Ryan Miller slides across his crease to stop a shot by New Jersey’s Steve Sullivan on Sunday. ©2013, Dan Hickling, Olean Times HeraldBUFFALO – Not long ago, the Sabres might’ve wilted under the intense pressure, lost a game like Sunday’s 3-2 shootout win over the freefalling New Jersey Devils.
For at least 15 minutes – from late in the first period until midway through the game – the Devils hemmed the Sabres in their own zone, pumping chance after chance on goalie Ryan Miller as they sustained almost constant pressure.
It looked like the reeling Devils enjoyed a marathon power play.
The 18,703 fans inside …
Jochen Hecht has played 10 seasons with the Sabres. ©2013, Dan Hickling, Olean Times HeraldBUFFALO – Thirty-one days ago, it appeared Jochen Hecht’s long career here could be ending. In his fifth game as interim coach, Ron Rolston scratched the versatile forward, the first benching of his 10-season Sabres career. Rolston had already slashed the German’s minutes dramatically.
Hecht, a favorite of former coach Lindy Ruff, was seething.
But Rolston complimented Hecht’s play following the scratch, saying the German was only benched so the Sabres could add some toughness.
Hecht has played all 14 games since then. …
Adam Pardy should stay in the NHL the rest of this season. ©2013, Dan Hickling, Olean Times HeraldBUFFALO – There are some perks to hotel life, Adam Pardy said. Each day, a maid makes his bed and cleans his room. That’s not a bad thing, right?
For three months, the defenseman has been living out of a suitcase while shuttling between the Sabres and the Rochester Americans, an experience the 28-year-old chalks up to being “one of those years.”
“It (stinks), but it is what it is,” Pardy said about hotel living Saturday after the Sabres prepared for tonight’s …
Thomas Vanek will miss his sixth straight game tonight. ©2013, Dan Hickling, Olean Times HeraldBUFFALO – Forget about the other seven or eight teams battling for that final Eastern Conference playoff berth. The 12th-place Sabres simply need to keep winning games and mind their own business.
“We’ve been same story, focused on the game in front of us like a lot of teams are doing in our situation, where they got to get points out of every game to make the playoffs,” interim coach Ron Rolston said this morning after the Sabres prepared for tonight’s …
Marcus Foligno got behind Ottawa's Cory Conacher (89) Friday before sitting late. ©2013, Dan Hickling, Olean Times HeraldBUFFALO – Why did interim coach Ron Rolston bench Marcus Foligno late Friday in the Sabres’ 4-2 win over the Ottawa Senators?
The rookie winger received only two shifts during the third period for 30 total seconds. On Foligno’s first shift, Eric Gryba put Ottawa up 2-1.
Foligno played two seconds the rest of the game.
“He just wasn’t moving his feet as much as he should be,” Rolston said this afternoon inside the First Niagara Center.
Rolston also said: “Right now, we have …
Ville Leino missed the first 27 games this season. ©2013, Dan Hickling, Olean Times HeraldBUFFALO – Sabres winger Ville Leino, out the last three games with what interim coach Ron Rolston called an upper body injury, is out indefinitely.
Rolston said Leino’s injury doesn’t require surgery.
While Rolston wouldn’t speculate, with only 10 games left, the Finn’s season could be over.
A hip injury sidelined Leino the first 27 games this season.
Meanwhile, winger Thomas Vanek practiced again today but will likely miss Sunday’s game against New Jersey.
“He is getting better, yeah, but I don’t think he’ll be …
Luke Adam (right) celebrates his first-period goal Friday as Brian Flynn congratulates him. ©2013, Dan Hickling, Olean Times HeraldBUFFALO – On Friday morning, hours before their 4-2 victory over the Ottawa Senators, new assistant captain Steve Ott promised the Sabres would keep fighting for that unlikely playoff berth until the bitter end.
Two days after management jettisoned captain Jason Pominville at the trade deadline with the message the Sabres’ plans have shifted to the future, players emphatically say they’re still focused on the present.
They want to win now.
Ten games remain for the 12th-place Sabres, who trail the eighth-place New …
Steve Ott skates this morning. ©2013, Dan Hickling, Olean Times HeraldBUFFALO – Steve Ott said this morning the captaincy isn’t on his radar. The gritty winger, arguably the Sabres’ biggest heart-and-soul-player, received an assistant captaincy for the rest of the season after captain Jason Pominville was traded Wednesday.
Getting the “C” next year seems like a natural progression for popular 30-year-old veteran.
“I truly want to just be a hockey player on this team,” Ott said inside the First Niagara Center after preparing for tonight’s game against the Ottawa Senators.
Still, Ott was …
Thomas Vanek drove Jason Pominville to the airport Thursday morning. ©2013, Dan Hickling, Olean Times HeraldBUFFALO – Darcy Regier’s strong words stuck with Thomas Vanek. Prior to Saturday, the general manager had never publicly made any of his Sabres available to other teams during his long tenure. At that point, four days before trade deadline, the slick winger knew major changes could hit the Sabres.
Sure enough, Regier dealt captain Jason Pominville to the Minnesota Wild on Wednesday for two prospects and two draft picks.
It could just be the first of several major moves.
“Now with Jason …
Jason Pominville played his first game with the Wild on Thursday. ©2013, DAn Hickling, Olean Times HeraldBUFFALO – Jason Pominville felt his 11-year run with the Sabres organization could be ending. Before Wednesday’s trade deadline, the struggling team asked its captain to submit a list of eight clubs he could refuse a trade to. The Sabres, a colossal disappointment this season, seemed ripe for a major shakeup.
Still, when Sabres general manager Darcy Regier called Wednesday and said he had been traded to Minnesota, the star winger was shocked.
“It’s still a shock,” Pominville told the Minneapolis Star-Tribune …