ATLANTA -- Greetings from the rainy South, where the heavy rain is pelting the roof of Philips Arena and ringing through this palace. Tim Connolly is not on the ice to hear it.
The Sabres just began practice for Friday's game against the Thrashers, and Connolly is the only player not skating. We'll have an update on his status following the skate.
One big question surrounding the Sabres' roster is, now that all eight defensemen are healthy, which two head to the bench? It's still two days to game day, but it appears Andrej Sekera and Mike Weber are on the outs. Sekera, scratched for Tuesday's loss in Philadelphia, is the only player wearing a yellow jersey. Weber is skating in green on a forward line with Jason Pominville and Cody McCormick. Those are not exactly ideal lineup spots for the blue-liners.
The pairings are Jordan Leopold-Steve Montador, Chris Butler-Tyler Myers and Shaone Morrisonn-Craig Rivet.
Rob Niedermayer is back after skipping Tuesday's trip for the birth of a daughter, and Luke Adam has been sent back to Portland. The three complete forward lines are Thomas Vanek-Derek Roy-Drew Stafford, Tyler Ennis-Niedermayer-Mike Grier, and Nathan Gerbe-Paul Gaustad-Patrick Kaleta.
---John Vogl
