nice work, lately, but...

in no way, shape or form am i about to get too giddy over the sabres 5-1-1 record over the past seven games...

nor will i say that some key sabres have finally got "it"...

i would like to say that lindy "the tinkerer" ruff has finally found the right combination on the "top-line" and will stick with his second-line and most of the bottom-six up-front...but...it's just too early for that...nor will i say that he's found a comfort-level from behind the bench and will resist over-coaching, which he's prone to do....

and, finally, in no way, shape or form, in this universe or some parallel universe is this team ready to prove that it could win a game with back-up patrick lalime in net...it's hard enough to win a game with ryan miller in net, without him, it's an even tougher and history has shown that the odds of winning with lalime in net are pretty slim...i will say that jhonas enroth did some yeoman's work, and the team really came through for him when he got the call from the portland pirates...

that being said, you gotta like what we've seen these past seven games, and it could probably be summed up by this quote from la kings coach terry murray, "Loose pucks, and they were more hungry than what we were to find it,"he said

[the buffalo sabres] "were more hungry"...it's not very often you'll find that quote coming from the opposing coach...

nor is it very often that you'll see tim connolly face first in the paint poking in a puck that's a foot from the goal-line...

as a sabres-fan through and through, i've seen this movie before...when they play as a team, they win, when they "get fancy," they lose...pretty simple formula...inconsistency has plagued this hard-headed group, and on many occasions, they get "it" only when it's too late...they're better right now, but the hole they dug themselves was pretty deep, and even though they're 5-1-1, they're still two games under the .500-point level, a full five games under .500 when you count wins vs. total losses...

the ultra-talented tampa bay lightning and pittsburgh penguins come to town next, the bolts tonight and the pens on wednesday...they're teams that aren't overly physical and are in the middle-third on defense, just like the washington capitals...and, like the caps, they can put some points up as well...

this team knows the formula...they know that a face planted on the cross-bar with the goal horn blaring and the crowd roaring doesn't really hurt that much, in fact, it's actually a great feeling...they know that "fancy" is for midgets in both body and mind, that a face-plant on the boards to control the puck is a badge of honor and that even though winning the battles in the corners won't make it to #1 on the espn highlight reel, it makes it to #1 on the team highlight reel...

nice work, lately...but there's still a long way to go