Sabres Edge

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

The Sabres are aware most people are counting them out. They still have faith in each other.

Buffalo has won two straight heading into Sunday's home game against New Jersey, and the players are eager to finish this season strong.

"It’s a big game for this group just to keep the momentum going," forward Nathan Gerbe said today after practice in First Niagara Center. "In the past in the season, we would lose this game. Now we’ve got to win it.

Continue reading "Sabres determined to make it three straight wins; Vanek likely out again" »

By John Vogl

Ville Leino will be activated from injured reserve Saturday, and the Sabres need to clear room for him. It appears either Brian Flynn or Marcus Foligno will head to Rochester to open a roster spot.

The Sabres needed to put a player on waivers at noon today in order for him to clear Saturday, but they elected not to waive anyone.

Flynn and Foligno are the only players who can be sent to the Amerks without waivers, so they are the leading candidates to depart. A long-shot option would be to send Mikhail Grigorenko back to the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League, but his team has only two games remaining in the regular season.

UPDATE: There have been no discussions between Sabres and Quebec Remparts about sending Grigorenko back, a source told The News this afternoon.

"We’re actually meeting this afternoon on it to figure it out, but it will be solved by tomorrow," interim coach Ron Rolston said today.

Flynn has two goals and three points in six games with the Sabres. Foligno scored twice Tuesday in a 3-1 victory over the New York Rangers to bring his totals to three goals and 11 points in 26 games.

Grigorenko, who practiced on the fifth line today with John Scott and suspended Patrick Kaleta, has one goal and five points in 22 games.

Flynn was the last player called up, but he has improved rapidly during his first appearance in the NHL.

"He’s gotten better every game," Rolston said. "He would understand the circumstances, but he’s played exceptionally well for us."

Ron Rolston

By John Vogl

Alexander Sulzer will miss the rest of the season for the Buffalo Sabres after undergoing successful surgery on the anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee. The normal recovery time is a year.

The defenseman was injured Feb. 23 against the Islanders after a collision in the corner.

"He had successful knee surgery and he will be out for the rest of the year," interim coach Ron Rolston said today. "What happens in those injuries – I’m not really a doctor, but I play one on TV – what happens is there’s so much swelling early on that it’s hard to diagnose early how damaged it is until that goes away and until they can actually go in there.

Continue reading "Sabres' Sulzer out for rest of season after knee surgery; Leino, Ennis, Miller set to return against Senators" »

By Mike Harrington

With Rihanna in First Niagara Center and a massive youth tournament in the Northtown Center, the Sabres had to practice at Cazenovia Rink in South Buffalo this afternoon. (My first time ever in the place in six years on this beat. Not bad. Nice little heaters above the viewing section).  It was a short, quick workout with interim coach Ron Rolston keeping a sharp tempo in the wake of last night's flameout in New Jersey.

And Rolston put on a happy face with reporters after the workout too. He's 3-3-2 since taking over for Lindy Ruff -- and 3-1-2 since dropping his first two games against Toronto and the New York Islanders when he was largely in watch-only mode.

"The last six games we have eight points and we potentially should have had 10 points out of 12," Rolston said, referring to the blown points Sunday in New York and last night in Jersey. "There's certainly things that we want to have back like last night's game but there's also a lot of things that going positive. We're building some good roots in the ground right now for our team to grow and we just have to stay with it."

The suspended Patrick Kaleta and long-term injured Alex Sulzer were not on the ice today as expected. The only missing player was defenseman Andrej Sekera, who Rolston has pretty much ruled out for Sunday's game in Philadelphia after getting hurt in the third period Thursday. Rolston also said no to Ville Leino, who was hoping to make his season debut against his former team.

"We're just trying to get him back into practice and get him quality practice time," Rolston said. "Really grinding, get him in more competitive situations. It will be close. I don't know when. I would doubt Sunday but certainly next week a strong possibility."

Leino didn't know he had been ruled out until John Wawrow of the AP and I talked to him. He said "it really doesn't matter" who he heard it from but, from experience, I can tell you it matters.

"I think I'm at a point in the practice where I can't really push much harder," Leino said. "The next step will be the games. It's been a while. It would be nice to get back in there. [Philly] is always a special spot for me to play against. It would have been fun."

Rolston also responded to Jhonas Enroth's contention that he drank too much coffee during the day and that's why he cramped late in Thursday's game -- and why he may have been unable to get across the crease to stop Patrik Elias' tying goal with 66 seconds left.

"It's part of his growth," Rolston said. "I don't know what the final outcome was on it. Part of his growth as an athlete is making sure he's taking care of himself in that one. I know our staff has been over it and it's just something he has to take care of in the future."

Click below to hear Rolston's session with reporters today.

Ron Rolston

By Mike Harrington

It was past 3 a.m. when most of the Sabres hit their beds after the flight home from Florida, so they delayed practice today into the afternoon and it was a short, 25-minute affair at the Northtown Center at Amherst.  A few players stayed on an extra half-hour or so working, largely because there's no morning skate before tomorrow's 3 p.m. game against New Jersey in First Niagara Center.

Thomas Vanek was the only missing healthy player, with interim coach Ron Rolston said it was simply another maintenance day. Jordan Leopold was back at practice, skating on the extra defense pair with T.J.  Brennan. Winger Ville Leino, who has not played this year due to his bad hip, skated hard on his own for nearly 40 minutes prior to practice and then skated in a limited role with his teammates for the first time in a full practice session since Jan. 18.

"Rehab has been good lately, I've been skating the last five days pretty hard and I was going pretty hard today," Leino said. "I felt pretty good. If it's not too sore the next two days, I'll be pretty close to being able to play."

Leino needs to practice fully to get back in the lineup but he said it's possible he could be playing by late next week, perhaps next Thursday in New Jersey or by the March 10 game at his old stomping ground in Philadelphia.

Continue reading "Leino close in return from injury, Enroth close in return from oblivion to crease" »

By John Vogl

The doubts kept growing for Ville Leino. He figured he was destined for hip surgery and would not play a game this season.

Then he skated today, and his outlook changed.

Leino took part in the Sabres' optional morning skate in First Niagara Center, and the winger left the ice feeling better than he has all year.

"I felt surprisingly good," Leino said. "It was definitely positive. We’ll try to build on that, and we’ll see later on today and tomorrow how it recovers from that. It's really definitely felt the best I’ve felt so far.

"To be honest with you, before today I was having my doubts. It’s not like I can say now I’ll play in a couple days or so, but today I really was positive and feel good about it. Now I’m trusting more it will happen soon."

Continue reading "Leino finally encouraged with injury progress, hopes Sabres' coaching move changes organization's priorities" »

By Mike Harrington

It was an optional morning skate for the Sabres today in preparation for tonight's game against Carolina. Ryan Miller will be in goal, likely against Hurricanes backup Dan Ellis. The Sabres aren't expected to make any lineup changes, and coach Lindy Ruff said he's not looking to shift any lines yet, even though only Thomas Vanek-Cody Hodgson-Jason Pominville is producing any offense.

"The great thing is we got one of the hottest lines in the league," Ruff said of the trio, which has eight of the team's 10 goals. "The bad thing is it's the only line that's scoring right now. But I would take three goals out of a hot line over maybe two goals from two different lines."

One of the few guys on the ice was winger Ville Leino, who skated hard for 20-25 minutes before coming off the ice. Leino has yet to play this season with what has been revealed to be an injury to his right hip.

Continue reading "Pregame audio: Leino dealing with hip issue" »