a little practice time, and le' thrash equal a "w"

some random thoughts after the sabres 4-1 win over atlanta last night:

• it's true, after six games in nine nights, the sabres finally had a chance to work on some things during a couple of practice sessions...the first thing lindy ruff did was emphasize that being spent after a grueling workout is a good thing...they were dog-tired...but it was a good tired...next practice, d-pairings were allowed to get a feel for each other as well--tyler myers/jordan leopold, steve montador/chris butler, craig rivet/andrej sekera...new lines got a chance to work with each other and they had some time to work on the pp as well...
• jason pomminville is still recovering from his concussion, tim connolly is playing like he has a concussion and drew stafford is back to his old self...a definitive quandry for ruff when constructing lines...enter cody mccormick...having connolly center jochen hecht and mccormick was a very "interesting" move and drew the wrath of many sabres faithful...maybe ruff was thinking that mccormick could "teach" connolly how the game is to be played and that hard work every shift will produce results...connolly had his best game of the season last night (not saying much, but it's a step in the right direction)...personally, i think connolly's reached the point of no return, but for one night it worked...
• the other line that was "very interesting" was rob niedermayer centering mike grier and tyler ennis...once again, the sabres faithful were shaking their collective heads with some spewing vile hatred for ruff because of this...the trouble that ruff will have this season if no changes are made and the personell produce like they did last season, is where to put ennis...sure, ennis is way too fast for grier, too fast for niedermayer and he's a top-six player relegated to a checking line...yet, he scored a goal on a break and had another golden opportunity mere seconds later...this combination will not last...for now, though, you've got two savvy vets imparting their knowledge on an extremely talented kid who's willing to learn...would you rather have one of the core like connolly, derek roy or drew stafford teaching this kid?...i wouldn't...as part of "the new core" ennis needs to stay away from "the (present) core" as much as possible..
• both of those line combinations were a "stroke of genius" for one night, at least, and it helped that they were playing le' thrash, who were "enjoying" their first game back from a road trip...they're not the defending champion chicago blackhawks who can win on sheer chutzpah while playing a mediocre game...
• thomas vanek has a wicked slapshot...unfortunately he's rarely able to uncork it...last night he scored on a laser...he's done this before, and on nearly every occasion, it comes from the right side where the right-handed vanek is opponent-free when he winds up...why he's not on the right side more often is beyond me...maybe they should forget about finding a #1 rw and just move vanek there, thus opening a slot for ennis in the top-six on the left side...(knock, knock, knock)...darcy, are you there?