Sabres Edge

By John Vogl

As the Penguins get set to host the Senators tonight in Game Two, plenty of heads are turning toward Cory Conacher.

The Canisius product was a pest toward the Penguins in Game One, picking up three minors to bring his team-high total to 29 penalty minutes. He also leads the Sens with three goals.

NHL.com wrote about him heading into the second game, and here's a sampling of quotes from the story:

By John Vogl

Lindy Ruff is coming home without a medal. Jhonas Enroth could still win one in his homeland.

Enroth backstopped Sweden to a 3-2 shootout victory over Canada this afternoon in the quarterfinals of the world championships. Enroth made 39 saves during the game and stopped three of four attempts in the shootout to send the co-hosts to the semifinals.

The setback eliminates Ruff-coached Canada from medal contention.

By John Vogl

Alex Ovechkin couldn't help Russia overcome a dominant American attack today as the big games at the hockey world championships began.

The United States routed Russia, 8-3, in the opening quarterfinal in Helsinki, Finland. Colorado's Paul Stastny scored twice and added two assists to lead the Americans, who advanced to the semifinals.

Ovechkin arrived in Finland on Wednesday after his Washington Capitals were eliminated, and he scored once and added an assist.

The other quarterfinal games today are: Switzerland against Czech Republic; Finland versus Slovakia; and Canada against Sweden.

By Mike Harrington

This one is making the rounds this afternoon, courtesy of NESN with a boost from CBS Sports' Eye on Hockey blog. We've seen a couple of these before, but this one is even more melodramatic.

NESN has a tiny camera in its TD Garden booth trained on wacko Bruins play-by-play guy Jack Edwards, and it captured this over-the-top reaction from Edwards to Patrice Bergeron's overtime goal in Game Seven against the Leafs Monday night.

Close your eyes and listen and it's actually a pretty good call but Edwards, clearly knowing the camera is there, added some major mustard to his hot dogging too.

By John Vogl

Jim Roque, the head coach at Lake Superior State, has known Ron Rolston since at least 1990, when they were both assistant coaches at the college. They're friends but they are not co-workers again, Roque told The Buffalo News by phone today, refuting a report that he's set to become one of Rolston's assistants on the Sabres.

"I don’t know how that rumor got started," Roque said. "I feel bad that it’s out there. Ron and I are good friends, but he has not offered me any job and I have not pursued a job with him. I talked to him on the weekend to congratulate him, and that’s all I got going with Ron right now."

By John Vogl

One week ago, Sabres coach Ron Rolston figured it would take about a week to assemble a staff of assistants. He fired Lindy Ruff-holdovers James Patrick and Kevyn Adams on Thursday. Chadd Cassidy, who has been Rolston's assistant since 2006, is expected to get one of the jobs.

Here's a look at Rolston's other assistants from his time at USA Hockey.

By John Vogl

The first round of the NHL playoffs is over, and it ended in shocking fashion.

Toronto blew a three-goal lead in the final 10 minutes of Game Seven, allowing Boston to rally and win in overtime, 5-4, to advance to the second round. No team – not one – had ever blown that big of lead in the third period of a seventh game in NHL playoff history, writes Chris Johnston.

“That’s one thing you’re going to remember probably for the rest of your life," Bruins defenseman Johnny Boychuck said in a story by Bruce Arthur.

By John Vogl

Cody Hodgson saw goal lights flashing at both ends of the rink all season, as the story in Sunday's paper showed. He created goals with the best of them, and he gave them up with the worst.

Among his stats was a .895 save percentage for the Sabres' goaltenders when he skated five-on-five. That ranked last on the Sabres and 589th of the 689 players who appeared in at least 10 games, according to BehindTheNet.ca.

Here are the goalies' save percentages for all the Sabres when they skated five-on-five. Keep in mind that fourth-line players typically skate against fourth-line players while the top guys skate against snipers. But that doesn't change the fact 589 out of 689 is not very good.

     1     MATT ELLIS C     1.000    
    2     LUKE ADAM LW     .966    
    3     JOHN SCOTT D    . 957    
    4     PATRICK KALETA RW     .949    
    5     STEVE OTT C     .949    
    6     JOCHEN HECHT LW     .948    
    7     CHAD RUHWEDEL D     .947    
    8     ADAM PARDY D     .945    
    9     VILLE LEINO LW     .944    
    10     KEVIN PORTER C     .944    
    11     BRIAN FLYNN C     .943    
    12     NATHAN GERBE C     .937    
    13     MIKE WEBER D     .934    
    14     ANDREJ SEKERA D     .928    
    15     CHRISTIAN EHRHOFF D .926    
    16     ALEXANDER SULZER D .926    
    17     MIKHAIL GRIGORENKO C     .924    
    18     MARK PYSYK D     .923    
    19     TYLER ENNIS C     .918    
    20     DREW STAFFORD RW     .911    
    21     TYLER MYERS D     .909    
    22     THOMAS VANEK LW     .901    
    23     MARCUS FOLIGNO LW     .899    
    24     CODY HODGSON C     .895    
    25     CODY MCCORMICK RW     .895    

By Mike Harrington

TORONTO -- It was a wild night in the Air Canada Centre and outside in Maple Leaf Square as the Leafs posted a 2-1 win over the Boston Bruins to force Game Seven Monday night in TD Garden.

Be sure to read my column in Monday's editions of The News about the great atmosphere surrounding Game Six, which was the Leafs' first home playoff win since 2004 and first against Boston since 1959 (!). Click the two videos above for how things looked outside when the two goals were scored.

Here are some other random thoughts I have after Game Six:

By Mike Harrington

TORONTO -- We're on hand at the Air Canada Centre for Game Six of the Leafs-Bruins series (tonight at 7:30) and I'm wondering if we're way-way-way overdue for one of those into-the-night marathon playoff games that people talk about for a long time.

Last night's Pittsburgh-Islanders game was the 16th overtime contest of the first round -- tying the record for a round set last year. Former East Amherst product Brooks Orpik scored the game winner at 7:48 and you can watch the video above.

But none of the 16 games have gone past the first OT. Only two have gone past 15 minutes and just five have gone past 10 minutes (Boston's David Krejci scored at 13:06 to win Game Four of this series here on Wednesday night. Five have lasted less than three minutes. 

The average in total is just a shade over eight minutes. Sure, there's some great players on the ice but I can say no superstar has scored an OT goal yet. I point to bad goaltending and there's been plenty of it in the postseason so far. We'll see what happens here tonight, and whether Tuukka Rask and James Reimer can stretch a tie game deep into the night.

News Sports Reporter Mike Harrington filled in for Jerry Sullivan Friday on the "Bucky & Sully Show." Harrington and Bucky discussed the Sabres' credibility and the NHL draft in the segment below:

See more highlights from Friday's show here.

News Sports Reporter Mike Harrington filled in for Jerry Sullivan Friday on the "Bucky & Sully Show." Here's what Harrington had to say about the Sabres season-end news conference:

See more highlights from Friday's show here.

By Mike Harrington

Updates from the IIHF World Championships in Sweden and Finland: 

Thomas Vanek has team-highs of three goals and 20 shots on goal for Austria. The Aussies beat Slovakia in a shootout, with Vanek scoring the decisive goal. Christian Ehrhoff has been the workhorse for Germany, averaging 29:31 per game, while Andrej Sekera has done likewise for Slovakia at 24:55. Jhonas Enroth has a 1.76 goals-against average in the nets for Sweden.

In the standings -- go to the bottom of the page at this link -- Lindy Ruff-coached Team Canada has the tourney's best record at 4-0-1 for 13 points (losing only to Switzerland in a shootout). Finland leads the other group with 11 points. Team USA has nine points, tied with Russia and two behind the Finns.

Meanwhile, Rochester Amerks center Zemgus Girgensons, the Sabres' second first-round pick last June, has been suspended for one game for a butt-ending violation and will miss Latvia's game Saturday against Germany. The incident occurred during Thursday's 5-3 win over Slovakia.

By John Vogl

Archrivals Sidney Crosby and Alex Ovechkin are in another showdown. This time, John Tavares has joined as the third man in.

The NHL announced the three finalists for the Hart Trophy this morning, and the MVP candidates are Pittsburgh's Crosby, Washington's Ovechkin and the Islanders' Tavares. Voting was conducted by the Professional Hockey Writers' Association at the conclusion of the regular season, and the winner will be announced during the Stanley Cup finals.

(For the record, the top three on the five-man ballot submitted by me, in order, were Ovechkin, Crosby, Tavares.)

After all three conclude the playoffs and the MVP race, they can start getting ready for the 2014 Olympics.

 

By John Vogl

James Patrick has been in Buffalo since 1998. He played for the Sabres in the Stanley Cup finals. He was an assistant coach when they won the Presidents' Trophy in 2007.

He'll always cherish his time, but it's over now as he and fellow assistant Kevyn Adams have been fired by Ron Rolston. They were holdovers from the staff of Lindy Ruff, and their departures were expected when Rolston had the interim tag removed from his coaching title this week.

"I was lucky to be here for 14 years," Patrick said by phone. "I love Buffalo and I love the Sabres. I was just so lucky to be able to work with great people, especially Lindy. To me, Lindy was the spirit and heart and soul of the Sabres, and to learn from him and work with him was such a great experience."

The 49-year-old said he plans to continue coaching.

The Sabres ranked 29th in power-play efficiency this season and 26th in penalty killing. They also lose 1,820 games of NHL experience with the loss of Patrick and Adams.

"It allows you to know all the situations that players are going through," Patrick said, "from young, naive, inexperienced players to older players still trying to hang on and can sometimes lack confidence but can still be real good, effective players. I guess what Kevyn and I can always relate to is we know exactly what they’re going through in all those situations."

By John Vogl

The NHL has announced the three finalists for the Vezina Trophy, and for the first time all three goaltenders are from Europe.

The Rangers' Henrik Lundqvist (Sweden), San Jose's Antti Niemi (Finland) and Columbus' Sergei Bobrovsky (Russia) are in the running to be named top goalie, as voted on by the league's general managers.

Bobrovsky is the favorite after leading the surprising Blue Jackets to the cusp of the playoffs. He was 21-11-6 with a 2.00 goals-against average and .932 save percentage. He'd become the first Russian to win the award.

Lundqvist won last year and is a finalist for the fifth time.

The first European Vezina winner was Philadelphia's Pelle Lindbergh (Sweden) in 1985. Dominik Hasek (Czech Republic) has won the most with six.

By Mike Harrington

I did some number-crunching today on the Sabres' stats under Lindy Ruff and the comparable numbers under Ron Rolston and found no real dramatic changes. A bad hockey team under the old coach was still a pretty bad hockey team at times under the new one.

Games were a little tighter under Rolston, who seemed to pull back on some of Ruff's four-in-the-zone rushes with defenseman pinching up. Buffalo's goals-for dropped a little but it's goals-against came down by more than half a goal under Rolston, so that was good.

The Sabres simply didn't have the puck enough by any measure, whether you're looking at traditional stats, new-wave analytics or the basic eye test that resulted in fan boos. Opponents average 33.5 shots per game against Ruff's Sabres and 33.5 shots per game against Rolston's. Odd. The Sabres were last in the league in shots against.

John Vogl and Mike Harrington report from First Niagara Center where on May 7 the Sabres named interim coach Ron Rolston the team's permanent head coach.

Earlier today, Sabres General Manager Darcy Regier named Ron Rolston as the team's permanent coach. Watch a news conference with Rolston here when it begins at 11 a.m. today:

By John Vogl

Ron Rolston really wanted to see what he could do in a normal NHL season. This truncated lockout year deprived teams of practice and teaching time, two things Rolston feels he can do really well. Following the season finale, he lamented the inability to do them.

He'll get his chance now.

The Sabres have removed the interim tag for Rolston, who was named the team's permanent head coach this morning.

General Manager Darcy Regier and Rolston will make a formal announcement at an 11 a.m. news conference in First Niagara Center.

Rolston, who took over for Lindy Ruff on Feb. 20, went 15-11-5 with the Sabres. They were tied for the youngest team in the NHL at various points in the season, and they are likely to retain that title next season.

Rolston came into the organization with a reputation for being a teacher after a long stint with the U.S. National Team Development Program, and the club will need an instructor for the young players.

The 46-year-old is the 16th head coach in team history. A big question revolves around his assistants.

The Sabres promoted Rolston from Rochester to replace Ruff, but they kept all of the longtime coach's assistants, notably James Patrick, Teppo Numminen, Kevyn Adams and Jim Corsi. Rolston's assistants remained in Rochester, with Chadd Cassidy assuming the interim head role with the Amerks.

Rolston may want to surround himself with coaches he knows.

Rolston was under contract with the organization through at least the end of June, so the Sabres could have taken more time for a coaching search. It's unclear whether they interviewed anyone. A representative for Patrick Roy said the Hall of Fame goaltender and junior coaching prospect said Monday he was not contacted.

Watch live video of the Sabres' press conference here at 11 a.m.

By John Vogl

The Sabres are still without a permanent coach, but it appears Patrick Roy is not in the sights of General Manager Darcy Regier at the moment.

Roy, the Hall of Fame goaltender who is coach, GM and co-owner of the Quebec Remparts, is a much-discussed choice to become a coach in the NHL. But apparently that discussion is only among fans and media.

By John Vogl

NHL awards season has begun.

The league has announced the finalists for the Calder Trophy, given annually to the Rookie of the Year. The three candidates are Brendan Gallagher of Montreal, Jonathan Huberdeau of Florida and Brandon Saad of Chicago.

Voting, done by the Professional Hockey Writers' Association, has already been completed. (For the record, Gallagher was the top choice on my ballot.) The winners of all the awards will be announced during the Stanley Cup finals. The league's annual award show got axed because of the lockout but will return to Las Vegas next season.

The Sabres are expected to get shut out of the award process for the third straight season. In 2010, Ryan Miller won the Vezina Trophy and the Foundation Player Award, and Tyler Myers won the Calder.

 

 

By John Vogl

Darcy Regier will announce Ron Rolston's fate in the near future, the Sabres' general manager said today.

Regier and Rolston met earlier this week about whether to remove Rolston's tag of interim coach. Rolston went 15-11-5 after taking over for Lindy Ruff in February.

"No decisions yet," Regier told reporters in Rochester as part of the Amerks' locker clean-out day. "Fairly soon in the case of the head coach in Buffalo, and then Rochester will follow. Those are conversations we’re going to have."

Regier again said the team is interested in moving up from the eighth spot in the draft.

"I have talked to the teams that are in front of us, or most of them, and if we’re in a position to move up it’s something that we would entertain doing," Regier said, "but we also feel this is a deep draft."

News Sports Columnists Bucky Gleason and Jerry Sullivan discuss the Sabres' heated, end-of-season news conference during the live show.

 

By John Vogl

Darcy Regier has made it clear he wants to move up in the draft. The Sabres hold the No. 8 overall pick, and the general manager has made calls to teams that are picking in front of Buffalo.

It will be a chore trying to convince a fellow GM to deal, based on history.

In the 25 drafts since 1988, the teams holding the eighth pick have moved up just twice. In both trades, the team had to give up a second-round pick to jump just a few spots.

It was definitely worth it.

By John Vogl

Despite a key talking point lately, it is in fact about the playoffs. It's the best hockey of the year, and players build or enhance their reputations during the postseason.

Zemgus Girgensons sure did.

The 19-year-old had an non-descript regular season in Rochester, but he was the Amerks' best player as the team lost all three games to Toronto. (Read all about him here.)

“Best player on the team. Best player on the ice,” said Amerks forward Cody McCormick, the former Sabres tough guy who was no slouch himself against the Marlies.

By Mike Harrington

I'm not going to go all Jim Mora on you and ask what playoffs are. After all, your "suffering" is just beginning.

But the Stanley Cup playoffs did, in fact, start this week and that means CBC's annual montage to get your blood flowing. As usual, the folks north of the border did an incredible job.

This one has gone all over the Internet the last couple days but since I don't get CBC (Verizon FIOS, work on that!!!), I had not seen it until yesterday.

Great stuff. Campbell-Umberger makes it. So does an old black & white interview with Tim Horton at 2:20. And Chills when you hear the voices of the likes of Danny Gallivan and Foster Hewitt. (Don't know? Google 'em, kids)

By John Vogl

The Amerks host Toronto tonight in Game Three of their playoff series, and Rochester will try to avoid getting swept in the best-of-five. The Amerks will again turn to David Leggio in net after Matt Hackett started Game Two.

While I was in Rochester on Tuesday, Kevin Oklobzija of the Democrat and Chronicle asked Leggio about the team's dressing-room discussions in an attempt to gauge the Amerks' mind-set. He got an answer no one there is likely to forget. Take a listen below.

By John Vogl

ROCHESTER -- The Sabres' season is done, and their minor-league club can't afford another loss. Rochester is in a 2-0 hole to the Toronto Marlies, and Game Three of the best-of-five series is Wednesday night in Rochester.

Though the team is in trouble, the prospects are getting rave reviews from Amerks coach Chadd Cassidy. Here are his thoughts from today on forward Zemgus Girgensons, selected in the first round last year, and center Johan Larsson and goalie Matt Hackett, who were acquired in the trade that sent Jason Pominville to Minnesota.

 

By Mike Harrington

As you would surmise, I have been deluged with comments/questions/criticisms/attaboys/epithets and everything in between in the wake of yesterday's Sabres season-ending press conference. I read them all and regular followers of my Twitter feed know I do my best to answer as many legitimate requests/opinions as possible.

In this case, however,  that's pretty much impossible. But there have been many solid questions, many repeated times over, that it's probably best to answer them here. Some thoughts in no particular order:

---1). Ticket talk -- The No. 1 question people wanted asked was obviously the status of Darcy Regier and it was the first question asked and answered. By far the No. 2 inquiry was to demand answers about what in the world the Sabres were doing with a ticket price hike being announced in the face of a non-playoff year -- and with letters about the details arriving on Fan Appreciation Day.

After the presser, I got all kinds of crazy comments about people wanting to know why so much time was spent on tickets! Say what? The first thought is those people must not be ticket holders. The second is that Ted Black tied reasoning to the NHL CBA and the team was harshly criticized Sunday by the New York Post. We had similar concerns but held them until we could ask Black about them Monday. Black's insistence that the Sabres needed to qualify for revenue sharing brought more follow-up questions because it flew in the face of the owner's long-stated platform (since the owner doesn't speak to the media and thus the fans, I'm omitting his name here).

By John Vogl

Darcy Regier says he understands that Sabres fans have suffered. He's willing to bet they'd be OK with suffering more if the pain results in a Stanley Cup.

The Sabres' bet is that Regier is the one who can bring that championship.

Regier and team President Ted Black wrapped up the 2013 season today with a news conference in First Niagara Center. As they move toward next season, Black made it clear the Sabres will do so with Regier in the general manager's chair, which he's sat in since 1997.

"I don’t take any of this for granted in any way," Regier said. "I’m extremely grateful, not just for this opportunity but for being here even on a day like today; this is great. The reality of it is if I didn’t have the confidence that I in the general manager’s position, along with the people I work with, could accomplish building a Stanley Cup winner, I wouldn’t be here."

By John Vogl

The shortened, 48-game season is over, and 16 teams are set to compete for the Stanley Cup. The playoffs begin Tuesday, and the matchups (as always) could be intriguing.

There's an Original Six showdown as Boston meets Toronto, which has had two lockouts and no playoff games since 2004. Neighbors Montreal and Ottawa will face off. Perennial contenders/bridesmaids San Jose and Vancouver are set to meet.

Here are the matchups, and pick the winners.

By John Vogl

The Sabres want to be viewed as a winning, first-class organization. In reality, they are a lower-class club over the last decade-plus and a lower-middle-class team during the past six years.

The Sabres have made the postseason just twice in six seasons and only four times in the last 11. They are in the bottom nine of the NHL during the 11-year slide, and they are in the bottom 13 of the league during the last half-dozen seasons.

Here’s how it breaks down:

*During the past 11 seasons, only five teams have made fewer postseason appearances than the Sabres – Columbus, Florida and Winnipeg/Atlanta (one each), Edmonton (two) and Carolina (three). The Sabres’ four visits are equal to Minnesota, Phoenix and Toronto.

*During the past six seasons, only seven teams have made fewer postseason appearances than Buffalo – Edmonton (zero) and Carolina, Columbus, Florida, the New York Islanders, Toronto and Winnipeg/Atlanta (one each).

The Sabres’ two visits are equal to Calgary, Colorado, Dallas, Minnesota and Tampa Bay.

Here's each team, in alphabetical order, with their rate of making the playoffs since 2007-08 and 2001-02:

Anaheim 4 of 6, 7 of 11

Boston 6 of 6, 9 of 11

Buffalo 2 of 6, 4 of 11

Calgary 2 of 6, 5 of 11

Carolina 1 of 6, 3 of 11

Chicago 5 of 6, 6 of 11

Colorado 2 of 6, 6 of 11

Columbus 1 of 6, 1 of 11

Dallas 2 of 6, 5 of 11

Detroit 6 of 6, 11 of 11

Edmonton 0 of 6, 2 of 11

Florida 1 of 6, 1 of 11

Los Angeles 4 of 6, 5 of 11

Minnesota 2 of 6, 4 of 11

Montreal 5 of 6, 8 of 11

Nashville 4 of 6, 7 of 11

New Jersey 4 of 6, 9 of 11

Islanders 1 of 6, 5 of 11

Rangers 5 of 6, 7 of 11

Ottawa 4 of 6, 9 of 11

Philadelphia 5 of 6, 9 of 11

Phoenix 3 of 6, 4 of 11

Pittsburgh 6 of 6, 7 of 11

San Jose 6 of 6, 10 of 11

St. Louis 3 of 6, 6 of 11

Tampa Bay 2 of 6, 5 of 11

Toronto 1 of 6, 4 of 11

Vancouver 5 of 6, 9 of 11

Washington 6 of 6, 7 of 11

Winnipeg 1 of 6, 1 of 11

By Mike Harrington

Saturday night's games gave the Sabres a better handle on their status for the June 30 draft. Philadelphia's win at Ottawa dropped Buffalo to 12th in the East and 23rd overall in the NHL, so that means the Sabres will likely pick eighth.

The order could change if a) Buffalo takes advantage of its 3.6 percent chance at winning the top pick in Monday's draft lottery to leapfrog to No. 1; or b) slips to ninth if one of the teams below it on the draft list beats even worse odds to claim No. 1. 

The Sabres also own Minnesota's No. 1 pick in the Jason Pominville trade but the Wild will not be in the draft lottery, as they are going to the playoffs after Saturday's 3-1 win at Colorado that eliminated feisty Columbus. The BlueJackets scored three goals in the third period to beat Nashville, 3-1, but finished ninth in the West.

Minnesota's pick will likely be around No. 15-16 but the order of playoff teams isn't finalized until the playoffs are complete.

Florida, with the worst record in the NHL, has a 25 percent chance of winning the lottery. No. 2 Colorado is at 18.8 percent, followed by Tampa Bay (14.2) and Nashville (10.7). No one else is over a 10 percent chance.

Mike Harrington and Bucky Gleason give their thoughts on Sabres' locker cleanout day, including the uncertain status of Ryan Miller and Thomas Vanek:

By Mike Harrington

The Sabres were back at First Niagara Center today to clean out their lockers, have exit physicals and meetings with staff that included General Manager Darcy Regier. As could be expected after another non-playoff season, the mood was a somber one. The Sabres have missed the playoffs two years in a row, four seasons out of six and seven years out of 11.

Said winger Drew Stafford of this year's miss: "There's just no excuse for that."

While reporters have heard a lot from Ryan Miller this week about his potential exit from Buffalo and his 500th game -- and Miller spoke again today for more than 11 minutes -- the star attraction today was winger Thomas Vanek. And like Miller, Vanek admitted he thought plenty that Friday's shootout win over the Islanders was his last game as a Sabre.

"Let's be honest," Vanek said. "I'm not stupid. I know I have a year left and they can probably deal me for prospects, young guys, whatever else is out there. Yeah, I've thought about it. If it looks like it's a long rebuild, then it probably makes sense for both parties to move on."

Vanek wants a quick, trade-based rebuild as opposed to a build through the draft. But the latter scenario appears more likely.

"I don't know what the plan is," Vanek said. "If they're turning it over to the younger guys, it's a turnover. Or are they going to build around us again? It's all speculation at this point because you guys don't know and I don't know what's going to happen."

Miller broke no new ground today over what he's said in the last couple of days. 

"I’m convinced more and more as I play longer and longer it’s more about the attitude and the kind of team you build," Miller said. "It’s not always about a bunch of skill pieces. You have to define the way you play. And we can find a way to play here, if we can define it and do it every night, we’ll have just as good a chance as anybody."

That said, Miller knows he may not be part of any new plan about how the Sabres may play.

"Around this stage of a contract, you have to be realistic," Miller said. "In the last year of your deal, if you’re not part of the plan, you become an asset that’s tradable. So I’m just trying to stay open to coming back and trying to stay excited about playing hockey games in the NHL if it’s not going to work out."

One player that was not in the building today was winger Ville Leino, who suffered from a collapsed lung late in the season and has not spoken about that injury -- or about his status as a potential candidate for an amnesty buyout under the new CBA.

Regier will undoubtedly be asked about Leino Monday afternoon, when the GM and team president Ted Black will hold an end-of-season meeting with the media. The Sabres declined to have such a meeting last season and were openly laughed at for that decision when the Professional Hockey Writers Association met at the draft last June in Pittsburgh. Owner Terry Pegula is not expected to attend.

Click below to hear audio today from Vanek, Miller and Tyler Myers and stayed tuned to the Sabres Edge for video from today's proceedings.

Thomas Vanek

Ryan Miller

Tyler Myers

Hear from Jochen Hecht, Thomas Vanek and Ryan Miller./p

By John Vogl

Jochen Hecht announced his retirement from the NHL tonight and said goobye to Buffalo. Ryan Miller, while speaking in general about change, might have bid farewell, too. Their quotes:

Hecht -- "It’s best for everybody to start a new life. It’s been a lot of fun. I’ve got some great memories. I lived here and loved this place for 10 years, 11 years, and Buffalo became a second home to me.

"Buffalo has been like a second home for everybody. I was fortunate enough to play my first game in Buffalo with St. Louis, and I played my last game in Buffalo. It’s kind of full circle, came around. It was a lot of fun."

Miller -- "Everything comes to an end. It’s not always clean and easy. Most of the time, it’s little bit dirty and not any fun. It was hard to watch these guys kind of leave a team one by one, but it’s the nature of sports, nature of life. You can’t just hold on to something that’s not sustainable. Everything becomes stagnant if you’re always trying to hold on to one thing.

"You have to keep searching. You have to keep talking to people, meeting people, living life. That’s when things happen for you. That’s when things like winning a championship can happen is when you accept that you can’t just hold on. You have to let go a little bit.

"I’ve just been talking to a lot of people in the last year or so about those kind of things. The common thing is that right there. You don’t chase it. You just experience life and you do the right things, and those things just kind of happen."

By John Vogl

The cost of owning Sabres season tickets is going up again.

Buffalo's season-ticket holders received a letter today -- on Fan Appreciation Night -- informing them of an across-the-board increase of 4 percent. The per-seat increase is $4 to $1 per game, which equates to package increases of $173 to $47 over this season's prices.

The NHL salary cap, meanwhile, will go down from $70.2 million this season to $64.3 million next season.

"As part of the new Collective Bargaining Agreement with our players, all teams must produce revenue primarily through ticket sales, in order to keep the stability of the league and its franchises strong," John Sinclair, vice president of tickets and service, wrote in the letter.

By John Vogl

The playoff race in the Eastern Conference is over as far which eight teams will advance, but the seedings still need to sprout. That means the Islanders have a lot more to play for tonight than the Sabres.

Buffalo will finish its disappointing season with Fan Appreciation Night in First Niagara Center. The Islanders will try to give their fans a favorable postseason matchup.

New York is eighth in the East, but it has the same number of points (54) as sixth-place Ottawa and the seventh-place Rangers. The two teams from New York each have one game left, while the Senators play twice.

The Isles will want to win to give themselves the highest seed possible.

By John Vogl

Ryan Miller said today his future with the Sabres is undecided. He's apparently decided he can unload his Buffalo home, though.

Miller's townhouse in the city has been listed for sale at Realtor.com. Miller purchased the residence in 2006 for $348,500, according to Buffalo News real estate transactions. It was listed today with an asking price of $659,900.

By John Vogl

Only 28 goaltenders have played more NHL games than Mike Liut. The former standout for the St. Louis Blues and Hartford Whalers skated to the crease in 664 games, and he is one of only 61 goalies to top 500.

The group will grow to 62 on Friday when Ryan Miller reaches the milestone for Buffalo.

Liut, who is Miller's agent, is of course happy for his client.

By John Vogl

Ryan Miller is eager to make his 500th appearance in a Buffalo Sabres uniform Friday. It's a milestone he's thrilled to reach.

But, he says, it's not a finale.

"There’ll be more hockey games," Miller said today after practice in First Niagara Center. "It’s been a lot of fun, and it’s nice to just be able to talk about it right now. I think I’ve got a lot more hockey in me, so [it's nice] being able to just kind of reflect and enjoy a moment, but it’s going to be another hockey game and I have to prepare and compete. I’m just trying to enjoy that part of it. That’s what I like to do. That’s what I know to do."

Miller will become the 62nd goaltender to play 500 and just the 20th to do it with the same team.

Though Miller will certainly play again, there are questions as to where. He has only one year left on his contract, and the Sabres are rebuilding.

"There’s been a lot of ‘could be last game as a Sabre’ the last few years," Miller said. "I’m just trying to enjoy the moment. It’s going to be my 500th game. I’m going to approach it the same way I’ve approached the other 499: Just put your pads on and try to do your best. See where it kind of goes, go out and have fun, try and make the saves and see where it all shakes out."

Miller's previous start in Buffalo was rocky, with the goaltender getting pulled after allowing four goals in 22 minutes. The fans jeered him, and he gave them a wave during play.

"I’m not mad at the fans," he said. "It’s heat of the moment. You get emotional.

"Some people were giving me some grief, and I just picked my hand up like, ‘OK, I hear ya.’ It wasn’t a screw you. It wasn’t a, ‘I hate you guys.’ It was, ‘You know, I hear ya. Enough. I get it. Just let me try and do what I’ve got to do.’

"I’ve done more than my fair share to go out and prove that I’m part of this community and give back as much as I can. We don’t even talk about all the stuff I try and do to make this feel more like my second home. That’s where I’m going to leave it. I care about the people here. If they’re frustrated with the way we’re playing, I can acknowledge it and we can move on."

The Sabres will again be without Ville Leino when they host the Islanders in the season finale.

"He had some issues with his lung, yes, that he’s dealing with," interim coach Ron Rolston said. "He’s actually a lot better. He’s doing well right now. Obviously, it’s a serious injury, but it wasn’t anything that was major."

Ryan Miller

By John Vogl

Ryan Miller wants to start the Sabres' season finale Friday. If he does -- and there's no reason to think he won't -- the goaltender will play in his 500th career game, all with the Sabres.

Here are a few charts that show how rare the milestone is: