By Mike Haim

With the Buffalo Sabres in the throes of an extended funk, the last thing they needed was for one of their go-to players to give away yet another game.

It nearly happened Friday night, as Tim Connolly made a heinous pass at his own blue line midway through the third period. The resulting turnover was converted by Mike Richards into a breakaway goal which put the Philadelphia Flyers up 2-1.

But this wasn’t going to be like those other nights.

Adam Mair scored the equalizer with 5:58 to play and Connolly netted the winner with 2:29 remaining in overtime, giving the Sabres a 3-2 win to move them back into first place in the Northeast Division despite recording just their fourth win in 16 games.

“Whenever you’re on a little bit of a lull, it seems like it’s harder to crawl out and get those wins,” Mair said. “Bounces seem to go against you. We were able to find a way after being down 2-1 in the third. That was a big turnaround for us.”

Connolly’s winner developed after Raffi Torres – making his Sabres debut - got the puck up the left wing to Toni Lydman, whose point shot was kicked away by Flyers goalie Michael Leighton but directly to Connolly in the slot.

“He actually fanned on the puck, trying to go high,” Leighton explained. “He kind of flubbed it into the net.”

“I tried to throw it at the net and hope for a bounce,” Lydman said. “This time, the bounce happened to be perfect. (Connolly) did a great job burying that.”

And just like that, the Sabres established some distance between themselves and the Flyers, who rank sixth in the Eastern Conference race. Buffalo leapfrogged from fifth to third because of their division lead and increased their lead over Philly to seven points.

The win was sweet vindication for Connolly.

“When I got back to the bench (after the bad pass), a lot of the guys told me not to worry about it,” Connolly said. “(They said) we’ll get one back. Mairsy was able to get one back quick, and that gives you a little boost.”

“He came back and focused on his next shift and ended up winning the game for us,” Mair said. “A lot of guys would have hung their head. He went out and rebounded, played his best.”

The first period was rather exciting, featuring 25 shots (15 by Buffalo) but no goals. The scoreboard finally got an update 4:01 into the second, when Philly’s Simon Gagne took a pass from Lukas Krajicek and got just enough momentum off his stick to trickle the puck past Sabres goalie Ryan Miller.

A couple of minutes later, Thomas Vanek got the equalizer after Leighton misplayed the puck in his own end. Vanek recovered the loose puck in the left corner and, with Leighton scrambling back to the net, fired a shot off the hapless goalie. The point was the 300th of Vanek’s career.

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The win ended Philadelphia’s four-game winning streak at HSBC Arena. The Sabres last win at home in the series was also a 3-2 decision on Dec. 21, 2007.

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Forward Drew Stafford suffered a first-period groin injury and will be evaluated before it’s determined how any games he’ll miss.

“It looks like he’s going to miss some time,” Sabres coach Lindy Ruff said. “We’ll wait until we get what the doctors come up with. If he’s going to miss some time, we’re going to need somebody (from AHL Portland).”

………

Torres started for the Sabres on a line along with Jochen Hecht and Mike Grier but spent most shifts with Derek Roy and Jason Pominville.

However, due to Stafford’s injury and Tim Kennedy playing limited time after becoming ill before the game, Torres was matched with at least six different forward combinations.

“He maybe tried to do a little too much at times,” Sabres coach Lindy Ruff said. “He was in on the winning goal, which was important for us. It’s going to take time. I don’t think that’s an easy one to step in right away. … He’s got to get used to the system.”

With the overtime assist, Torres extended his point streak to six games to match his career-high set early in the 2005-06 season with Edmonton.

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By Mike Haim

Imagine going shopping with a list of what you want, and for the most part you get it at a nice price. That’s what Sabres general manager Darcy Regier did Wednesday at the NHL’s trade deadline.

Regier shipped underused defenseman Nathan Paetsch and a second round draft pick to Columbus for winger Raffi Torres. With 19 goals, the 28-year old Torres with a $2.75 million salary immediately becomes the Sabres’ leading scorer.

While the Sabres took a little salary hit, this is a trade that if offered 100 times, I would accept it 100 times. I’ve liked Torres since his days as a consistent 20-goal scorer with Edmonton.

Regier made another deal later, sending underachieving forward Clarke MacArthur to Atlanta for third- and fourth-round draft choices. By the time the deadline passed, the only thing remaining on the proverbial wish list was a proven power play quarterback.

“We looked at three different players,” Regier said. “In one case, the price was way too high. One player did not get moved. We tried, but in the end the ability wasn’t there.”

The Sabres weren’t alone. Without any marquee trades, it proved to be an underwhelming deadline day, with the biggest names getting dealt being Torres, Peter Mueller and Wojtek Wolski, the latter two being the principals in a Phoenix-Colorado trade.

“This is not the time of year to make big-player acquisitions,” Regier said. “The summer is when you need to make the big changes. It’s not at the deadline. … There are so many teams in the playoff hunt and very few sellers.”

Regier gave no indication about a desire to ink Torres, an unrestricted free agent after this season, to a new deal. The dressing room, however, appears to be glad to get some bolstering.

“Hopefully he comes and fits in here,” Sabres goaltender Ryan Miller
said. “We needed to shore up that wing a little bit. He’s certainly a great player and what we need now. We need a little bit of a presence and be good around the net.”

“I think he’ll help,” added Sabres coach Lindy Ruff. “He’s a power forward who’s having a good year. He’s a bull around the net. He’s got a great shot. It’ll be a little adjustment period, but he’s going to help us.”

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Short of scaling the league back to 12 teams, it’s wishful thinking that the NHL can match the pace and intensity of Olympic play in its regular season games.

To put it simply, there are too many slugs on the 30 NHL rosters to make every game truly interesting. If there will ever be talk of contraction (and I’m not holding my breath on that one), a video collection of the 2010 Olympics should be Exhibit A.

The NHL, however, should take a closer look at a couple of things used in Olympic play. One is making every game worth three points. In the Olympics’ preliminary round, a regulation win earned a team the full three points. In games requiring overtime (or a shootout), the winning team got two points, with the loser receiving one.

Especially as the NHL gets into the playoff stretch run, it’s absurd that some games are worth more points than others just because there was a tie after three periods.

The other Olympic rule which should be implemented is four-on-four overtime in playoff games. Sure, people love games that go three or four extra periods, but folks deserve the opportunity to see a decision within the first overtime period. That would be much more likely in the wide open style accommodated by four-on-four play.

Plus it really isn’t fair to expect teams who played the equivalent of two full games in a Game Six, for example, to come back strong for a series-deciding game two nights later.

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By Mike Haim

He’s still the same goaltender who toiled in relative obscurity before the Olympics, but it’s possible that Ryan Miller elevated his game in the wake of his silver medal performance in Vancouver.

Wednesday night, Miller made 37 saves - including many of the outstanding variety – but gave up a decisive one-time goal to Mike Green midway through the third period in the Buffalo Sabres’ 3-1 loss to the Washington Capitals at HSBC Arena.

Other than the outcome, it was a fitting return to NHL action for Miller, who was rested Tuesday night in a 3-2 loss to Pittsburgh, the team’s first game following the Olympic break. His teammates, as well as the Caps (in their first game since February 12) looked a little tired.

“It was a chess match,” Miller said. “In the playoffs, every game will end up being a chess match. It’s all about who’s going to crack.”

Miller was frustrated with his teammates abandoning the system, a development which has seen the Sabres win only three of their last 15 games.

“If you don’t commit to it and don’t respect it, you’re not going to win consistently,” Miller said. “For whatever reason, early on in the season, we totally bought into it. We got great opportunities and won games. … Now we’re looking for an easier way to play our system and it doesn’t exist. Our system is built to be worked at and worked hard. It becomes difficult to sustain sometimes over the course of a whole season, but we should have the energy coming off the break like this. It’s very disappointing.”

Meanwhile, Washington got what it needed on a couple of goals from the slot. They broke a scoreless deadlock with 4:37 left in the second period when a Jeff Schultz slapshot from the point deflected off Eric Fehr and finally Jason Chimera.

In the third period, Green snapped a 1-1 tie with 9:32 to play, converting a pass from the right side by Tomas Fleischmann.

“Those are the only goals that go in on that guy,” Green said. “He made some great stops that really kept their team in the game. It’s always a tough challenge against him.”

The score could have easily been 5-1 or even 8-1 if not for Miller.

Buffalo was outshot 40-24 and didn’t really provide a test for Caps netminder Jose Theodore.

“If they had two chances in the third period and he makes the saves, that’s what wins you the big games,” Washington coach Bruce Boudreau said. “That’s what Miller does for them and we got it from Jose.”

“We tried a lot of individual stuff and turned a lot of pucks over,” said Sabres coach Lindy Ruff, who hinted he will look at changing his forward lines.

“It might be time to shuffle the deck,” Ruff said. “Give everybody a new start … get away from where we’re at.”

………

Buffalo’s goal was scored by Jochen Hecht, who netted the 400th point of his NHL career on a snap shot from the right circle 60 seconds after Chimera’s tip-in.

………

In a pre-game tribute to various Olympic medalists with Buffalo ties, Miller received the largest ovation, lasting nearly a minute. The fans were already standing by that time, however, because Miller’s introduction followed a long period of applause for Ruff, who was an assistant coach for the gold medal-winning Canadian team.

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None of the players acquired by either team at Wednesday’s NHL trade deadline participated in the game. (Look for a separate posting for Metro’s coverage of the deadline.) Raffi Torres did not arrive in time for the Sabres, who dressed seven defensemen. Buffalo played without Paul Gaustad, who suffered an upper-body injury in Pittsburgh, and were further shorthanded at forward with the trade of Clarke MacArthur.

The Capitals picked up four players, but three were for draft picks. The only traded player, defenseman Brian Pothier, was replaced by minor-league callup John Carlson, who scored the gold-medal winning overtime goal for the U.S. team two months ago in the World Junior Championships.

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Ruff coached in his 964th NHL game, tying him with Jack Adams for third-most in league history with one team. Ruff will pass Adams on Friday night against Philadelphia.

After that, Ruff will trail only Billy Reay (1,012 with Chicago) and Al Arbour (1,500 with the New York Islanders).

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by Charles Roberts, Sports Reporter

The NFL Combine has always been of particular interest to me. For the most part, I am a big fan of the drills the players are put through and think it presents an excellent opportunity for these guys to show what they’re really made of. Granted, the “Pro Day” has a very similar effect, but it’s not the same when you hold it in your own barn, at your own pace.

This leads me to one of the more shocking announcements out of this year’s Combine – that Central Michigan quarterback Dan LeFevour opted (was guided) not to throw at anything other than stationary targets on Sunday. LeFevour had an excellent opportunity to bolster his draft stock by coming out and putting up a decent, at best, performance. Many scouts and draft gurus see him as being the fourth best prospect in this year’s class and what kills me is the three guys ahead of him – Sam Bradford, Jimmy Clausen and Colt McCoy were all held out of the passing drills as well. The difference with LeFevour though is he played in a far less-competitive conference which is why despite his gaudy collegiate numbers; he remains fourth in most of the rankings.

Credit LeFevour with running the fastest 40-yard dash time in the quarterback pool (4.67), beating out the likes of what I’m waiting to be announced as the “World’s Most Perfect Human Being,” Tim Tebow. Regardless, all this did was prove he’s an athletic guy with excellent speed for a quarterback – something we already knew.

The underbelly of the whole thing screams cocky agent got in the kid’s ear, which I totally understand in this day and age. But if the bottom line is money, why not step up and jettison yourself ahead of at least one of the three injured “big name” quarterbacks and perhaps land a late first-round pick, thus increasing your rookie contract? Instead it seems as though the LeFevour camp decided they didn’t want to hurt his current projections – which to me is playing not to lose, rather than to win.

It’s a shame that the kid from the small school with the big heart on the football field was advised to let his competitive spirit drown in the sea of money that is professional sports’ politics, rather than potentially siphon some of it into his own pocket the old fashioned way.

by Mike Haim

The cauldron has been extinguished and all the medals have been distributed. The city of Vancouver might even steadily be returning to a sense of normalcy after Sunday's closing of the 2010 Olympic Winter Games.

Vancouver itself still has the Paralympic Games to look forward to (the event will be held between March 12 & 21), but it will take a long time for the area to get over the epic gold medal hockey game between the United States and Canada.

Sidney Crosby, who scored the winning goal in overtime, has become like a villain in some melodramatic cartoon around here, emerging as a true nemesis to goaltender Ryan Miller. All that's missing is one of those "Snidley Whiplash" moustaches.

Two years ago, Crosby solved Miller in a shootout in the NHL's first Winter Classic. Just a month ago, Sid the Kid netted a hat trick in an eight-minute span against the netminder. Then came Sunday, with Crosby somehow getting a pinpoint shot through from a tough angle after Miller tried to poke the puck away.

For the first two periods of the gold medal match, it seemed as if the game wasn't as high-octane as the one played between the same two teams the previous weekend. But once Canada - clinging to a 2-1 lead - rang two shots off goalposts in the first two minutes of the third period, the intensity of the game markedly ramped up.

Those close calls early in the final regulation period gave many viewers the impression that a U.S. comeback was all but assured, but it wasn't until 24.4 seconds remained - when Zach Parise jammed home the tying goal - that the prophecy was realized.

There's no question about the chasm which exists between the two nations when it comes to international hockey competitions. For Canada, a loss to the Americans would have been a national affront; the victory, giving the Great White North its Olympic-best 14th gold medal, pretty much validated the entire 17-day Olympiad. Here in the U.S., win or lose, the majority of the country would have marveled at the game's intensity and shrugged at the result a day later.

Even with that typical nonchalance, Americans now can be unanimous in recognizing Ryan Miller as a star goaltender. He was outstanding through the entire tournament, as evidenced by the fact that the U.S. team never trailed in any game until the final one. It was known going in: any chance the U.S.A. had of going deep hinged on Miller, but I'm not sure anyone anticipated the kind of performance he gave.

... ... ...

The Canadians were widely ridiculed for their "Own the Podium" manifesto, announced before the games. The goal was simple: win the most medals of any nation. After the first week, it became clear that those ambitions were too lofty.

The U.S. took the final medal race with 37, followed by Germany's 30 and Canada's 26. But in the end, Canada scored 14 gold medals, most of any nation (Germany finished second with 10, while the United States and Norway each had nine).

In a world where we are often reminded that nobody remembers who finishes second (much less third), perhaps the pundits were a little quick to judge. After all, Canada may not have owned the entire podium, but they sure did a nice job of reaching the top step.

... ... ...

While it would have been cool to see local products Patrick Kane and Brooks Orpik win a gold medal for hockey, it was nice to see some attention around town for bobsledder Steve Mesler.

Mesler, a 31-year old Buffalo native, won gold as the pusher for "Team Night Train," the U.S.A.'s #1 quartet. He achieved his dream in his third trip to the Olympics; he was an alternate in 2002 at Salt Lake City and in '06 at Torino was on Todd Hays' team that finished seventh.

Prior to embarking on his bobled quest, he was a decathlete at the University of Florida. He becomes the first Gator to ever win a medal at the Winter Olympics, and achieved further history as part of the first U.S. bobsled team since 1948 to earn gold.

... ... ...

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It all started with a simple idea in July.

I was looking for something different to do during the hockey season. I was entering my eight-year covering the Federation, but I felt like it was getting old.

How many stories can you do on the same subject – but different kids?

So, I went to Wegmans and approached my friend Pat Fisher. I ran this crazy idea by him of covering the ins and outs of the Timon hockey team during the entire season.

I never thought he would go for it. In fact, I thought he might say that I would have to go and ask the powers that be over at Timon.

But, to my surprise, he thought it was a great idea. He jumped right on board and told me if I needed anything just to let him know.
A couple months, and a wedding, went by before I needed to talk to Fisher again. I was in contact with him at the end of September and earlier October to finalize what I was going to do, what it entailed.

During St. Joe’s week for football is when Timon had their first tryouts. I remember going to the rink in a light coat, because we had one of those warm falls. I remember going up to see Fisher and coach Schieber and Gardner.

I was a little worried because I didn’t know how I would be accepted. Having a reporter in the locker room when stuff is going down doesn’t sit well with people all the time.

But, the coaching staff welcomed me with open arms.

I was in the coach’s room when they made the decisions on whom to send down and keep up. I was there when they called the kids in to talk to them on what they wanted to do.

If there is one thing I can’t relate enough is that Fisher and his staff are great when it came to communication.

They always talked to the kids from day one to see where their heads where at. It was nice to see.

I was there for the dance talk. When kids had to make a decision on whether to go to the Mt. Mercy dance or St. Francis hockey game.

I was there for the suspensions. I was there for the nine-game losing streak in January when it seemed the poor boys couldn’t catch a break.

I was there for every practice. And I do mean every practice. Monday nights at 8:30 p.m. and Tuesday and Wednesday afternoons.

If you ever watch practice then you know it’s a chore right there.

The coaches got to meet my wife. And every time I saw them they asked me how her pregnancy was going.

Usually, I talked to Gardner about the pregnancy if I had any questions, because I knew he just went through it.

Instead of a job, it became more of a family.

Fisher let me on the bench and sometimes, because of work conflicts, I was helping Schieber.

I remember when the boys defeated Nichols in the beginning of February. It was just Schieber and I and I felt so happy for the boys when they won that game in overtime to break their streak.

I took the losses hard – not as hard as the boys. But, that sense of family was there and I never wanted to see them fail.

It was a great learning experience and one that I would do again, maybe.

I learned a lot from four months with one school. I learned that I never want to be a coach, inside joke. I learned that a lot of people don’t like South Buffalo and Bishop Timon-St. Jude High School.

It’s funny because I have covered the league for eight years. I started when Frank Panek was still president and his son, Chris, was coaching.

But, I was around all the schools then – so I didn’t see it, until this year.

I saw the disdain other programs have for this school. And how much they would like to see them fail.

They all like Pat and the coaches, but when it comes to the school and them winning they would rather see them fail.

Pat asked me after the final game of the year if I had anything to add since I was with them for four months.

All I had to add was pride. Have some pride that you go to Timon. Have pride that you are from South Buffalo. Get the pride back in the school and get the hockey and football programs back up to speed.

Play with the chip on your shoulder – because you are from South Buffalo and people have a tendency to talk not to highly of you.

It’s all about the name on the front and colors that you wear. Pat talked about it all year; you will never get these days back. High School is an innocent time in a person’s life. You don’t have to worry about the real world yet.

I was taught a lot about people. I was so fast to rip a player if they didn’t want to go out for a certain sport or rip a player if they didn’t play well.

While I still will rip a kid if he doesn’t play well – I will take into consideration some other things that might be going on.

I will say this year was the best experience when it came to meeting the new parents. I have dealt with hockey parents for a while now, god help me, and I never understood why they are like they are.

But, this year, the parents were very nice. I met a lot of them at the annual function and they made my wife and I feel welcomed.
I also talked to them during the year at practice or at games and they were always nice.

How can I forgot the players. Being inside the locker room for four months you really get to know the kids. Some are quite, some will joke around all the time.

But getting to know the Michael Crowley, Dan Schieber, Dan Fulton, Oscar, Nellie, Sam, Langer, Timmy, Griff, Zach, Spedo, Sully, Jeff, Zap, Thoms, Downes, Trey, Justin, Jack, Q and Harrington has been a pleasure.

And how can I forgot my coaching staff. I have known Pat since my freshman year in high school. I worked with Pat when he was with the Sabres and now with Timon. Pat is a great guy and he cares about these kids. Of course he wanted to win more, what coach doesn’t, but he also wants to teach them life lessons – something Mr. P taught him when he was playing.

It’s always fun talking to Carl when he would show up on a Monday night to work with the goalies. Coach Schieber, as I always call him, is a great guy as well. He would always be the first one at practice and him and I would always talk about non-hockey stuff. Normally, about how my wife was feeling and things of that nature.

And then there is Andy. He would always tease me about when he would make my column.

Here is your chance big boy.

Andy was and is a character on the bench and in practice and in the locker room. He always has that grin on his face like he is up to something. He always kept the bench loose and always made me laugh when I was on the bench.

Andy is a great asset to the Timon team, along with all the other coaches.

While another hockey season comes to an end it is just the beginning for yours truly.

I will be off to cover lacrosse this year. We will be holding an All-Metro Lacrosse banquet at the end of the season to honor the top 11 players in the area.

My wife and I will be expecting our first child in a couple of weeks. A little boy. I will have to write about that when it happens. If I had it my way he would be heading to Timon tomorrow.

Thank you to everybody who has read this over the past three months. We have seen the numbers and the numbers look great for a high school column.

Also, thank you for the comments from the parents, instate alumni and of course my out of state alumni.

It was always a pleasure to read and respond back.

If all goes well, maybe we will do this again next year. It would be easier on the family and by then my son would be like eight months and ready for some hockey action.

Take Care

Matt

By Mike Haim

Perhaps the most compelling story to emerge during the second week of the Vancouver Olympics was the perseverance of Canadian figure skater Joannie Rochette.

The Quebec native’s mother, Therese, suffered a fatal heart attack shortly after arriving in Vancouver last weekend. The 24-year old skater decided to continue competing, with the short program looming only a couple of nights later on Tuesday and the decisive long program being held two nights after that.

The big question going into Tuesday was how Rochette would be able to keep her emotions in check and perform on the biggest stage of her career. My question as she came out for her performance was more comparative: would she succumb to the mental pressure like fellow Olympian Dan Jansen in 1988 (who fell in two different speed skating races after learning of his sister’s death) or overcome it like football star Brett Favre (who passed for 399 yards and four touchdowns the night after his father died)?

Rochette did the latter, thrilling the Vancouver crowd with a flawless routine and finally bursting into tears upon finishing. She ranked third going into Thursday’s finals, where she had a minor stumble but still retained her position to win the bronze medal.

“I just went out there and did what my mother would have wanted me to do,” Rochette told CTV after the medal ceremony. “I did this first of all for myself because my mother taught me to think of myself first. She always wanted me to be a strong person.”

After this week, Therese Rochette would indeed be proud.

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There’s been way too much comparison between this year’s version of the U.S. men’s hockey team and the gold-medal winning 1980 team.

To me, the only similarity is that both entered the tournament as underdogs. Beyond that, there are really no other common elements other than citizenship.

But there was an intriguing bit of synchronicity on Wednesday, when the U.S. team beat Switzerland by a 2-0 score and clinched the win with an empty net goal. Finland earned its way to a semi-final match with the Americans by beating Sweden by an identical 2-0 score which was also iced with an empty-netter.

What made the coincidence even more stunning was that 30 years ago on that same day, the U.S.A. team won its gold medal by beating – you guessed it - Finland. The final score in that 1980 game, however, was 4-2, and the game was won with all scoring coming against a goaltender.

Friday, the U.S.A. earned its way to this year’s goal medal game with a 6-1 trouncing of the Finns while Canada had to hold on for a 3-2 victory over a late-rallying Slovakian team.

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One of the most peculiar sights these last few days occurred on the speed skating track Tuesday, when the world’s top racer at the 10,000 meter length, Sven Kramer of the Netherlands, was disqualified after he heeded his coach and botched a lane change.

Kramer has won three straight world championships and is the world record holder at 10,000 meters. He is the dominant figure from a country where speed skating is a national sport.

The error occurred with eight laps remaining. Coach Gerard Kemkers thought Kramer needed to make a lane change and emphatically waved his arms to express that idea. Kramer hesitated a bit then moved inside, but officials notified him of his mistake at the end of the race.

Kramer was understandably upset but a day later indicated that he would continue to work with Kemkers, under whom he had been undefeated in a four-year span.

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