So Long Marty, You'll Be Missed

By: M. Patton

Baltimore, MD - The only way to describe it is bittersweet. It's bitter because Buffalo is losing a great player, great teammate and all around great person. It's sweet because sometimes it is satisfying to see someone pay his dues and be rewarded for it. Even though the reward involves a Buffalo nemesis, it is still good to see Marty getting what he has earned.

I always felt bad for Marty because any Buffalo goalie that was going to be the successor to Dominik Hasek was in for a monumental challenge. But Marty took it all in stride. During the Rigas debacle and the bankruptcy, all Marty wanted to do was play hockey. After the lockout when Miller established himself as the starter, Marty never complained and was still the loudest voice on the bench and in the locker room. No one can forget nor deny the fact that had Marty not stepped in and won 13 games when Miller went down last year, the season may have only been a disappointing extension of the 2003-2004 season.

So in all, we should be happy that Biron gets to be a starter, like he was for us before Miller, and like he should be for most of the remainder of his career. It is still sad to see such a good teammate go, but he is doing so with class and with no regrets for what was able to do in Buffalo. So long Marty, you will be missed.

Now, off to Vegas. The Sabres Journal will be back on Monday.

Two Canadas Going For More Than Two Points

By: M. Patton

Baltimore, MD - Sitting back and watching the pregame on TSN before the Canadiens and Leafs game, most American born fans, myself included, probably do not realize the rivalry between these two teams. In fact, the game is much more than just a scrum to secure two points towards a playoff spot, it seems like a battle between two very different Canadas. I claim no expertise in the analysis of Canadian culture, but I did grow up close enough to the border to know that there are major differences between the English speaking and French speaking Canada.

The first obvious sign of this rivalry is the number of Toronto fans in the Bell Centre. It's not obvious whether the TSN sound engineers have pumped the crowd volume to enhance the drama of this game, but the cheers of "Go Leafs Go" are loud considering the Leafs are the visiting team. It probably need not be said that since Montreal is a close second to the New York Yankees in total world championships won, the Canadiens don't have much trouble selling out regular season games.

Another reason for this rivalry is just the difference between the two cities. Let's not forget that the there have been several political movements, one of which I remember from when I was a kid, where Quebec came very close to seceding from Canada. When you think of the biggest American sports rivalries like the Yankees vs. Red Sox, Notre Dame vs. USC, or the Celtics vs. Lakers, the bitterness really does not go beyond the playing field. French speaking Canada is proud enough to tell English speaking Canada that it no longer wants to share the same nationality. To me, that's a rivalry.

So why do I even care about this game to point that I would write about it? Well, it's quite simple and very selfish. The banged-up Buffalo Sabres play Toronto tomorrow night and Montreal on Friday. I am hoping this rivalry is so strong tonight that these guys do nothing short of abuse each other all night long because given the injuries to Buffalo, I wouldn't mind an extra edge.

When Ducks Attack

This is the quote from Brian Murray regarding Lindy Ruff and Thursday's incident in Buffalo:
"I'm not going to believe him anymore. I thought (Neil's hit) was a good bodycheck. Then he sends out his guys to sucker punch our guys. That was uncalled for. I thought it was brutal. I thought it was embarrassing. I think there should be suspensions, and there probably will be."

Video from the December 8, 2001 game between the Anaheim Mighty Ducks and the Calgary Flames. The coach behind the bench for Anaheim was Brian Murray.




The evidence is conclusive, the hit on Vernon was clean; he just didn't have his helmet on properly. We can only wonder if Murray felt he was embarrassed in 2001 and if he deserved a suspension or at least a $10,000 fine.

- M. Patton in Maryland

Sabre Cutting Too Deep Or A Place Where The Sun Don't Shine?

By: M. Patton

Baltimore, MD - The well-fed, thick fingered big-mouth from Ottawa is at it again. Ottawa Sun sports writer Bruce Garrioch wrote in a column from today's Slam! Sports that Sabres' forward Adam Mair made comments to Ottawa's Danny Heatly that Garrioch quotes as being "classless" regarding Heatly's 2003 incident involving the death of then Atlanta teammate Dan Snyder. (http://slam.canoe.ca/Slam/Hockey/NHL/Ottawa/2007/02/25/3665073-sun.html)

There are a few points to make here. The first is that we can only hope that he was quoting the Ottawa players when using the word classless. After all, this small-time sports writer, who has one real professional sports team to cover, was the one who did go on the MSG network during the first intermission from last night's game in Ottawa and call Sabres owner Tom Golisano a whiner. I guess the word "classless" covers a narrower spectrum in Canadian English. Stateside, we know exactly what it means.

The next point is that if Mair did say something, even if it was in poor taste (none of which anyone can prove), does it make it any less true? Do you think that perhaps there are fans or just everyday people who may resent the fact that although it was an accident, Heatly's accountability was limited to probation and a fat contract in Ottawa? It is understandable that Healty, himself, would be upset if such comments were said, but how does that become the rest of the Senators' cause? I would never condone such comments personally, but time doesn't erase history, it just makes it easier to deal with. Also, last time I checked, just because you make a mistake and admit you make a mistake, it does not absolve you from being made accountable.

I can't wait to write about something other than Ottawa and I am actually thankful Buffalo plays Toronto on Tuesday. Hopefully, Toronto has an inept sports writer that will say stupid things in public.

Hypocracy, Class, and the Canadian Press

By: M. Patton

Baltimore, MD - Not 48 hours after Ottawa head coach Brian Murray complained that Buffalo head coach Lindy Ruff sent out his enforcers to attack the Ottawa scorers, a game from Murray's past has surfaced to haunt him. During the second intermission of tonight's game in Ottawa, the MSG network played a video from the December 8, 2001 game between the Anaheim Mighty Ducks, of which Murray was the head coach at the time, and the Calgary Flames. An incident occurred where a Calgary player made contact with Anaheim goalie Jean-Sebastian Giguere that Murray felt was not incidental. Minutes later, a player from Anaheim intentionally took out Calgary goalie Mike Vernon while another Anaheim player instigated a fight with Flames captain Jerome Iginla.

It is very ironic that a man would complain about an alleged action that he himself engaged in a few years ago.

Incident details: http://www.hockeyfights.com/games/4840

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Another interesting observation about the game tonight in Ottawa was the crowd's reaction to Chris Neil's first possession of the puck. As soon as Neil carried the puck for the first time, they roared with cheers. I found it to be very interesting that Canadian hockey fans, who claim to be the purest and most informed, would cheer a guy because of his actions from Thursday. Don't let anyone say that Canadian fans don't have class.

Ottawa did win the game (6-5), but did blow a 3 goal lead, and needed a power-play combined with a favorable bounce off the back boards to win it. Of course, we don't even need to mention that Buffalo has 8 regulars out with injury.

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During the first intermission of the game in Ottawa, MSG interviewed Bruce Garrioch from the Ottawa Sun. Garrioch discussed what he had expected to happen during the game based upon the various NHL officials who in attendance tonight. He then proceeded to declare Tom Golisano's letter to Gary Bettmen as whining, drawing the criticism from Rob Ray and the interruption of Kevin Silvestri.

First off, the Ottawa Sun is the equivalent of the New York Post, which essentially means it's a rag. Secondly, I find absolutely hilarious that a 350 lb, $35K a year, sports writer from Ottawa is insulting a man who could himself finance a military takeover of most of Canada. I'm no Bob Woodward, but at least I know not to insult people who are way out of my league.

League Shows The Art Of Preference, Once Again

By: M. Patton

Baltimore, MD - Even two days later, the story gets more comical. A few hours ago, Sabres head coach Lindy Ruff was fined $10,000 by the league for, what is being reported as, putting his fourth line out against Ottawa's scoring line on Thursday. As of right now, there has been no other details released, or at least published. The Canadian Press has reported that Ruff had admitted to telling those players to, "Go out and run 'em". It has also been reported that NHL VP Colin Campell will attend tonight's back end of the home and home at Scotiabank Place.

There are two things about this latest action, and inaction, by the league that should be troublesome to fans. The first, and less important, point is the league is now punishing a coach for saying something that is only being interpreted as a request to seek revenge against a cheap shot that had occurred to one of his players minutes earlier. So, the precedent set here is that it can always be inferred that any fourth line sent out to "run" a scoring line, is going out to hurt that scoring line at the request of the coach. Unfortunately, the facts here are not on the league's side in their justification to make such a judgement.

Prior to the face-off, just before the fighting began, the replays show that the first violent act was committed by Danny Heatly of Ottawa. Heatly can be clearly seen cross-checking Buffalo's Pat Kaleta, who was playing in his first NHL game. How can the league prove that the fights against the "stars" of Ottawa was not provoked by Heatly's actions? They can't, just like they can't prove that Chris Neil wasn't intentionally trying to hurt Chris Drury. Of course, the opposite points can be made here. One could argue that Neil's hit wasn't intentional, but one can also argue that Buffalo's enforcer line was not put on the ice solely to go after Ottawa's scorers. That is the entire point. The league should have punished Ottawa along with Ruff, or they should have done nothing. Equal treatment was not given and there was clear preferential treatment given to Ottawa despite the facts of the incident.

This leads us to the second point and that is the clear indication that in this case, the league was only concerned about the well being of Ottawa's stars, and not Buffalo's. In a time when there is an unspoken "nobility" in protecting your scorers and especially your captain, it appears that protecting Chris Drury, an American-born player, is not so noble. He was hit late, and the league has done nothing. However, Jason Spezza and Danny Heatly, the league's highest scoring convicted felon, get "run" and Ruff gets fined for facilitating that "running". So here it becomes quite clear that the protections offered to Spezza and Heatly, both Canadian-born players, are not offered to Chris Drury, the Sabres' American-born goal leader.

The question becomes, is Drury less a star than Heatly or Spezza? In the eyes of Sabres fans, and, I am quite sure, Colorado Avalanche fans, he is no less a star than anyone. But what about in the eyes of the league? It's no secret that the NHL is salivating for a Cup in Canada. Does the fact that Spezza and Heatly, both Canadians, play for the Canadian Capitol's team have anything to do with all of this? Truth is, no one knows and no one is ever likely to find out. But, one thing is certain. At least one of Colin Campell's motivations for attending tonight's game in Ottawa is to look after the well-being of two of Canada's biggest superstars. The facts prove it.