The Seventh Sign
Dominik Hasek can't be going around pulling groins, least of all
his own.
The Sabres careened from first overall in the Conference to being
almost on the playoff bubble, but were showing signs of recovery
before Hasek hurt himself in an OT loss to the Leafs.
The bright side is that the injury doesn't appear to be serious,
and that the team has continued its improved play in the two
games started by Dwayne "Maytag" Roloson.
Hasek will likely sit out the team's next game against the
always-humorous Calgary Flames and be reevaluated from there.
Without Hasek, the team was workmanlike in its dispatching the
Sharks, and matched the Red Wings and Slava Kozlov goal-for-goal
in a 4-4 tie.
Righting the Ship
With only an overtime loss since we last spoke, things began
looking up again for the free-falling Sabres with a hard-fought
1-1 tie in Kanata against the suddenly distant Ottawa Senators on
the ninth, followed by a 5-2 pasting of the Canadiens two nights
later. The Montreal game was the first in ten games when the
Sabres scored the first goal. Snipers Paul Kruse (2), Randy
Cunneyworth and Mike Wilson snapped out of... well, career-long
goal scoring slumps in the game.
A lackadaisical tie against the Island was followed by a
lackadaisical first two periods against Carolina. The Sabres
came to play in period three, though, pouring on 16 shots against
Arturs Irbe and pulling out the win on a Michael Peca goal.
The Leafs' first win in Buffalo in eight years was the result of
an uncharacteristic behind-the-net boo-boo by Darryl Shannon, who
was stripped by Steve Thomas behind the net and watched as Mats
Sundin potted the overtime game-winner.
Rocking the Boat
Amidst success on the ice, as the Matt Barnaby situation
continued to fester, more pus oozed from under the surface of the
open sores on the underbelly of the organization. Rumors of a
grumbling amongst players about Derek Plante's diminished role on
the team. Rob Ray said to have broken some of Barnaby's teeth.
Michal Grosek, once benched for a me-first attitude, reportedly
asking coach Lindy Ruff to separate him from Miro Satan's line
because Satan is a "puck hog" (see "Satan Named Player of the
Week," below).
Meanwhile, Barnaby is still routinely a healthy scratch, but Doug
Gilmour played in the last game at Maple Leaf Gardens and Matt's
still here. The rumor making the rounds was that the Sabres and
Blackhawks had agreed to a swap involving the two players, to be
consummated after the former Leaf great got a chance to close out
his old barn. Did someone mention Barnes? Stu Barnes is still
with the Pittsburgh Penguins, too.
Big Pete Arrives
Quite an intense fortnight off the ice for the boys, punctuated
nicely by the recall from Rochester of somebody with a name like
Jean-Luc Grand-Pierre. We're reminded of how Mike Foligno used
to tease Gil Perreault about Bert's success being a result of his
Italian heritage.
Grand-Pierre was the actual warm body John Muckler got for Yuri
Khmylev three years ago. In his first two games with the Sabres,
he got himself noticed with some Korab-like hits and some
Schoenfeld-ish clearing of the crease. The NHL game didn't
appear to be too fast for the big guy, either. It'll be fun
watching Big Pete develop.
Sarich Comes and Goes
Super-prospect Cory Sarich's cup of coffee in Buffalo had "shake
up the roster" and "dangle the kid a carrot" and "for a good time
call Krista Haas" written all over it, but it provided a valuable
peak into the future. Case in point, Game One of the Sarich
(pronounced like a Beatle saying "saw itch") Era featured the
first-year pro taking a regular turn late in regulation and in
overtime of a 1-1 tie in a critically important division game.
Other than yanking down Andreas Johansson as he burned by him
down the right wing in the second period, Sarich appeared
anything but out of place on NHL ice. You never know, it might
be an omen of things to come that Sarich was not penalized on the
play, but Johansson was given a misconduct for overemphasizing
that point.
Satan Named Player of the Week
Miro Satan was named NHL Player of the Week in the midst of a
six-game goal scoring streak. Satan netted four and racked up a
plus-8 during the week. Satan could have had two to four more if
not for those goldang goal posts, especially against Toronto.
Ray a Swell Guy
Rob Ray, one of our all-time favorite players, was awarded a
grant of $25,000 from the NHL Foundation as winner of the
Foundation's annual award for outstanding community service on
February 17. Ray will allocate the award among the charitable
pursuits of his choice. Among those he's been involved in for
years are Roswell Park, Children's Hospital, the March of Dimes
and Make-A-Wish Foundation of WNY. Ray also funds an annual
$8,000 college scholarship in the area and "Rob Ray's Christmas
Program," which provides food, clothing and toys to needy
families around the holidays.
Ray celebrated the award by beating the snot out of Tie Domi
later that evening.
