I don’t remember a playoff round where special teams were such a huge factor. New Jersey got bounced out of the first round on the weakness of their powerplay. And last night, so did the Sabres. Buffalo did not have a first-round powerplay goal against the Bruins. Nashville has a weak 3.3% powerplay percentage and [...]

[picappgallerysingle id="8543197"] I’m shocked the Sabres haven’t been able to hold off the Bruins in the playoffs. Boston now holds a 3-1 series lead after last night’s win in double overtime. The Sabres wound up losing when they took an ill-advised too-many-men-on-the-ice penalty, which Boston took advantage of. More specifically, Miroslav Satan, the one-time long-time [...]

Ryan Miller seems to be the beneficiary of Sidney Crosby’s media shyness. Crosby’s agent has now said Crosby didn’t do Letterman after the Olympics because his schedule was too tight. I’m not sure if Team Crosby turned down any other high-profile gigs, but it’s hard not to notice Miller is now everywhere and Crosby isn’t. [...]

Coach Lindy Ruff is trying to stop the slide of the recently slumping Sabres. The Sabres are stuck in a four-game losing streak. The surging Senators are nipping at Buffalo’s heels for the Northeast lead. It’s a pretty complete reversal of fortunes as Buffalo is 2-7-1 in their last 10, while Ottawa is 9-1-0. Coach [...]

Over the break I read BALL FOUR, Jim Bouton’s famous tale of his 1969 season pitching for the Seattle Pilots and the Houston Astros. The book is famous because it was the first one to destroy the mystique of the professional athlete. We learned guys like to drink and curse and look at women. The [...]

Last night was kind of interesting. There were 10 games played, with four shutouts. Goalies Steve Mason (CBJ), Ryan Miller (BUF), Ty Conklin (backup; STL), and Nik Backstrom (MIN) each kept the red light off behind them. So is this a sign defense is back in the NHL? Is the NHL reverting to its pre-lockout [...]

How do you know the NHL season has started? People in Dallas start calling for Marty Turco’s head. Mike Heika has an interesting take: The Stars have decent goalie depth within their system and a plan to move everyone along, so they might as well stick to the plan. Plus, Heika points out, Turco is [...]

It’s corn Friday. Sorry! Buccigross’ ‘Heatley will be a Shark’ call is just a big misunderstanding: he’s talking about an upcoming Ottawa production of WESTSIDE STORY. Also, don’t miss Jason Spezza as Maria. The Sabres released photos of the commemorative bricks from the Aud, which they’ll be selling. So the Sabres will hold onto bricks [...]

I’m shocked the Blues are going to waive defenseman Jay McKee. Mostly, because he was so injured during his time in St. Louis, he usually wasn’t much of a factor for the team. I thought they’d want to get some return on their investment during the last year of his contract. The Blues are capped [...]

I love Joe Nieuwendyk taking over as GM in Dallas. First of all, just the move to a single GM model is pretty huge for the Stars. That alone makes this a great move. But you also have to love Nieuwendyk’s pedigree. He’s a player who knows how to win. Not only did he win [...]