 210 194 81
4 Calgary Flames 72 37 22 10 3 .604 187 142 87
5 Vancouver Canucks 72 34 24 12 2 .569 197 167 82
6 Anaheim Mighty Ducks 72 35 26 8 3 .563 214 181 81
7 St. Louis Blues 72 35 29 7 1 .542 202 189 78
8 Dallas Stars 71 34 30 6 1 .528 183 173 75
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
9 Phoenix Coyotes 72 32 30 9 1 .514 194 195 74
10 Nashville Predators 71 29 30 9 3 .493 193 197 70
11 Edmonton Oilers 72 29 31 10 2 .486 162 169 70
12 San Jose Sharks 71 25 34 11 1 .437 169 227 62
13 Minnesota Wild 72 21 38 12 1 .382 148 182 55
14 Chicago Blackhawks 72 22 41 8 1 .368 137 222 53
15 Columbus Blue Jackets 72 19 38 11 4 .368 171 226 53

* = Division Leaders

Wed. March 17, 2004: Buffalo Sabres (34-27-8-3 9th) at Florida Panthers (21-43-7-2 15th)

Florida has lost five games in a row but I'm not taking them lightly, considering they've defeated us in three of four games this year. I'm going with the exact same lineup from the Toronto game, although I'll revert to my trapping tactic for this affair. The Panthers look banged up and I might be fortunate to miss out on playing against Olli Jokinen who's on the IR with knee pain.

TEAM 1 2 3 TOT
Buffalo 3 0 2 5 (W: M. Biron 22-17-3)
Florida 0 1 0 1 (L: R. Luongo 17-40-7)
-----------------------------------------------------------
GOALS:
Buffalo: T. Pyatt (3), A. Kotalik (2)
Florida: M. Cullen
-----------------------------------------------------------
SHOTS: POWERPLAY:
Buffalo: 32 Buffalo: 2-7
Florida: 28 Florida: 0-5
-----------------------------------------------------------
STARS:
1. A. Kotalik (BUF) 2g 1a +3
2. T. Pyatt (BUF) 3g +2
3. T. Connolly (BUF) 2a +3

The Connolly-Pyatt-Kotalik line continues to have a wonderful season, with Pyatt getting his fourth hat trick of the season in the win and Kotalik hitting three different bonus levels after the game to earn $310,000. The board once again voiced their approval after the contest.

NHL Offensive Player of the Week: Peter Forsberg (COL) 3GP 2g 3a 5pts +2 2PIM
NHL Defensive Player of the Week: Garth Snow (NYI) 2GP 2-0-0 0.50GAA 1 SHO .984 S%

Thu. March 18, 2004: Buffalo Sabres (35-27-8-3 T-7th) at Atlanta Thrashers (25-41-6-1 T-13th)

We stroll into Atlanta having beaten them all four times this year. They still are missing the injured Dany Heatley but he is close to returning. Ilya Kovalchuk is playing great hockey this year, leading the team with 32 goals and 60 points. I'll be going with Ryan Miller in net tonight to rest Biron. Taylor Pyatt received a 'dental injury' in practice but he will play tonight, as will Maxim Afinogenov, who while not completely healthy, is good enough to go.

TEAM 1 2 3 TOT
Buffalo 2 1 1 4 (W: R. Miller 8-6-2)
Atlanta 1 0 1 2 (L: K. Lehtonen 12-18-5)
-------------------------------------------------------------
GOALS:
Buffalo: C. Drury (2), T. Pyatt, J. Jillson
Atlanta: D. Tanabe, M. Kralj
-------------------------------------------------------------
SHOTS: POWERPLAY:
Buffalo: 31 Buffalo: 0-2
Atlanta: 36 Atlanta: 1-7
-------------------------------------------------------------
STARS:
1. C. Drury (BUF) 2g +2
2. T. Pyatt (BUF) 1g
3. M. Kralj (ATL) 1g

Atlanta really poured it on in the third period when we became ridiculously undisciplined but Ryan Miller was strong in securing the victory. Another nice road victory. Taylor Pyatt received another $120,000 for scoring his 30th goal of the season.

Sat. March 20, 2004: Buffalo Sabres (36-27-8-3 T-6th) at Washington Captials (38-26-8-2 2nd)

It's so tight in the Eastern Conference right now, as we sit only three points behind Northeast Division leaders Toronto, yet are barely clinging onto a playoff spot. Washington continues to roll, lead by unlikely duo Jared Aulin and Alexander Semin. Martin Biron will go back into net tonight with no other changes to my lineup.

TEAM 1 2 3 TOT
Buffalo 4 0 1 5 (W: M. Biron 23-17-3)
Washington 3 0 0 3 (L: O. Kolzig 32-25-7)
-----------------------------------------------------------
GOALS:
Buffalo: T. Pyatt (2), E. Boulton, A. Kotalik, M. Satan
Washington: J. Halpern, B. Battaglia, A. Semin
-----------------------------------------------------------
SHOTS: POWERPLAY:
Buffalo: 24 Buffalo: 0-7
Washington: 26 Washington: 1-3
-------------------------------------------------------------
STARS:
1. T. Connolly (BUF) 3a +3
2. T. Pyatt (BUF) 2g +3
3. J. Halpern (WAS) 1g 1a

High scoring first period with subpar goaltending on both sides turned into a defensive battle for the last two. The Connolly-Pyatt-Kotalik line is insane right now. Talk about chemistry! All three players are improving greatly and developing into fine players! Chris Chelios picked up his first point in a Sabres uniform on the first goal by Pyatt; Chelios is playing good defensive hockey for us right now and his form has been excellent since joining, with 8's across the board. The Briere-Hecht-Dumont line is struggling offensively but I'll bet they start contributing soon. One single point separates the 5th placed team from the 9th placed team in the conference. We have four days off till our next game, which gives us an opportunity to rest up for the final push.

On Tap Next Week:
Wednesday March 24, 2004: vs. Montreal Canadiens
Friday March 26, 2004: vs. Philadelphia Flyers
Saturday March 27, 2004: AT PHILADELPHIA FLYERS

[NoSkillz]

Wed. March 24, 2004: Montreal Canadiens (22-40-13-1 14th) at Buffalo Sabres (37-27-8-3 T-7th)

Montreal is just playing out the string and we'll have to come out hard to get these necessary two points. Andreas Dackell and Saku Koivu lead the Canadiens in points with 41. Martin Biron tends goal again tonight. The Drury-Satan-Afinogenov line moves ahead of the Briere-Hecht-Dumont line on the depth chart.

TEAM 1 2 3 TOT
Montreal 1 2 0 3 (W: J. Theodore 18-25-12)
Buffalo 0 0 0 0 (L: M. Biron 23-18-3)
--------------------------------------------------------------
GOALS:
Montreal: M. Ryder (2), D. Pittis
Buffalo: None
--------------------------------------------------------------
SHOTS: POWERPLAY:
Montreal: 25 Montreal: 0-4
Buffalo: 41 Buffalo: 0-2
--------------------------------------------------------------
STARS:
1. J. Theodore (MON) SHO 41 saves
2. M. Ryder (MON) 2g +2
3. D. Pittis (MON) 1g +1

Theodore completely stole this game for Montreal. Almost as bad as the loss was the fact that our leading scorer Taylor Pyatt pulled his groin early in the game and is likely out for the regular season. That is NOT what we needed. I can't fault our effort here...Theodore was simply superb. I pulled Biron after he gave up the third goal to get a spark but we just couldn't score on Jose.

NHL Offensive Player of the Week: Sergei Samsonov (BOS) 3GP 1g 6a 7pts +5
NHL Defensive Player of the Week: Patrick DesRochers (CAR) 2GP 1-0-1 0.96GAA .950 S%

Fri. March 26, 2004: Philadelphia Flyers (34-20-19-4 4th) at Buffalo Sabres (37-28-8-3 9th)

We're on the outside looking in once again as the Flyers come to town. We've defeated the Flyers in both games this year quite convincingly but times are getting tough and we NEED this win. Martin Biron will go back in, as he gives us the best chance at victory. I recalled Jason Pominville to play alongside Connolly and Kotalik.

TEAM 1 2 3 TOT
Philadelphia 0 2 1 3 (W: S. Burke 16-10-9)
Buffalo 0 1 1 2 (L: M. Biron 23-19-3)
----------------------------------------------------------
GOALS:
Philadelphia: J. Roenick, K. Primeau, S. Gagne
Buffalo: J.P. Dumont (2)
---------------------------------------------------------
SHOTS: POWERPLAY:
Philadelphia: 22 Philadelphia: 0-3
Buffalo: 30 Buffalo: 1-5
---------------------------------------------------------
STARS:
1. S. Gagne (PHI) 1g 1a +2
2. J.P. Dumont (BUF) 2g
3. K. Primeau (PHI) 1g 1a +3

I can't let this season slip away! Primeau scored shorthanded at the end of the second period but Dumont's second brought us back into the game. However, Simon Gagne scored with a little more than five minutes left and we couldn't get the equalizer. We just aren't winning at home and it's killing us.

Sat. March 27, 2004: Buffalo Sabres (37-29-8-3 9th) at Philadelphia Flyers (35-20-19-4 4th)

I'm going with an attacking system to begin the game and will improvise the rest of the way. I can't just sit back...I have to try to win this game. Biron starts again.

TEAM 1 2 3 TOT
Buffalo 0 1 0 1 (L: M. Biron 23-20-3)
Philadelphia 0 6 2 8 (W: R. Esche 20-13-10)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
GOALS:
Buffalo: M. Afinogenov
Philadelphia: K. Primeau (3), S. Thornton, K. Johnsson, M. Timander, T. Fedoruk, J. Roenick
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
SHOTS: POWERPLAY:
Buffalo: 32 Buffalo: 0-4
Philadelphia: 35 Philadelphia: 0-5
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
STARS:
1. K. Primeau (PHI) 3g 1a +4
2. J. Roenick (PHI) 1g
3. R. Esche (PHI) 1GA 31 saves

:eek: An absolute nightmare. We played a fine first period and then Biron started letting everything in. Primeau's hat trick came on ONE SHIFT! I had to discipline FOUR players after this game for poor play. I only hope I can recover from this debacle and somehow squeeze into the playoffs. It isn't looking good. :(

On Tap Next Week:
Monday March 29, 2004: vs. Columbus Blue Jackets
Wednesday March 31, 2004: AT NEW YORK RANGERS
Friday April 2, 2004: vs. Toronto Maple Leafs
Saturday April 3, 2004: AT MONTREAL CANADIENS

[NoSkillz]

Mon. March 29, 2004: Columbus Blue Jackets (19-42-13-4 14th) at Buffalo Sabres (37-30-8-3 9th)

Rick Nash and his 31 goals come to town to try to keep us out of the playoffs. I'm going to simplify the gameplan tonight in hopes of getting everyone prepared. Martin Biron will have to come up big and we'll need a bunch of guys to break out of slumps if we're to be successful.

TEAM 1 2 3 TOT
Columbus 0 0 0 0 (L: M. Denis 14-27-9)
Buffalo 0 1 3 4 (W: M. Biron 24-20-3)
----------------------------------------------------------
GOALS:
Columbus: None
Buffalo: M. Afinogenov (2), M. Grier, M. Satan
----------------------------------------------------------
SHOTS: POWERPLAY:
Columbus: 22 Columbus: 0-3
Buffalo: 25 Buffalo: 2-3
----------------------------------------------------------
STARS:
1. M. Afinogenov (BUF) 2g 1a +1
2. M. Biron (BUF) SHO 23 saves
3. M. Grier (BUF) 1g +1

Game was really close until we broke it open midway through the third period. Columbus got undisciplined and we scored twice during a four minute powerplay to seal the shutout victory, our first in many months. The late goals are big confidence boosters, at least I hope they are! Nice to see the Drury line come up big, as Drury had 2 assists and Satan scored a goal. Ales Kotalik also had a pair of assists. Jason Pominville signed a new deal after the game, a three-year deal worth a total of $975,000.

Wed. March 31, 2004: Buffalo Sabres (38-30-8-3 9th) at New York Rangers (31-39-9-1 12th)

I venture to Madison Square Garden to play the injury riddled Rangers. Jaromir Jagr, Eric Lindros, Mark Messier and Mike Dunham are all on the IR going into this game. Every game is a must win for us now, as the teams in the hunt continue to win it seems every time.

TEAM 1 2 3 TOT
Buffalo 0 2 1 3 (W: M. Biron 25-20-3)
N.Y. Rangers 0 1 0 1 (L: D. Blackburn 1-2-1)
------------------------------------------------------------
GOALS:
Buffalo: D. Briere (2), M. Satan
N.Y. Rangers: S. McCarthy
------------------------------------------------------------
SHOTS: POWERPLAY:
Buffalo: 38 Buffalo: 1-4
N.Y. Rangers: 33 N.Y. Rangers: 0-6
------------------------------------------------------------
STARS:
1. D. Briere (BUF) 2g +1
2. T. Poti (NYI) 1a +1
3. M. Biron (BUF) 1GA 32 saves

This is a huge win, putting us into a tie for 7th in the Conference with Tampa and only a point back of Boston for the division lead, which would propel us to 3rd in the Conference! Biron was fantastic. We finish the month with a great 9-5-1 record to stay in the thick of things.

NHL Offensive Player of the Month: Sergei Samsonov (BOS) 13GP 12g 10a 22pts +11
NHL Defensive Player of the Month: Garth Snow (NYI) 7GP 5-0-2 0.98GAA 2 SHO .957 S%
NHL Rookie of the Month: Ryan Whitney (PIT) 11GP 0g 4a 4pts +2 6PIM

NHL Offensive Player of the Week: Pavol Demitra (STL) 3GP 3g 2a 5pts +6
NHL Defensive Player of the Week: Derek Morris (PHO) 3GP 0g 3a 3pts +2

Fri. April 2, 2004: Toronto Maple Leafs (36-26-14-4 6th) at Buffalo Sabres (39-30-8-3 T-7th)

It doesn't get any bigger than this. Toronto's Gary Roberts is suspended for this game and Nik Antropov is hurt. I'm going with my tactic of high forechecking and high pressure that's been successful against the Leafs lately. No lineup changes. Taylor Pyatt resumed light practice today but is only at 50% efficiency. I won't play him tonight but I plan on playing him tomorrow even if he's spitting blood the entire time! We control our own destiny and can pass the Leafs in the standings with a win.

TEAM 1 2 3 TOT
Toronto 0 1 0 1 (L: E. Belfour 21-22-9)
Buffalo 1 4 0 5 (W: M. Biron 26-20-3)
-----------------------------------------------------------------
GOALS:
Toronto: M. Stajan
Buffalo: J.P. Dumont, M. Satan, T. Connolly, A. Kotalik, J. Hecht
-----------------------------------------------------------------
SHOTS: POWERPLAY:
Toronto: 21 Toronto: 0-2
Buffalo: 30 Buffalo: 3-5
-----------------------------------------------------------------
STARS:
1. J.P. Dumont (BUF) 1g 3a +2
2. M. Satan (BUF) 1g 1a
3. T. Connolly (BUF) 1g 1a

WE'RE IN THE PLAYOFFS!!! :D :D A fantastic game from the entire team in this game! We came out forechecking and ran them ragged all game! New Jersey defeated 9th place Ottawa to put us officially in the playoffs! Jochen Hecht (1g 1a) and Daniel Briere (2a) also had multipoint games. We're in 5th place in the conference right now and can still catch Boston, who are a point ahead but have a game in hand. I'll likely rest a few of my players that are gasping for air in the finale but I still have to play to win. Now that I'm in, Pyatt will definitely not be suiting up for tomorrow's game in order to keep him for the playoffs.

Sat. April 3, 2004: Buffalo Sabres (40-30-8-3 5th) at Montreal Canadiens (24-43-13-1 13th)

Montreal will be missing Mike Ribeiro and Steve Begin in the season finale. I'm resting Jay McKee and Chris Chelios in preparation for the playoffs, with Brian Campbell and James Patrick getting inserted into their place. Martin Biron will still go in net. I'm reverting back to the trapping tactic.

TEAM 1 2 3 TOT
Buffalo 2 2 1 5 (W: M. Biron 27-20-3)
Montreal 1 0 0 1 (L: J. Theodore 19-29-12)
-------------------------------------------------------------------
GOALS:
Buffalo: J.P. Dumont, E. Boulton, M. Satan, M. Afinogenov, C. Drury
Montreal: Y. Perreault
-------------------------------------------------------------------
SHOTS: POWERPLAY:
Buffalo: 29 Buffalo: 2-7
Montreal: 25 Montreal: 0-4
-------------------------------------------------------------------
STARS:
1. D. Briere (BUF) 3a +1
2. J.P. Dumont (BUF) 1g 2a
3. M. Biron (BUF) 1GA 24 saves

We finish the season winning our final four games by a total score of 17-3. Jochen Hecht (2a) also had a multipoint game. We're currently in 5th spot and need Philadelphia to defeat Carolina tomorrow night in order to finish there and avoid a date with our nemesis in Boston.

Sun. April 4, 2004:

Carolina defeats Philadelphia 1-0 to hop over me into 5th place in the Conference, meaning a first round date with Boston. The Bruins have had our number all season and I'll have to figure out a strategy to stop them when it counts. The Toronto Maple Leafs lost 8 of their last 10 games to miss the playoffs due to Tampa Bay having more victories.

On Tap Next Week:
Sunday April 11, 2004: AT BOSTON BRUINS (Playoffs)

[NoSkillz]

Mon. April 5, 2004:

Here are the final stats for the Sabres in the regular season:

Buffalo Sabres Statistics: Final

POS PLAYER GP G A PTS +/- PIM PPG SHG GWG
RW Miroslav Satan 82 35 32 67 -19 16 14 0 2
RW Ales Kotalik 82 28 38 66 -4 26 10 0 4
LW Taylor Pyatt 76 32 33 65 1 16 5 0 7
C Chris Drury 81 18 34 52 -20 34 4 0 1
RW Maxim Afinogenov 56 27 23 50 2 32 13 0 3
RW J.P. Dumont 58 20 23 43 -7 16 14 0 5
C Daniel Briere 59 14 29 43 12 44 3 0 3
LW Jochen Hecht 61 19 22 41 4 12 1 0 5
D Jeff Jillson 75 9 28 37 1 36 3 0 1
C Tim Connolly 52 7 28 35 7 22 2 0 0
D Dmitri Kalinin 79 6 27 33 -7 88 1 0 2
LW Mike Grier 82 13 13 26 -2 51 0 0 4
LW Eric Boulton 63 11 11 22 -4 193 0 0 1
D Alexei Zhitnik 71 3 19 22 -2 70 2 0 1
D Jay McKee 76 2 17 19 3 116 1 0 0
RW *Jason Pominville 39 6 12 18 -18 8 2 0 1
C Adam Mair 76 7 11 18 -6 62 0 1 1
D Henrik Tallinder 82 0 15 15 -8 4 0 0 0
D Brian Campbell 62 2 12 14 -11 18 1 0 1
RW *Milan Bartovic 31 5 7 12 0 8 0 0 0
C *Derek Roy 38 4 8 12 -5 35 0 0 0
LW Jim McKenzie 48 6 4 10 -8 158 0 0 1
(BUF) 1 0 0 0 -1 7 0 0 0
(NAS) 47 6 4 10 -7 151 0 0 1
C Chris Taylor 21 6 3 9 -1 12 0 0 0
D Chris Chelios 52 1 6 7 -12 43 0 0 0
(BUF) 13 0 3 3 -6 21 0 0 0
(DET) 39 1 3 4 -6 22 0 0 0
LW Jason Botterill 19 1 3 4 -1 23 0 0 0
G Martin Biron 57 0 2 2 --- 0 0 0 0
D James Patrick 17 0 1 1 -6 2 0 0 0
G *Ryan Miller 21 0 1 1 --- 0 0 0 0
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
POS PLAYER GP W L T MIN GA GAA SHO SV%
G Martin Biron 57 27 20 3 3084 147 2.86 3 .899
G *Ryan Miller 21 8 6 2 987 62 3.77 0 .876

A great season offensively from the entire club. The Pyatt-Connolly-Kotalik line was off the charts in March and early April. J.P. Dumont also had a productive final month of the season. After a disappointing training camp, Jeff Jillson came through in a big way offensively. Dmitri Kalinin made tremendous strides defensively in the second half of the season to get his plus/minus stats into respectable position.

Here are the final standings in the NHL, along with league leaders in the major statistical categories:

NHL Eastern Conference Standings: Final

POS TEAM GP W L T OTL PCT GF GA PTS
1 * New Jersey Devils 82 45 20 15 2 .652 261 175 107
2 * Washington Capitals 82 43 27 10 2 .598 208 172 98
3 * Boston Bruins 82 41 27 9 5 .585 262 231 96
4 Philadelphia Flyers 82 37 22 19 4 .591 221 188 97
5 Carolina Hurricanes 82 42 30 8 2 .573 225 191 94
6 Buffalo Sabres 82 41 30 8 3 .567 276 263 93
7 Ottawa Senators 82 40 32 9 1 .549 219 202 90
8 Tampa Bay Lightning 82 38 30 11 3 .549 215 203 90
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
9 Toronto Maple Leafs 82 36 28 14 4 .549 233 234 90
10 Pittsburgh Penguins 82 35 33 12 2 .512 229 235 84
11 N.Y. Islanders 82 32 31 15 4 .506 201 190 83
12 N.Y. Rangers 82 31 41 9 1 .439 179 226 72
13 Atlanta Thrashers 82 27 47 7 1 .378 175 247 62
14 Montreal Canadiens 82 24 44 13 1 .378 197 254 62
15 Florida Panthers 82 22 50 7 3 .329 177 254 54

* = Division Winners

NHL Western Conference Standings: Final

POS TEAM GP W L T OTL PCT GF GA PTS
1 * Colorado Avalanche 82 50 22 9 1 .671 259 180 110
2 * Los Angeles Kings 82 42 28 12 0 .585 248 219 96
3 * Detroit Red Wings 82 42 31 5 4 .567 244 219 93
4 Calgary Flames 82 43 26 10 3 .604 222 167 99
5 Vancouver Canucks 82 38 28 14 2 .561 222 197 92
6 Dallas Stars 82 42 33 6 1 .555 213 189 91
7 Anaheim Mighty Ducks 82 40 31 8 3 .555 238 204 91
8 St. Louis Blues 82 39 34 7 2 .530 227 217 87
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
9 Phoenix Coyotes 82 35 35 11 1 .500 218 227 82
10 Edmonton Oilers 82 34 34 11 3 .500 187 195 82
11 Nashville Predators 82 33 35 10 4 .488 218 222 80
12 San Jose Sharks 82 30 40 11 1 .439 198 255 72
13 Minnesota Wild 82 26 42 12 2 .402 172 204 66
14 Columbus Blue Jackets 82 21 43 14 4 .366 186 255 60
15 Chicago Blackhawks 82 23 48 10 1 .348 152 257 57

* = Division Winners

NHL Regular Season: Scoring Leaders

PLAYER TEAM GP G A PTS +/- PIM
Sergei Samsonov Boston 82 38 53 91 21 10
Markus Naslund Vancouver 77 32 53 85 25 18
Patrik Elias New Jersey 82 40 44 84 23 20
Joe Thornton Boston 82 28 56 84 9 76
Petr Sykora Anaheim 81 47 37 84 36 34
Sergei Fedorov Anaheim 79 26 53 79 40 28
Todd Bertuzzi Vancouver 72 42 36 78 18 88
Scott Gomez New Jersey 82 25 53 78 23 46
Teemu Selanne Colorado 82 36 39 75 22 14
Jarome Iginla Calgary 82 36 37 73 17 81
Peter Forsberg Colorado 72 22 51 73 22 117
Pavol Demitra St. Louis 82 35 38 73 14 24
Zigmund Palffy Los Angeles 78 36 37 73 26 8
Glen Murray Boston 70 36 34 70 15 38
Ilya Kovalchuk Atlanta 82 38 32 70 4 20
Marian Hossa Ottawa 81 35 35 70 14 26
MIROSLAV SATAN BUFFALO 82 35 32 67 -19 16
Shane Doan Phoenix 82 30 36 66 -4 30
Jeff O'Neill Carolina 82 29 37 66 24 102
ALES KOTALIK BUFFALO 82 28 38 66 -4 26

---------------------------------------------------------------------

NHL Regular Season: Goal Leaders

PLAYER TEAM GP G
Petr Sykora Anaheim 81 47
Todd Bertuzzi Vancouver 72 42
Patrik Elias New Jersey 82 40
Ilya Kovalchuk Atlanta 82 38
Sergei Samsonov Boston 82 38
Glen Murray Boston 70 36
Jarome Iginla Calgary 82 36
Teemu Selanne Colorado 82 36
Zigmund Palffy Los Angeles 78 36
Pavol Demitra St. Louis 82 35
Marian Hossa Ottawa 81 35
MIROSLAV SATAN BUFFALO 82 35

-------------------------------------------------

NHL Regular Season: Assist Leaders

PLAYER TEAM GP A
Joe Thornton Boston 82 56
Scott Gomez New Jersey 82 53
Sergei Fedorov Anaheim 79 53
Sergei Samsonov Boston 82 53
Markus Naslund Vancouver 77 53
Peter Forsberg Colorado 72 51
Patrik Elias New Jersey 82 44
Bredan Morrison Vancouver 82 42
Brian Leetch Toronto 82 40
Michael Nylander Boston 82 40

(16th) ALES KOTALIK BUFFALO 82 38

-------------------------------------------------

NHL Regular Season: Plus/Minus Leaders

PLAYER TEAM GP +/-
Sergei Fedorov Anaheim 79 40
Rob Blake Colorado 78 38
Scott Niedermayer New Jersey 82 38
Petr Sykora Anaheim 81 36
Adam Foote Colorado 78 34
Joe Sakic Colorado 82 31
Sean Hill Carolina 67 29
Rhett Warrener Calgary 81 29
Petr Schastlivy Anaheim 70 29
TWO PLAYERS TIED WITH +28

-------------------------------------------------

NHL Regular Season: Penalty Minute Leaders

PLAYER TEAM GP PIM
Chris Neil Ottawa 81 299
Tie Domi Toronto 79 276
Esa Pirnes Los Angeles 80 272
Jody Shelley Columbus 80 261
TWO PLAYERS TIED WITH 257

(17th) ERIC BOULTON BUFFALO 63 193

-------------------------------------------------

NHL Regular Season: Power Play Goal Leaders

PLAYER TEAM PPG
Sergei Samsonov Boston 19
Todd Bertuzzi Vancouver 18
Patrik Elias New Jersey 17
Petr Sykora Anaheim 17
THREE PLAYERS TIED WITH 15

(T-8th) J.P. DUMONT BUFFALO 14
(T-8th) MIROSLAV SATAN BUFFALO 14

-----------------------------------------

NHL Regular Season: Shorthanded Goal Leaders

PLAYER TEAM SHG
Erik Cole Carolina 3
Jeff O'Neill Carolina 3
16 PLAYERS TIED WITH 2

(T-18th) ADAM MAIR BUFFALO 1

-----------------------------------------

NHL Regular Season: Game Winning Goal Leaders

PLAYER TEAM GWG
Petr Sykora Anaheim 12
Ilya Kovalchuk Atlanta 12
Glen Murray Boston 11
4 PLAYERS TIED WITH 9

(T-10th) TAYLOR PYATT BUFFALO 7

-----------------------------------------

NHL Regular Season: Defensemen Scoring Leaders

PLAYER TEAM GP G A PTS +/- PIM
Scott Niedermayer New Jersey 82 13 39 52 38 10
Niklas Lidstrom Detroit 82 8 37 45 7 12
Rob Blake Los Angeles 78 5 39 44 38 42
Chris Pronger St. Louis 82 5 39 44 11 42
Brian Leetch Toronto 82 3 40 43 -5 8
Sandis Ozolinsh Anaheim 82 8 34 42 18 22
Sergei Gonchar Boston 82 10 32 42 5 29
Derek Morris Phoenix 80 10 29 39 13 58
David Tanabe Atlanta 81 8 31 39 -3 16
JEFF JILLSON BUFFALO 75 9 28 37 1 36

---------------------------------------------------------------------

NHL Regular Season: Rookie Scoring Leaders

PLAYER TEAM GP G A PTS +/- PIM
* Alexander Semin Washington 71 27 35 62 14 75
* Jared Aulin Washington 80 22 36 58 6 8
* Patrice Bergeron Boston 82 21 23 44 7 22
* Nikolai Zherdev Columbus 52 19 20 39 7 34
* Konstantin Koltsov Pittsburgh 81 20 16 36 -4 34
* Ryan Malone Pittsburgh 71 18 16 34 7 20
* Josef Balej NY Rangers 81 17 17 34 3 12
* Joffrey Lupul Anaheim 75 16 17 33 -4 83
* Michael Ryder Montreal 81 17 15 32 -21 30
* Peter Sejna St. Louis 70 12 20 32 4 10

(25th) * J. POMINVILLE BUFFALO 39 6 12 18 -18 8
---------------------------------------------------------------------

NHL Regular Season: Goaltending Leaders

PLAYER TEAM GP W L T MIN GA GAA SV%
Roman Turek Calgary 35 24 7 4 2063 55 1.60 .932
Garth Snow NY Islanders 38 19 12 7 2311 66 1.71 .929
David Aebischer Colorado 47 27 12 7 2787 92 1.98 .913
Dwayne Roloson Minnesota 43 16 19 7 2578 86 2.00 .924
Martin Brodeur New Jersey 72 39 19 14 4380 148 2.03 .912
Olaf Kolzig Washington 70 36 25 9 4249 144 2.03 .912
Robert Esche Philadelphia 45 21 13 10 2714 94 2.08 .923
Jamie Storr Carolina 42 24 13 4 2449 87 2.13 .917
Ty Conklin Edmonton 40 17 18 5 2419 88 2.18 .909
Miika Kiprusoff Calgary 47 19 20 6 2773 101 2.19 .909

(39th) MARTIN BIRON BUFFALO 57 27 20 3 3080 147 2.86 .899

Tue. April 6, 2004:

In practice, I'm working on a new tactic for the playoffs. I'm going with a 'Normal' Offensive Philosophy as opposed to the 'Attacking' philosophy used in the regular season.

Checking back on my only successful game against Boston, a 4-4 tie in the middle of the season, I used a high pressing style with the trap so I'll utilize that in my first game.

Sun. April 11, 2004: Eastern Conference Quarterfinal Game One - Buffalo Sabres at Boston Bruins

Our club is completely healthy for the playoffs. Line One will be Hecht-Briere-Dumont, line two is Satan-Drury-Afinogenov, line three is Pyatt-Connolly-Kotalik and line four is Grier-Mair-Boulton. On defense, we have Kalinin-Zhitnik, McKee-Jillson and Tallinder-Chelios. In goal, we'll ride Martin Biron.

Boston is missing forward Steve Ott who's on the IR with a groin strain. There is a chance he'll be back before the series ends.

I can only hope we give Boston a better fight in the playoffs than we did in the regular season.

TEAM 1 2 3 TOT
Buffalo 0 3 2 5 (W: M. Biron 1-0-0)
Boston 1 2 0 3 (L: A. Raycroft 0-1-1)
-----------------------------------------------------------
GOALS:
Buffalo: M. Satan (2), T. Pyatt, A. Kotalik, J. Hecht
Boston: G. Murray, S. Samsonov, P.J. Axelsson
---------------------------------------------------------
SHOTS: POWERPLAY:
Buffalo: 29 Buffalo: 2-6
Boston: 33 Boston: 2-7
---------------------------------------------------------
STARS:
1. M. Satan (BUF) 2g +2
2. S. Gonchar (BOS) 1a
3. G. Murray (BOS) 1g 1a -1

Great time for our first win against Boston!!! I was worried about our undisciplined play through a period but we were only down one. We were down 3-1 in the second period but fought back to tie it at 3 before the period's end. We completely dominated them in the third and they didn't even get a shot on goal in the last three minutes of the game. Biron was pretty good, although I must admit I was this close to pulling him after he let in the third goal to put us 2 down. Dmitri Kalinin pinched in with 2 assists in the win. Unfortunately, we lost J.P. Dumont to a knee injury in the second period and he'll likely miss about a week of action. We'll likely call up rookie Jason Pominville to take his place.

On Tap Next Week:
Tuesday April 13, 2004: AT BOSTON BRUINS (Eastern Conference Quarter Final Game Two)
Thursday April 15, 2004: vs. Boston Bruins (Eastern Conference Quarter Final Game Three)
Saturday April 17, 2004: vs. Boston Bruins (Eastern Conference Quarter Final Game Four)

[NoSkillz]

Tue. April 13, 2004: Eastern Conference Quarter Final Game Two - Buffalo Sabres at Boston Bruins

Buffalo leads series 1-0

Jason Pominville gets slotted in with Jochen Hecht and Daniel Briere on our top line right off the bat. The rest of the lineup and my tactics remain unchanged. I'll move the lines around during the game if I find Pominville isn't up to the task of first line duty. Interestingly, Boston changes goaltenders and will go with Felix Potvin tonight. Raycroft was given a '6' rating in the first game.

TEAM 1 2 3 OT1 OT2 TOT
Buffalo 2 0 0 0 0 2 (L: M. Biron 1-1-0)
Boston 0 2 0 0 1 3 (W: F. Potvin 1-0-0)
-------------------------------------------------------------------
GOALS:
Buffalo: J. Hecht, M. Satan
Boston: S. Samsonov, J. Thornton, G. Murray
-------------------------------------------------------------------
SHOTS: POWERPLAY:
Buffalo: 39 Buffalo: 0-7
Boston: 43 Boston: 0-5
-------------------------------------------------------------------
STARS:
1. G. Murray (BOS) 1g 1a +2
2. J. Thornton (BOS) 1g 1a +1
3. S. Samsonov (BOS) 1g 1a +1

A double overtime thriller that saw Boston's Glen Murray sneak one past Martin Biron at the 96 minute mark to win the game. Disappointing result but another fine effort from our club. Pominville was solid in his playoff debut and assisted on Hecht's opening goal, scored only 25 seconds from the first puck drop. Thornton's goal was shorthanded. Our powerplay, incidently first overall in the regular season, was held in check throughout the contest. We obviously miss Dumont, who tied for the team lead in PPG's with 14. I'm not disappointed, as we take away 'home ice advantage' from the Bruins and play the next two in Buffalo.

Thu. April 15, 2004: Eastern Conference Quarter Final Game Three - Boston Bruins at Buffalo Sabres

Series is tied 1-1

J.P. Dumont has resumed practice but isn't at full efficiency. I decide to rest him for one more game, as he's only at 75% right now and Pominville was solid in his place. My lineup remains completely unchanged from the previous game. Boston comes back with Andrew Raycroft in goal.

TEAM 1 2 3 TOT
Boston 0 0 0 0 (L: A. Raycroft 0-2-0)
Buffalo 1 3 2 6 (W: M. Biron 2-1-0)
-------------------------------------------------------------------
GOALS:
Boston: None
Buffalo: T. Connolly (2), M. Satan, D. Briere, A. Kotalik. T. Pyatt
-------------------------------------------------------------------
SHOTS: POWERPLAY:
Boston: 24 Boston: 0-2
Buffalo: 25 Buffalo: 3-6
-------------------------------------------------------------------
STARS:
1. D. Briere (BUF) 1g 2a +1
2. M. Biron (BUF) SHO 24 saves
3. T. Connolly (BUF) 2g +2

What a dominating effort! :D Every facet of the game was played to perfection! I even got to move my fourth line of Grier-Mair-Boulton to the top line for about 15 minutes to give the other guys a rest. Tim Connolly's second goal was a shorthanded breakaway effort with less than a minute remaining. Biron was excellent, although not really tested. Just a great effort!

Sat. April 17, 2004: Eastern Conference Quarter Final Game Four - Boston Bruins at Buffalo Sabres

Buffalo leads series 2-1

HUGE NEWS before the game! Boston's superstar Sergei Samsonov was injured in practice and will miss at least a week of action. He's been put on the IR, meaning he can't play for at least seven days. He can't return to action until at least game six. Meanwhile, J.P. Dumont has resumed full practice and will suit up tonight in his familiar right wing position on the Hecht-Briere line. Jason Pominville will be scratched, although he has played very well in his two games, with one assist and a +3 mark. I suspect that Felix Potvin will be put back into action for Boston in place of ineffective Andrew Raycroft.

TEAM 1 2 3 TOT
Boston 0 1 0 1 (W: F. Potvin 2-0-0)
Buffalo 0 0 0 0 (L: M. Biron 2-2-0)
-------------------------------------------------------------------
GOALS:
Boston: J. Thornton
Buffalo: None
-------------------------------------------------------------------
SHOTS: POWERPLAY:
Boston: 27 Boston: 0-5
Buffalo: 24 Buffalo: 0-4
-------------------------------------------------------------------
STARS:
1. F. Potvin (BOS) SHO 24 saves
2. J. Thornton (BOS) 1g +1
3. M. Biron (BUF) 26 saves

I just can't figure out Felix Potvin. He's confounded our team all year. I can only hope that Boston is stupid enough to go back to Raycroft for the next game. Ultra-tight defensive battle. I promoted Connolly's line ahead of Drury's in the third period and will continue with that in game five in Boston. It's turned into a three game series now.

On Tap Next Week:
Monday April 19, 2004: AT BOSTON BRUINS (Eastern Conference Quarter Final Game Five)
Other games TBA

[NoSkillz]

Mon. April 19, 2004: Eastern Conference Quarter Final Game Five - Buffalo Sabres at Boston Bruins

Series is tied at 2-2

Boston forward Steve Ott has resumed full practice and he will play in place of veteran Ted Donato. Rob Zamuner plays his second game in place of Samsonov. Boston does come back with Andrew Raycroft, their number one goalie throughout the season. Dumb, if you ask me. My opinion means nothing, however, if we don't beat them! My lineup remains unchanged with the noted exception of Pyatt-Connolly-Kotalik moving up in the depth chart over Satan-Drury-Afinogenov.

TEAM 1 2 3 TOT
Buffalo 1 2 0 3 (W: M. Biron 3-2)
Boston 1 0 0 1 (L: A. Raycroft 0-3)
---------------------------------------------------------
GOALS:
Buffalo: M. Grier, A. Mair, A. Kotalik
Boston: G. Murray
---------------------------------------------------------
SHOTS: POWERPLAY:
Buffalo: 22 Buffalo: 0-6
Boston: 31 Boston: 0-6
---------------------------------------------------------
STARS:
1. M. Biron (BUF) 1ga 30 saves
2. G. Murray (BOS) 1g -1
3. M. Grier (BUF) 1g +1

Martin Biron is playing superb hockey thus far in the playoffs. The fourth line chipped in with a pair of goals after Glen Murray opened the scoring for Boston. Neither powerplay is working right now. I can only hope I avoid Samsonov's return.

Tue. April 20, 2004: Eastern Conference Quarter Final Game Six - Boston Bruins at Buffalo Sabres

Buffalo leads series 3-2

We have to play in back-to-back nights and I can only assume this helps us out more, since we have a younger team. However, guys like Chris Chelios and Jay McKee are pretty tired. They'll play anyway...this is the playoffs! My lineup will be the exact same as last game. Boston will go with Felix Potvin again. Damn. I'm tempted to tell my players to aim for the five hole but will continue with my current tactic of 'aiming low'. I'll change if Potvin continues to stymie us. Samsonov isn't ready to play yet, thankfully.

TEAM 1 2 3 OT TOT
Boston 0 2 0 0 2 (L: F. Potvin 2-1)
Buffalo 0 1 1 1 3 (W: M. Biron 4-2)
------------------------------------------------------------
GOALS:
Boston: N. Boynton, G. Murray
Buffalo: M. Grier, M. Satan, T. Pyatt
------------------------------------------------------------
SHOTS: POWERPLAY:
Boston: 23 Boston: 0-4
Buffalo: 26 Buffalo: 1-5
------------------------------------------------------------
STARS:
1. T. Pyatt (BUF) 1g -1
2. N. Boynton (BOS) 1g +2
3. M. Satan (BUF) 1g

Yes sir! Overtime come from behind victory!!! :D Taylor Pyatt took the puck away from goaltender Felix Potvin and fired one home with 7 minutes remaining in the first overtime session to give us the 4-2 series win. We were down 2-0 in this game when I changed to a 'shoot high' tactic that provided immediate dividends with Grier's second of the playoffs near the end of the second period. I put the high forechecking system into place midway through the third and with less than five minutes remaining in regulation, Miroslav Satan scored his fifth goal of the series to tie the game up. Biron had a phenomenal series in goal for us. Maxim Afinogenov hurt his neck in the game and is out for 10 days according to my physio.

Wed. April 21, 2004:

Ottawa was able to pull off an 'upset' in defeating second seeded Washington in seven games to help me avoid a confrontation with the tough first seeded New Jersey Devils. Instead, I will face the Philadelphia Flyers, who I had early season success against only to fail miserably against them late in the year. Could go either way, but I have more confidence against the Flyers than I did against the Bruins.

STANLEY CUP PLAYOFFS: FIRST ROUND RESULTS

EASTERN CONFERENCE QUARTER FINALS:

New Jersey Devils (1) vs. Tampa Bay Lightning (8)
4-11-04: NEW JERSEY 2 Tampa Bay 1
4-13-04: NEW JERSEY 5 Tampa Bay 4
4-15-04: New Jersey 4 TAMPA BAY 3
4-17-04: TAMPA BAY 4 New Jersey 3
4-19-04: NEW JERSEY 3 Tampa Bay 1
NEW JERSEY WINS SERIES 4 GAMES TO 1

Washington Capitals (2) vs. Ottawa Senators (7)
4-11-04: Ottawa 3 WASHINGTON 2
4-13-04: WASHINGTON 3 Ottawa 1
4-14-04: Washington 3 OTTAWA 2
4-16-04: Washington 2 OTTAWA 1
4-17-04: Ottawa 3 WASHINGTON 1
4-19-04: OTTAWA 4 Washington 2
4-21-04: Ottawa 2 Washington 1
OTTAWA WINS SERIES 4 GAMES TO 3

Boston Bruins (3) vs. Buffalo Sabres (6)
4-11-04: Buffalo 5 BOSTON 3
4-13-04: BOSTON 3 Buffalo 2 (OT2)
4-15-04: BUFFALO 6 Boston 0
4-17-04: Boston 1 BUFFALO 0
4-19-04: Buffalo 3 BOSTON 1
4-20-04: BUFFALO 3 Boston 2
BUFFALO WINS SERIES 4 GAMES TO 2

Philadelphia Flyers (4) vs. Carolina Hurricanes (5)
4-11-04: Carolina 4 PHILADELPHIA 2
4-13-04: PHILADELPHIA 4 Carolina 2
4-15-04: Philadelphia 3 CAROLINA 1
4-17-04: Philadelphia 3 CAROLINA 1
4-19-04: PHILADELPHIA 3 Carolina 2
PHILADELPHIA WINS SERIES 4 GAMES TO 1

WESTERN CONFERENCE QUARTER FINALS:

Colorado Avalanche (1) vs. St. Louis Blues (8)
4-11-04: COLORADO 2 St. Louis 0
4-13-04: St. Louis 3 COLORADO 2
4-15-04: ST. LOUIS 3 Colorado 2
4-17-04: ST. LOUIS 3 Colorado 1
4-19-04: COLORADO 5 St. Louis 2
4-20-04: ST. LOUIS 3 Colorado 1
ST. LOUIS WINS SERIES 4 GAMES TO 2

Los Angeles Kings (2) vs. Mighty Ducks of Anaheim (7)
4-11-04: LOS ANGELES 5 Anaheim 1
4-13-04: LOS ANGELES 1 Anaheim 0
4-15-04: Los Angeles 7 ANAHEIM 3
4-17-04: Los Angeles 4 ANAHEIM 3
LOS ANGELES WINS SERIES 4 GAMES TO 0

Detroit Red Wings (3) vs. Dallas Stars (6)
4-11-04: Dallas 3 DETROIT 2
4-13-04: Dallas 2 DETROIT 0
4-15-04: Detroit 3 DALLAS 2
4-17-04: DALLAS 3 Detroit 1
4-19-04: Dallas 5 DETROIT 1
DALLAS WINS SERIES 4 GAMES TO 1

Calgary Flames (4) vs. Vancouver Canucks (5)
4-11-04: CALGARY 4 Vancouver 2
4-13-04: CALGARY 2 Vancouver 1
4-15-04: Calgary 4 VANCOUVER 2
4-17-04: VANCOUVER 6 Calgary 1
4-19-04: CALGARY 3 Vancouver 1
CALGARY WINS SERIES 4 GAMES TO 1

Interesting developments out west, as the number one seed in Colorado and the number 3 seed in Detroit bow out.

On Tap Next Week:
Monday April 26, 2004: AT PHILADELPHIA FLYERS (Eastern Conference Semi Final Game One)
Wednesday April 28, 2004: AT PHILADELPHIA FLYERS (Eastern Conference Semi Final Game Two)
Friday April 30, 2004: vs. Philadelphia Flyers (Eastern Conference Semi Final Game Three)
Sunday May 2, 2004: vs. Philadelphia Flyers (Eastern Conference Semi Final Game Four)

[NoSkillz]

Mon. April 26, 2004: Eastern Conference Semi Finals Game One: Buffalo Sabres at Philadelphia Flyers

The Flyers have two guys on the IR right now in Mark Recchi and John LeClair, both of whom will likely return at some point in this series. Alexei Zhamnov had 7 points in the opening series versus Carolina and I'll also have to keep a close eye on Sabre killer Keith Primeau and the Flyers regular season leading scorer Jeremy Roenick. They have solid goaltending in Robert Esche and Sean Burke, who were rotated in that Carolina series.

I'm going to stay with my current tactics, the 'Normal' offensive philosophy coupled with the trap and a high puck pressure system. I'm going to have Maxim Afinogenov play through his injury and maintain the winning lineup from the Boston series.


TEAM 1 2 3 OT TOT
Buffalo 1 0 3 1 5 (W: M. Biron 5-2)
Philadelphia 2 1 1 0 4 (L: R. Esche 2-2)
------------------------------------------------------------------
GOALS:
Buffalo: D. Briere, A. Kotalik, J.P. Dumont, C. Drury, T. Connolly
Philadelphia: K. Primeau, S. Kapanen, S. Thornton, T. Fedoruk
------------------------------------------------------------------
SHOTS: POWERPLAY:
Buffalo: 33 Buffalo: 1-7
Philadelphia: 38 Philadelphia: 0-5
---------------------------------------------------------
STARS:
1. T. Connolly (BUF) 1g 1a +2
2. A. Kotalik (BUF) 1g 1a +1
3. D. Briere (BUF) 1g 1a -1

What an overtime win! We were down 3-1 going into the third and kept up the trapping tactic but went to an attacking philosophy. I ended up tying it at 3 on Dumont's goal but Fedoruk came right back to make it 4-3. Chris Drury then capitalized on a rebound on the powerplay to tie it at 4 with about six minutes remaining in overtime. Unbelievably, Miroslav Satan was awarded a penalty shot only four minutes into the extra frame but was stopped by Esche. Two minutes later though, Tim Connolly wristed an Ales Kotalik pass home to seal the game one victory! Fantastic! In an interesting note, defenseman Alexei Zhitnik was unhappy after the game, saying he feels "victimized by the referees right now".

Tue. April 27, 2004:

Zhitnik must have had a good night's sleep, as he isn't unhappy anymore! :) I have my scouts over at the World Championships right now, being played in Prague in the Czech Republic. I have offered Tim Connolly a contract extension and have also offered prized prospect Thomas Vanek an entry level deal. Vanek is having a monstrous year at Minnesota in the NCAA, with 42 goals and 29 assists in 53 games for the Golden Gophers. If he signed, he would certainly be an option if a player got injured in Buffalo.

Wed. April 28, 2004: Eastern Conference Semi Finals Game Two: Buffalo Sabres at Philadelphia Flyers

Buffalo leads series 1-0

Mark Recchi was activated from the IR and will likely play for Philadelphia. I'm also preparing for Sean Burke to play goal for the Flyers in Game Two. I will have an unchanged lineup for game two.


TEAM 1 2 3 TOT
Buffalo 0 0 1 1 (L: M. Biron 5-3)
Philadelphia 1 2 0 3 (W: S. Burke 3-0)
------------------------------------------------------
GOALS:
Buffalo: C. Drury
Philadelphia: T. Amonte, M. Handzus, A. Karpovtsev
------------------------------------------------------
SHOTS: POWERPLAY:
Buffalo: 22 Buffalo: 0-6
Philadelphia: 33 Philadelphia: 1-6
------------------------------------------------------
STARS:
1. T. Amonte (PHI) 1g 1a +2
2. M. Handzus (PHI) 1g 1a +1
3. S. Burke (PHI) 1ga 21 saves

Philly completely dominated this game. I have a feeling that Sean Burke is going to play the role of Felix Potvin in this series. I'm surprised the score was as close as it was.

Fri. April 30, 2004: Eastern Conference Semi Finals Game Three: Philadelphia Flyers at Buffalo Sabres

Series is tied at 1-1

The only change I'm making for this game is to give specific instructions to struggling forward Maxim Afinogenov to play an attacking style. Afinogenov is still playing hurt, which explains his lack of production. Robert Esche is back in goal for Philadelphia, who have made no other changes to their lineup.


TEAM 1 2 3 OT TOT
Philadelphia 1 2 0 0 3 (L: R. Esche 2-3)
Buffalo 1 1 1 1 4 (W: M. Biron 6-3)
-----------------------------------------------------------
GOALS:
Philadelphia: T. Amonte (2), A. Karpovtsev
Buffalo: M. Satan, A. Kotalik, J. Hecht, D. Kalinin
------------------------------------------------------
SHOTS: POWERPLAY:
Philadelphia: 30 Philadelphia: 2-5
Buffalo: 30 Buffalo: 1-7
------------------------------------------------------
STARS:
1. D. Kalinin (BUF) 1g +2
2. M. Satan (BUF) 1g 1a +2
3. M. Afinogenov (BUF) 3a +2

Another overtime thriller! We had to kill off two powerplays in overtime before Kalinin pinched in on a rush about 8 minutes into overtime to backhand the winner home! Kalinin continues his fantastic postseason, with 4 points in 9 games and a scorching +11! Afinogenov responded with a big game, as I dominated most of the 5-on-5 action in the game. I went to a 'Normal' hitting tactic that seemed to help. I'll have to figure out Sean Burke in game four, as I'm sure he'll be starting.

After the game, I find out that Thomas Vanek has accepted my entry level contract offer but is not eligible to come to the team until the playoffs are over. Oh well.

Sat. May 1, 2004:

Tim Connolly was very pleased to sign a new contract extension today, a three year $4,200,000 extension. Connolly has been excellent since returning from his major concussion. I only hope he defies my physios, who think he's a risk to develop further concussions. The board still is thrilled with the clubs progress this year. The playoffs have been great financially for the club, as we profited over $1,500,000 last month.

Sun. May 2, 2004: Eastern Conference Semi Finals Game Four: Philadelphia Flyers at Buffalo Sabres

Buffalo leads series 2-1

Maxim Afinogenov is back to full fitness for this game. Interestingly, Brian Campbell has stated that he is "willing to fight for a spot in our lineup"; I like that determination. Campbell has taken a back seat to Chris Chelios since we acquired him at the deadline. Maybe I'll insert Campbell in at some point to rest Chelios. Sean Burke will go in goal for Philadelphia in an effort to extend his playoff undefeated streak. They've also made a couple of other lineup changes, inserting Andy Hilbert for Branko Radivojevic and Dennis Seidenberg for Kim Johnsson.


TEAM 1 2 3 TOT
Philadelphia 1 1 1 3 (W: S. Burke 4-0)
Buffalo 1 1 0 2 (L: M. Biron 6-4)
-----------------------------------------------------------
GOALS:
Philadelphia: S. Thornton, M. Recchi, C. Lapointe
Buffalo: M. Afinogenov, J.P. Dumont
------------------------------------------------------
SHOTS: POWERPLAY:
Philadelphia: 22 Philadelphia: 0-2
Buffalo: 27 Buffalo: 0-3
------------------------------------------------------
STARS:
1. C. Lapointe (PHI) 1g +2
2. J.P. Dumont (BUF) 1g +1
3. M. Recchi (PHI) 1g +1

This hurts. Lapointe scored with only 16 seconds left in regulation time to win the game. We played a really nice defensive game. Bitter irony struck too, as Chris Chelios got hit in the eye and will be out at least a couple weeks, therefore, Brian Campbell gets into the lineup. This is a really tough loss and we'll need to come out strong to win the next game. At least I scored a couple on Burke.

On Tap Next Week:
Tuesday May 4, 2004: AT PHILADELPHIA FLYERS (Eastern Conference Semi Final Game Five)
Other games TBA

[NoSkillz]

Tue. May 4, 2004: Eastern Conference Semi Finals Game Five: Buffalo Sabres at Philadelphia Flyers

Series tied at 2-2

Brian Campbell gets his first taste of playoff action tonight in place of the injured Chris Chelios. I will make no other changes. Robert Esche is back in goal, as Philly goes with the same tactic of rotating goaltenders that doomed Boston. Philly is also going with seven defensemen tonight in another interesting maneuver.

TEAM 1 2 3 TOT
Buffalo 0 0 1 1 (L: M. Biron 6-5)
Philadelphia 4 1 1 6 (W: R. Esche 3-3)
------------------------------------------------------------------------
GOALS:
Buffalo: J. Hecht
Philadelphia: S. Gagne (2), M. Recchi, J. Roenick, K. Primeau, T. Amonte
------------------------------------------------------------------------
SHOTS: POWERPLAY:
Buffalo: 19 Buffalo: 0-4
Philadelphia: 36 Philadelphia: 3-10
---------------------------------------------------------
STARS:
1. J. Roenick (PHI) 1g 2a +2
2. M. Recchi (PHI) 1g 2a +1
3. S. Gagne (PHI) 2g 1a

Damn referee Kerry Fraser! :mad: 10 freaking penalties just killed us. I complained through the media after the game and the NHL ended up fining me $26,000 for insubordination. Funny!

I had to pull Biron after he let in the fifth goal but it was over by then anyway. To add to my misery, solid d-man Jay McKee sprained his ACL and is out for a month. Just an awful performance from everyone and I'm in tough to get the club back on track with elimination staring us right in the face.

After the game, I called up defenseman Rory Fitzpatrick from Rochester. Veteran James Patrick's skills have regressed to such a degree that I really have no choice but to overlook him for a guy who hasn't played on the team all year. Fitzpatrick was doing quite well on the farm, with 29 points in 51 games and an average rating of 7.43.

Thu. May 6, 2004: Eastern Conference Semi Finals Game Six: Philadelphia Flyers at Buffalo Sabres

Philadelphia leads series 3-2

Henrik Tallinder moves up to play with Jeff Jillson on our second defensive unit. Rory Fitzpatrick will man the right side on the third defensive unit with Brian Campbell. I've simplified the game plan again and done some small changes with our powerplay and penalty killing units. We will try to keep things tight and hope to get to game seven, where anything can happen. Surprisingly, Philadelphia comes back with Robert Esche in his second game in a row to reverse their trend of rotating goalies.

TEAM 1 2 3 TOT
Philadelphia 1 0 1 2 (L: R. Esche 3-4)
Buffalo 1 3 0 4 (W: M. Biron 7-5)
------------------------------------------------------------------------
GOALS:
Philadelphia: J. Roenick, T. Amonte
Buffalo: J.P. Dumont, M. Afinogenov, J. Hecht, M. Grier
------------------------------------------------------------------------
SHOTS: POWERPLAY:
Philadelphia: 22 Philadelphia: 0-1
Buffalo: 29 Buffalo: 2-8
---------------------------------------------------------
STARS:
1. M. Afinogenov (BUF) 1g
2. T. Amonte (PHI) 1g +1
3. J.P. Dumont (BUF) 1g 1a

The fine was worth it! The refs gave me the huge advantage in penalties and we basically cruised in this one, although the Flyers did score first. I changed to a normal pressing tactic for this game and will continue with that for our game seven tilt in Philadelphia. Taylor Pyatt had two assists in the win. The board was quite pleased with the victory.

Fri. May 7, 2004:

Prospect Michael Tessier, a forward currently playing with Rimouski of the Quebec league, signed an entry level contract with me today. Tessier has 54 points in 52 games playing on the second line behind Sidney Crosby's line and will likely play in Rochester next year.

Sat. May 8, 2004: Eastern Conference Semi Finals Game Seven: Buffalo Sabres at Philadelphia Flyers

Series tied at 3-3

This is it! Big game! We will go with the tactics that got us victory in game six, specifically a normal pressing trap with normal offensive philosophy. Philadelphia has activated John LeClair for this game. LeClair was pretty brutal this year, garnering only 26 points in 60 games and was a perennial whipping boy for the Philadelphia media and fans. Sean Burke gets the start in game seven for the Flyers. We need to score the first goal in this one to get the fans out of it quickly.

TEAM 1 2 3 TOT
Buffalo 1 1 0 2 (L: M. Biron 7-6)
Philadelphia 3 0 1 4 (W: S. Burke 5-0)
------------------------------------------------------------------------
GOALS:
Buffalo: E. Boulton, M. Afinogenov
Philadelphia: M. Recchi (2), S. Gagne, T. Fedoruk (EN)
------------------------------------------------------------------------
SHOTS: POWERPLAY:
Buffalo: 31 Buffalo: 1-6
Philadelphia: 32 Philadelphia: 1-4
---------------------------------------------------------
STARS:
1. M. Recchi (PHI) 2g +1
2. S. Gagne (PHI) 1g 1a +1
3. J. Roenick (PHI) 2a +2

We were down 3-0 so fast in this one it was almost a joke. They came out and smoked us early. We fought back valiently, however, but we didn't have enough horses to match them. Dmitri Kalinin became the third defenseman to get injured in the series, which didn't help.

I'm extremely disappointed that we lost but I think overall, it was a good season and something to build on for next season.

Sun May 9, 2004:

Prospects Daniel Paille and Dennis Wideman signed entry level deals with the club today. I've also offered deals to both Jeff Jillson and Alexei Zhitnik, who's willing to take a pay cut to stay with the team.

[NoSkillz]

Mon. May 10, 2004:

Here's how things went down in the conference semifinals:

STANLEY CUP PLAYOFFS: SECOND ROUND RESULTS

EASTERN CONFERENCE SEMI FINALS:

New Jersey Devils (1) vs. Ottawa Senators (7)
4-26-04: Ottawa 3 NEW JERSEY 2
4-27-04: NEW JERSEY 4 Ottawa 2
4-29-04: OTTAWA 4 New Jersey 3
4-30-04: New Jersey 4 OTTAWA 3
5-02-04: NEW JERSEY 4 Ottawa 1
5-04-04: New Jersey 7 OTTAWA 3
NEW JERSEY WINS SERIES 4 GAMES TO 2

Philadelphia Flyers (4) vs. Buffalo Sabres (6)
4-26-04: Buffalo 5 PHILADELPHIA 4
4-28-04: PHILADELPHIA 3 Buffalo 1
4-30-04: BUFFALO 4 Philadelphia 3
5-02-04: Philadelphia 3 BUFFALO 2
5-04-04: PHILADELPHIA 6 Buffalo 1
5-06-04: BUFFALO 4 Philadelphia 2
5-08-04: PHILADELPHIA 4 Buffalo 2
PHILADELPHIA WINS SERIES 4 GAMES TO 3

WESTERN CONFERENCE SEMI FINALS:

Los Angeles Kings (2) vs. St. Louis Blues (8)
4-26-04: St. Louis 3 LOS ANGELES 2
4-28-04: LOS ANGELES 3 St. Louis 1
4-30-04: Los Angeles 4 ST. LOUIS 3
5-02-04: Los Angeles 2 ST. LOUIS 1
5-04-04: St. Louis 4 LOS ANGELES 0
5-06-04: Los Angeles 4 ST. LOUIS 3
LOS ANGELES WINS SERIES 4 GAMES TO 2

Calgary Flames (4) vs. Dallas Stars (6)
4-26-04: Dallas 3 CALGARY 0
4-28-04: Dallas 4 CALGARY 1
4-30-04: Calgary 3 DALLAS 1
5-02-04: DALLAS 3 Calgary 1
5-04-04: Dallas 3 CALGARY 1
DALLAS WINS SERIES 4 GAMES TO 1

Dallas becomes the Cinderella team in these playoffs with two upset wins.

Wed. May 12, 2004:

The Czech Republic won the World Championships in a shootout over Canada today. The U.S. took home the bronze medal. Czech Jaromir Jagr led the tournament with 11 points in 6 games.

Thu. May 13, 2004:

I've put my players on a conditioning program for a few weeks. I'll go into more intensive training for the off-season. I've sent out all of my scouts to dig up players for the upcoming NHL Entry Draft; first of all, I made sure I've scouted every player that is listed in the I.S.S. Rankings, including the old rankings (preliminary and mid-season). I'm also scouting a few of the more obscure regions like Switzerland and Germany, both of whom made impressions at the world championships.

[NoSkillz]

Wed. May 19, 2004:

Well, the Stanley Cup final is set, as the New Jersey Devils will face the unheralded Dallas Stars. Making the Stars run even more amazing is the fact they went the entire series against Los Angeles without their top keeper Marty Turco, who was on the I.R. with a groin injury. Ron Tugnutt was fantastic in the series win over the Kings. Both teams get a week off to rest before the series starts.


STANLEY CUP PLAYOFFS: THIRD ROUND RESULTS

EASTERN CONFERENCE FINALS:

New Jersey Devils (1) vs. Philadelphia Flyers (4)
5-11-04: NEW JERSEY 3 Philadelphia 1
5-12-04: NEW JERSEY 4 Philadelphia 1
5-14-04: PHILADELPHIA 4 New Jersey 2
5-16-04: New Jersey 2 PHILADELPHIA 0
5-18-04: NEW JERSEY 3 Philadelphia 1
NEW JERSEY WINS SERIES 4 GAMES TO 1

WESTERN CONFERENCE FINALS:

Los Angeles Kings (2) vs. Dallas Stars (6)
5-11-04: Dallas 3 LOS ANGELES 1
5-13-04: Dallas 2 LOS ANGELES 0
5-15-04: DALLAS 5 Los Angeles 2
5-17-04: Los Angeles 3 DALLAS 2
5-19-04: Dallas 4 LOS ANGELES 3
DALLAS WINS SERIES 4 GAMES TO 1

In Sabres news, I agreed to contract extensions with defensemen Henrik Tallinder (2 years, $2,375,000) and Brian Campbell (3 years, $2,800,000). I'm still having trouble with signing Jeff Jillson but should be able to work something out. However, things won't work with Alexei Zhitnik; I thought he'd accept a decrease to stay with the team but I was wrong. In fact, my board of directors, for whatever reason, have limited the amount of money I can spend on him to $2,800,000 per year, while he wants somewhere in the vicinity of $4 million. That's too expensive anyway, but I'm surprised my board has set the bar so low when they would have allowed me to sign a much inferior player (namely Campbell) to a contract twice that size! Strange. Looks like Zhitnik will test the free agency market in July.

Thu. May 20, 2004:

HOLD THE FREAKIN' PHONE! :eek: :D Zhitnik signed a one-year extension for only $2,800,000 today!!! :D In the media, he stated that "my love for the team was the main reason for signing the deal." Absolutely awesome! That is a $900,000 pay cut for a guy who plays 29 minutes a night. Wow!

[NoSkillz]

Wed. May 26, 2004:

The New Jersey Devils open the Stanley Cup Finals with a 5-3 victory over the Dallas Stars behind a 2 goal, 1 assist performance from Viktor Kozlov.

Sat. June 5, 2004:

The Devils win the 2003-04 Stanley Cup in six games over Dallas. Viktor Kozlov wins the Conn Smythe Trophy for Playoff MVP based on his 11 goal, 19 point performance in the postseason. He was a huge surprise, considering he only garnered 25 points in 70 regular season games.

STANLEY CUP PLAYOFFS: FINALS

New Jersey Devils (1) vs. Dallas Stars (6)
5-26-04: NEW JERSEY 5 Dallas 3
5-28-04: NEW JERSEY 3 Dallas 1
5-30-04: DALLAS 4 New Jersey 2
6-01-04: DALLAS 3 New Jersey 2 OT
6-03-04: NEW JERSEY 2 Dallas 1 OT
6-05-04: New Jersey 3 DALLAS 2 OT
NEW JERSEY WINS SERIES 4 GAMES TO 2

Here are the Buffalo Sabres statistics for the postseason:

Buffalo Sabres Statistics: Playoffs

POS PLAYER GP G A PTS +/- PIM PPG SHG GWG
RW Jean-Pierre Dumont 11 3 7 10 1 6 1 0 0
C Daniel Briere 13 2 8 10 1 20 0 0 0
RW Miroslav Satan 13 6 3 9 3 4 3 0 2
LW Jochen Hecht 13 5 3 8 2 8 0 0 0
RW Ales Kotalik 13 5 2 7 -4 6 2 0 0
RW Maxim Afinogenov 13 3 4 7 -3 8 2 0 1
LW Taylor Pyatt 13 3 4 7 -7 6 2 0 1
C Tim Connolly 13 3 3 6 1 10 0 1 1
C Chris Drury 13 2 3 5 -4 6 1 0 0
LW Mike Grier 13 3 1 4 2 0 0 0 1
D Dmitri Kalinin 13 1 3 4 10 10 0 0 1
C Adam Mair 13 1 3 4 2 4 0 0 0
LW Eric Boulton 13 1 2 3 2 22 0 0 0
D Alexei Zhitnik 13 0 3 3 9 10 0 0 0
D Henrik Tallinder 13 0 3 3 -1 0 0 0 0
D Jeff Jillson 13 0 3 3 -11 6 0 0 0
D Jay McKee 11 0 2 2 -5 12 0 0 0
RW *Jason Pominville 2 0 1 1 3 0 0 0 0
D Chris Chelios 10 0 1 1 1 8 0 0 0
G *Ryan Miller 1 0 0 0 - 0 0 0 0
D Rory Fitzpatrick 2 0 0 0 -1 0 0 0 0
D Brian Campbell 3 0 0 0 1 2 0 0 0
G Martin Biron 13 0 0 0 - 0 0 0 0
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
POS PLAYER GP W L T MIN GA GAA SHO SV%
G *Ryan Miller 1 0 0 0 26 1 2.31 0 .889
G Martin Biron 13 7 6 0 813 33 2.44 1 .914


Here are the leaders for the 2003-04 Playoffs:

NHL Playoffs: Scoring Leaders

PLAYER TEAM GP G A PTS +/- PIM
Mike Modano Dallas 21 10 10 20 4 12
Viktor Kozlov New Jersey 22 11 8 19 7 4
Brian Gionta New Jersey 22 9 9 18 11 2
Jeff Friesen New Jersey 22 10 7 17 4 6
Alexei Kovalev Dallas 21 6 11 17 5 4
Jeremy Roenick Philadelphia 17 4 11 15 6 22
Scott Gomez New Jersey 22 3 11 14 6 14
John Madden New Jersey 22 6 8 14 3 24
4 PLAYERS TIED WITH 13 POINTS

(T-22nd) J.P. DUMONT BUFFALO 11 3 7 10 1 6
(T-22nd) DANIEL BRIERE BUFFALO 13 2 8 10 1 20

---------------------------------------------------------------------

NHL Playoffs: Goal Leaders

PLAYER TEAM GP G
Viktor Kozlov New Jersey 22 11
Mike Modano Dallas 21 10
Jeff Friesen New Jersey 22 10
Mark Recchi Philadelphia 16 9
Brian Gionta New Jersey 22 9

(T-16th) MIROSLAV SATAN BUFFALO 13 6

-------------------------------------------------

NHL Playoffs: Assist Leaders

PLAYER TEAM GP A
Jeremy Roenick Philadelphia 17 11
Alexei Kovalev Dallas 21 11
Scott Gomez New Jersey 22 11
Jason Arnott Dallas 20 10
Mike Modano Dallas 21 10

(T-12th) DANIEL BRIERE BUFFALO 13 8

-------------------------------------------------

NHL Playoffs: Plus/Minus Leaders

PLAYER TEAM GP +/-
Scott Niedermayer New Jersey 22 16
Brian Rafalski New Jersey 21 11
Brian Gionta New Jersey 22 11
DMITRI KALININ BUFFALO 13 10
Richard Matvichuk Dallas 21 10

-------------------------------------------------

NHL Playoffs: Penalty Minute Leaders

PLAYER TEAM GP PIM
Todd Fedoruk Philadelphia 17 49
Turner Stevenson New Jersey 22 42
Donald Brashear Philadelphia 17 38
Esa Pirnes Los Angeles 15 37
Stu Barnes Dallas 19 33

(T-10th) ERIC BOULTON BUFFALO 13 22

[Karim]

Congrats on a good first season. Onwards and upwards...

[NoSkillz]

Thanks Karim! I'm a big fan of your Calgary dynasty...

It's funny the things you can pick up just by reading about other people's games...my scouts love Ivo Ruthemann and Marco Buhrer, two guys who've had success in your league. Because of my poor situation in net, I'm especially interested in Buhrer and will keep my eye on both in the upcoming draft.

[NoSkillz]

Tue. June 8, 2004:

The 2003-04 NHL Awards ceremony took place tonight. Here are the winners and finalists:

Hart Memorial Trophy - Most Valuable Player
1st: Sergei Samsonov, Boston Bruins
2nd: Markus Naslund, Vancouver Canucks
3rd: Todd Bertuzzi, Vancouver Canucks

Lester B. Pearson Award - Most Valuable Player (as voted by NHLPA)
1st: Sergei Samsonov, Boston Bruins
2nd: Markus Naslund, Vancouver Canucks
3rd: Todd Bertuzzi, Vancouver Canucks

Art Ross Trophy - Leading Scorer
1st: Sergei Samsonov, Boston Bruins
2nd: Markus Naslund, Vancouver Canucks
3rd: Patrik Elias, New Jersey Devils

James Norris Memorial Trophy - Best Defenseman
1st: Ed Jovanovski, Vancouver Canucks
2nd: Rob Blake, Colorado Avalanche
3rd: Chris Pronger, St. Louis Blues

Vezina Trophy - Best Goaltender
1st: Garth Snow, New York Islanders
2nd: Martin Brodeur, New Jersey Devils
3rd: Dominik Hasek, Detroit Red Wings

Lady Byng Memorial Trophy - Most Gentlemanly Player
1st: Sergei Samsonov, Boston Bruins
2nd: Zigmund Palffy, Los Angeles Kings
3rd: Rico Fata, Pittsburgh Penguins

Calder Memorial Trophy - Rookie of the Year
1st: Alexander Semin, Washington Capitals
2nd: Jared Aulin, Washington Capitals
3rd: Patrice Bergeron, Boston Bruins

Frank J. Selke Trophy - Best Defensive Forward
1st: Jeff Halpern, Washington Capitals
2nd: Stephane Yelle, Calgary Flames
3rd: Steve Rucchin, Anaheim Mighty Ducks

Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy - Perserverance/Sportsmanship/Dedication
1st: Bryce Salvador, St. Louis Blues
2nd: Darius Kasparaitis, New York Rangers
3rd: Tomas Kloucek, Atlanta Thrashers

Conn Smythe Trophy - Playoff Most Valuable Player
1st: Viktor Kozlov, New Jersey Devils
2nd: Martin Brodeur, New Jersey Devils
3rd: Jeff Friesen, New Jersey Devils

William Jennings Trophy - Best Goaltending Team
1st: Roman Turek & Miikka Kiprusoff, Calgary Flames
2nd: Garth Snow & Rick DiPietro, New York Islanders
3rd: David Aebischer & Tommy Salo, Colorado Avalanche

Jack Adams Award - Coach of the Year
1st: Pat Burns, New Jersey Devils
2nd: Brian Sutter, Washington Capitals
3rd: Mike Sullivan, Boston Bruins

Maurice Richard Trophy - Most Goals
1st: Petr Sykora, Anaheim Mighty Ducks
2nd: Todd Bertuzzi, Vancouver Canucks
3rd: Patrik Elias, New Jersey Devils

NHL Plus-Minus Award
1st: Sergei Fedorov, Anaheim Mighty Ducks
2nd: Rob Blake, Colorado Avalanche
3rd: Scott Niedermayer, New Jersey Devils

King Clancy Memorial Trophy - Humanitarian/Leadership
1st: Trent Hunter, New York Islanders
2nd: Sean Burke, Philadelphia Flyers
3rd: Mike Johnson, Phoenix Coyotes

Samsonov was the big winner on the night...hard to fault any of the winners here, although Garth Snow winning the Vezina must count as a bit of a shocker. He had a tremendous season, going 19-12-7 with a 1.71 GAA and .929 SA% but didn't even play half of the Islanders games. I had a vote and placed it with Brodeur, who finished second.

Something that Riz will need to look at for the next version is how the year-end all-star teams are selected. For instance, how does the most valuable player in the league NOT make the first all-star team?? How can all of the Vezina Trophy finalists be omitted from both teams??? :eek: Here are the team awards:

2003-04 NHL First All-Star Team
G: Patrick Lalime, Ottawa Senators
D: Ed Jovanovski, Vancouver Canucks
D: Rob Blake, Colorado Avalanche
F: Peter Forsberg, Colorado Avalanche
F: Sergei Fedorov, Anaheim Mighty Ducks
F: Todd Bertuzzi, Vancouver Canucks

2003-04 NHL Second All-Star Team
G: Chris Osgood, St. Louis Blues
D: Chris Pronger, St. Louis Blues
D: Scott Niedermayer, New Jersey Devils
F: Sergei Samsonov, Boston Bruins
F: Joe Thornton, Boston Bruins
F: Markus Naslund, Vancouver Canucks

2003-04 NHL All-Rookie Team
G: Andrew Raycroft, Boston Bruins
D: Brooks Orpik, Pittsburgh Penguins
D: Garnet Exelby, Atlanta Thrashers
F: Alexander Semin, Washington Capitals
F: Jared Aulin, Washington Capitals
F: Nikolai Zherdev, Columbus Blue Jackets

Fri. June 11, 2004:

I was able to come to terms with our leading scorer from the blueline, Jeff Jillson, who signed a two-year deal worth $3,200,000.

I'm pretty much done signing the guys I want to keep around. I've made offers to Rory Fitzpatrick and Andrew Peters to keep them around as depth but that's about it. Here is a list of the guys who will likely become unrestricted free agents: Tom Askey (G), Brian Chapman (D), Doug Janik (D), Rick Mrozik (D), Chris Chelios (D), David Cullen (D), James Patrick (D), Jason Botterill (LW), Jim McKenzie (LW).

[NoSkillz]

Mon. June 14, 2004:

I've neglected to talk about our organization's prospects and their development through the season. Here is a look at the Rochester Americans statistics for 2003-04 (note: any player in CAPS is not a member of the Sabres organization):

Rochester Americans Statistics: Final

POS PLAYER GP G A PTS +/- PIM PPG SHG GWG
C Chris Thorburn 57 14 27 41 19 50 4 0 1
D Rory Fitzpatrick 51 2 27 29 1 87 2 0 0
RW Milan Bartovic 35 18 6 24 5 36 3 0 2
RW Jason Pominville 28 13 9 22 15 8 1 0 3
C Derek Roy 29 7 14 21 5 18 0 0 0
D ERIC LAVIGNE 50 5 16 21 17 122 1 0 0
RW JOE GUENTHER 23 9 11 20 6 18 0 0 2
C Paul Gaustad 58 7 12 19 -1 60 1 0 0
LW Jason Botterill 33 10 7 17 2 80 2 0 1
D Nathan Paetsch 38 0 17 17 14 35 0 0 0
C Chris Taylor 34 3 13 16 12 21 2 0 1
D Brian Chapman 36 3 13 16 16 41 1 0 0
D Rick Mrozik 39 3 13 16 0 38 2 0 1
D David Cullen 55 1 15 16 10 50 0 0 0
LW STEVE HEINZE 19 8 7 15 2 34 2 0 1
LW Andrew Peters 52 9 6 15 6 117 3 0 3
C Jiri Novotny 48 5 7 12 -3 25 1 1 2
C BRANDON BENEDICT 20 4 7 11 2 10 0 0 1
LW KAREL MOSOVSKY 22 2 7 9 15 28 0 0 0
RW Sean McMorrow 15 2 3 5 1 18 1 0 1
D BRIAN WHITE 19 1 4 5 4 16 1 0 0
D Jeff Jillson 6 2 2 4 2 4 1 0 1
D STEVE LINGREN 5 0 3 3 5 4 0 0 0
C MICHAEL RYAN 9 2 0 2 5 0 0 0 0
D Ryan Jorde 13 1 1 2 -5 2 1 0 1
D Doug Janik 3 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0
G Ryan Miller 24 0 0 0 - 0 0 0 0
G Tom Askey 35 0 0 0 - 0 0 0 0
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
POS PLAYER GP W L T MIN GA GAA SHO SV%
G Tom Askey 35 17 11 7 2123 85 2.40 2 .906
G Ryan Miller 24 10 8 6 1462 67 2.75 0 .893

Thorburn was a nice surprise this year and offers depth in case a guy like Adam Mair goes down. Other plusses include Rory Fitzpatrick's play and the ongoing development of Milan Bartovic, who I'm already pencilling in as a fourth liner in Buffalo next season. First year pro Nathan Paetsch also had a decent season, as did unheralded goaltender Tom Askey. The often mentioned Jason Pominville was superb both in Rochester and in Buffalo.

Disappointments include Derek Roy, one of the organization's top prospects. I likely rushed him to the NHL and he never regained his confidence after going a long stretch without points. I feel he'll recover to be a fine NHL'er, but will likely keep him on the farm next year until he catches fire offensively. Paul Gaustad also regressed this year, likely due to the depth we have at centre in the organization, as he didn't get a lot of minutes. Another centreman, former first round pick Jiri Novotny continues to prove he is a bust.

Now, let's take a look at the Sabres organization's unsigned prospects, in alphabetical order, with age noted:

Buffalo Sabres Unsigned Prospects: 2003-04 Season Final Statistics

POS PLAYER TEAM/LEAGUE GP G A PTS +/- PIM
D John Adams (21) Boston College (NCAA) 58 6 16 22 -16 48
LW Marek Dubec (22) Vsetinska (Czech) 50 6 14 20 0 42
D Denis Ezhov (19) Metallurg (Russia) 60 7 12 19 -1 32
LW Branislav Fabry (19) Slovan (Slovakia) 23 4 3 7 4 18
D Radoslav Hecl (29) Slovan (Slovakia) 51 6 11 17 3 40
RW Jaroslav Kristek (24) Z. Budejovice (Czech) 51 8 14 22 5 42
C Artem Kryukov (22) Lokomotiv (Russia) 52 3 6 9 2 22
D David Kudelka (29) Znojmo (Czech) 47 1 5 6 -18 103
D Jiri Kuntos (31) Slavia (Czech) 51 4 5 9 19 18
C Clarke MacArthur (19) Medicine Hat (WHL) 67 29 53 82 34 90
LW L.P. Martin (19) Drummondville (QMJHL) 70 37 37 74 27 95
D Thomas Morrow (20) Boston U. (NCAA) 57 6 19 25 13 60
D Tim O'Connell (26) Florida (ECHL) 58 10 17 27 7 165
LW Dan Paille (20) Sault Ste. Marie (OHL) 46 24 39 63 7 33
D Stefan Shauer (21) Haie (Germany) 19 0 5 5 2 24
C Maxim Sheviev (19) L. Togliatti Jr (Rus) 57 32 34 66 36 70
LW Michael Tessier (19) Rimouski (QMJHL) 52 25 29 54 10 42
LW Thomas Vanek (20) Minnesota (NCAA) 54 42 30 72 29 92
LW Michal Vondrka (21) Z. Budejovice (Czech) 45 5 8 13 -4 44
D Pavel Voroshnin (20) Owen Sound (OHL) 62 8 18 26 -1 105
G Jeff Weber (19) Peterborough (OHL) 10 0 0 0 - 0
D Dennis Wideman (21) London (OHL) 68 12 39 51 25 70
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
POS PLAYER TEAM/LEAGUE GP W L T GAA SV%
G Jeff Weber (19) Peterborough (OHL) 10 7 3 0 4.08 .888


Our prized possession, Thomas Vanek, had a monstrous year in Minnesota and will vie for a spot on the Sabres next season. My players in the Canadian Junior Leagues all played quite well last year: Paille, Wideman and Tessier will likely suit up in Rochester next season. Clarke MacArthur and Louis-Phillippe Martin both have turned into nice prospects and will play one more season in junior next year. I'll likely try to sign Voroshnin before the June 30th deadline and have him play in Rochester next season. Thomas Morrow from B.U. is progressing nicely and is a monster on the blue line at 6'5". I also have a couple veterans in Hecl and Kuntos; Hecl is interesting to me as possible depth and I'm thinking of bringing him over to the States next season. Artem Kryukov is another first round bust like Novotny.

Thu. June 17, 2004:

I traded winger Norm Milley to Montreal for a sixth round pick in 2004 and an 8th round pick in 2005. Milley wasn't progressing in Rochester and I've got guys like Paille and Tessier coming into the pro ranks that will require ice time so Milley was expendable. I've tried to make numerous trades before the Saturday draft to get a few extra picks but can't get any value for guys like Paul Gaustad and Mike Grier, who I've put on the block. His salary is pretty high for a guy I consider a fourth liner and I'd like to put Bartovic in the lineup next season.

ON TAP:

- 2004 NHL Draft Preview
- Buffalo Sabres Inside Report: 2004 Draft
- 2004 NHL Entry Draft

[NoSkillz]

Fri. June 18, 2004:

NHL Entry Draft Preview -

My scouts seem to feel that there are four potential franchise players in this draft class, unanimously giving five star grades to the following youngsters:

- Rostislav Olesz, 18 yrs, C, Czech, 6'2" 202 lbs, Vitkovice (Czech)
- Yevgeni Malkin, 17 yrs, C, Russian, 6'3" 231 lbs, Metallurg M. (Russia)
- Alexander Ovechkin, 18 yrs, LW, Russian, 6'3" 227 lbs, Dynamo (Russia)
- Robbie Schremp, 17 yrs, C, American, 5'11" 198 lbs, London (OHL)

All of these players are out of my reach considering the fact that I get the 21st selection in the draft this year.

Buffalo Sabres Inside Report: 2004 NHL Entry Draft

Here is a look at our picks for the coming draft:

First Round (21st Pick)
Second Round (21st Pick)
Third Round (11th Pick)
Sixth Round (4th Pick and 21st Pick)
Eighth Round (4th Pick and 21st Pick)
Ninth Round (21st Pick)

Pretty thin from a pick standpoint, as I traded a bunch of my picks in order to get Pittsburgh's first rounder in next year's draft. My main focus is finding a potential #1 defenseman in this draft, something that will be incredibly difficult drafting in the 21st position. The top rated defenseman is Medicine Hat's Cam Barker, who is rated as the 10th best prospect by the International Scouting Service. I would certainly like to trade up to get a chance at Barker but I'm not willing to sell the farm for an unproven commodity. Other defensemen scheduled to go in the first round are Andrej Meszaros from Trencin in the Czech Republic (15th rated prospect), Kyle Wharton from Ottawa in the OHL (18th), A.J. Thelen from Michigan State in the NCAA (19th), Emil Axelsson from Djurgarden in Sweden (20th), Mitch Maunu from Windsor in the OHL (22nd) and Wes O'Neill from Notre Dame in the NCAA (25th). My instincts say that Thelen is the guy right now from that group. There is another defenseman rated as a second round pick by the ISS that my scouts love: Mike Green, an offensive defenseman from Saskatoon in the WHL has great speed and leadership ability but is very raw from a skill standpoint.

I also need to find more goaltending as well, as I only have four goaltenders in the entire system right now.

I have great depth at forward right now but won't hesitate selecting a winger or centre that has fantastic potential. I'm a big believer in picking the best talent available, regardless of positional needs, especially in the later rounds. Speaking of later rounds, I plan on taking chances on some older players in the 8th and 9th rounds; guys who can step in and contribute immediately. My scouts like a few European players that I'm keeping tabs on and I'd love to find an experienced goaltender to challenge Martin Biron and Ryan Miller.

[Johnny93g]

if Crosby becomes a sabre, ill throw up......

He got drafted by the Habs in my game, and i think that is perfect.

[NoSkillz]

if Crosby becomes a sabre, ill throw up......

He got drafted by the Habs in my game, and i think that is perfect.

:) Someone REALLY hates the Sabres! :D

Pittsburgh had a pretty nice year in 2003 and would really have to regress for me to have a chance at #1 overall with their pick. Add that to the fact that I won't try to take advantage of the A.I. by trading with the team that DOES get the #1 pick and it means it would be a miracle to get Crosby from either of my two selections.

Finished the draft last night and will have my report online tonight. The draft is a LOT of fun in EHM and I was pleasantly surprised at how things deviated from the I.S.S. rankings.

[NoSkillz]

2004 NHL Entry Draft

1. Florida Panthers: Rostislav Olesz, C, 18 years old, 6’2” 202 lbs, L, Czech (Rated #1 by I.S.S.)
2003/04 Stats: Vitkovice (Cze) 49GP 21g 21a 42pts +2 50pim
Very strong and skilled offensive player; can be a bit selfish on the ice at times and must improve his play away from the puck; potential to be franchise player.

2. Minnesota Wild: Yevgeni Malkin, C, 17 years old, 6’3” 231 lbs, R, Russian (#2 I.S.S.)
2003/04 Stats: Metallurg M. (Rus) 53GP 11g 17a 28pts 0 34pim
Well trained on the technical side of things but needs to improve his skating if he’s to dominate at next level; very skilled and another possible franchise player.

3. Chicago Blackhawks: Robbie Schremp, C, 17 years old, 5’11” 198 lbs, L, American (#4 I.S.S.)
2003/04 Stats: London (OHL) 61GP 25g 44a 69pts +30 70pim
Great leader, responsible defensively and talented offensively; no major weaknesses; captain material and scouts tab him as a potential franchise player.

4. Columbus Blue Jackets: Alexander Ovechkin, LW, 18 years old, 6’3” 227 lbs, R, Russian (#3 I.S.S.)
2003/04 Stats: Dynamo (Rus) 60GP 18g 25a 43pts -4 50pim
Supremely skilled offensive player and not a liability defensively; character is questionable as he feels he’s above his Dynamo teammates; needs to develop more strength; should terrorize NHL goaltenders.

5. Montreal Canadiens: Andrew Ladd, LW/RW, 18 years old, 6’3” 227 lbs, L, Canadian (#8 I.S.S.)
2003/04 Stats: Calgary (WHL) 64GP 35g 45a 80pts +53 91pim
Hard worker with skills; skating needs work; good leader.

6. Atlanta Thrashers: Cam Barker, LD, 18 years old, 6’3” 209 lbs, L, Canadian (#10 I.S.S.)
2003/04 Stats: Medicine Hat (WHL) 66GP 5g 47a 52pts +26 145pim
Very good leader with excellent defensive awareness; won’t be a big scorer in the NHL; still pretty raw; top rated defenseman in draft.

7. San Jose Sharks: Andrej Meszaros, LD, 18 years old, 6’ 189 lbs, L, Slovakian (#15 I.S.S.)
2003/04 Stats: Trencin (Slo) 48GP 5g 21a 26pts +6 58pim
Smallish offensive defenseman; very green; needs to improve skating and get stronger.

8. New York Rangers: Petteri Nokelainen, C, 18 years old, 6’1” 220 lbs, R, Finnish (#32 I.S.S.)
2003/04 Stats: SaiPa (Fin) 55GP 13g 13a 26pts –15 32pim
Leave it to the Rangers to pull off the first surprise in the draft; big, skilled and mature player who conceivably could step in immediately; still room to grow physically.

9. Nashville Predators: Kyle Chipchura, C, 18 years old, 6’3” 198 lbs, L, Canadian (#6 I.S.S.)
2003/04 Stats: Prince Albert (WHL) 72GP 30g 33a 63pts +25 111pim
Solid all-around player with no major strengths or weaknesses.

10. Edmonton Oilers: Wojtek Wolski, LW, 18 years old, 6’4” 220 lbs, L, Canadian (#11 I.S.S.)
2003/04 Stats: Brampton (OHL) 66GP 40g 51a 91pts +29 44pim
Huge winger built in same mold as Taylor Pyatt; a gentle giant; good hands but needs to get meaner.

11. Phoenix Coyotes: Alexandre Picard, LW, 18 years old, 6’3” 191 lbs, L, Canadian (#9 I.S.S.)
2003/04 Stats: Lewiston (QMJHL) 63GP 36g 40a 76pts +16 72pim
Excellent skills and very determined to succeed; tends to be a bit selfish on the ice and lacks great skating ability.

12. New York Islanders: Marek Schwarz, G, 18 years old, 5’9” 183 lbs, L, Czech (#5 I.S.S.)
2003/04 Stats: Plzen (Cze) 33GP 11-13-9 2.21GAA .910 S%
Top rated goalkeeper in the draft; very small but agile; good technical skills; my scouts weren’t enamored with him.

13. Pittsburgh Penguins: Roman Voloshenko, LW, 18 years old, 6’ 205 lbs, R, Russian (#7 I.S.S.)
2003/04 Stats: Krylja Sovetov (Rus-2) 57GP 54g 43a 97pts +26 80pim
Excellent defensive awareness already with good playmaking skills; will not score at the same level in the NHL; needs to play against better players to aid his development.

14. New York Rangers: John Vigilante, LW, 19 years old, 6’ 189 lbs, L, American (#12 I.S.S.)
2003/04 Stats: Plymouth (WHL) 60GP 40g 42a 82pts +49 52pim
Hard working defensive specialist with good shot; a Kris Draper-type that won’t likely put a lot of points on the board in the big leagues.

15. St. Louis Blues: Alexander Radulov, LW, 17 years old, 5’10” 209 lbs, R, Russian (#29 I.S.S.)
2003/04 Stats: Dynamo (Rus) 40GP 10g 14a 24pts -8 24pim
Highly skilled and dynamic player; great shot and shows flair on the ice; played with Ovechkin at Dynamo; I was looking at him strongly.

16. Tampa Bay Lightning: Kyle Wharton, LD, 18 years old, 6’3” 227 lbs, L, Canadian (#18 I.S.S.)
2003/04 Stats: Ottawa (OHL) 67GP 12g 44a 56pts +11 80pim
Hard hitter and solid defenseman; pretty good skills but scored low on mental tests.

17. Ottawa Senators: Emil Axelsson, RD, 18 years old, 6’3” 222 lbs, L, Swedish (#20 I.S.S.)
2003/04 Stats: Orebro (Swe-2) 45GP 7g 14a 21pts +3 24pim
Excellent stay-at-home type with good puck skills; plays with an edge on the ice but is clean; skating needs work.

18. Anaheim Mighty Ducks: Lukas Kaspar, LW, 18 years old, 6’3” 231 lbs, L, Czech (#35 I.S.S.)
2003/04 Stats: Chemopetrol (Cze) 46GP 10g 10a 20pts +2 20pim
Hulking left winger with hard shot but very slow; a project.

19. Montreal Canadiens: Johannes Salmonsson, LW, 18 years old, 6’3” 178 lbs, L, Swedish (#39 I.S.S.)
2003/04 Stats: Djurgarden (Swe) 45GP 7g 13a 20pts -3 20pim
Lanky power forward with lots of room to grow; good leader.

20. Vancouver Canucks: A.J. Thelen, LD/RD, 18 years old, 6’4” 205 lbs, L, American (#19 I.S.S.)
2003/04 Stats: Michigan State (NCAA) 54GP 16g 28a 44pts +28 86pim
Very hard hitter with good skills; skating needs work.

DAMN! :mad: Vancouver just HAS to take the guy I want with the selection before mine. Figures! I focus my attention on getting Mike Green from Saskatoon, a guy I can likely get at the end of the first round, so I make a trade with New Jersey to swap picks and get some other picks in return.

TO NEW JERSEY: Buffalo’s First Round Pick #21
TO BUFFALO: New Jersey’s First Round Pick #30, New Jersey’s Fifth Round Pick #150 & New Jersey’s Seventh Round Pick #210

21. New Jersey Devils: Ryan Garlock, C, 18 years old, 6’1” 213 lbs, L, Canadian (#14 I.S.S.)
2003/04 Stats: Windsor (OHL) 67GP 29g 36a 65pts +8 49pim
Polished power forward with good defensive awareness; fits in well with the Devils and their tactics; played well on a brutal Windsor team.

22. Carolina Panthers: Jakub Sindel, RW, 18 years old, 6’ 194 lbs, R, Czech (#16 I.S.S.)
2003/04 Stats: Sparta (Cze) 45GP 10g 15a 25pts +12 46pim
Well rounded offensive player with good shot; needs work on the defensive side of the game.

23. Edmonton Oilers: Jean-Michel Rizk, RW, 18 years old, 6’1” 200 lbs, R, Canadian (#21 I.S.S.)
2003/04 Stats: Saginaw (QMJHL) 67GP 28g 31a 59pts +10 73pim
Big winger with good technical ability but extremely raw.

24. Calgary Flames: Ryan Callahan, C, 19 years old, 5’10” 194 lbs, R, American (#17 I.S.S.)
2003/04 Stats: Guelph (OHL) 61GP 21g 36a 57pts +1 43pim
Well rounded and pretty complete player with excellent shooting ability.

25. Washington Capitals: Mitch Maunu, LD, 17 years old, 6’2” 222 lbs, L, Canadian (#22 I.S.S.)
2003/04 Stats: Windsor (OHL) 66GP 14g 34a 48pts -34 166pim
Hard hitter with good puck skills; still room for physical growth.

26. New York Islanders: Wes O’Neill, LD/RD, 18 years old, 6’5” 235 lbs, L, Canadian (#25 I.S.S.)
2003/04 Stats: Notre Dame (NCAA) 59GP 6g 30a 36pts +23 91pim
Huge, capable defenseman who dominated at Notre Dame; excellent defensively but a poor skater.

27. Los Angeles Kings: Enver Lisin, C, 18 years old, 6’2” 198 lbs, R, Russian (#42 I.S.S.)
2003/04 Stats: Dynamo (Rus) 49GP 7g 16a 23pts -4 42pim
Another Dynamo player; very determined, with good technical skill but plays small.

28. Washington Capitals: Bryan Bickell, LW, 18 years old, 5’10” 200 lbs, L, Canadian (#24 I.S.S.)
2003/04 Stats: Ottawa (OHL) 68GP 41g 44a 85pts +12 58pim
American-born scorer with good defensive instincts.

29. Colorado Avalanche: Geoff Platt, C, 18 years old, 5’8” 169 lbs, L, Canadian (#13 I.S.S.)
2003/04 Stats: Erie (OHL) 65P 30g 34a 64pts +10 69pim
Tiny but elusive centreman who plays bigger than his size; feisty with skill.

30. Buffalo Sabres: Mike Green, RD, 18 years old, 6’2” 194 lbs, R, Canadian (#46 I.S.S.)
2003/04 Stats: Saskatoon (WHL) 72GP 13g 35a 48pts -12 159pim
Fastest defenseman in the draft and rated the #2 blueliner by my scouting team (behind Barker); great skater with excellent leadership capabilities and work ethic; still “green” technically but good potential offensively.

Other Selections: Buffalo Sabres

Round 2 (#51): Travis Zajac, C, 19 years old, 6’2” 220 lbs, R, Canadian (#28 I.S.S.)
2003/04 Stats: Salmon Arm (BCJHL) 59GP 33g 27a 60pts +36 106pim
High speed; big, hard working and skilled centreman; good character guy with budding skills; wants to play college hockey.

Round 3 (#71): Blake Wheeler, RW/C, 17 years old, 6’5” 183 lbs, R, American (#176 I.S.S.)
2003/04 Stats: Breck (USHW) 61GP 36g 32a 68pts +26 78pim
U.S. high school prospect that my scouts really like; very tall and room to put on a lot of weight; another great skater with good character; will need a lot of time to develop.

Round 5 (#150): Ivo Ruthemann, LW, 27 years old, 5’8” 169 lbs, L, Swiss (N/R)
2003/04 Stats: Bern (Sui) 55GP 28g 41a 69pts +50 37pim
Undrafted winger from Switzerland that my scouts are drooling over; small but immensely skilled and can step in immediately.

Round 6 (#154): Marco Buhrer, G, 24 years old, 5’10” 178 lbs, L, Swiss (N/R)
2003/04 Stats: Bern (Sui) 45GP 32-9-4 2.52GAA .905 S%
Inconsistent but acrobatic Swiss goaltender and teammate of Ruthemann at Bern; another guy I plan to bring over right away to challenge for a position.

Round 6 (#171): Justin Pogge, G, 18 years old, 6’3” 222 lbs, R, Canadian (#180 I.S.S.)
2003/04 Stats: Brandon (WHL) 42GP 26-12-4 2.86GAA .904 S%
Popular and very hard working goaltender; physically gifted but quite raw technically; needs time to develop skills.

Round 7 (#210): Roman Tesliuk, RD, 18 years old, 6’1” 189 lbs, R, Russian (#190 I.S.S.)
2003/04 Stats: Kamloops (WHL) 61GP 12g 31a 43pts +25 158pim
Smooth skating offensive defenseman with mean streak; very inconsistent; plays a similar game to Dmitri Kalinin.

Round 8 (#214): Raymond Sawada, RW/LW, 19 years old, 6’3” 216 lbs, R, Canadian (#185 I.S.S.)
2003/04 Stats: Nanaimo (BCJHL) 58GP 28g 38a 66pts +61 148pim
Big, aggressive winger; physically gifted; doesn’t possess great skills and may never develop.

Round 8 (#231): Patrik Hersley, RD, 17 years old, 6’3” 216 lbs, R, Swedish (#139 I.S.S.)
2003/04 Stats: MIF Jrs (Swe-Jr) 59GP 15g 30a 45pts +17 110pim
Strong as an ox and good in his own zone; hard hitter but below average offensive instincts.

I didn’t see much else available with my last selection in the draft so I decided to pull another trade to pick up a better pick next year.

TO ATLANTA: Buffalo’s Ninth Round Pick in 2004 and Buffalo’s Ninth Round Pick in 2005
TO BUFFALO: Atlanta’s Seventh Round Pick in 2005

Overall, I’m pretty happy with my first draft. I missed out on a couple players I had closely scouted (namely winger Drew Stafford from North Dakota and goaltender Al Montoya from Michigan), both of whom went earlier than expected. Ruthemann and Buhrer were two favourites of my scouting staff but I wouldn’t even KNOW about them if it wasn’t for Karim’s dynasty at FOFC…thanks Karim! (I hope!)

[NoSkillz]

Mon. June 28, 2004:

I decided to take a one week vacation after the draft to refuel in time for the upcoming free agency period. I'd still like to go after an elite goaltender and also get a top drawer defenseman. I may have to enter the trade market if I'm unsuccessful with the free agents.

Buffalo Sabres fans have chosen their Player of the Year: Miroslav Satan picks up the honour.

Tue. June 29, 2004:

It was a big day today, as the board of directors handed down our budget for the coming year, along with their expectations...

First of all, we were profitable last year to the point where well over $6,000,000 in dividends were paid out to the shareholders. Chairman Thomas Golisano has also upped our player budget to $47,000,000 for 2004/05, a huge $10 million increase! Sweet! However, the additional funds bring bigger expectations, as Golisano tells me that he expects the team to be a serious Stanley Cup contender this year. Don't worry Tom; so do I! :)

Wed. June 30, 2004:

The deadline to sign players with expiring contracts has come and gone, leaving a number of big names eligible for free agency starting tomorrow. Here is a partial list of the stars available:

Ed Belfour, Toronto, G, 39 years old (52GP 21-22-9 2.70GAA .899 S%)
Dominik Hasek, Detroit, G, 39 years old (54GP 28-21-4 2.31GAA .912 S%)
Sean Hill, Carolina, D, 34 years old (67GP 4g 32a 36pts)
Richard Matvichuk, Dallas, D, 31 years old (81GP 1g 22a 23pts)
Dan McGillis, Boston, D, 32 years old (70GP 4g 15a 19pts)
Lyle Odelein, Atlanta, D, 35 years old (58GP 3g 20a 23pts)
Mathieu Schneider, Detroit, D, 35 years old (72GP 7g 23a 30pts)
Bret Hedican, Carolina, D, 33 years old (78GP 8g 26a 34pts)
Glen Murray, Boston, LW, 31 years old (70GP 36g 34a 70pts)
Daniel Alfredsson, Ottawa, LW, 31 years old (53GP 19g 18a 37pts)
Jere Lehtinen, Dallas, LW, 31 years old (81GP 26g 26a 52pts)
Mike Modano, Dallas, C, 34 years old (77GP 26g 32a 58pts)
Craig Conroy, Calgary, C, 32 years old (70GP 12g 31a 43pts)
Mario Lemieux, Pittsburgh, C, 38 years old (70GP 17g 22a 39pts)
Keith Primeau, Philadelphia, C, 32 years old (72GP 19g 26a 45pts)
Steve Yzerman, Detroit, C, 39 years old (40GP 5g 11a 16pts)
Michael Nylander, Boston, C, 31 years old (82GP 25g 40a 65pts)
Brett Hull, Detroit, RW, 39 years old (82GP 31g 30a 61pts)
Mark Recchi, Philadelphia, RW, 36 years old (82GP 27g 22a 49pts)
Tony Amonte, Philadelphia, RW, 33 years old (82GP 20g 13a 33pts)
Teemu Selanne, Colorado, RW, 33 years old (82GP 36g 39a 75pts)
Alexei Kovalev, Dallas, RW, 31 years old (75GP 28g 27a 55pts)
Peter Bondra, Ottawa, RW, 36 years old (80GP 27g 32a 59pts)
Zigmund Palffy, Los Angeles, RW, 32 years old (78GP 36g 37a 73pts)

I'm interested in picking up one of those defensemen and definitely interested in bringing a certain Czech goaltender back to Buffalo for his last hurrah.

Sat. July 3, 2004:

I've sent out offers to Hasek, Hill, Hedican and Matvichuk.

In the meantime, goaltender Marco Buhrer has accepted my 4 year, $2,625,000 two-way offer to play in North America. Fellow Swiss star Ivo Ruthemann also accepted a contract that will see him paid $4,050,000 over a four year period.

[NoSkillz]

Mon. July 5, 2004:

After not being able to get anything for Mike Grier a week ago, Boston calls and offers me Andy _elmore (there's no 'D' in Delmore! ;) ), a 2005 Second Round Pick, a 2006 3rd Round Pick and a 2007 Seventh Round Pick for Grier. Wow! I have no need for Delmore but that's a lot of picks. I decide to negotiate the offer without Delmore in there.

Carolina signs the first big free agency deal, with Lyle Odelein going to the Hurricanes for a one year and $2,900,000.

Tue. July 6, 2004:

Three more players arrived in Buffalo today from the Junior ranks, as forwards Michael Tessier and Daniel Paille and defenseman Dennis Wideman all became members of the Sabres organization. I envision all three playing in Rochester this season.

Wed. July 7, 2004:

Dominik Hasek turned down my first contract offer so I throw another deal at him. Restricted free agent Sheldon Souray accepted a new deal with Montreal today for $5,900,000 over four years. I also complete the following deal with Boston:

TO BOSTON: Mike Grier
TO BUFFALO: 2005 Second Round Pick, 2006 Third Round Pick & 2007 Fifth Round Pick

I love that trade! Grier will be missed but I have many other players in the organization that can handle his fourth line role at a lower salary. I would have prefered to ship Grier out of my division but that was an offer I couldn't refuse.

Thu. July 8, 2004:

Doug MacLean has been appointed the General Manager of the Ottawa Senators, leaving Columbus without a G.M. Pretty damn unrealistic there, unfortunately... :(

Fri. July 9, 2004:

A couple more free agents have been signed. I lost out on the Richard Matvichuk sweepstakes, as he gets signed by the New York Rangers for $4,800,000 over two years. The first superstar also gets signed, as Mike Modano leaves the Stars franchise for Calgary, receiving a whopping $13,500,000 over two years! Go Flames!

Sat. July 10, 2004:

Sean Hill becomes the latest to snub the Sabres, accepting a two year, $6,400,000 deal with Detroit. I offer a larger contract to Bret Hedican as a rebuttal. Dominik Hasek rejects another contract offer from me as well. I did resign restricted free agent left winger Andrew Peters to a one year, $275,000 two-way deal.

In other free agency news, the Rangers bring back forward Alexei Kovalev for his third stint with the team, signing him to a three year, $21,000,000 deal.

[NoSkillz]

Mon. July 12, 2004:

The University of Alaska-Anchorage has been busy, signing two of my 2004 draft picks to play for their school this season. Both Travis Zajac, my second round pick and Raymond Sawada, an eighth round selection, will suit up for the Seawolves this season.

Tue. July 13, 2004:

Two of my scouts have just retired, leaving me with only six scouts at the moment. I throw a couple offers out to some available scouts.

Wed. July 14, 2004:

I just CAN'T get a free agent, as Bret Hedican decides to go with the offer from St. Louis, a $4,700,000 two year deal. I don't remember exactly what my offer was but it was certainly close to that. I'm likely going to have to trade one of my talented right wingers to get a top-four defenseman. In other NHL news, Dallas has signed Ziggy Palffy to replace Modano in a $23,750,000 three year deal. On a smaller note, defenseman Todd Simpson signed with Carolina for $5,400,000 over two years...that's a lot of money for Simpson.

My third round selection from 2004, Blake Wheeler signed a letter of intent with the Ohio State Buckeyes today.

Fri. July 16, 2004:

I signed assistant coach Brad Scafe from the Alberni Valley Bulldogs of the BCJHL today; he will be my new goaltender's coach. I'm also attempting to sign a couple of scouts, without luck so far. I've sent a contract offer to unrestricted free agent Dan McGillis in an attempt to add to my defensive corps.

I also have sent various trade offers to Calgary, trying to rid them of their subpar prospect Dion Phaneuf ;) . They won't bite, however, even after offering J.P. Dumont, Maxim Afinogenov and other players along with a First Round Pick in next year's draft.

Tue. July 20, 2004:

Another one bites the dust, as Dan McGillis accepts an offer from Dallas over mine. I now set my sights on Mathieu Schneider. Dominik Hasek also rejected a $6,000,000 deal to play for me.

Thu. July 22, 2004:

I was able to finally sign a couple of scouts today. One of them, Alex McLaren, I stole from Prince Albert from the WHL and had to pay the club compensation.

Sun. July 25, 2004:

Finally! I signed defenseman Mathieu Schneider today to a two year, $5,800,000 deal with a player option. I've never been a big fan of the guy but he should provide some offense from the blue line for us.

Fri. July 30, 2004:

I made a trade today with Dallas, sending them centre Paul Gaustad for a 2005 Fourth Round Pick. Gaustad declined last year and just isn't in my future plans.

Sun. August 1, 2004:

Dominik Hasek rejected a one year, $6,750,000 deal to play with the Sabres. I think I'm done with the guy and will go to camp hoping that one of Biron, Miller or Buhrer take hold of the job.

[NoSkillz]

Mon. August 2, 2004:

Detroit locked up winger Teemu Selanne today in a 2 year, $10,000,000 deal.

Wed. August 4, 2004:

The Prospect Cup will be an annual event for Sabres rookies, newcomers, and younger players and will feature our players in a cup competition versus the champions from the WHL, OHL and QMJHL from the previous year. The participants this year will be the Medicine Hat Tigers, the Guelph Storm and Sidney Crosby's Rimouski Oceanic. The inaugural event takes place the weekend of the 14th, with the Sabres prospects going up against Guelph, while the other side of the draw has Rimouski facing Medicine Hat.

Mon. August 9, 2004:

I've changed the team's training regimine back to 'medium' intensity in preparation for the start of camp. The players were all completely exhausted from the intense July training. I hope the young players regain strength in time for the Prospect Cup on the weekend.

Fri. August 13, 2004:

Here are the players that will partake in the first annual Prospect Cup for the Sabres. Eligible players include rookies, prospects, players under 24 years old and Sabres newcomers.

Goaltenders: Marco Buhrer, 24; Ryan Miller, 24

Defense: Brian Campbell, 25; Ryan Jorde, 22; Nathan Paetsch, 22; Dennis Wideman, 21; Jeff Jillson, 24; Mathieu Schneider, 35

Forwards: Michael Tessier, 20; Daniel Paille, 20; Ivo Ruthemann, 27; Thomas Vanek, 20; Derek Roy, 21; Chris Thorburn, 21; Jiri Novotny, 21; Tim Connolly, 23; Jason Pominville, 21; Milan Bartovic, 23; Sean McMorrow, 22; Andrew Peters, 24

Sat. August 14, 2004:

I've come to terms with Slovakian defenseman Radoslav Hecl on a two year, $1,350,000 two-way deal. He should get here in time to play in tomorrow's Prospect Cup game but won't be there for tonight's game.

PROSPECT CUP: SEMI-FINAL
TEAM 1 2 3 TOT
Guelph 0 0 0 0 (L: J. Peters)
Buffalo 3 6 4 13 (W: M. Buhrer)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
GOALS:
Guelph: None
Buffalo: M. Bartovic (3), D. Paille (2), I. Ruthemann (2), C. Thorburn (2), A. Peters (2), D. Roy, T. Connolly
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
SHOTS: POWERPLAY:
Guelph: 14 Guelph: 0-4
Buffalo: 64 Buffalo: 0-4
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
STARS:
1. D. Paille (BUF) 2g 3a +7
2. I. Ruthemann (BUF) 2g 3a +5
3. A. Peters (BUF) 2g 2a +4

:eek: Umm...that's just not fair. :( Only five players (Buhrer, Vanek, McMorrow, Wideman and Schneider) were held pointless. Medicine Hat prevailed in the other contest in a shootout to advance to the Prospect Cup final.

Sun August 15, 2004:

The only change I make is to put newcomer Hecl in the lineup in place of Brian Campbell. I also switch up the lines and put the lesser players on the top lines to make things fairer.

PROSPECT CUP: FINAL
TEAM 1 2 3 TOT
Medicine Hat 0 1 0 1 (L: G. Festa)
Buffalo 2 0 0 2 (W: M. Buhrer)
--------------------------------------------------------------------
GOALS:
Medicine Hat: R. Day
Buffalo: R. Hecl, M. Tessier
--------------------------------------------------------------------
SHOTS: POWERPLAY:
Medicine Hat: 31 Medicine Hat: 0-6
Buffalo: 30 Buffalo: 0-4
--------------------------------------------------------------------
STARS:
1. R. Hecl (BUF) 1g +1
2. M. Schneider (BUF) 1a
3. M. Buhrer (BUF) 1ga 30 saves

Much closer game, with the Sabres winning the first annual Prospect Cup. Strange game, as my team was COMPLETELY GASSED to the point where many players didn't even hit the ice until the third period! Sean McMorrow was so tired from the previous game that he didn't even play a second! Thomas Vanek got kicked out of the game after a spearing major.

[NoSkillz]

Mon. August 16, 2004:

Wonderful. :mad: Thomas Vanek was suspended for an incredible 14 NHL games after the spearing incident last night! I can't even appeal the decision! What a terrible start to his NHL career. :( I decide to fine him a week's wages for his 'violent behavior' on the ice, which he accepts without comment.

Wed. August 18, 2004:

Philadelphia traded goaltender Sean Burke to Tampa Bay today for the rights to former second round pick Matt Smaby.

Mon. August 23, 2004:

The World Cup of Hockey is scheduled to begin on August 30th and a few Sabres have been selected to represent their country in the event. Here is the breakdown of players invited to play international hockey:

USA: Chris Drury, C
Slovakia: Radoslav Hecl, D
Russia: Maxim Afinogenov, RW; Alexei Zhitnik, D
Germany: Jochen Hecht, LW
Sweden: Henrik Tallinder, D

The only strange omission is Miroslav Satan not getting selected to play for Slovakia but I suspect that a chest injury he picked up in training is the reason for that.

On Tap Next Week:
Training Camp Begins

[NoSkillz]

Mon. August 30, 2004:

2004/05 Buffalo Sabres Training Camp

The 2004/05 Training Camp roster has been finalized. Here is the list of players segregated by position, along with brief notes on each guy, starting with our netminders:

Training Camp Roster: Goaltending

Martin Biron, 27 years old, 6'2", 167 lbs, Shoots Left, Canadian
Drafted First Round (#16) by Buffalo in 1995
2003/04 Stats: Buffalo (NHL) 57GP 27-20-3 2.86GAA 3 SO
NHL Totals: 251GP 102-105-23 2.51GAA 18 SO
Biron didn’t completely earn my trust until the playoffs last season, where he turned in a brilliant performance against Boston in the first round. He was back to his pedestrian ways in the series against Philadelphia. I’m not convinced that he’s the guy to lead the club to the promised land and will be hard-pressed to maintain the #1 slot.

Marco Buhrer, 24 years old, 5'10", 178 lbs, Shoots Left, Swiss
Drafted Sixth Round (#154) by Buffalo in 2004
2003/04 Stats: Bern (Sui) 45GP 32-9-4 2.52GAA 2 SO
NHL Totals: None
Buhrer was brilliant for Bern in the Swiss league last season and will be making his debut in North America this season. He is solid all-around and is capable of stepping in immediately. He will compete for a job in Buffalo this year.

Ryan Miller, 24 years old, 6'2", 165 lbs, Shoots Left, American
Drafted Fifth Round (#138) by Buffalo in 1999
2003/04 Stats: Buffalo (NHL) 21GP 8-6-2 3.77GAA 0 SO
Rochester (AHL) 24GP 10-8-6 2.75GAA 0 SO
NHL Totals: 36GP 14-14-3 3.22GAA 1 SO
Miller gained 15 pounds in an off-season training program. He also seemed to improve quite a bit during the off-season, to the point where he might be better than Biron now. Was very poor last year in a couple stints with the big club and will have to show better consistency if he’s to become a top-level player.

Justin Pogge, 18 years old, 6'3", 222 lbs, Shoots Right, Canadian
Drafted Sixth Round (#171) by Buffalo in 2004
2003/04 Stats: Prince George (WHL) 8GP 4-3-1 2.60GAA 0 SO
Brandon (WHL) 42GP 26-12-4 2.86GAA 5 SO
NHL Totals: None
Pogge is a huge presence in the cage and is very mature both mentally and physically. Good leader and very popular among teammates. Pogge is still unsigned but here on trial to get a feel for top-flight hockey. Will be sent back to junior hockey after his trial period ends.

Jeff Weber, 19 years old, 6'2", 213 lbs, Shoots Left, Canadian
Drafted Eighth Round (#235) by Buffalo in 2003
2003/04 Stats: Barrie (OHL) 1GP 0-1-0 7.00GAA 0 SO
Windsor (OHL) 1GP 0-1-0 9.00GAA 0 SO
Peterborough (OHL) 10GP 7-3-0 4.08GAA 0 SO
NHL Totals: None
Weber had a tough year in 2003, getting traded twice and not getting a shot as a number one keeper throughout the season. He will have to really have a big year to make it into my future plans. Weber, an unsigned prospect, is here on trial and will be sent back to junior hockey after a couple weeks.

Pre-Training Camp Thoughts:
At this point, the goaltender position is completely up for grabs, with no front runners at all. If Biron fails to grab the #1 slot, I will likely try to trade him.

[NoSkillz]

Training Camp Roster: Defensemen

Brian Campbell (LD), 25 years old, 6'0", 189 lbs, Shoots Left, Canadian
Drafted Sixth Round (#156) by Buffalo in 1997
2003/04 Stats: Buffalo (NHL) 62GP 2g 12a 14pts -11 18PIM
NHL Totals: 176GP 8g 36a 44pts -23 55PIM
Campbell just isn't progressing and I spent the entire summer trying to find a better option through free agency. He's just not physical enough to play at this level and hasn't been able to find the offensive game to compensate for it. Unless he has a tremendous camp, he's destined to be our seventh defenseman.

Denis Ezhov (LD/RD), 19 years old, 6'0", 194 lbs, Shoots Left, Russian
Drafted Fourth Round (#114) by Buffalo in 2003
2003/04 Stats: Metallurg Novokuznetsk (Rus) 60GP 7g 12a 19pts -1 32PIM
NHL Totals: None
Ezhov is an unsigned prospect in camp on a trial basis. He has excellent potential as an offensive defenseman and is also extremely capable both physically and defensively. Below average skater. A pretty good prospect who'll likely spend some more time in Russia before getting a real chance in Buffalo.

Mike Green (RD), 18 years old, 6'2", 194 lbs, Shoots Right, Canadian
Drafted First Round (#30) by Buffalo in 2004
2003/04 Stats: Saskatoon (WHL) 72GP 13g 35a 48pts -12 159PIM
NHL Totals: None
Our first round pick this year is in camp as an unsigned player. Green is physically gifted but very raw from a skill standpoint. Tremendous upside offensively, with great leadership ability and pretty tough to boot. Top prospect will spend another season in junior and will hopefully put a ton of points on the board.

Radoslav Hecl (RD/LD), 29 years old, 6'2", 196 lbs, Shoots Left, Slovakian
Drafted Seventh Round (#208) by Buffalo in 2002
2003/04 Stats: Slovan (Svk) 51GP 6g 11a 17pts +3 40PIM
NHL Totals: 14GP 0g 0a 0pts 0 2PIM
Hecl is back in North America after a year back in his native Slovakia. He spent the 2002/03 season between Buffalo and Rochester and played quite solid, if unspectacular hockey in his 14 games with the Sabres. Hecl is a fine skater who's in great shape. He might be able to fight for a position as a depth player with the big club but will likely spend time in Rochester this season.

Jeff Jillson (RD), 24 years old, 6'3", 218 lbs, Shoots Right, American
Drafted First Round (#14) by San Jose in 1999
2003/04 Stats: Buffalo (NHL) 75GP 9g 28a 37pts +1 36PIM
Rochester (AHL) 6GP 2g 2a 4pts 2 4PIM
NHL Totals: 149GP 14g 47a 61pts -4 74PIM
Jillson was called up early last year and played fantastic hockey for the entire regular season. He was a force on offense almost every game and played very well defensively. He had a very poor postseason, however, going -11 in only 13 games. Jillson will be expected to play a larger role this season, playing more in key situations and possibly playing on the penalty killing unit as well. Top-4 defenseman.

Ryan Jorde (RD/RW), 22 years old, 6'1", 209 lbs, Shoots Right, Canadian
Drafted Ninth Round (#279) by Buffalo in 2001
2003/04 Stats: Rochester (AHL) 13GP 1g 1a 2pts -5 2PIM
NHL Totals: None
Jorde didn't get much playing time in Rochester last season and isn't likely to improve enough to get a chance to play in the NHL. His contract ends this year and he won't be back unless he has a tremendous year. Not in my plans at all.

Dmitri Kalinin (LD), 24 years old, 6'3", 213 lbs, Shoots Left, Russian
Drafted First Round (#18) by Buffalo in 1998
2003/04 Stats: Buffalo (NHL) 79GP 6g 27a 33pts -7 88PIM
NHL Totals: 285GP 20g 69a 89pts -22 213PIM
Kalinin spent time in my doghouse last season, playing poor defensively along with being undisciplined at times. He corrected these things about halfway through the season and started earning his status as a former first rounder. He was awesome in the playoffs, going +10 while averaging almost 30 minutes a game. Top 2 defenseman.

Jay McKee (LD), 27 years old, 6'4", 211 lbs, Shoots Left, Canadian
Drafted First Round (#14) by Buffalo in 1995
2003/04 Stats: Buffalo (NHL) 76GP 2g 17a 19pts +3 116PIM
NHL Totals: 540GP 12g 84a 96pts +42 488PIM
McKee returned to his former self last season, playing with renewed confidence both offensively and defensively. Was a physical force on the blueline and had his best offensive season as a professional. Played most of the year with Jeff Jillson and was instrumental in his development. Top 4 defenseman.

Tim O'Connell (RD), 26 years old, 6'3", 209 lbs, Shoots Right, American
Undrafted
2003/04 Stats: Florida (ECHL) 58GP 10g 17a 27pts +7 165PIM
NHL Totals: None
O'Connell is a journeyman defenseman here on a trial. If he impresses, I might offer him a contract to play in Rochester and provide depth but he isn't good enough to play for the Sabres. Strong and aggressive but doesn't possess much skill.

Nathan Paetsch (LD/RD), 22 years old, 6'0", 194 lbs, Shoots Left, Canadian
Drafted Seventh Round (#202) by Buffalo in 2003
2003/04 Stats: Rochester (AHL) 38GP 0g 17a 17pts +14 35PIM
NHL Totals: None
Paetsch had a fine first professional season in 2003, developing his defensive game nicely to the point where he has become an option in Buffalo. Still green offensively and not the greatest skater. Will likely spend most of his time in Rochester again this season.

Mathieu Schneider (RD), 35 years old, 5'10", 191 lbs, Shoots Left, American
Drafted Third Round (#44) by Montreal in 1987
2003/04 Stats: Detroit (NHL) 72GP 7g 23a 30pts -1 12PIM
NHL Totals: 986GP 161g 375a 536pts -17 919PIM
Offensive defenseman in the twilight of a fine career. Will reach the 1000 game plateau this season and can still put points on the board from the blueline. Not a great physical player but can handle himself with bigger opponents. Will likely man the point on the powerplay and provide minutes as a #5 or #6 defenseman.

Henrik Tallinder (RD), 25 years old, 6'3", 209 lbs, Shoots Left, Swedish
Drafted Second Round (#48) by Buffalo in 1997
2003/04 Stats: Buffalo (NHL) 82GP 0g 15a 15pts -8 4PIM
NHL Totals: 130GP 3g 25a 28pts -12 32PIM
Solid defensive defenseman who played all 82 games last season. Makes few mistakes and spends no time in the penalty box either. The Swedish international will play the penalty killing unit in addition to his regular duties. He is also capable of putting up 20+ points this year as well.

Pavel Voroshnin (LD), 20 years old, 6'2", 207 lbs, Shoots Left, Russian
Drafted Sixth Round (#172) by Buffalo in 2003
2003/04 Stats: Owen Sound (OHL) 62GP 8g 18a 26pts -1 105PIM
NHL Totals: None
Voroshnin just signed a deal with Lada Togliatti of the Russian league but is here on a trial basis. Voroshnin has a well-rounded game for a youngster and certainly has developed to the point where he is a viable option in the near future. I'll likely try to sign him next summer and hope he has another good season of development.

Dennis Wideman (RD), 21 years old, 6'0", 218 lbs, Shoots Right, Canadian
Drafted Eighth Round (#241) by Buffalo in 2002
2003/04 Stats: London (OHL) 68GP 12g 39a 51pts +25 70PIM
NHL Totals: None
Interesting player here, as Wideman already has an NHL-caliber skill set. His defense is average but his offensive skills are above average. His skating needs work. I'll likely play him in Rochester and hope he improves his conditioning and skating there. Someone to watch for the future.

Alexei Zhitnik (RD), 31 years old, 5'11", 213 lbs, Shoots Left, Russian
Drafted Fourth Round (#81) by Los Angeles in 1991
2003/04 Stats: Buffalo (NHL) 71GP 3g 19a 22pts -2 70PIM
NHL Totals: 885GP 80g 310a 390pts -39 998PIM
Zhitnik completely surprised me by resigning with the club with unrestricted free agency and big bucks available elsewhere. He curbed his tendency to take bad penalties last year and has been great for fellow Russian Dmitri Kalinin's development. Zhitnik is a tremendously conditioned athlete and is a top-2 defenseman.

Pre-Training Camp Thoughts:
I still would like to have a true #1 defenseman, a game breaker. However, I'm prepared to start the season with what we have. Things are pretty set here, with spots 1 through 6 seemingly locked up. Campbell and Hecl will try to force their way in to my plans but it looks as if Kalinin, Zhitnik, Jillson, McKee, Schneider and Tallinder will get the majority of the playing time.

[NoSkillz]

Training Camp Roster: Forwards

Maxim Afinogenov (RW/LW), 25 years old, 6'0" 189 lbs, Shoots Left, Russian
Drafted Third Round (#69) by Buffalo in 1997
2003/04 Stats: Buffalo (NHL) 56GP 27g 23a 50pts +2 32PIM
NHL Totals: 315GP 83g 88a 171pts -22 203PIM
Afinogenov had a breakthrough year last season, compiling 27 goals in only 56 games. Missed two months with a separated shoulder. One of the fastest players in the NHL, Afinogenov will have to fight for a spot this year with three other fine right wingers in Satan, Dumont and Kotalik.

Milan Bartovic (RW/LW), 23 years old, 5'11" 191 lbs, Shoots Left, Slovakian
Drafted Second Round (#35) by Buffalo in 1999
2003/04 Stats: Buffalo (NHL) 31GP 5g 7a 12pts +0 8PIM
Rochester (AHL) 35GP 18g 6a 24pts +5 36PIM
NHL Totals: 34GP 6g 7a 13pts +0 8PIM
Bartovic looks ready to make the permanent transition to the NHL after his solid stint in Buffalo last year. Fiesty player is ideally suited for a fourth line position and will have every chance in the world to earn a spot this season after the Grier trade.

Jason Botterill (LW/RW), 28 years old, 6'4" 218 lbs, Shoots Left, Canadian
Drafted First Round (#20) by Dallas in 1994
2003/04 Stats: Buffalo (NHL) 19GP 1g 3a 4pts -1 23PIM
Rochester (AHL) 33GP 10g 7a 17pts +2 80PIM
NHL Totals: 88GP 4g 11a 15pts -17 98PIM
Botterill started the season in Buffalo but couldn't hold onto his spot, as Eric Boulton played too well in his place. Botterill is in camp on a trial and will spend the year in Rochester.

Eric Boulton (LW), 28 years old, 6'0" 220 lbs, Shoots Left, Canadian
Drafted Ninth Round (#234) by New York Rangers in 1994
2003/04 Stats: Buffalo (NHL) 63GP 11g 11a 22pts -4 193PIM
Rochester (AHL) 1GP 0g 0a 0pts +0 14PIM
NHL Totals: 191GP 15g 21a 36pts -5 594PIM
Boulton started the year as a depth player and usual scratch but I couldn't take him out of the lineup by year's end. Easily had his best offensive season, scoring some big goals along the way. Hearing footsteps from Andrew Peters but Boulton's big year should guarantee his fourth line wingers spot in 2004.

Daniel Briere (C/LW), 26 years old, 5'10" 176 lbs, Shoots Right, Canadian
Drafted First Round (#24) by Phoenix in 1996
2003/04 Stats: Buffalo (NHL) 59GP 14g 29a 43pts +12 44PIM
NHL Totals: 331GP 91g 110a 201pts -6 202PIM
Briere missed 23 games with a shoulder injury and went through some dry spells offensively last season. Played well defensively and is destined to have a breakout season. Likely will man our top line this year.

Tim Connolly (C), 23 years old, 6'1" 180 lbs, Shoots Right, American
Drafted First Round (#5) by New York Islanders in 1999
2003/04 Stats: Buffalo (NHL) 52GP 7g 28a 35pts +7 22PIM
NHL Totals: 377GP 53g 127a 180pts -56 174PIM
After missing the first three months of the season with a concussion, Connolly returned to the lineup and got better as the season went on. Teaming up with Taylor Pyatt and Ales Kotalik, Connolly put together an excellent second half to regain his status as a top prospect. He will team up again with those two players as I hope they can continue to develop their chemistry together.

Chris Drury (C/LW), 28 years old, 5'10" 178 lbs, Shoots Right, American
Drafted Third Round (#72) by Quebec in 1994
2003/04 Stats: Buffalo (NHL) 81GP 18g 34a 52pts -20 34PIM
NHL Totals: 475GP 126g 201a 327pts -5 256PIM
In my eyes, Drury was a colossal disappointment in Buffalo last season. His defensive play was awful, as indicated by his -20 rating and his offense was very inconsistent. He played with Miroslav Satan all year and really couldn't get on track. I will likely try him with new linemates this season. He may be a trade candidate if he doesn't shape up quickly.

J.P. Dumont (RW/LW), 26 years old, 6'1" 202 lbs, Shoots Left, Canadian
Drafted First Round (#3) by New York Islanders in 1996
2003/04 Stats: Buffalo (NHL) 58GP 20g 23a 43pts -7 16PIM
NHL Totals: 361GP 99g 107a 206pts -29 184PIM
Dumont is another player who battled a shoulder injury last season but scored often when in the lineup. A powerplay demon, Dumont put up 24 of his 43 points with the man advantage. Was pretty invisible at even strength. Seems to have improved his skills over the summer training period. Will likely play with Briere and Hecht again.

Jochen Hecht (LW), 27 years old, 6'1" 198 lbs, Shoots Left, German
Drafted Second Round (#49) by St. Louis in 1995
2003/04 Stats: Buffalo (NHL) 61GP 19g 22a 41pts +4 12PIM
NHL Totals: 330GP 77g 108a 185pts +41 178PIM
Hecht once again was prone to injuries last season, missing five weeks with an ACL tear. When in the lineup, he provides excellent defensive play in addition to underrated offensive ability. Will play plenty of minutes again this year and I hope to have him stay healthy the whole way.

Ales Kotalik (RW), 25 years old, 6'1" 216 lbs, Shoots Right, Czech
Drafted Sixth Round (#164) by Buffalo in 1998
2003/04 Stats: Buffalo (NHL) 82GP 28g 38a 66pts -4 26PIM
NHL Totals: 163GP 50g 55a 105pts -7 58PIM
After a slow start, Kotalik played tremendous hockey for the duration of the season and blossomed on a line with Pyatt and Connolly. Sound defensive instincts make him a pretty complete player and his lightning fast release on wristshots makes him a dangerous scorer as well.

Artem Kryukov (C/LW), 22 years old, 6'2" 178 lbs, Shoots Left, Russian
Drafted First Round (#15) by Buffalo in 2000
2003/04 Stats: Lokomotiv (Rus) 52GP 3g 6a 9pts +2 22PIM
NHL Totals: None
Kryukov is looking like another first round bust. He is in camp on a trial but will likely get sent back to Russia, where he's signed a new deal with Metallurg in Russia, Yevgeni Malkin's club. Pretty solid checker but very limited offensively and not very strong.

Clarke MacArthur (C), 19 years old, 6'0" 183 lbs, Shoots Left, Canadian
Drafted Third Round (#74) by Buffalo in 2003
2003/04 Stats: Medicine Hat (WHL) 67GP 29g 53a 82pts +34 90PIM
NHL Totals: None
MacArthur had a huge year in Medicine Hat last year and is here on trial to get a taste of life in the NHL. Very smart player who hopefully will tear up the Western Hockey League this year and play professionally next year.

Adam Mair (C/LW), 25 years old, 6'2" 213 lbs, Shoots Right, Canadian
Drafted Third Round (#84) by Toronto in 1997
2003/04 Stats: Buffalo (NHL) 76GP 7g 11a 18pts -6 62PIM
NHL Totals: 207GP 15g 25a 40pts -10 291PIM
Great team player was excellent in his fourth line role last season and was superb on the penalty kill as well. Provides big hits and good leadership and is an excellent skater.

Louis-Philippe Martin (LW/RW), 19 years old, 6'0" 202 lbs, Shoots Left, Canadian
Drafted Ninth Round (#266) by Buffalo in 2003
2003/04 Stats: Drummondville (QMJHL) 70GP 37g 37a 74pts +27 95PIM
NHL Totals: None
Another junior player who exploded last year, ninth round pick Martin shot up my depth chart with his fine season. Good skater with great playmaking and scoring ability. Here on trial to see what life's like in the big leagues but will spend the season in junior again.

Sean McMorrow (RW/LW), 22 years old, 6'3" 220 lbs, Shoots Right, Canadian
Drafted Eighth Round (#258) by Buffalo in 2000
2003/04 Stats: Rochester (AHL) 15GP 2g 3a 5pts +1 18PIM
NHL Totals: 1GP 0g 0a 0pts +0 0PIM
Was a victim of the numbers game in Rochester last season and likely won't earn much more time this season as well. Nowhere near good enough to play in the NHL and is trade bait.

Jiri Novotny (C/RW), 21 years old, 6'1" 209 lbs, Shoots Right, Czech
Drafted First Round (#22) by Buffalo in 2001
2003/04 Stats: Rochester (AHL) 48GP 5g 7a 12pts -3 25PIM
NHL Totals: None
Novotny can now be safely classified as a bust. The franchise had high hopes for this guy but he just hasn't been able to develop his offensive game in the minors. Another guy I'll be looking to trade.

Dan Paille (LW), 20 years old, 6'0" 224 lbs, Shoots Left, Canadian
Drafted First Round (#20) by Buffalo in 2002
2003/04 Stats: Guelph (OHL) 14GP 3g 8a 11pts +6 10PIM
Sault Ste. Marie (OHL) 46GP 24g 39a 63pts +7 33PIM
NHL Totals: None
Paille has been developing nicely in the OHL and is ready for his first professional season. I'm not sure if he'll ever be a top line winger but he certainly seems destined to make an impact as a solid two-way player. I plan on letting him develop his skills further in Rochester this season.

Andrew Peters (LW/RW), 24 years old, 6'3" 194 lbs, Shoots Left, Canadian
Drafted Second Round (#34) by Buffalo in 1998
2003/04 Stats: Rochester (AHL) 52GP 9g 6a 15pts +6 117PIM
NHL Totals: None
Peters is actually progressing as a player, having improved his skill set from a year ago. He's not a great defensive player, however, and will likely spend most of his time in Rochester again this season.

Jason Pominville (RW/C), 21 years old, 5'10" 198 lbs, Shoots Right, Canadian
Drafted Second Round (#55) by Buffalo in 2001
2003/04 Stats: Buffalo (NHL) 39GP 6g 12a 18pts -18 8PIM
Rochester (AHL) 28GP 13g 9a 22pts +15 8PIM
NHL Totals: 39GP 6g 12a 18pts -18 8PIM
Pominville was pretty good last year, playing much of the season in Buffalo and not looking out of place. His -18 is a concern, as his positioning needs work but he's a hard worker and should improve. He'll certainly be my first option should a player get injured but Jason will start the season in Rochester.

Taylor Pyatt (LW), 23 years old, 6'4" 218 lbs, Shoots Left, Canadian
Drafted First Round (#8) by New York Islanders in 1999
2003/04 Stats: Buffalo (NHL) 76GP 32g 33a 65pts +1 16PIM
NHL Totals: 280GP 60g 71a 131pts -20 128PIM
What a season Pyatt had last year. Quite the breakout! Just was unstoppable in the second half of the season. I look for big things from Pyatt this year playing with Connolly and Kotalik again in addition to more powerplay time.

Derek Roy (C), 21 years old, 5'9" 202 lbs, Shoots Left, Canadian
Drafted Second Round (#32) by Buffalo in 2001
2003/04 Stats: Buffalo (NHL) 38GP 4g 8a 12pts -5 35PIM
Rochester (AHL) 29GP 7g 14a 21pts +5 18PIM
NHL Totals: 38GP 4g 8a 12pts -5 35PIM
Roy started the season off beautifully but went into a horrendous slump in midseason and was demoted to Rochester for the rest of the year. He never regained his confidence on the farm and is determined to have a great season. Packed on 15 pounds of muscle over the offseason but will likely start the year in Rochester. Still a top prospect.

Ivo Ruthemann (LW), 27 years old, 5'8" 169 lbs, Shoots Left, Swiss
Drafted Fifth Round (#150) by Buffalo in 2004
2003/04 Stats: Bern (Sui) 55GP 28g 41a 69pts +50 37PIM
NHL Totals: None
Ruthemann is a highly talented but very tiny winger who will battle for a spot in Buffalo's lineup this season. Tremendous skater will great wristshot but is suspect defensively. I expect him to play in Buffalo this year but a good camp is a must.

Miroslav Satan (RW/LW), 29 years old, 6'3" 189 lbs, Shoots Left, Slovakian
Drafted Fifth Round (#111) by Edmonton in 1993
2003/04 Stats: Buffalo (NHL) 82GP 35g 32a 67pts -19 16PIM
NHL Totals: 704GP 265g 264a 529pts +36 263PIM
Satan was our most explosive scorer last year and won the fans Player of the Year award. Is coming off an injury in training and doesn't look at his best from a skill standpoint. I will have to watch him closely.

Chris Taylor (C/RW), 32 years old, 5'11" 187 lbs, Shoots Left, Canadian
Drafted Second Round (#27) by New York Islanders in 1990
2003/04 Stats: Buffalo (NHL) 21GP 6g 3a 9pts -1 12PIM
Rochester (AHL) 34GP 3g 13a 16pts +12 21PIM
NHL Totals: 116GP 11g 18a 29pts -4 38PIM
Taylor did all that was asked of him last year and was solid when called up to the big club. Very good defensive player who can contribute with timely offense as well. Will provide cover in Rochester again this year.

Michael Tessier (LW), 20 years old, 6'2" 224 lbs, Shoots Right, Canadian
Drafted Third Round (#76) by Buffalo in 2002
2003/04 Stats: Rimouski (QMJHL) 52GP 25g 29a 54pts +10 42PIM
NHL Totals: None
Tessier will get a chance to develop his skills in Rochester for his first professional season. He's a big, strong winger who is still pretty raw from a skill standpoint.

Chris Thorburn (C/LW), 22 years old, 6'3" 209 lbs, Shoots Right, Canadian
Drafted Second Round (#50) by Buffalo in 2001
2003/04 Stats: Rochester (AHL) 57GP 14g 27a 41pts +19 50PIM
NHL Totals: None
Thorburn likely did more to improve his stature in the organization last year than anyone with his team leading performance in Rochester. Slowed considerably late in the year but has turned into a bonafide prospect. Could be a replacement for Adam Mair should he ever get injured.

Thomas Vanek (LW/RW), 20 years old, 6'2" 227 lbs, Shoots Right, Austrian
Drafted First Round (#5) by Buffalo in 2003
2003/04 Stats: Minnesota (NCAA) 54GP 42g 30a 72pts +29 92PIM
NHL Totals: None
Vanek is the top prospect in the organization. Big, tough and immensely skilled. Must improve his work ethic and skating. Vanek is suspended for 14 games so his professional career won't likely start until late in October. I plan on having him play in Rochester this year to help him further develop his skills.

Pre-Training Camp Thoughts:
My depth at right wing (Satan, Dumont, Afinogenov, Kotalik, Pominville) provides me with a problem, albeit a pleasant one. Someone may have to be traded. I also have plenty of depth now at the other two positions, with youngsters like Derek Roy and Thomas Vanek knocking at the door. I'm likely going to try to play Drury with newcomer Ruthemann to see if they have any chemistry together.

[NoSkillz]

Tue. August 31, 2004:

Sabres forward Jochen Hecht scored two goals and was named first star in Germany's 3-1 upset victory over Sweden in the World Cup.

Sun. September 5, 2004:

Canada and the Czech Republic both go 3-0 in the preliminary stage of the World Cup and will head into the playoffs as the top seeds.

On Tap Next Week:
Monday September 6, 2004: AT FLORIDA PANTHERS (Exhibition)
Friday September 10, 2004: AT NEW YORK RANGERS (Exhibition)
Sunday September 12, 2004: vs. Dallas Stars (Exhibition)

[NoSkillz]

Mon September 6, 2004:

I've put two guys destined for Rochester on the trading block: forwards Sean McMorrow and Jiri Novotny. Vancouver shows interest in McMorrow so I throw a trade offer at them.

Mathieu Schneider strained his hip flexor and is out for about two weeks. Shouldn't be too big a deal in training camp.

Finland upset the top ranked Czech Republic 5-4 in the World Cup Quarterfinals behind Carolina Hurricanes forward Jarkko Ruutu's pair of goals.

Our exhibition season begins in Florida tonight against the Panthers. I'm going to continue to use the tactics I employed in the playoffs, namely a 'Normal' offensive system as opposed to 'Aggressive'. Hopefully that will help keep the goals allowed to a minimum. I have over 40 players in camp and will rotate them in on a game-by-game basis.

EXHIBITION
TEAM 1 2 3 TOT
Buffalo 1 2 2 5 (W: M. Biron)
Florida 2 0 1 3 (L: S. Wallinheimo)
-----------------------------------------------------------------
GOALS:
Buffalo: D. Roy, D. Paille, D. Wideman, I. Ruthemann, M. Bartovic
Florida: D. Audette (2), D. Brashear
-----------------------------------------------------------------
SHOTS: POWERPLAY:
Buffalo: 32 Buffalo: 0-5
Florida: 31 Florida: 0-4
-----------------------------------------------------------------
STARS:
1. D. Audette (FLO) 2g +2
2. D. Roy (BUF) 1g 2a +2
3. R. Olesz (FLO) 2a +1

Florida outshot us 15 to 4 in the first period but we came back with a great second period to take control. The line of Paille/Roy/Pominville was superb.

Tue. September 7, 2004:

Canada destroyed Russia 10-6 in quarterfinal action of the World Cup while Sweden came back from a 3-0 deficit to upend the fiesty Germans 4-3.

Wed. September 8, 2004:

Slovakia continues to play great hockey in the World Cup, upsetting the Americans 3-1. Sabres defenseman Radoslav Hecl had an assist and was +2 in the big win.

Fri. September 10, 2004:

Recent draft pick Justin Pogge puts on a Sabres uniform for the first time tonight in Madison Square Garden.

EXHIBITION
TEAM 1 2 3 TOT
Buffalo 0 1 1 2 (L: J. Pogge)
N.Y. Rangers 1 1 2 4 (W: J. Peters)
---------------------------------------------------
GOALS:
Buffalo: C. MacArthur, D. Roy
N.Y. Rangers: A. Kovalev (2), G. Murray, B. Betts
---------------------------------------------------
SHOTS: POWERPLAY:
Buffalo: 20 Buffalo: 0-2
N.Y. Rangers: 34 N.Y. Rangers: 1-6
---------------------------------------------------
STARS:
1. A. Kovalev (NYR) 2g 1a +2
2. E. Lindros (NYR) 3a +1
3. D. Kasparaitis 1a +2

Funny that Lindros is playing, considering the fact that he's still in the World Cup! Pogge acquitted himself well in his debut but the Rangers were too good on this night. I was pleased with the play of Clarke MacArthur as well.

Sun. September 12, 2004:

The finals are set for the 2004 World Cup of Hockey, as Canada will take on Finland. The Canadians absolutely obliterated Slovakia 9-1 on the strength of New Jersey Devil forward Jeff Friesen's 2 goals and 1 assist performance. Meanwhile, Finland scored twice in the last three minutes of the game to defeat Sweden 4-2. Florida's Olli Jokinen starred, scoring twice and assisting on another in the win. The final is set for Thursday in Calgary at the Saddledome.

Marco Buhrer gets the start in net at home versus Dallas.

EXHIBITION
TEAM 1 2 3 TOT
Dallas 1 1 0 2 (T: J. Hallikainen)
Buffalo 0 1 1 2 (T: M. Buhrer)
--------------------------------------------------------
GOALS:
Dallas: M. Holtet, J. Lundqvist
Buffalo: T. Pyatt, D. Briere
--------------------------------------------------------
SHOTS: POWERPLAY:
Dallas: 25 Dallas: 0-3
Buffalo: 29 Buffalo: 0-1
--------------------------------------------------------
STARS:
1. D. Briere (BUF) 1g +1
2. J. Lundqvist (DAL) 1g
3. M. Holtet (DAL) 1g

I went to an aggressive offensive system in the third period where Briere was able to tie the game on a nice tip in from a Pavel Voroshnin slapshot.

After the game, I sent goaltender Justin Pogge and forwards Clarke MacArthur and Louis-Philippe Martin back to their junior clubs for the rest of the season. I also decided to send winger Thomas Vanek down to Rochester for the remainder of training camp. Vanek will have to start his career on the sidelines for 14 games so I'd like him to see some action in the professional ranks before he has to sit in the press box for a month when the NHL season begins.

On Tap Next Week:

Thu. September 16, 2004: Canada vs. Finland (World Cup Final)
Sun. September 19, 2004: AT MINNESOTA WILD (Exhibition)

[General Mike]

Keep up the good work NoSkillz

[NoSkillz]

Thanks General Mike!
--------------------------------------------------------------------------

Thu September 16, 2004:

Canada defeated Finland 4-0 to take the 2004 World Cup of Hockey. New York Rangers forward Eric Lindros scored two goals in the victory and lead the tournament with 8 goals and 11 points.

In Sabres news, the trial period ended for defensemen Mike Green and Pavel Voroshnin. Green was sent back to his junior club while Voroshnin, who played very well in his trial, ventures back to Russia. Meanwhile, Mathieu Schneider has returned to practice but won't resume hitting drills for about 10 days.

Sun. September 19, 2004:

EXHIBITION
TEAM 1 2 3 TOT
Buffalo 2 1 0 3 (L: R. Miller)
Minnesota 2 1 2 5 (W: M. Fernandez)
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
GOALS:
Buffalo: D. Roy, C. Drury, E. Boulton
Minnesota: P. DiPietro, M. Chouinard, B. Muckalt, D. Lambert, K. Wanvig
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SHOTS: POWERPLAY:
Buffalo: 26 Buffalo: 0-0
Minnesota: 33 Minnesota: 0-3
-----------------------------------------------------------------
STARS:
1. D. Lambert (MIN) 1g 1a +2
2. K. Wanvig (MIN) 1g 1a +2
3. P. DiPietro (MIN) 1g +1

Pretty lousy effort in this game. Ryan Miller was horrible in net tonight; I was hoping that he would be the guy taking the reins this year in goal. Derek Roy, on the other hand, continues to make it difficult for me to contemplate sending him down to Rochester. After the game, I send Sean McMorrow and Michael Tessier to the farm.

Speaking of Rochester, I scheduled an exhibition game with them in midseason, which may not be the best move but I thought it was cool nonetheless. It will give me a chance to see the farm team in action up close and scout some of my prospects. I only hope no one gets injured in the game!

On Tap Next Week:
Tue. September 21, 2004: AT PHOENIX COYOTES (Exhibition)
Fri. September 24, 2004: AT PITTSBURGH PENGUINS (Exhibition)

[NoSkillz]

Tue September 21, 2004:

The Carolina Hurricanes traded the rights to forward Eric Hunter to Atlanta for goaltender Pasi Nurminen today.

Junior aged goalie Jeff Weber gets a shot in net tonight for the first time in our exhibition matchup against Phoenix.

EXHIBITION
TEAM 1 2 3 TOT
Buffalo 0 4 1 5 (L: J. Weber)
Phoenix 1 1 5 7 (W: T. Conklin)
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
GOALS:
Buffalo: J. Pominville, M. Satan, A. Kotalik, T. Pyatt, J. Hecht
Phoenix: G. Bezina, K. Kolanos, S. Doan, K. Jonsson, J. Toms, L. Nagy, S. Peat (EN)
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
SHOTS: POWERPLAY:
Buffalo: 25 Buffalo: 1-4
Phoenix: 46 Phoenix: 1-4
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
STARS:
1. D. Morris (PHO) 3a +2
2. L. Nagy (PHO) 1g 1a +2
3. K. Kolanos (PHO) 1g 1a +1

Utter domination by Phoenix here, as junior goaltender Jeff Weber stood on his head for the first two periods but got tired in the third. Good performance for the youngster, even if it looks ugly on the stat sheet.

Wed. September 22, 2004:

The roster freeze begins in a week and I'm going mad trying to make some trades before the upcoming waiver draft. I notice that I'll have 8 solid draft-eligible defensemen available and I can only protect 6. I'm desperately trying to make a trade to get rid of Brian Campbell but can't get any value in return. I've even tried some blockbusters, offering Martin Biron, Campbell, Henrik Tallinder and Maxim Afinogenov to Calgary for either Robyn Regehr or Dion Phaneuf without success. I even included Chris Drury but still no bite. In other news, goaltender Jeff Weber's trial with the club ended and he was sent back to junior today.

Fri. September 24, 2004:

Martin Biron gets his second preseason start tonight in net versus Pittsburgh. Our lineup is getting closer to what it will look like on opening night but I still have about five or six guys who'll likely suit up in Rochester still with the club.

EXHIBITION
TEAM 1 2 3 TOT
Buffalo 1 1 3 5 (W: M. Biron)
Pittsburgh 0 2 1 3 (L: S. Caron)
---------------------------------------------------------
GOALS:
Buffalo: M. Satan (2), J. Hecht, D. Kalinin, I. Ruthemann
Pittsburgh: K. Koltsov (2), T. Surovy
---------------------------------------------------------
SHOTS: POWERPLAY:
Buffalo: 33 Buffalo: 0-1
Pittsburgh: 33 Pittsburgh: 2-6
---------------------------------------------------------
STARS:
1. J. Hecht (BUF) 1g 2a +3
2. D. Kalinin (BUF) 1g 2a +4
3. M. Satan (BUF) 2g +1

Much better effort in this one, as the Hecht-Briere-Satan line played great hockey. I experimented with Derek Roy centring Ivo Ruthemann and J.P. Dumont as well; if Roy is up to the task, I could possibly trade the ineffective Chris Drury. So far, the odd man out this preseason seems to be Maxim Afinogenov, who I'm having a difficult time getting into the lineup.

Sat. September 25, 2004:

I decided to go to my coaching staff today to get their opinion on our goaltender situation. The coaches certainly weren't blown away by any of our guys, unanimously saying both Ryan Miller and Martin Biron were "useful players". I was surprised by the negative reaction to Marco Buhrer, however, as Lindy Ruff feels he's "overrated" while goaltender coach Brad Scafe feels he'll have trouble holding onto a position in Buffalo. In my opinion, Buhrer has been the best goalie in camp.

Sun. September 26, 2004:

The trial period has ended for defensemen Tim O'Connell and Denis Ezhov and also for forward Artem Kryukov. O'Connell goes back to Johnstown in the ECHL while Ezhov, who showed great polish in camp, goes back to Russia. Ezhov has come a long way in the past year and I'll follow his season with great interest. Kryukov also goes back to Russia.

On Tap Next Week:
Tue. September 21, 2004: AT PHOENIX COYOTES (Exhibition)
Fri. September 24, 2004: AT PITTSBURGH PENGUINS (Exhibition)

[NoSkillz]

Tue. September 25, 2004:

Marco Buhrer gets thrown in the fire in an exhibition matchup versus the Leafs. We'll see what the kid is made of tonight! I also sent forward Jason Pominville down to Rochester before the game, a victim of the numbers game here with so many good right wingers.

EXHIBITION
TEAM 1 2 3 TOT
Toronto 1 2 1 4 (L: S. Clemmensen)
Buffalo 0 2 3 5 (W: M. Buhrer)
------------------------------------------------------------
GOALS:
Toronto: H. Druken, A. Mogilny, N. Antropov, M. Sundin
Buffalo: C. Drury (2), I. Ruthemann, M. Satan, M. Afinogenov
------------------------------------------------------------
SHOTS: POWERPLAY:
Toronto: 32 Toronto: 0-5
Buffalo: 29 Buffalo: 1-3
------------------------------------------------------------
STARS:
1. C. Drury (BUF) 2g 1a +1
2. I. Ruthemann (BUF) 1g 2a +1
3. M. Satan (BUF) 1g

Toronto stormed out to a 3-0 lead in this game but we continued to chip away and were able to persevere. However, some awful news came in the second period when centre Tim Connolly separated his shoulder and is out for two months. The chemistry he had with linemates Taylor Pyatt and Ales Kotalik will be tested now. Thankfully, I have Derek Roy ready to step in; he's had an excellent camp this year. Also promising is the developing chemistry between newcomer Ivo Ruthemann and centre Chris Drury. Ruthemann has been absolutely spectacular in the exhibition season. After the game, I sent defenseman Dennis Wideman down to Rochester.

Wed. September 29, 2004:

I had to submit my protected list for the upcoming waiver draft today. I was mistaken earlier when I said I could only protect six defensemen: I'm able to protect 18 SKATERS, regardless of position. Here is my protected list of 19 players:

G: Martin Biron
D: Jay McKee, Brian Campbell, Dmitri Kalinin, Jeff Jillson, Alexei Zhitnik, Mathieu Schneider, Henrik Tallinder
F: Daniel Briere, Chris Drury, Tim Connolly, Adam Mair, Jochen Hecht, Taylor Pyatt, Eric Boulton, Miroslav Satan, J.P. Dumont, Ales Kotalik, Maxim Afinogenov

That means the players I've left unprotected are Chris Taylor, Andrew Peters and Radoslav Hecl. I hope I don't lose Hecl, as I see him playing a role as a depth player in Buffalo this year.

Fri. October 1, 2004:

The I.S.S. Preliminary Rankings for the 2005 NHL Draft were released today. No drama here, as Sydney Crosby is the top ranked prospect, followed by Erie Otters winger Michael Blunden and Finnish winger Mika Halava.

The Waiver Draft was also held today. The pickings were unbelievably slim: I didn't pick anyone up nor did I lose anyone. Here are the details:

G Jamie Storr, Toronto Maple Leafs (FROM CAROLINA)
G Brent Johnson, Nashville Predators (FROM PHOENIX)
D Stan Neckar, Chicago Blackhawks (FROM TAMPA BAY)
D Steve Montador, Boston Bruins (FROM CALGARY)
D Bryan Helmer, Boston Bruins (FROM PHOENIX)
F Harold Druken, Dallas Stars (FROM TORONTO)
F Marty Murray, St. Louis Blues (FROM CAROLINA)

The only guy that's a surprise is Storr, who was sensational last year for the Hurricanes. However, their recent pickup Pasi Nurminen meant Storr was expendable. The Leafs are now without Ed Belfour, so their goalie situation sees Storr joining Scott Clemmensen as the two Toronto puck-stoppers.

On to tonight's game. Ryan Miller gets one more chance to keep a spot in Buffalo. Derek Roy centres Pyatt and Kotalik tonight.

EXHIBITION
TEAM 1 2 3 TOT
Anaheim 0 3 4 7 (W: J.S. Giguere)
Buffalo 0 2 1 3 (L: R. Miller)
------------------------------------------------------
GOALS:
Anaheim: P. Sykora (4), S. Rucchin (2), R. Getzlaf
Buffalo: I. Ruthemann (2), D. Briere
------------------------------------------------------
SHOTS: POWERPLAY:
Anaheim: 29 Anaheim: 2-4
Buffalo: 24 Buffalo: 0-2
------------------------------------------------------
STARS:
1. P. Sykora (ANA) 4g +2
2. I. Ruthemann (BUF) 2g
3. R. Getzlaf (ANA) 1g 1a +1

Well, see ya in Rochester Mr. Miller! What an ugly display! I pulled Miller after the sixth Anaheim goal, which happened to be Petr Sykora's fourth in the game. He received an incredible "3" rating for his 'performance', one that earned him a fine for a week's wages. He wasn't pleased but I don't give a sh@t! :) One more exhibition game left to pull our socks up. After the game, I sent down Andrew Peters, Chris Taylor and Radoslav Hecl to Rochester with Miller, leaving 22 players on the active roster. I hope to bring Thomas Vanek up to sit in the press box during our regular season games and then send him back to Rochester to get him playing time in between the suspension. He's got 5 points in 5 games thus far in the AHL.

On Tap Next Week:
Mon. October 4, 2004: AT VANCOUVER CANUCKS (Exhibition Game)
Sat. October 9, 2004: AT PHILADELPHIA FLYERS (Regular Season Debut)

[NoSkillz]

Mon. October 4, 2004:

Our last exhibition game is against Vancouver and projected starting keeper Martin Biron gets the start.

EXHIBITION
TEAM 1 2 3 TOT
Buffalo 1 2 0 3 (L: M. Biron)
Vancouver 5 2 2 9 (W: D. Cloutier)
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
GOALS:
Buffalo: M. Satan, J.P. Dumont, I. Ruthemann
Vancouver: T. Bertuzzi (3), A. Chubarov, M. Naslund, H. Sedin, M. Cooke, E. Jovanovski, D. Sedin
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
SHOTS: POWERPLAY:
Buffalo: 26 Buffalo: 0-3
Vancouver: 46 Vancouver: 2-5
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
STARS:
1. T. Bertuzzi (VAN) 3g 1a +2
2. M. Naslund (VAN) 1g 4a +3
3. E. Jovanovski (VAN) 1g 2a +2

Well it doesn't get any uglier than that folks. I have major problems still defensively and in net. No matter what type of defensive system I employ, I just let in goals. I wonder if this is because I watch/coach the games myself as opposed to simming. Oh well...I've got to find an answer for the season's opener against Philly.

Here are the stats from the 2004 Preseason: ('*' = Rookie)

PLAYER GP G A PTS +/- PIM
Ivo Rüthemann 6 6 6 12 3 2
Chris Drury 5 3 4 7 0 4
Daniel Briere 6 2 5 7 -1 6
Jochen Hecht 6 2 4 6 1 0
Miroslav Satan 7 5 1 6 -1 2
Derek Roy 8 3 3 6 -1 8
J.P. Dumont 6 1 4 5 -1 0
Dmitri Kalinin 8 1 4 5 0 6
Maxim Afinogenov 5 1 2 3 -2 2
Taylor Pyatt 6 2 1 3 3 2
Ales Kotalik 6 1 2 3 1 4
Alexei Zhitnik 7 0 3 3 2 6
Tim Connolly 4 0 2 2 3 0
Mathieu Schneider 4 0 2 2 2 0
Jason Pominville 5 1 1 2 1 0
*Dennis Wideman 6 1 1 2 1 4
Milan Bartovic 6 1 1 2 -4 0
Jeff Jillson 7 0 2 2 -4 8
*Clarke MacArthur 2 1 0 1 -1 0
*Pavel Voroshnin 2 0 1 1 -2 2
*Dan Paille 3 1 0 1 0 0
*Nathan Paetsch 5 0 1 1 1 0
Radoslav Hecl 5 0 1 1 0 6
Adam Mair 5 0 1 1 -3 2
Eric Boulton 6 1 0 1 -3 20
*Justin Pogge 1 0 0 0 - 0
*Jeff Weber 1 0 0 0 - 0
*Sean McMorrow 1 0 0 0 0 0
Tim O'Connell 1 0 0 0 0 0
*Mike Green 2 0 0 0 1 0
*Michael Tessier 2 0 0 0 0 0
*Chris Thorburn 2 0 0 0 0 0
*Artem Kryukov 2 0 0 0 -1 0
*Thomas Vanek 2 0 0 0 -1 2
*Ryan Jorde 2 0 0 0 -1 2
*Andrew Peters 2 0 0 0 -2 2
*Jiri Novotny 2 0 0 0 -3 0
*L.P. Martin 2 0 0 0 -3 0
Chris Taylor 2 0 0 0 -4 0
*Marco Bührer 3 0 0 0 - 0
*Denis Ezhov 4 0 0 0 4 2
Martin Biron 4 0 0 0 - 0
Brian Campbell 5 0 0 0 -6 0
Henrik Tallinder 6 0 0 0 -2 2
Jay McKee 7 0 0 0 -4 14

PLAYER GP W L T GAA SV%
*Marco Bührer 3 2 0 1 3.70 .886
*Justin Pogge 1 0 1 0 4.00 .882
Martin Biron 4 2 1 0 4.74 .865
*Jeff Weber 1 0 1 0 6.04 .867
Ryan Miller 2 0 2 0 6.23 .788

Ivo Ruthemann came through with a fantastic camp and will play a large role offensively on this club. Goaltending was dreadful and is a major concern. I don't think we'll have trouble scoring but we have to find a way to keep the puck out of our net.

Here is how our opening night lineup will look:


Forwards:
J. Hecht D. Briere M. Satan
I. Ruthemann C. Drury J.P. Dumont
T. Pyatt D. Roy A. Kotalik
E. Boulton A. Mair M. Bartovic
Spares: M. Afinogenov, T. Vanek (SUSP), T. Connolly (INJ)

Defensemen:
D. Kalinin A. Zhitnik
J. McKee J. Jillson
M. Schneider H. Tallinder
Spare: B. Campbell

Goaltenders:
M. Biron
M. Buhrer

The big surprise here is Maxim Afinogenov being relegated to the bench. I don't feel like playing him in a fourth line role, as he isn't suited for it. I may try to trade him in a package to upgrade my goaltending or my defense. Derek Roy is in until Tim Connolly gets back from his shoulder injury. I will call up Thomas Vanek for every Sabres game to serve his suspension and have him play in Rochester on off nights. Brian Campbell is trade bait as well.

Sat. October 9, 2004:

Opening night! Martin Biron gets the start in goal against Philadelphia, who are going with 27 year old newcomer Roman Malek. Malek has played most of his professional hockey in the Czech Republic and makes his NHL debut tonight.

Here are my tactics to start the season:
Mentality: Normal
Off. Zone: Crash the Net
Forecheck: Neutral Zone Trap
Defensive Coverage: Zone
Backchecking: Hard
Pressing: Normal
Hitting: Normal
Boardplay: Power

I've almost always used an 'Attacking' philosophy but changed to 'Normal' for the playoffs last year with some success. We'll see how it translates to regular season action and if it helps keep the goals against down.

TEAM 1 2 3 TOT
Buffalo 1 1 1 3 (L: M. Biron 0-1-0)
Philadelphia 3 3 0 6 (W: R. Malek 1-0-0)
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
GOALS:
Buffalo: C. Drury, I. Ruthemann, T. Pyatt
Philadelphia: T. Kallio, E. Desjardins, S. Kapanen, M. Handzus, A. Karpovtsev, C. Lapointe
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
SHOTS: POWERPLAY:
Buffalo: 34 Buffalo: 1-5
Philadelphia: 27 Philadelphia: 2-3
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
STARS:
1. D. Markov (PHI) 4a +2
2. S. Kapanen (PHI) 1g +1
3. E. Desjardins (PHI) 1g

Oh boy...here we go already. Biron was brutal and I pulled him after he let in his fifth goal. Marco Buhrer came in and let in a goal on his first NHL shot but settled down for the third period. The Pyatt-Roy-Kotalik line struggled immensely too, as they can't seem to get any chemistry going with Roy in there. We had a nice third period when we went to a forechecking system but it wasn't enough.

Sun. October 10, 2004:

The New York Rangers fired Glen Sather today. I play the Rangers tomorrow night so I wonder what kind of effect it'll have on the team.

On Tap Next Week:
Mon. October 11, 2004: vs. New York Rangers
Wed. October 13, 2004: vs. Phoenix Coyotes
Sat. October 16, 2004: AT EDMONTON OILERS

[NoSkillz]

Mon. October 11, 2004: New York Rangers (0-1-0-0 T-13th) at Buffalo Sabres (0-1-0-0 T-13th)

I'm going with the same lineup tonight with the notable exception of giving Marco Buhrer his first career start in the NHL.


TEAM 1 2 3 TOT
N.Y. Rangers 2 2 2 6 (W: M. Dunham 1-1-0)
Buffalo 0 4 0 4 (L: M. Buhrer 0-1-0)
-------------------------------------------------------------
GOALS:
N.Y. Rangers: E. Lindros (2), J. Green (2), J. Balej, J. Jagr
Buffalo: A. Kotalik, D. Briere, J.P. Dumont, M. Satan
-------------------------------------------------------------
SHOTS: POWERPLAY:
N.Y. Rangers: 25 N.Y. Rangers: 2-5
Buffalo: 22 Buffalo: 2-6
-------------------------------------------------------------
STARS:
1. J. Green (NYR) 2g 1a +2
2. E. Lindros (NYR) 2g 1a +2
3. J. Balej (NYR) 1g 1a +2

A game like this makes me think that it's not my tactics that are causing problems but my brutal goaltending. Buhrer was dreadful in his first big league start, allowing five goals (the second Lindros marker was an empty netter. My penalty killing unit is a weakness as well. We actually took a 3-2 second period lead in this one and went into the third tied at 4 but Josh Green roofed a wrister from the top of the circle to send the Rangers to victory. After the game, I put defenseman Brian Campbell on the trade block.

Wed. October 13, 2004: Phoenix Coyotes (1-1-0-0 T-6th) at Buffalo Sabres (0-2-0-0 T-14th)

I'll continue to be patient with the club and stick with the same lineup and tactics. I'll give Buhrer another chance to redeem himself tonight against the Coyotes, who go with Brian Boucher in goal.


TEAM 1 2 3 TOT
Phoenix 1 1 3 5 (W: B. Boucher 2-0-0)
Buffalo 2 0 1 3 (L: M. Buhrer 0-2-0)
----------------------------------------------------------
GOALS:
Phoenix: L. Nagy (2), S. Doan, K. Kolanos, J. Toms
Buffalo: A. Mair, A. Kotalik, I. Ruthemann
----------------------------------------------------------
SHOTS: POWERPLAY:
Phoenix: 28 Phoenix: 0-3
Buffalo: 25 Buffalo: 1-4
----------------------------------------------------------
STARS:
1. L. Nagy (PHO) 2g 1a +2
2. D. Langkow (PHO) 2a +1
3. J. Toms (PHO) 1g

What a dreadful start to the season. Nagy scored only 14 seconds into the game and I had steam coming out of my ears! :mad: We settled down and took a lead into the intermission but we were unable to hold on. Two goals in the last four minutes of the game gave Phoenix the 2 goal victory. Marco Buhrer just doesn't look good right now. We now go on the road for a season-high six game road trip - hopefully we can pull it together out west. :(

In Sabres prospect news, 2003 draft pick Louis-Philippe Martin from Drummondville won the QMJHL Player of the Week award for scoring 6 goals and 2 assists in 3 games.

NHL Offensive Player of the Week: Alexander Steen (TOR) 2GP 3g 3a 6pts +6
NHL Defensive Player of the Week: Chris Pronger (STL) 2GP 1g 2a 3pts +3

Sat. October 16, 2004: Buffalo Sabres (0-3-0-0 15th) at Edmonton Oilers (2-1-0-0 T-4th)

Martin Biron will get the call in goal tonight as we look for just an AVERAGE performance in goal. With the amount of goals we can score, that's all we need...I hope! I'm changing my tactics to a more defensive system in order to help out the goaltender.


TEAM 1 2 3 TOT
Buffalo 0 3 3 6 (W: M. Biron 1-1-0)
Edmonton 1 2 1 4 (L: J. Markkanen 1-1-0)
------------------------------------------------------------
GOALS:
Buffalo: M. Satan (3), E. Boulton, A. Mair, J.P. Dumont
Edmonton: P. Nedved, M. Bradley, A. Johansson, A. Hemsky
------------------------------------------------------------
SHOTS: POWERPLAY:
Buffalo: 30 Buffalo: 2-3
Edmonton: 25 Edmonton: 0-2
------------------------------------------------------------
STARS:
1. M. Satan (BUF) 3g +2
2. M. Bradley (EDM) 1g 1a +1
3. A. Zhitnik (BUF) 2a +3

Finally! Pretty crazy game that saw us fall behind 2-0 early in the second; I switched out tactics to an aggressive forechecking system and we moved into a 3-2 lead. However, Edmonton stormed back to take a 4-3 lead four minutes into the third before Miro Satan potted a couple of markers to put us into the lead for good. On the negative side, the pairing of Mathieu Schneider and Henrik Tallinder went a combined -8 on the night...ugly! My goaltending still sucks by the way.

On Tap Next Week:
Monday October 18, 2004: AT CALGARY FLAMES
Wednesday October 20, 2004: AT MINNESOTA WILD
Saturday October 23, 2004: AT SAN JOSE SHARKS
Sunday October 24, 2004: AT LOS ANGELES KINGS

[NoSkillz]

Mon. October 18, 2004: Buffalo Sabres (1-3-0-0 T-14th) at Calgary Flames (1-1-0-1 T-9th)

We'll bring renewed confidence into Calgary tonight after the victory over cross-province rival Edmonton the other night. Biron gets his second consecutive start in goal. I also make my first lineup change of the year, inserting defenseman Brian Campbell in place of the struggling Henrik Tallinder.


TEAM 1 2 3 TOT
Buffalo 1 1 4 6 (W: M. Biron 2-1-0)
Calgary 1 2 2 5 (L: R. Turek 0-2-0)
---------------------------------------------------------------------
GOALS:
Buffalo: I. Ruthemann (2), J. Jillson, M. Satan, C. Drury, A. Kotalik
Calgary: C. Clark, S. Donovan, M. Modano, M. Lombardi, J. Iginla
---------------------------------------------------------------------
SHOTS: POWERPLAY:
Buffalo: 23 Buffalo: 1-4
Calgary: 41 Calgary: 0-4
---------------------------------------------------------------------
STARS:
1. A. Kotalik (BUF) 1g 1a
2. R. Warrener (CAL) 1a +3
3. R. Regehr (CAL) 2a +3

We did not deserve to win this game, one which was completely dominated by Calgary. Turek was brutal, playing like a Sabres goaltender in this one! :cool: Calgary had a 5-3 lead with about 14 minutes to play but we came back hard, scoring 3 times in a five minute span late in the contest to eke out the win, our second straight. Defenseman Jay McKee went down with a knee injury in the first period but it doesn't look serious. He'll likely miss only a few games. Brian Campbell was a +1 in limited action.

In league news, Craig Ludwig was named the New York Rangers new general manager. Figures that the Rangers would go for an unproven commodity! :p

Wed. October 20, 2004: Buffalo Sabres (2-3-0-0 T-12th) at Minnesota Wild (1-3-1-0 13th)

We go into Minnesota to face the struggling Wild. Tallinder goes back into the lineup to replace the injured McKee, while Martin Biron starts his third in a row. I'm going with a defensive philosophy in this game and hope that my offensive players can lead me to a close victory. The Wild are going with unheralded youngster Derek Gustafson in goal so I hope to take advantage of his inexperience.


TEAM 1 2 3 TOT
Buffalo 1 0 0 1 (L: M. Biron 2-2-0)
Minnesota 2 0 0 2 (W: D. Gustafson 1-1-1)
------------------------------------------------------------
GOALS:
Buffalo: J.P. Dumont
Minnesota: M. Gaborik (2)
------------------------------------------------------------
SHOTS: POWERPLAY:
Buffalo: 24 Buffalo: 0-2
Minnesota: 37 Minnesota: 0-3
------------------------------------------------------------
STARS:
1. M. Gaborik (MIN) 2g +2
2. D. Gustafson (MIN) 1ga 23 saves
3. A. Brunette (MIN) 1a +1

Very tight defensive battle that saw all the action in the first period. Dumont's goal was only 2 minutes in and I thought we would be able to rattle Gustafson for the entire game. I thought wrong. He was solid when called upon. Biron was tremendous in a game we were dominated pretty much throughout. I really need to work on my tactical play right now.

NHL Offensive Player of the Week: Alexei Kovalev (NYR) 3GP 3g 3a 6pts +7
NHL Defensive Player of the Week: Derek Morris (PHO) 3GP 0g 2a 2pts +2

Thu. October 21, 2004:

I put forward Maxim Afinogenov on the trade block today. I like the guy and he played well for us offensively last year but I need to parlay him into a defenseman or a goaltender. Our depth at forward makes him expendable and he hasn't been able to crack the lineup yet this season.

I'm going with some new tactics as well. I'm going to try a man-to-man defensive coverage scheme for a few games instead of a 'zone'. I'm also reverting back to my 'Attacking Trap' system that worked well in my playoff run from a year ago. I'll still change things up depending on the team I'm playing but we'll give these tactics a try for now. In order to get the players on the same page, everyone on the roster is in intensive tactical training right now.

Sat. October 23, 2004: Buffalo Sabres (2-4-0-0 T-13th) at San Jose Sharks (0-5-1-0 15th)

The Sharks are in last place in the NHL right now and we'll come out looking to win this one. I'm hoping desperation sets in early for San Jose, causing them to make mistakes. Milan Michalek and Mike Ricci both have 5 points in 6 games to lead the charge for the Sharks. Evgeni Nabokov has been brutal thus far with an 0-5 record. Martin Biron starts again tonight for our club, with the current plan having Buhrer get the start tomorrow night against Los Angeles. Jay McKee returned to practice today but I don't think he's ready to play yet.


TEAM 1 2 3 TOT
Buffalo 2 1 0 3 (W: M. Biron 3-2-0)
San Jose 1 0 1 2 (L: E. Nabokov 0-6-0)
----------------------------------------------------------
GOALS:
Buffalo: D. Briere, J. Hecht, I. Ruthemann
San Jose: M. Sturm, P. Marleau
----------------------------------------------------------
SHOTS: POWERPLAY:
Buffalo: 36 Buffalo: 1-6
San Jose: 27 San Jose: 0-3
----------------------------------------------------------
STARS:
1. D. Briere (BUF) 1g 1a +1
2. P. Marleau (SJ) 1g -1
3. I. Ruthemann (BUF) 1g

Great road game that saw us control the action for the majority of the game. The Sharks came out flying early but they took a penalty about five minutes in that killed their momentum. We didn't score on that powerplay but potted two markers before the intermission and never looked back. Ivo Ruthemann continues to impress early on, scoring his fifth of the season in this game.

Sun. October 24, 2004: Buffalo Sabres (3-4-0-0 T-10th) at Los Angeles Kings (3-3-0-1 T-5th)

The Kings will be missing stalwart defenseman Aaron Miller, who's out with a rotator cuff strain. They aren't scoring a lot early in the year, as Luc Robitaille leads the team with only 2 goals and 2 assists in 7 games. A couple of changes in this game for us, as Marco Buhrer will tend goal in the second of back-to-back games and Maxim Afinogenov gets placed in the lineup for the first time this season as well. I've scratched struggling forward Derek Roy, who's pointless on the year. Roy just hasn't been able to translate his fine preseason play into the regular season. Winger Ales Kotalik will centre the third line between Taylor Pyatt and Afinogenov. McKee will rest his knee for one more game.


TEAM 1 2 3 TOT
Buffalo 1 0 1 2 (L: M. Buhrer 0-3-0)
Los Angeles 2 2 1 5 (W: R. Cechmanek 4-2-0)
------------------------------------------------------------
GOALS:
Buffalo: A. Kotalik, I. Ruthemann
Los Angeles: A. Frolov (2), B. Boyle, C. Dube, L. Robitaille
------------------------------------------------------------
SHOTS: POWERPLAY:
Buffalo: 24 Buffalo: 1-5
Los Angeles: 44 Los Angeles: 1-8
------------------------------------------------------------
STARS:
1. A. Frolov (LA) 2g +1
2. L. Robitaille (LA) 1g 1a +1
3. C. Dube (LA) 1g 1a +1

Los Angeles had two 5-on-3 advantages in the game and got a lot of shots in on the powerplay. Buhrer actually was decent in this game but we didn't seem to have the right gameplan in place tonight. Just chalk it up to a solid effort by the opposition.

On Tap Next Week:
Tuesday October 26, 2004: AT COLORADO AVALANCHE
Thursday October 28, 2004: vs. Vancouver Canucks
Saturday October 30, 2004: vs. Toronto Maple Leafs

[NoSkillz]

Mon. October 25, 2004:

The San Jose Sharks signed free agent forward Bill Guerin today. Incidently, there are a number of high-profile forwards currently available on the market, including Mario Lemieux, Daniel Alfredsson, Brett Hull and Keith Primeau. Alfredsson and Primeau interest me but again, my problems lie in goal and on D.

Tue. October 26, 2004: Buffalo Sabres (3-5-0-0 T-13th) at Colorado Avalanche (4-2-1-0 3rd)

The last game of the road trip sees us venture to Colorado to take on the superstars in Avalanche land. Funny that Matthew Barnaby leads the club in scoring early on with 4 goals and 2 assists in six games. I'm going with a hard hitting style of play to get the finesse players off their game in Colorado. Martin Biron is back in goal for this one. Also, Jay McKee will return to the lineup after missing three games with his knee injury; he takes the place of the ineffective Henrik Tallinder. I'm also slotting Derek Roy back into the lineup tonight in place of Maxim Afinogenov.


TEAM 1 2 3 TOT
Buffalo 1 0 1 2 (L: M. Biron 3-3-0)
Colorado 2 1 0 3 (W: T. Salo 3-0-1)
--------------------------------------------------------
GOALS:
Buffalo: D. Briere, M. Satan
Colorado: S. Konowalchuk, J.M. Liles, M. Barnaby
--------------------------------------------------------
SHOTS: POWERPLAY:
Buffalo: 24 Buffalo: 0-5
Colorado: 31 Colorado: 0-4
--------------------------------------------------------
STARS:
1. D. Briere (BUF) 1g 1a
2. M. Barnaby (COL) 1g 1a
3. M. Satan (BUF) 1g

Pretty decent effort against a solid Colorado team but a loss is a loss. I can't complain too much about a 3-3 record on the road trip, however. Unfortunately, Milan Bartovic was injured in the second period and is likely out a couple of weeks with a shoulder injury.

Wed. October 27, 2004:

J.P. Dumont suffered a neck strain in practice today and will miss about two weeks. I've called up Chris Taylor from Rochester to take Bartovic's fourth line position, while Maxim Afinogenov gets put into Dumont's slot. I've also decided to send the disappointing Derek Roy down to the farm and I've called up Chris Thorburn from Rochester to take the third line centre position. Thorburn led the Amerks last year in points and already had 8 points in 7 games this year on the farm. He'll get into his first NHL game tomorrow night.

Sabres prospect Louis-Philippe Martin from Drummondville won his second QMJHL Player of the Week award of the year after scoring twice and assisting on three others in only two games. Martin has 12 goals and 13 assists in 15 games so far this year and is progressing nicely for a ninth round pick.

NHL Offensive Player of the Week: Scott Hartnell (NAS) 3GP 4g 3a 7pts +6
NHL Defensive Player of the Week: Niklas Lidstrom (DET) 3GP 1g 4a 5pts +2

Thu. October 28, 2004: Vancouver Canucks (4-5-0-0 8th) at Buffalo Sabres (3-6-0-0 T-13th)

Martin Biron goes again tonight in goal, Afinogenov plays the right wing on the Ruthemann-Drury line, rookie Chris Thorburn makes his NHL debut at centre with Pyatt-Kotalik and Chris Taylor is in at right wing on the fourth line. Injured forwards J.P. Dumont and Milan Bartovic were put on the injured reserve list before the game. I've also put Henrik Tallinder back into the defensive rotation against the Canucks, hoping his size will help negate guys like Todd Bertuzzi, who leads the Canucks in points with 10. Brian Campbell, while playing well right now, just isn't big enough to compete with the Vancouver forwards and will be scratched.


TEAM 1 2 3 TOT
Vancouver 2 1 1 4 (L: D. Cloutier 1-5-0)
Buffalo 2 1 2 5 (W: M. Biron 4-3-0)
---------------------------------------------------------------
GOALS:
Vancouver: T. Bertuzzi (3), M. Naslund
Buffalo: A. Kotalik, C. Thorburn, D. Briere, J. Hecht, M. Satan
---------------------------------------------------------------
SHOTS: POWERPLAY:
Vancouver: 23 Vancouver: 1-1
Buffalo: 34 Buffalo: 1-5
---------------------------------------------------------------
STARS:
1. T. Bertuzzi (VAN) 3g +2
2. E. Jovanovski (VAN) 3a
3. M. Satan (BUF) 1g 2a +2

Excellent game! Holding a great offensive team like Vancouver to only 23 shots is a great feat. Chris Thorburn played very well and scored in his first NHL game. The only two disappointments in the game were Henrik Tallinder, who continues to struggle this season, and Martin Biron, weak again in net but good enough to win. I'll take it!

Sat. October 30, 2004: Toronto Maple Leafs (4-2-2-1 T-5th) at Buffalo Sabres (4-6-0-0 T-11th)

HUGE NEWS before the game, as I came to terms with free agent centre Keith Primeau on a three year, $7,800,000 deal. He will add a huge presence to the middle of our lineup and provides great leadership, determination and skill. This means Chris Thorburn's stay in Buffalo is short-lived but he'll likely be back in the future. The dilemna is what to do when Tim Connolly comes back; at this point, I'm not too worried. Primeau will be in the lineup tonight against Toronto, who are led by Mats Sundin, who already has 16 points in only 9 games thus far. Rookie forward Alexander Steen is also impressing, with 10 points centring the third line. I'll continue to ride Martin Biron, as he seems to give us the best chance at victory. Brian Campbell returns to the lineup for Henrik Tallinder. I will play a high forechecking style that seems to work against the Leafs.


TEAM 1 2 3 TOT
Toronto 1 0 1 2 (L: J. Storr 2-3-1)
Buffalo 2 1 1 4 (W: M. Biron 5-3-0)
--------------------------------------------------------
GOALS:
Toronto: D. Tucker, J. Nieuwendyk
Buffalo: M. Afinogenov (2), D. Briere (PS), K. Primeau
--------------------------------------------------------
SHOTS: POWERPLAY:
Toronto: 33 Toronto: 1-6
Buffalo: 33 Buffalo: 2-7
--------------------------------------------------------
STARS:
1. M. Afinogenov (BUF) 2g
2. D. Tucker (TOR) 1g 1a
3. D. Briere (BUF) 1g 1a +1

We were outshot 19-9 in the first period but somehow had the lead. Tucker opened the scoring for Toronto but Daniel Briere was taken down by Bryan McCabe on a breakaway and awarded a penalty shot. Briere made no mistake in putting it by goaltender Jamie Storr to tie it at one. Maxim Afinogenov scored a late powerplay goal to make it 2-1 and we didn't look back from there. The second and third period were dominated by our club and Martin Biron had his finest game of the season. I got terrible news when defenseman Jay McKee got injured again, this time for two months with a dislocated shoulder. Henrik Tallinder is going to have to step it up in his absence.

Sun. October 31, 2004:

Forward Tim Connolly resumed light practice today but is still at least three weeks away from making his return to the lineup after his shoulder injury.

We fought back nicely to get to within one game of .500 for the month. It's no surprise that we're near the top of the league in goals scored but once again we're at the bottom in defensive stats. Heck, we haven't given up fewer than 2 goals in a game yet! We must improve in that area. Here are the player stats for the first month of the season:

Buffalo Sabres Statistics (As of October 31, 2004):

POS PLAYER GP G A PTS +/- PIM PPG SHG GWG
RW Miroslav Satan 11 7 8 15 2 2 1 0 2
C Daniel Briere 11 5 8 13 1 12 2 0 0
LW Ivo Ruthemann 11 6 5 11 -4 2 1 0 0
RW J.P. Dumont 9 3 5 8 -7 0 2 0 0
LW Taylor Pyatt 11 1 7 8 -4 2 1 0 0
RW Ales Kotalik 11 5 2 7 -8 2 3 0 1
LW Jochen Hecht 11 2 5 7 -2 8 0 0 1
C Chris Drury 11 2 4 6 -4 6 0 0 0
D Jeff Jillson 11 1 4 5 1 4 0 0 0
D Mathieu Schneider 11 0 5 5 -3 2 0 0 0
D Jay McKee 8 0 3 3 -3 14 0 0 0
C Adam Mair 11 2 1 3 0 4 0 0 0
D Alexei Zhitnik 11 0 3 3 -4 8 0 0 0
RW Maxim Afinogenov 3 2 0 2 -1 0 2 0 1
RW Milan Bartovic 9 0 2 2 0 2 0 0 0
LW Eric Boulton 11 1 1 2 -1 37 0 0 0
D Dmitri Kalinin 11 0 2 2 -4 12 0 0 0
C Keith Primeau 1 1 0 1 1 0 0 0 0
C *Chris Thorburn 1 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 0
C Chris Taylor 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
G *Marco Buhrer 4 0 0 0 - 0 0 0 0
D Brian Campbell 6 0 0 0 2 2 0 0 0
G Martin Biron 8 0 0 0 - 0 0 0 0
C Derek Roy 8 0 0 0 -5 6 0 0 0
D Henrik Tallinder 8 0 0 0 -8 0 0 0 0
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
POS PLAYER GP W L T MIN GA GAA SHO SV%
G Martin Biron 8 5 3 0 457 27 3.54 0 .885
G *Marco Buhrer 4 0 3 0 201 16 4.78 0 .849

NHL Offensive Player of the Month: Daymond Langkow (PHO) 10GP 6g 9a 15pts +8 10PIM
NHL Defensive Player of the Month: Chris Pronger (STL) 9GP 1g 4a 5pts +7 6PIM
NHL Rookie of the Month: Dion Phaneuf (CAL) 5GP 0g 4a 4pts +3 0PIM

Sabres prospect Clarke MacArthur was named the WHL Player of the Month for October. Clarke played 12 games, scoring 10 goals and 12 assists while going an incredible +23!

On Tap Next Week:
Monday November 1, 2004: AT OTTAWA SENATORS
Friday November 5, 2004: vs. Washington Capitals
Sunday November 7, 2004: vs. Montreal Canadiens

[NoSkillz]

Mon. November 1, 2004: Buffalo Sabres (5-6-0-0 T-8th) at Ottawa Senators (4-2-2-0 T-8th)

The Toronto Maple Leafs have offered a contract to former Senator Daniel Alfredsson and I'm tempted to bid for him just to keep him out of Toronto! Anyway, to the game against Ottawa, who are playing fine hockey to start the year. Marian Hossa already has 7 goals and 11 points in the Sens first 8 games. Henrik Tallinder will go in for the injured Jay McKee and play with Mathieu Schneider, while Brian Campbell, who's surprised me thus far with his solid defensive play, will get more icetime playing with Jeff Jillson in our second defensive pairing. I'm going to stay with the same high forechecking & hard hitting style we used to great effect against Toronto. Biron gets the call in goal again tonight.


TEAM 1 2 3 TOT
Buffalo 5 0 1 6 (W: M. Biron 6-3-0)
Ottawa 1 2 0 3 (L: M. Prusek 0-2-0)
------------------------------------------------------------------------
GOALS:
Buffalo: C. Drury (2), I. Ruthemann, M. Satan, M. Afinogenov, A. Kotalik
Ottawa: D. Hamel, M. Havlat, Z. Chara
------------------------------------------------------------------------
SHOTS: POWERPLAY:
Buffalo: 31 Buffalo: 1-3
Ottawa: 32 Ottawa: 1-6
------------------------------------------------------------------------
STARS:
1. C. Drury (BUF) 2g 2a +2
2. M. Afinogenov (BUF) 1g 2a +2
3. Z. Chara (OTT) 1g +1

Pretty much the best first period for the Sabres in my year managing the team. Prusek's subpar goaltending certainly helped. This was likely Chris Drury's finest performance in a Sabres uniform as well. Alexei Zhitnik (2a) also had a multipoint game. We finally reach .500 after the 0-3 start to the season. Martin Biron is starting to play much better in net as well. The board of directors expresses their delight with our performance for the first time this year.

Wed. November 3, 2004:

Forward Milan Bartovic resumed non-contact drills in practice today but is likely still out for about two weeks.

NHL Offensive Player of the Week: Nathan Horton (FLO) 2GP 3g 3a 6pts +4
NHL Defensive Player of the Week: Ed Jovanovski (VAN) 3GP 1g 5a 6pts -1

Fri. November 5, 2004: Washington Capitals (5-5-0-2 T-8th) at Buffalo Sabres (6-6-0-0 T-8th)

We will go with the exact same lineup and tactics for the Washington game as we did the Ottawa game. Danius Zubrus and last year's Calder Trophy winner Alexander Semin lead the Caps in goals with 5. Tough defenseman Brendan Witt will miss this game with bruised ribs.


TEAM 1 2 3 OT TOT
Washington 0 1 2 0 3 (L: O. Kolzig 4-6-0)
Buffalo 1 1 1 1 4 (W: M. Biron 7-3-0)
---------------------------------------------------------------
GOALS:
Washington: E. Fehr, B. Willsie, W. Snell
Buffalo: M. Afinogenov (2), H. Tallinder, M. Satan
---------------------------------------------------------------
SHOTS: POWERPLAY:
Washington: 26 Washington: 0-2
Buffalo: 32 Buffalo: 0-1
---------------------------------------------------------------
STARS:
1. M. Afinogenov (BUF) 2g +1
2. W. Snell (WAS) 1g +1
3. C. Drury (BUF) 2a +1

I may have to reconsider trading Afinogenov now! He's on fire and seems to be fitting in well with Drury and Ruthemann. What to do with Dumont when he comes back?! Henrik Tallinder scored his first goal in over a year but we couldn't hold onto a two goal lead in this game. Thankfully, Afinogenov made no mistake on a breakaway in overtime to give us our fourth win in a row.

Sat. November 6, 2004:

The Leafs did sign Daniel Alfredsson to a 2 year, $7,300,000 deal today. I don't like this, as Alfredsson is a Sabres killer.

Sun. November 7, 2004: Montreal Canadiens (5-7-1-0 12th) at Buffalo Sabres (7-6-0-0 6th)

Montreal started the season in fine form but have dropped 4 games in a row. Their goaltending seems fine and they're scoring in bunches right now, second in the NHL in goals behind us. Saku Koivu has 18 points in their 13 games to lead the club and that's good enough for second in the NHL behind Maple Leafs captain Mats Sundin. Our own Miroslav Satan is third in league scoring right now with 17 points. One change for this game: I sent Chris Taylor down to Rochester and recalled Chris Thorburn to play on the fourth line.


TEAM 1 2 3 TOT
Montreal 0 2 1 3 (L: J. Theodore 4-5-1)
Buffalo 2 0 3 5 (W: M. Biron 8-3-0)
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
GOALS:
Montreal: M. Ryder, S. Souray, D. Pittis
Buffalo: M. Afinogenov, A. Kotalik, J. Hecht, C. Drury, K. Primeau (EN)
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SHOTS: POWERPLAY:
Montreal: 25 Montreal: 1-5
Buffalo: 26 Buffalo: 1-3
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
STARS:
1. C. Drury (BUF) 1g 1a +1
2. K. Primeau (BUF) 1g +1
3. A. Kotalik (BUF) 1g +2

We were a bit undisciplined in this one but played a strong last half of the third period to beat Montreal in the first of a home-and-home series. I think I'm better playing a trap against Montreal and will try it tomorrow night. Chris Drury continues to light it up with Afinogenov on the right side; Drury has 8 points in his last three games. J.P. Dumont will be ready to play tomorrow night but he's unfortunately lost his slot to Afinogenov - I'd be crazy to break up that line right now! Miroslav Satan (2a) also had a multipoint effort in the win. That's five wins in a row, which matches the best win streak in my tenure with the Sabres! :cool:

On Tap Next Week:
Monday November 8, 2004: AT MONTREAL CANADIENS
Friday November 12, 2004: vs. New York Islanders
Sunday November 14, 2004: vs. Pittsburgh Penguins

[condors]

8-6 looks much better than 3-6, keep up the good work

[NoSkillz]

Mon. November 8, 2004: Buffalo Sabres (8-6-0-0 6th) at Montreal Canadiens (5-8-1-0 13th)

Eric Boulton will be scratched tonight in favour of J.P. Dumont, who'll be relegated to the fourth line. I'll still involve him on the powerplay, however, to get him a chance to get some points. Martin Biron is still in the cage, although I'm not keen on playing him on back-to-back nights. He's just in a groove right now. Montreal is starting Paul Drew in goal tonight, a 20 year old making his NHL debut.


TEAM 1 2 3 TOT
Buffalo 3 3 1 7 (W: M. Biron 9-3-0)
Montreal 1 1 2 4 (L: P. Drew 0-1-0)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
GOALS:
Buffalo: D. Briere (2), I. Ruthemann, A. Mair, A. Kotalik, K. Primeau, J. Hecht
Montreal: R. Zednik (2), Y. Perreault, A. Ladd
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
SHOTS: POWERPLAY:
Buffalo: 41 Buffalo: 2-5
Montreal: 34 Montreal: 1-3
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
STARS:
1. D. Briere (BUF) 2g 1a -1
2. A. Ladd (MON) 1g 1a +2
3. R. Zednik (MON) 2g 1a +1

The score flattered the Canadiens in this one. We were able to send Drew to the bench late in the second period - hopefully the youngster can bounce back after a rough first NHL game. I was able to play my fourth liners a lot in the third period, even getting them some powerplay time. Jeff Jillson (2a), Keith Primeau (1g 1a), Miroslav Satan (2a) and Maxim Afinogenov (2a) all had multipoint games along with Briere. I've now set a personal record for wins in a row with six and the board of directors offer me their congratulations.

In other Sabres news, young goaltending prospect Justin Pogge from the Brandon Wheat Kings of the WHL has been getting some negative press, with reports saying his "erratic play may cause the team to look for a replacement in the near future." Pogge has a 9-5-1 record thus far with a 3.10 goals against average with Brandon.

Wed. November 10, 2004:

Continuing his tear through the QMJHL, Sabres prospect Louis-Philippe Martin won his third Player of the Week award of the year after scoring three times and assisting on two others in two games.

NHL Offensive Player of the Week: Martin Gelinas (CAL) 2GP 3g 1a 4pts +4
NHL Defensive Player of the Week: Bryan McCabe (TOR) 3GP 1g 2a 3pts +2

Thu. November 11, 2004:

Another Sabres prospect, Artem Kryukov had his contract bought out by Metallurg Magnitogorsk and is now a free agent. Kryukov was actually playing well for Metallurg, notching 8 points in 14 games. Hopefully someone picks him up so he can continue his (ahem, very slow) development. :( In more positive news, Medicine Hat journalists have been praising the performance of centre Clarke MacArthur, saying he's a player with a bright future. MacArthur has continued his fine play into November and now has 17 goals and 19 assists in 21 games.

Fri. November 13, 2004: New York Islanders (5-6-2-0 13th) at Buffalo Sabres (9-6-0-0 T-5th)

I'm not changing a thing for this contest except for playing a high forechecking style instead of the trap we employed against Montreal. Enigmatic forward Alexei Yashin leads the Islanders in points with 9 in 14 games thus far. Goaltender Rick DiPietro has been excellent this year but the club isn't scoring enough to win games.


TEAM 1 2 3 TOT
NY Islanders 1 2 1 4 (W: R. DiPietro 4-3-0)
Buffalo 0 0 2 2 (L: M. Biron 9-4-0)
------------------------------------------------------------
GOALS:
N.Y. Islanders: T. Hunter, M. Peca, D. Scatchard, A. Asham
Buffalo: K. Primeau, J.P. Dumont
------------------------------------------------------------
SHOTS: POWERPLAY:
NY Islanders: 29 NY Islanders: 1-4
Buffalo: 35 Buffalo: 0-0
------------------------------------------------------------
STARS:
1. S. Young (NYI) 2a +1
2. M. Peca (NYI) 1g -1
3. A. Asham (NYI) 1g +1

We absolutely dominated the third period, with 21 shots on goal but Rick DiPietro made a number of enormous saves to get the Isles the victory and end our big winning streak at six games. No complaints here...the team played pretty well but we ran into a hot goalie.

Sun. November 15, 2004: Pittsburgh Penguins (8-4-0-2 T-8th) at Buffalo Sabres (9-7-0-0 T-8th)

The Mario Lemieux-less Penguins come to the HSBC Arena playing great hockey. Konstantin Koltsov and Aleksey Morozov lead the club with 12 points in 13 games. Pittsburgh is starting former Sabre Mika Noronen in net tonight. I'm going to revert back to the trap for this affair but won't make any other lineup changes. I'll eventually have to get goaltender Marco Buhrer into the lineup but it won't be tonight.


TEAM 1 2 3 TOT
Pittsburgh 0 2 0 2 (L: M. Noronen 3-5-0)
Buffalo 1 1 2 4 (W: M. Biron 10-4-0)
----------------------------------------------------------
GOALS:
Pittsburgh: A. Morozov, L. Pirjeta
Buffalo: T. Pyatt (2), M. Schneider, B. Campbell
----------------------------------------------------------
SHOTS: POWERPLAY:
Pittsburgh: 33 Pittsburgh: 0-5
Buffalo: 30 Buffalo: 1-6
----------------------------------------------------------
STARS:
1. T. Pyatt (BUF) 2g 1a +2
2. L. Pirjeta (PIT) 1g 1a +1
3. K. Primeau (BUF) 2a +1

Pittsburgh controlled the action through two periods of play and we were lucky to be tied at two going to the third. I ended up switching to a high forechecking attack in the final frame and we proceeded to outplay the Pens the rest of the way and pick up the victory. Pyatt finally broke out of his goal scoring slump but he was still contributing points throughout the season. Ales Kotalik joined Pyatt and Keith Primeau in the multipoint game parade with his two assists. Schneider's goal was his first as a Sabre.

Thomas Vanek has now completed his 14 game NHL suspension but I'm going to keep him in Rochester to continue his development. He currently has 5 goals and 6 assists in 13 games with the Amerks this year.

On Tap Next Week:
Wednesday November 17, 2004: AT OTTAWA SENATORS
Friday November 19, 2004: AT NEW YORK ISLANDERS
Sunday November 21, 2004: vs. Atlanta Thrashers

[Johnny93g]

Sat. November 6, 2004:

The Leafs did sign Daniel Alfredsson to a 2 year, $7,300,000 deal today. I don't like this, as Alfredsson is a Sabres killer.

WORST DYNASTY EVER!!!!!!!!!

[NoSkillz]

WORST DYNASTY EVER!!!!!!!!!

:D :D Not an Alfredsson fan either!? He's teaming up well right now with fellow Swede Sundin, who's leading the league in scoring right now. Alfredsson has 6 points in his first 7 games with T.O.

[NoSkillz]

Mon. November 15, 2004:

Milan Bartovic returned to full practice today and I've sent Chris Thorburn back down to Rochester. Thorburn has played excellent hockey when called up and he'll continue to be my first choice when injuries come up.

Wed. November 17, 2004: Buffalo Sabres (10-7-0-0 6th) at Ottawa Senators (6-5-4-0 T-10th)

The Senators are coming off a crazy 10-5 win over the Montreal Canadiens on Monday night so hopefully they're a bit wiped out! Winger Toni Dahlman had a hat trick and an assist in that game. Marian Hossa still leads the club offensively, with 17 points in 15 games. I'm going with the same tactical scheme as I did a couple weeks ago against the club, a high forechecking system. Milan Bartovic will man the left side of the fourth line with Adam Mair and J.P. Dumont.


TEAM 1 2 3 TOT
Buffalo 1 1 0 2 (W: M. Biron 11-4-0)
Ottawa 0 1 0 1 (L: M. Prusek 0-3-0)
---------------------------------------------------------
GOALS:
Buffalo: T. Pyatt, J. Hecht
Ottawa: T. Dahlman
---------------------------------------------------------
SHOTS: POWERPLAY:
Buffalo: 27 Buffalo: 1-3
Ottawa: 33 Ottawa: 0-3
---------------------------------------------------------
STARS:
1. M. Biron (BUF) 1ga 32 saves
2. W. Redden (OTT)
3. T. Pyatt (BUF) 1g

Unbelievably, it took 18 games for us to allow less than 2 goals in one game but here it is. Biron was truly fantastic, especially robbing the Bonk-Havlat-Hossa line all night long. Just a good, solid defensive effort that saw everyone show up.

NHL Offensive Player of the Week: Jeremy Roenick (PHI) 3GP 2g 4a 6pts +3
NHL Defensive Player of the Week: Paul Drew (MON) 2GP 1-0-0 2.64GAA .925 S%

Very nice to see that Drew bounced back after his poor debut against us to (somehow) win the Defensive Player of the Week award.

Fri. November 19, 2004: Buffalo Sabres (11-7-0-0 2nd) at New York Islanders (6-6-4-0 T-10th)

We're up to second place now, my best spot in the standings since I started with the club last year. We face a team we always have difficulty with in the Islanders. I'm going with the exact same lineup and high forechecking, hard hitting tactics that were employed against Ottawa. Rick DiPietro was excellent the last time we faced New York but the Isles will go with Garth Snow in net tonight. Snow was the Vezina Trophy winner last season but is splitting duty this year with the talented DiPietro. Alexei Yashin leads the team with 12 points in 16 games.


TEAM 1 2 3 TOT
Buffalo 0 3 2 5 (L: M. Biron 11-5-0)
NY Islanders 4 2 1 7 (W: G. Snow 3-3-3)
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
GOALS:
Buffalo: M. Satan, K. Primeau, J. Hecht, C. Drury, A. Kotalik
NY Islanders: M. Czerkawski, S. Young, S. Webb, M. Weinhandl, D. Scatchard, P. Hogardh, T. Hunter (EN)
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
SHOTS: POWERPLAY:
Buffalo: 33 Buffalo: 0-4
NY Islanders: 34 NY Islanders: 2-3
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
STARS:
1. M. Weinhandl (NYI) 1g 2a +2
2. S. Webb (NYI) 1g 1a +3
3. T. Hunter (NYI) 1g -1

The Islanders scored at will in the first period, where I pulled Biron after he allowed the fourth goal. We moved to a high press attack for the rest of the game and almost made the miraculous comeback, only to be denied when Trent Hunter scored with our goalie pulled with 4 seconds left in the game. Miroslav Satan (1g 2a) and Daniel Briere (2a) had multipoint games.

Sat. November 20, 2004:

News reports are saying that "the Buffalo Sabres are expected to pick up Sidney Crosby in the upcoming NHL Entry Draft". LOL :D If only it were that easy! (Johnny93g won't be happy if it happens!! ;) :D )

Sun. November 21, 2004: Atlanta Thrashers (5-11-3-0 14th) at Buffalo Sabres (11-8-0-0 T-5th)

The Thrashers come to town off a 1-1 tie in Ottawa last night. I'm hoping they're tired so I'll come out with a high forechecking, hard pressing style early. A couple of lineup changes for tonight: Marco Buhrer finally gets a start in goal while I'm inserting Eric Boulton to add a bit of physical presence to the lineup. Ilya Kovalchuk already has 22 points in 19 games this year; Dany Heatley is second on the club with only 10 so it seems like a one man show in Atlanta right now.


TEAM 1 2 3 TOT
Atlanta 0 1 0 1 (L: K. Lehtonen 3-2-1)
Buffalo 3 2 2 7 (W: M. Buhrer 1-3-0)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
GOALS:
Atlanta: I. Kovalchuk
Buffalo: C. Drury (2), M. Afinogenov, M. Satan, T. Pyatt, J. Hecht, I. Ruthemann
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
SHOTS: POWERPLAY:
Atlanta: 22 Atlanta: 1-4
Buffalo: 37 Buffalo: 1-6
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
STARS:
1. I. Ruthemann (BUF) 1g 4a +5
2. C. Drury (BUF) 1g 2a +4
3. M. Afinogenov (BUF) 1g 1a +2

Wow! :eek: Just a fantastic performance right from the opening puck drop. We outshot Atlanta 18-7 in the first period and just had constant pressure throughout the game. Ivo Ruthemann's five points are the most by one player in a game since I started managing the team and his linemates combined for ten points on the night. Other multipoint games went to Dmitri Kalinin (2a) and Jeff Jillson (2a). Marco Buhrer won his first NHL game and was very solid.

After the game, I noticed that I now have two players with 'Superb' reputations in Chris Drury and Miroslav Satan. Satan is still second in league scoring behind Toronto's Mats Sundin.

On Tap Next Week:
Monday November 22, 2004: AT FLORIDA PANTHERS
Wednesday November 24, 2004: AT CAROLINA HURRICANES
Friday November 26, 2004: vs. Tampa Bay Lightning
Sunday November 28, 2004: vs. Carolina Hurricanes

[NoSkillz]

Mon. November 22, 2004: Buffalo Sabres (12-8-0-0 2nd) at Florida Panthers (10-4-0-1 7th)

The Panthers are playing fantastic hockey this season behind the strong play of leading scorer Olli Jokinen. A couple of rookies are also making contributions: the 2004 first overall pick Rostislav Olesz has 11 points in 15 games while 2003 pick Anthony Stewart has 7 goals already. Other than inserting Martin Biron as the starting goaltender, I plan on making no changes from our last game.


TEAM 1 2 3 TOT
Buffalo 1 1 1 3 (L: M. Biron 11-6-0)
Florida 3 2 2 7 (W: R. Luongo 9-5-0)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
GOALS:
Buffalo: T. Pyatt (2), A. Kotalik
Florida: O. Jokinen (2), R. Olesz (2), A. Lilja, J. Bouwmeester, N. Horton
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
SHOTS: POWERPLAY:
Buffalo: 40 Buffalo: 1-6
Florida: 29 Florida: 1-4
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
STARS:
1. O. Jokinen (FLO) 2g 2a +2
2. R. Olesz (FLO) 2g
3. T. Pyatt (BUF) 2g 1a

Luongo stood on his head for Florida while Biron was just brutal again. The Drury line was as bad tonight as it was good in the last game. I disciplined Biron after the game and he feels it was unfair. Tough crap! I may call up Ryan Miller soon if my goaltending doesn't improve.

Tue. November 23, 2004:

Centre Tim Connolly has returned to full practice, giving me plenty of options on forward. Keith Primeau (11GP 5g 4a 9pts) has played very well in Connolly's absence on the third line but I'm going to reunite Connolly with Pyatt and Kotalik after their great year together last year. Primeau will centre the fourth line for now, with Mair and Dumont on the wings.

Wed. November 24, 2004: Buffalo Sabres (12-9-0-0 T-4th) at Carolina Hurricanes (6-9-6-1 T-10th)

I'm going to stick with Biron in this game. I'm also going to stick with a high forechecking attack, although I'm going to a normal press system. Rod Brind'Amour leads the Hurricanes with 11 goals and 22 points in 22 games thus far. Kevin Weekes has been weak :cool: in net, going 2-9-3 in the early going so Pasi Nurminen gets the start in goal tonight for Carolina.


TEAM 1 2 3 OT TOT
Buffalo 0 0 4 0 4 (T: M. Biron 11-6-1)
Carolina 2 1 1 0 4 (T: P. Nurminen 3-1-4)
----------------------------------------------------------------
GOALS:
Buffalo: M. Satan, B. Campbell, J.P. Dumont, D. Briere
Carolina: R. Brind'Amour (2), J. Svoboda, C. Adams
----------------------------------------------------------------
SHOTS: POWERPLAY:
Buffalo: 25 Buffalo: 1-4
Carolina: 35 Carolina: 1-4
----------------------------------------------------------------
STARS:
1. M. Satan (BUF) 1g 2a +3
2. R. Brind'Amour (CAR) 2g +1
3. B. Campbell (BUF) 1g 1a +1

A fantastic comeback in this game! Carolina got undisciplined late in the game and we scored on a 5-on-3 advantage with less than two minutes remaining to get within a goal. Then, with only 18 seconds left in regulation, Daniel Briere put the puck in the net after a goalmouth scramble to tie it at 4. Carolina dominated this game right from the start and it's a miracle that we came away with a point.

NHL Offensive Player of the Week: Mattias Weinhandl (NYI) 2GP 1g 3a 4pts +1
NHL Defensive Player of the Week: Brad Lukowich (TB) 3GP 0g 5a 5pts +8

Fri. November 26, 2004: Tampa Bay Lightning (9-6-5-1 T-5th) at Buffalo Sabres (12-9-1-0 4th)

The always challenging Tampa Bay Lightning come to town, coming off a 5-4 loss in Nashville the other night. Martin St. Louis has 15 goals and 25 points to lead the charge in Tampa. Newcomer Sean Burke has been getting the majority of the work in net this year, with Nikolai Khabibulin relegated to the bench most nights. Khabibulin is going tonight though. I'm going with the same lineup as the Carolina game but will revert to the attacking trap for this contest.


TEAM 1 2 3 TOT
Tampa Bay 1 0 3 4 (L: N. Khabibulin 1-2-0)
Buffalo 1 2 2 5 (W: M. Biron 12-6-1)
------------------------------------------------------------------------
GOALS:
Tampa Bay: V. Lecavalier (2), C. Dingman, F. Modin
Buffalo: J. Jillson, T. Pyatt, M. Afinogenov, J. Hecht, J.P. Dumont (EN)
------------------------------------------------------------------------
SHOTS: POWERPLAY:
Tampa Bay: 28 Tampa Bay: 0-2
Buffalo: 29 Buffalo: 0-4
------------------------------------------------------------------------
STARS:
1. T. Pyatt (BUF) 1g 1a +2
2. V. Lecavalier (TB) 2g -1
3. B. Campbell (BUF) 2a +1

Tampa came back late to make it close but we prevailed in the end. We got bad news in the first period when stalwart first year player Ivo Ruthemann was stretchered off the ice with a chest injury. He'll miss about two weeks. Keith Primeau will now centre the second line, with Chris Drury moving to left wing and Afinogenov manning the right side. Brian Campbell, much maligned in my tenure, has 6 points in his last three contests and is playing sound defensively. I'm getting a LOT of trade offers for him now but I don't think I'm that anxious to move him right now! ;) Tim Connolly also had two assists in the game.

I also found out after the game that Dmitri Kalinin suffered a contusion to his leg and will be out a few days. I'm going to call up Radoslav Hecl from Rochester (12GP 1g 4a 5pts +2) to take his place.

Sat. November 27, 2004

Sabres defensive prospect Pavel Voroshnin is getting praised in the Russian media for his fine performances with Lada Togliatti. Voroshnin has 16 points in 26 games and a plus/minus rating of +12. I hope to sign him in the summer.

Sun. November 28, 2004: Carolina Hurricanes (6-10-7-1 T-11th) at Buffalo Sabres (13-9-1-0 4th)

We play the Hurricanes for the second time this week. Erik Cole missed the contest earlier in the week due to a shoulder contusion but he should be ready to go tonight. I'll play the same style of game as we did against Tampa. Marco Buhrer gets the start in goal tonight, as I'm going to save Biron for tomorrow night's road tilt against the St. Louis Blues. Radoslav Hecl will team up with Alexei Zhitnik tonight in Dmitri Kalinin's absence. Eric Boulton returns to the lineup after we had to place Ivo Ruthemann on the I.R.


TEAM 1 2 3 TOT
Carolina 0 2 1 3 (W: P. Nurminen 4-1-4)
Buffalo 1 1 0 2 (L: M. Buhrer 1-4-0)
-----------------------------------------------------------
GOALS:
Carolina: E. Cole (2), E. Staal
Buffalo: D. Briere, E. Boulton
-----------------------------------------------------------
SHOTS: POWERPLAY:
Carolina: 35 Carolina: 0-5
Buffalo: 30 Buffalo: 0-1
-----------------------------------------------------------
STARS:
1. E. Cole (CAR) 2g +2
2. E. Staal (CAR) 1g
3. E. Boulton (BUF) 1g +1

The referees made life a living hell for us here, giving them a distinct powerplay advantage. Alexei Zhitnik once again feels "victimized by NHL refs" and is unhappy. Buhrer was a bright spot for us here. We always have trouble with this team, for some reason.

On Tap Next Week:
Monday November 29, 2004: AT ST. LOUIS BLUES
Friday December 3, 2004: AT DETROIT RED WINGS
Saturday December 4, 2004: vs. Anaheim Mighty Ducks

[NoSkillz]

Mon. November 29, 2004: Buffalo Sabres (13-10-1-0 4th) at St. Louis Blues (9-10-3-0 T-8th)

Biron gets the call in net tonight. I've decided to move Keith Primeau to right wing on the Drury-Afinogenov line to help the power forecheck tonight. St. Louis is banged up, with Pavol Demitra and Mike Sillinger likely out of the lineup for tonight's game. Their leading scorer is Scott Pellerin :eek: with 16 points in 22 games. I'll stick with the attacking trap tonight.


TEAM 1 2 3 TOT
Buffalo 1 1 2 4 (L: M. Biron 12-7-1)
St. Louis 3 0 3 6 (W: R. Divis 2-5-0)
-------------------------------------------------------------------
GOALS:
Buffalo: E. Boulton, D. Briere, K. Primeau, C. Drury
St. Louis: D. Weight (2), R. Low, S. Pellerin, D. Karpa, M. Rycroft
-------------------------------------------------------------------
SHOTS: POWERPLAY:
Buffalo: 23 Buffalo: 0-3
St. Louis: 38 St. Louis: 0-4
-------------------------------------------------------------------
STARS:
1. K. Tkachuk (STL) 3a +2
2. D. Weight (STL) 2g +1
3. S. Pellerin (STL) 1g

Just an awful performance the whole way around. Biron was placed on the trading block after this game, as he's put together a string of 5 terrible games in a row. Henrik Tallinder was a -3 and is not playing well enough to keep his spot in the lineup right now. Chris Drury and Keith Primeau both had a goal and an assist in the contest.

Tue. November 30, 2004:

Two injured defensemen returned to practice today: Dmitri Kalinin is ready to return to game action after his shoulder contusion while Jay McKee has resumed non-contact drills.

The club went 8-5-1 during the month of November to move into solid position in the conference. I'm very alarmed at the amount of goals we're allowing, a total even higher than last year. Thankfully, we're scoring even more as well.

Buffalo Sabres Statistics (As of November 30, 2004):

POS PLAYER GP G A PTS +/- PIM PPG SHG GWG
RW Miroslav Satan 25 12 17 29 5 6 1 0 2
C Daniel Briere 25 10 15 25 2 26 4 0 1
LW Taylor Pyatt 25 8 16 24 -2 12 4 0 2
LW Ivo Ruthemann 23 9 12 21 1 4 1 0 0
C Chris Drury 25 9 11 20 5 14 0 0 2
LW Jochen Hecht 25 8 11 19 0 10 0 0 2
RW Ales Kotalik 25 10 6 16 -7 8 5 0 1
RW Maxim Afinogenov 17 8 6 14 1 8 3 0 3
RW J.P. Dumont 20 6 8 14 -6 4 3 0 0
D Jeff Jillson 25 2 12 14 4 12 0 0 0
C Keith Primeau 15 6 6 12 2 14 0 0 0
D Brian Campbell 20 2 7 9 -2 6 0 0 0
D Alexei Zhitnik 25 0 9 9 1 36 0 0 0
D Dmitri Kalinin 23 0 8 8 4 14 0 0 0
D Mathieu Schneider 25 1 7 8 3 2 0 0 0
C Adam Mair 25 3 3 6 0 16 0 0 1
LW Eric Boulton 18 3 1 4 0 52 0 0 0
C *Chris Thorburn 5 1 2 3 -1 0 0 0 0
D Jay McKee 8 0 3 3 -3 14 0 0 0
D Henrik Tallinder 22 1 2 3 -9 0 0 0 0
C Tim Connolly 4 0 2 2 -3 0 0 0 0
RW Milan Bartovic 11 0 2 2 -1 2 0 0 0
D Radoslav Hecl 2 0 0 0 -2 0 0 0 0
C Chris Taylor 4 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0
C Derek Roy 8 0 0 0 -5 6 0 0 0
G *Marco Buhrer 9 0 0 0 - 0 0 0 0
G Martin Biron 20 0 0 0 - 0 0 0 0
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
POS PLAYER GP W L T MIN GA GAA SHO SV%
G *Marco Buhrer 9 1 4 0 412 25 3.64 0 .880
G Martin Biron 20 12 7 1 1094 69 3.78 0 .880

While we're letting in a bunch of goals, a positive thing is that our plus/minus ratings are improving. However, this is just disguising a sudden weakness that we have killing penalties (21st in the NHL now). Plus, our powerplay has been sputtering lately.

NHL Offensive Player of the Month: Anson Carter (LA) 13GP 9g 9a 18pts +3 5PIM
NHL Defensive Player of the Month: Pavel Kubina (TB) 14GP 1g 12a 13pts +9 6PIM
NHL Rookie of the Month: Rostislav Olesz (FLO) 13GP 5g 7a 12pts +1 8PIM

Wed. December 1, 2004:

NHL Offensive Player of the Week: Todd Bertuzzi (VAN) 3GP 2g 6a 8pts +6
NHL Defensive Player of the Week: Ed Jovanovski (VAN) 3GP 1g 1a 2pts +5

Interesting that the board of directors is just "generally satisfied" with my performance as G.M. thus far. We're going to have to step it up!

Thu. December 2, 2004:

I took Brian Campbell off the trading block for now and put Henrik Tallinder on it. He's playing very poorly thus far. I've called up rookie defenseman Dennis Wideman from Rochester and he'll play in Tallinder's place tomorrow night at Joe Louis Arena in his NHL debut versus the Red Wings. Wideman has 6 points in 14 games in Rochester so far this season and is a +7. I've also called up goaltender Ryan Miller, who's gone 6-3-4 with a 2.52 GAA and a .906 S% in Rochester. I plan on Miller playing against the Mighty Ducks on the weekend to get some revenge for his dreadful last preseason perfomance.

Fri. December 3, 2004: Buffalo Sabres (13-11-1-0 5th) at Detroit Red Wings (11-7-7-0 3rd)

Unheralded forward Stacy Roest leads the Wings in scoring with 20 points in 25 games so far. I catch a break considering the fact that top defenseman Niklas Lidstrom will miss this game due to injury. Biron will go in net tonight, with Ryan Miller watching from the press box tonight. We'll play our trapping tactic tonight as well against the skilled Wings.


TEAM 1 2 3 TOT
Buffalo 2 0 1 3 (W: M. Biron 13-7-1)
Detroit 0 0 1 1 (L: J. Grahame 10-7-4)
-----------------------------------------------------------
GOALS:
Buffalo: A. Mair, M. Schneider, J. Hecht
Detroit: B. Shanahan
-----------------------------------------------------------
SHOTS: POWERPLAY:
Buffalo: 33 Buffalo: 0-7
Detroit: 28 Detroit: 1-1
-----------------------------------------------------------
STARS:
1. A. Mair (BUF) 1g +1
2. M. Schneider (DET) 1g 1a +2
3. M. Biron (BUF) 1ga 27 saves

Well, it's a win but I'm really becoming concerned with the powerplay, always a strength during my tenure. I'm going to switch things up in the next few games to see if we can click with different personnel. Biron was very good in his first game after being put on the block. Matt Schneider had a splendid game against his former club.

Sat. December 4, 2004: Mighty Ducks of Anaheim (13-6-5-0 2nd) at Buffalo Sabres (14-11-1-0 4th)

I lost the only game I played against the Ducks 4-3 last year and they're playing very well in 2004. Sergei Fedorov (25 points) and Petr Sykora (23 points) lead the way offensively while J.S. Giguere has played well in goal. Steve Rucchin and Mike LeClerc will both miss the game with injuries. Dennis Wideman will play his second game in a row for the ineffective Henrik Tallinder. Ryan Miller gets his first start in goal on the season in Buffalo.


TEAM 1 2 3 TOT
Anaheim 2 2 2 6 (W: J.S. Giguere 11-5-4)
Buffalo 0 2 2 4 (L: R. Miller 0-1-1)
-------------------------------------------------------------------
GOALS:
Anaheim: T. Brent (2), P. Sykora, V. Prospal, S. Pahlsson, J. Lupol
Buffalo: K. Primeau, T. Pyatt, D. Briere, M. Satan
-------------------------------------------------------------------
SHOTS: POWERPLAY:
Anaheim: 27 Anaheim: 2-4
Buffalo: 28 Buffalo: 1-4
-------------------------------------------------------------------
STARS:
1. D. Kalinin (BUF) 3a +3
2. P. Sykora (ANA) 1g +1
3. T. Brent (ANA) 2g +1

27 shots and 6 goals against. This is becoming really depressing. I'm at a COMPLETE LOSS over what to do with my tactics to better myself defensively. Does anyone out there reading have an idea what to do?? Geez. Kalinin was a monster in this game but what can you do when your goalie lets in EVERYTHING. I disciplined Miller and sent his ass right back down to Rochester. Must not panic...still above .500... :mad:
On Tap Next Week:
Monday December 6, 2004: vs. Florida Panthers
Friday December 10, 2004: vs. Nashville Predators
Sunday December 12, 2004: vs. New Jersey Devils

[NoSkillz]

Mon. December 6, 2004: Florida Panthers (11-8-2-1 T-8th) at Buffalo Sabres (14-12-1-0 T-5th)

Dennis Wideman was sent back to Rochester before the game and Henrik Tallinder gets back into the lineup tonight. Martin Biron is back in the cage tonight.


TEAM 1 2 3 TOT
Florida 2 1 1 4 (W: R. Luongo 10-9-2)
Buffalo 0 0 2 2 (L: M. Biron 13-8-1)
----------------------------------------------------------
GOALS:
Florida: O. Jokinen (2), R. Olesz, J. Kolnik
Buffalo: K. Primeau, T. Connolly
----------------------------------------------------------
SHOTS: POWERPLAY:
Florida: 30 Florida: 1-5
Buffalo: 31 Buffalo: 0-1
----------------------------------------------------------
STARS:
1. O. Jokinen (FLO) 2g +1
2. K. Primeau (BUF) 1g +2
3. R. Olesz (FLO) 1g

Undisciplined play got us in this one. Connolly's goal was shorthanded. Jokinen is an absolute Sabre killer! I just can't find a way to stop him.

Wed. December 8, 2004:

I've been attempting to make a number of trades for New York Islanders goaltender Rick DiPietro, without success. In lineup news, I've made some moves with our forwards in order to balance things out more. Line one sees Briere centring Hecht and Satan, while line two now has Drury in the middle of Pyatt and Afinogenov. Keith Primeau now centres the third line between Connolly and Kotalik and the fourth line is Mair at centre with Boulton and Dumont on the wings. The defense pairings are Kalinin/Zhitnik, Schneider/Jillson and Campbell/Tallinder.

NHL Offensive Player of the Week: Dany Heatley (ATL) 3GP 4g 4a 8pts +3
NHL Defensive Player of the Week: Robert Esche (PHI) 2GP 1-0-1 0.96GAA .961 S%

Fri. December 10, 2004: Nashville Predators (8-15-5-1 13th) at Buffalo Sabres (14-13-1-0 T-6th)

We'll see how my lineup changes work tonight. I'm going with an attacking system coupled with the neutral zone trap. Hard hitting and low pressing as well. Biron gets another start in the nets.


TEAM 1 2 3 TOT
Nashville 0 1 1 2 (L: T. Vokoun 5-12-1)
Buffalo 2 2 3 7 (W: M. Biron 14-8-1)
--------------------------------------------------------------------
GOALS:
Nashville: S. Sullivan, T. Walker
Buffalo: T. Pyatt (2), M. Afinogenov (2), D. Briere (2), T. Connolly
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SHOTS: POWERPLAY:
Nashville: 26 Nashville: 0-1
Buffalo: 40 Buffalo: 0-2
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STARS:
1. M. Afinogenov (BUF) 2g 2a +4
2. T. Pyatt (BUF) 2g 2a +4
3. D. Briere (BUF) 2g +2

Total domination here! The Drury/Pyatt/Afinogenov line was tremendous and Biron played a decent game as well. Good stuff here. I was able to get some extra playing time for the fourth line in this one due to the big lead. Interesting to see what I'll do when Ruthemann is ready to return.

In other league news, Vancouver's Todd Bertuzzi is being lavished with praise by TSN.ca. GM Brian Burke also agrees, saying his recent performances have been spectacular. Yikes! Checking his stats, Bertuzzi's on a 12-game point streak and has 42 points in only 28 games this year. Wow.

Sun. December 12, 2004: New Jersey Devils (17-8-3-0 1st) at Buffalo Sabres (15-13-1-0 T-6th)

The number one team in the conference visits us tonight. Patrik Elias leads the team in goals and points with 14 & 26 respectively while Martin Brodeur continues to man the pipes to the highest standard. My lineup will be unchanged from the Nashville game, although I may tone down my attack for this one.


TEAM 1 2 3 OT TOT
New Jersey 1 0 0 0 1 (T: M. Brodeur 14-7-4)
Buffalo 1 0 0 0 1 (T: M. Biron 14-8-2)
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GOALS:
New Jersey: J. Hrdina
Buffalo: A. Mair
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SHOTS: POWERPLAY:
New Jersey: 26 New Jersey: 0-7
Buffalo: 19 Buffalo: 0-0
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STARS:
1. M. Brodeur (NJ) 18sa
2. M. Biron (BUF) 25sa
3. A. Mair (BUF) 1g +1

What a great hockey game this was!!! I was on the edge of my seat the entire time! Fantastic goaltending on both sides; this was Biron's best performance of the year by far! Mair's goal was shorthanded while TWO MEN DOWN!. Wow!!! The refereeing was awful here, as the Devils had seven powerplays to our zero. I registered a complaint with the NHL head office and they agreed with my assessment so I may get some preferential treatment as I head out west.

On Tap Next Week:
Monday December 13, 2004: AT VANCOUVER CANUCKS
Thursday December 16, 2004: AT PITTSBURGH PENGUINS
Sunday December 19, 2004: vs. New York Islanders

[NoSkillz]

Mon. December 13, 2004: Buffalo Sabres (15-13-2-0 T-5th) at Vancouver Canucks (17-11-1-0 T-4th)

Tough trip out west for one game against the streaking Canucks. The aforementioned Bertuzzi leads the league with goals and points with 23 and 44 respectively. Linemate Markus Naslund leads the NHL in assists with 27. I'll be starting Marco Buhrer in this game to give Biron a bit of a rest. I'll be playing a 'Normal' offensive system as well.


TEAM 1 2 3 OT TOT
Buffalo 1 1 4 0 6 (T: M. Buhrer 1-4-1)
Vancouver 2 3 1 0 6 (T: D. Cloutier 9-8-2)
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GOALS:
Buffalo: M. Satan (3), A. Kotalik (2), E. Boulton
Vancouver: B. Richter, M. Naslund, T. Linden, D. Sedin, T. Bouck, S. Salo
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
SHOTS: POWERPLAY:
Buffalo: 31 Buffalo: 0-4
Vancouver: 44 Vancouver: 3-5
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
STARS:
1. M. Satan (BUF) 3g +2
2. A. Kotalik (BUF) 2g +1
3. T. Bertuzzi (VAN) 2a -1

Announcer Jim Hughson said it best: "What a dramatic comeback by Buffalo!". We scored twice in the last 1:01 of the third period to tie the game up at six and almost won it right at the 60 minute mark as well. Vancouver's powerplay was unstoppable while ours has turned into a huge weakness. We didn't register a chance on our final three opportunities and I'll be working on some new tactics in practice. Satan passed 500 career points in a Sabres uniform with his three goal performance. Unreal comeback!

Tue. December 14, 2004:

Tampa Bay star centre Brad Richards went through season-ending surgery to repair a torn hamstring. He had 20 points in 30 games for the season.

Wed. October 13, 2004:

NHL Offensive Player of the Week: Ilya Kovalchuk (ATL) 3GP 4g 2a 6pts +1
NHL Defensive Player of the Week: Evgeny Nabokov (SJ) 2GP 2-0-0 1.00GAA .969 S%

Thu. December 16, 2004: Buffalo Sabres (15-13-3 6th) at Pittsburgh Penguins (12-11-2-4 T-10th)

Good news to start the day, as Ivo Ruthemann is fully fit from his chest injury after missing two weeks. He'll be slotted back in with Drury and Afinogenov. Shockingly enough, I'm going to scratch J.P. Dumont for the game tonight: he hasn't scored in eight games and is without a point in five. Now that I'm getting healthy, I may have to pull the trigger on a big trade for a defenseman or goalie. For Pittsburgh, Rico Fata leads the team in goal scoring with 14 and points with 26. Former Sabre Mika Noronen shares the goaltending load with Sebastien Caron. Caron will go for the Pens tonight.


TEAM 1 2 3 TOT
Buffalo 1 2 1 4 (W: M. Biron 15-8-2)
Pittsburgh 0 1 0 1 (L: S. Caron 6-7-2)
---------------------------------------------------------
GOALS:
Buffalo: I. Ruthemann (2), M. Afinogenov, C. Drury
Pittsburgh: R. Jackman
---------------------------------------------------------
SHOTS: POWERPLAY:
Buffalo: 31 Buffalo: 1-7
Pittsburgh: 33 Pittsburgh: 0-1
---------------------------------------------------------
STARS:
1. I. Ruthemann (BUF) 2g 1a +2
2. C. Drury (BUF) 1g 1a +2
3. M. Biron (BUF) 1ga 32sa

Ruthemann played like he hadn't missed any games; brilliant! Powerplay was better but still needs work. Biron has been tremendous ever since I put him on the trade block, coming up with another huge performance here. We seem to be hitting our stride right now, playing excellent 5-on-5 hockey.

Sat. December 18, 2004:

Prospect Louis-Philippe Martin continues to get praised for his play in the QMJHL with Drummondville this season. Martin is up to 56 points in 36 games and lies in 5th in the 'Q' in scoring. Of course, Rimouski C/W Sidney Crosby is at the top with 80 points and 40 goals in only 37 games!

Sun. December 19, 2004: New York Islanders (12-12-6-0 T-12th) at Buffalo Sabres (16-13-3-0 T-3rd)

We're now tied for the Northeast Division lead with Boston and face the pesky Islanders, who always give our club trouble. Our fans won't be able to pick on leading point scorer Mike Peca tonight, as he's injured at the moment. In his absence, the scoring will likely come from Mariusz Czerkawski, who leads the club with 12 goals. Rick DiPietro and Garth Snow share the goaltending duties. Snow, who won the Vezina Trophy last year, is struggling this year.

For the Sabres, a few changes. Dumont will return to the lineup tonight to face the team that drafted him and I'm scratching Eric Boulton. Dumont will play the fourth line with Primeau and Mair and also see time on the powerplay. Tim Connolly moves up to centre Pyatt and Kotalik. Biron will start again in goal and hopefully continue his excellent recent form.


TEAM 1 2 3 OT TOT
NY Islanders 1 3 1 0 5 (T: R. DiPietro 8-5-4)
Buffalo 0 2 3 0 5 (T: M. Biron 15-8-3
--------------------------------------------------------------------
GOALS:
NY Islanders: D. Scatchard (3), M. Czerkawski, P. Trnka
Buffalo: M. Afinogenov, I. Ruthemann, J. Hecht, J. Jillson, C. Drury
--------------------------------------------------------------------
SHOTS: POWERPLAY:
NY Islanders: 23 NY Islanders: 1-4
Buffalo: 33 Buffalo: 2-8
--------------------------------------------------------------------
STARS:
1. D. Scatchard (NYI) 3g 1a +4
2. I. Ruthemann (BUF) 1g 2a +1
3. P. Trnka (NYI) 1g 1a +1

We were down 4-0 at one point in the second period but went to an attacking style with great success. We actually came all the way back and led 5-4 before Scatchard completed his amazing game with a shorthanded tally with only 3 minutes left in regulation. Biron obviously wasn't sharp. J.P. Dumont was a -4; just disgusting for a fourth line player. I think I know who's trade bait...and I've always liked the guy.

On Tap Next Week:
Thursday December 23, 2004: vs. Ottawa Senators
Sunday December 26, 2004: vs. Atlanta Thrashers