Flyers coach mentions those who must not be named
Philadelphia coach John Stevens, who visits HSBC Arena with the Flyers on Friday, broke a Buffalo taboo today while meeting with Philly reporters. He mentioned former Sabres co-captains Chris Drury and Daniel Briere while lauding the Buffalo offense. (Briere, by the way, is injured and won't be available for booing Friday.)
"When they let Briere and Drury go, I think they knew they had some young players that were up and coming and they were hoping would fill the void," said Stevens, who noted that Maxim Afinogenov and Ales Kotalik were not the answer before continuing his response. "They’ve certainly replaced them with some guys that can do some really good things offensively. [Thomas] Vanek has come about as an offensive star in the league.
"I think Buffalo has got one of the better offensive attacks in the league. I just think the way they attack -- three lanes, D are up in the attack all the time -- they really pressure you in the offensive zone.
"[Ryan] Miller has really proven to be one of the upper-echelon goalies in the league. I think the big change in Buffalo this year has been their ability to keep the puck out of their net. They’ve always been a good offensive team, but it seems they’re more committed to playing more defense now than they maybe were in the past. I think it’s showing in their record."
---John Vogl
