Captain says ...
Craig Rivet stood along the boards today shortly after Lindy Ruff called an end to practice. Slowly, all of Rivet's teammates headed toward him. Ruff was chatting with Drew Stafford one-on-one half a rink away, but that conversation came to a quick end when it was clear the captain wanted his mates.
"Need the coaches?" Ruff shouted with a grin.
No, this was players only in HSBC Arena. Rivet gathered his team for a three-minute talk as it prepared to head out for a seven-game road trip.
"We just want to keep things going," Rivet told The News. "We want to make sure that our heads are in the right place, that everybody’s on the same page and we’re all moving in the same direction. That’ll get us the best chance of picking up some wins on this road trip, so just want to make sure everyone’s on the same page."
It was obvious by the rare on-ice meeting that the Sabres have put added emphasis on this trip. That's especially true for Thursday's first game. Buffalo was 0-0-4 against the Thrashers last season. Atlanta is 12-3-3 lifetime against the Sabres at home.
"That was brought up," Rivet said. "We’re going to make sure that we’re ready for this game in Atlanta. We want to start our road trip off on the right foot."
---John Vogl
