The Senators dominated the series from beginning to end. In games 4 and 5, the Sabres scored 2 of their 5 goals on 5 on 3 power plays. 2 of the other 3 were mistakes by Ray Emery. The Sabres were unable to manufacture goals on their own, despite their so-called hi-powered offense.

I will be the one of the first out of the Sabres fans and say congrats to the Senators. You came out firing in the beginning of the series and it was enough momentum to drive you past the Sabres in 5 games. My Sabres; they just couldn't turn it on in games 1 and 3 and basically laid down for the Sens. I'm glad they played hard the last few games but thats not how you win in the playoffs. You need to play with passion in all the games you play. Best of luck to the Sens and I'll be looking forward to next season in Buffalo. The Sabres will have a good team for many years considering they are young, only losing a few players at the end of the season and have so much to look forward to. Buffalo will be a different place now that the Sabres are making a bigger name for themselves. The streets of downtown Buffalo will be packed, flags will be flying, 2/3's of the entire city will be wearing some sort of Sabres apparel and I will be losing my voice at party at the plaza. Go Sabres!!!

It was a heckuva a year. I'm a disappointed, sad, numb Sabres fan at the moment. I can't believe it's all over. I don't want to think about it.

I guess it's hard being the favorites the whole year, it was such a new position for the team to be in. Maybe next year they will have a few new faces and can fly under the radar again. I hope they keep Drury, Vanek, even Zubrus. I think Stafford and Paille would be great next year. I also am looking forward to a 100% Tim Connolly.

The fans will always stand behind this team. It was a great ride and I'm glad to have been part of it. Thanks, Sabres. Congrats Sens.

-Kristen
Niagara Falls

Lindy Ruff always comments on what he learned as a coach from Marv Levy when Marv coached the Buffalo Bills.

Obviusly he learned to much.

As is common in Buffalo.... Wait til next year!!!

Why do fans think when their teams lose, it's because they "couldn't turn it on" and "laid down". What really happens is, simply, the other team is better.

"Why do fans think when their teams lose, it's because they "couldn't turn it on" and "laid down". What really happens is, simply, the other team is better."

That is partialy true. The Sens outplayed the Sabres. They were better. However, the Sabres didn't exactly play the way they are capable of playing. Give credit to the Sens for throwing them off their game, but there were many mistakes made by the Sabres themselves.

As a Sens fan and want to thank you for your grace in loss. I recall the semis last year when the favorite Senators captain coughed up the puck and misplayed the ensuing rush that led to lossing in game 5 in overtime to the Sabers. At the end of this we lost two stars in Chara and Havlat. As dark as that day was, it made room for Corvo and guys like Comery and Priesing who have made a big difference this year.

Good luck next year and enjoy the summer.

CI
Ottawa, Ont

idon'tthink its just that the better team won ... if so, theSabres being the higher seed should've automaticallywon. these playoff games are wars/battles, and as much respect that goesto the Sens should be given to the Sabres.

Third/Fourth place and Buffalo throws a party? "We're number four! We're number four!".

"My Sabres; they just couldn't turn it on in games 1 and 3 and basically laid down for the Sens". Gee thanks Scotty Bowman. What insight you have. The other team was better. Deal.

It will be interesting to see what whiney crybaby excuse fans in Buffalo come up with this year, lol

"Why do fans think when their teams lose, it's because they "couldn't turn it on" and "laid down". What really happens is, simply, the other team is better."

No doubt the Sens were a great team but you still have to admit the Sabres didn't exactly play the way we were use to seeing them. Yes laying down and not turning it on is being out played. They got outworked, out played and didn't have enough passion like the Senators had. So if thats what you were looking for you got it. The Sens were a better team in the playoffs and I guess thats when it matters most.

Either way...Go Sabres!!!

Still quite a successful season and I'm proud to be a Sabres fan.

Sabres we salute you. This was a successful year for the franchise and I think we can build on it. We have a strong farm system and a young team. Darcy & Lindy are putting together an annual "contender." They just have to add a little more power to the team ala "power skaters." We have plenty of speed to trade so I don't see that as a problem. Congratulations Senators - very good hockey.

If sport was just that simple then we might be able to simply say the Sens were the better team. But how they were the better team is important to recognize because they were ready to play playoff hockey and they Sabres weren't.

Ottawa was the team that no one in the east wanted to play - they've been gaining momentum since January. By the same token, it was clear that the Sabres - especially since the start of the playoffs - never really showed up to play the way you need to in the late spring and early summer.

The games against the Islanders were won simply because the Sabres had more talent. I think the same can be said against the Rangers - although we caught a glimpse of what some thought was the passion the Sabres showed throughout the first two-thirds of the season.

But then the Sabres had to play a team with real talent and experience - a team that hit its stride for the playoffs - a team that took the extra steps needed to win during the most grueling tournament in all of North American sports. The Senators showed the character, the calm, the confidence, and the focus that it takes to win in the playoffs. Combine all that with their level of talent and, well, they get to play again.

My concern for the Sabres is thet they did not show the desperation one would expect from a team in their situation. I appreciate the calm - they were able to come back so many times during the regular season - but did that lull them into some false sense of confidence that they could do it in the playoffs (not to mention against the Senators who have been a pain in the Sabres' side all season)?

The Sabres are clearly talented. Now it's time to let this season fester a little bit, learn from it, grow up, and get a chip on the shoulder for the future. One lesson for the Sabres to remember - it's far more important to hit your stride at the end of the season (like the Sens) than it is at the start of season.

(So, will Briere be rooming with Biron again next year or what?)

Let's keep Stanley in the East... Good luck Sens - Volchenkov is the man...

This douche posted:
"Why do fans think when their teams lose, it's because they "couldn't turn it on" and "laid down". What really happens is, simply, the other team is better."

Not a sports fan?
Don't have a hometown team?
Why do you post stupid comments?

Its called being a FAN.

Was it me or did Lindy Ruff thoroughly get outcoached? While the Sens were by no small margin the better team, the biggest issue with the Sabres was that they gave up the blue line in every Sens rush. Their defenseman backed in and then tried to stop the three Sens players that always seemed to be 3 steps into the zone. If you watched the Sens they did the exact opposite and stood the Sabres up outside the blue line forcing the Sabres to frustratingly fall back to dumping the puck in. Even on the power play the Sabres couldn't skate the puck past the blue line before being checked off of it. This was a common theme throughout the series yet Ruff still did not push his defenseman forward to counter and use the blue line. The series exposed the Sens for not having a physical enough team and time and time again they were checked off the puck as the Sens finished their checks and stole pucks from the defenseman by having the initial forward go after the Sabres defenseman in the zone and the second target the outlet pass at the boards next to the blue line with so much efficiency that time and time again the Sabres coffed it up. Just my two cents, but I think the Sens are far and away perfectly built and coached for the playoffs.

Where are all the militant Sabres fans now who, not too long ago on this very board, dissed not only the Senators... but Canada? I guess Buffalo can, up from the ashes of this series, still be known for their killer wings. Go Sens!!!

well, ottawa was amazing in this series, and they were the better team. taking nothing away from them. but certainly the sabres did not bring their a-game in the first three games, which was really dissappointing. so i wouldn't just dismiss these comments as sabres fans not wanting to admit that the other team was better. i've been looking forward to this series all year, and i thought it would go seven games for sure, even if ottawa did end up being the better team and prevailing.

Are you Ottawa fans that insecure in yourselves that you have to come in and take potshots at Buffalo fans, coaches and the city? If you look at the above posts there is nothing but credit given to the Sens by Buffalo fans. Have some class and stop giving the rest of your fans a bad rep because you feel it necessary to kick a city and its fanbase while its down.

I'm interested to see Spezza/Alfie/Hot Wheels go against Niedermayer and Pronger. It's not too late for those guys to disappear. Ducks in five. You heard it right.

As a lifelong Sabres fan I tip my blue-and-gold cap to the Sens. They outplayed, outhustled, outfought and simply outmatched the Sabres, who never seemed to get on their playoff footing at all.

Some Islander and Ranger fans posted on other boards complaining about officiating and "bad bounces," and as much as I would like to blame the team's early exit on bad bounces, the truth is that the Sens deserved to advance.

Not sure if I'll root for the Sens -- of if I'll watch any more hockey until October -- but I am proud to be a Sabres fan and will root just as hard for them next season, with or without Briere. Only letting Drury slip through our fingers will make me want to buy a Marty Biron Flyers home jersey. THANK YOU SABRES!

As a die-hard Sabre's fan looking for the reason our boys didn't make it to the finals...it just wasn't in the stars for us but he's now there for them:

http://www.canada.com/ottawacitizen/news/story.html?id=9f4cdd28-4c01-4b80-87c1-042c6d614fe4&k=20956

I will now be throwing my support behind the Sens in their quest for the Cup. It's always better to get beaten by the eventual champions anyway.

May the newest angel get to see his team win it all!

Hey, I'm not even a sens and i'll take a pop shot at the Sabres and some of the fans. I said some. Yes the Sabres have a decent team and a decent goalie made for the regular season but not the playoffs. You need a goalie who can first stop the puck. Miller is good, but for now not as good as most of the goalies who entered the playoffs. His regular season gpa was 2.73 and saves percentage .911, which is horrible for the season and even worse going into the playoffs. The only reason he won was his offense putting points on the board. Now in the playoffs things are differant. 1st you have to able to stop the puck and in the series with the Sens he couldn't. Look at the gpa and saves for the remaining 3 teams. all are under 1.95 and over .928 save %. Clearly miller couldn't get it done and when he did have leads he cracked like a nut and let 1 game go and almost another.Anyone who knows hockey, goalies and defense win the cup not offense. Now the offense, great during the season but not made for the playoff grind. They look pretty, but are way to small to go up against a bigger team with the same speed. As far as them not playing up to par. Thats bull, they were outplayed, outsticked, outhit, outshot, outskated, outcoached, plain and simple. I don't want to hear they didn't bring there A game or the had injuries or they laid down. A real championship team plays tough ,doesn't have excuses and brings their game each and everynight. And thats why some teams win the cup and others don't. to even say your team didn't give it their all is a direct insult on your team. I'm sure each and every sabre gave everything they had, look at chris drury. So if your a fan of the sabres and trying to hide behind that pathetic excuse, grow up. Now to address the sabres fans who get on others for berating there team, shut up. It was only 2 days ago your so called sabre fan reps were trashing and talking crap about the sens and acting like their crap doesn't stink. Where are they now, seems to me like the only ones posting for the sabres have some since of class. Oh thats right there team lost, so instead of taking it like a man and owning up and saying I was wrong, they cower in the corner reading these post and no longer reply. It just really irkes me when people say their team is the best and the other team just got lucky .And just for the record I'm a devils fan and beleive me I didn't whine like a girl when team was ousted. And beleive it or not I was rooting for the sabres,being my wife and family are from their.

never fear sabey fans. we'll come back next year with a couple more tweaks and some WESTERN canadians and northeastern americans who don't wear visors and turn it back up! kidding. but to the esteemed gentleman who tore through ryan miller......you obviously haven't a clue as to what you are talking about. first of all, it's a gaa not a gpa toolshed. and as supposedly terrible that 2.73 average you state may be, here's a thought: with an undersized defense giving up more than 28 shots per game on average and an offense based mostly upon transition and high stakes gambling with the puck by defensemen, i think it's a brilliant year for a guy with 40 wins. i'm sure if your beloved marty brodeur had a team that didn't clog up the slot, drudge out the neutral zone and force low percentage shots, he wouldn't have nearly the "statistical" brilliance he has had since the early 90s-late 80s. i'm sure if the sabres had the giant defensemen that the devils drafted, they would be alot better off. forgive the tangential nature of this statement. ANYWAY. the reason i'm saying this is that your comments taking potshots at ryan miller the absolute backbone of the buffalo squad are inane, uneducated, and downright stupid. and may the style of hockey that you're beloved devils invented and withdrew the fan base of the nhl never grace the ice again, or at least never lead to the success of a team who tries it. go sabres. good luck in the offseason.

What a stupid stat, Buffalo only played 3 teams who one a playoff series in their 15-1-1 run to start the season Buffalo barely plays western conference teams, and the only one the did play during that stretch was Detroit. Your right, horrible start. They should have at gone 17-0 and won every game by 5 goals, maybe then they would have gotten some credit. Idiot

Idiot I may be, but the Sabres' hot start served to inflate the Cup expectations kindled during last year's playoff run that was derailed by injuries. In their first 17 games this season, the Sabres beat troubled Carolina three times, Montreal twice, woeful Philadelphia twice, and Florida and Boston once apiece. They also lost to Toronto 4-1 in regulation. None of those teams made the playoffs. Granted, the Sabres beat the Red Wings in a shootout, the Rangers twice and the Senators once, right out of the gate, but they ended up losing the season series to Ottawa. My point was merely that the Sabres' regular-season record was not the best indicator of how they would fare in the playoffs against the league's other elite teams. -- Rolfe

I've never been to Buffalo so I won't comment on whether the city is "boring". Ottawa, where I live, can be "boring" at times but a tourist will find much to do in The Nation's Capital. The childish bashing between these two cities is unneeded.

I'm not a fan of the Senators but they certainly wanted it more. I didn't, though. Playoff-mania here in Ottawa can be crazy and this year is going to be the craziest ever. Imagine if Ottawa wins the Cup. It will be pandemonium.

WOW, YOU GOTTA LOVE A PERSON WHO CAN'T BACK UP WHAT THEY ARE SAYING WITH THE TRUTH. LETS COMMENT ON YOUR QUOTES. #1 "i'm sure if the sabres had the giant defensemen that the devils drafted, they would be alot better off." LOOK AT SABRES STARTERS ON DEFENSE AVG. HEIGHT 6'1 AVG WEIGHT 204..NOW DEVILS AVG HEIGHT 6'0 AVG WEIGHT 198. WOW GUESS YOUR WRONG ON THAT ONE DO THE MATH SO YOU CAN FEEL MORE STUPID. RYAN MILLER 63 GAMES 40 WINS
SHOTS 1886 29.3 PER SO 2 GAA 2.73 SV% .911. MARTIN BRODUER GP 78 49 WINS SHOTS 2182 27.97 PER S0 12 GAA 2.18
SV% .922. AND KEEP IN MIND THIS IN THE NEW NHL = MORE OFFENSE BUT YET HE HAD THE MOST WINS IN 1 SEASON AND HAS HAD 1 OF THE BEST STAT YEARS SINCE HE HAS STARTED PLAYING. ALL THIS AND HE IS TURNING 35. 3 CUPS, 1 OLYMPIC GOLD, 1 WORLD CUP GOLD GOING ON HIS 3RD VEZNIA COUNTLESS ALLSTARS GAMES. I COULD GO ON FOREVER. RYAN MILLER 1 ALLSTAR GAME THATS IT. AND WHAT IS HE 27, LITTLE SLOW GOING WITH HIS CAREER. WOW I 'D THINK PROBABLY EVERYONE OUTSIDE OF BUFFALO WOULD AGREE RYAN MILLER HAS NOTHING ON MARTIN BRODUER. OHH WAIT THATS RIGHT, HE IS UP FOR AND PROBABLY WINNING THE VEZNIA THIS YEAR AND ALSO ON THE BALLOT FOR MVP. WHERE IS RYAN MILLER? LOL

#2 YOUR QUOTE "an offense based mostly upon transition and high stakes gambling with the puck by defensemen" WELL MAYBE IF THEY PLAYED BETTER DEFENSE INSTEAD OF GAMBLING THEY MIGHT HAVE BEAT THE SENS. LIKE I SAID BEFORE DEFENSE AND GOALIES WIN THE CUP NOT OFFENSE. PLEASE SEE NHL.COM/STATS AND ONCE AGAIN PLEASE DO THE MATH YOU'LL FIND 9 OUT OF TEN TIMES THE WINNING CUP TEAM HAS LESS THEN 2.0 GAA. AND INCASE YOU DIDN'T UNDERSTAND WHAT WAS GOING ON IN THE LAST 2 GAMES, THE SABRES PLAYED A VERSION OF THE TRAP. CLOGGING UP THE NUETRAL ZONE AND DUMPING THE PUCK IN AND WAITING FOR THE SENS TO MAKE A MISTAKE. AND WHAT HAPPENED THEY WON A GAME AND ALMOST HAD THE LAST ONE. SO BEFORE YOU KNOCK ANOTHER PERSONS TEAM FORT DOING SOMETHING, MAKE SURE YOUR TEAM ISN'T DOING IT ALSO. YOU PLAY TO WIN, IT DOESN'T NEED TO LOOK PRETTY AS LONG AS YOU WIN. AND I'M POSITIVE IF YOUR TEAM WON THE CUP 3 TIMES PLAYING THAT WAY YOU WOULD BE SINGING A DIFFERENT TUNE. AND FOR YOUR INFORMATION I ALWAYS THOUGHT RYAN MILLER WAS A GOOD GOALIE BUT HAS LITTLE PLAYOFF EXPERIANCE, HENCE MY STAEMENT ABOUT HIM CRACKING. HAPPENS TO THE BEST OF THEM. SO NEXT TIME IF YOU PLAN ON HAVING A BATTLE OF WITS AND FACTS PLEASE COME PREPARED AND DON'T WASTE MY TIME. IT MUST BE SOMETING IN THE LAKE EERIE WATER, YOUR ABOUT AS PREPARED AS YOUR SABRES. REMEMBER NHL.COM BEFORE YOU TYPE.

GOODBYE BRIERE,DRURY, VANEK SEE YOU ALL ON DIFFERENT TEAMS NEXT YEAR.

The New Jersey Devils killed the NHL.
Also, they all suck that wifebeate Brodeurs balls. Only Ranger and Islander fans are bigger douche bags.
Can't wait to see Brad May crush Chris Neil.

Hey Dan, the Sabres are a Mickey Mouse organization compared to the Devils.

cliche # 4,327-- in the NHL, the playoffs are a whole different season from the regular season

How many President's Trophy teams have won the Cup?

The Sens were ranked #4 because they got off to a bad start. The last two months the Sens and the Rangers were the best teams in the East.

Buffalo was outplayed in two games that they won against the Rangers.

Emitions aside, why is anyone shocked that Buffalo lost?

People keep saying how the regular season is not an indication of playoff success - it actually is, you just need to read it properly. If you count points like we used to - 2 points for win, 1 point for draw, no shootout, then Ottawa is actually tied with Buffalo for first in the EC. There are no shootouts in the playoffs, so this is more accurate. Then seeds 1 & 2 make it to the EC finals, which makes the seeding a pretty good predictor of success.

"why is anyone shocked that Buffalo lost?"

Well, that's easy: because we also saw them lose last year in 7 to Carolina. I am not dreaming this: Buffalo vowed to come back better and steamroll to the Cup this year.

And, for a time, it looked like they would.

This refrain, "the better team won," is pure nonsense. The only weakness Buffalo ever has is Ryan Miller, who sometimes allows 4+ goals and is almost never leak-proof.

But Miller played very well in the playoffs, so everything seemed to be in place. The shocker is just what others have said: Buffalo barely showed interest while going down 3-0 to the Sens. There was no urgency in the Sabres' game; they did not give 60 good minutes, or really test Ottawa in any way. You can't give the credit to the Sens' defense alone. A lot of the troubling malaise Buffalo exhibited has to be put right back on the Sabres.

We're shocked (including myself, a Hurricanes fan) because Buffalo played like a different team in this series. Even if, as I fervently wished, the Sabres were eliminated, I still expected them to put up a hell of a fight. Instead, the players yawned.

To the idiot who types all in caps: give our eyes a break, buddy.

And, take your own advice re: NHL.com: Drury and Briere may yet leave Buffalo, but Vanek is a restricted free agent and, hence, he will almost certainly be back in Buffalo next year. I believe the CBA is actually summarized on NHL.com. You should take a look at it before you decide that a player is headed to another team. It doesn't quite work that way.

You can check out the more specific rules pertaining to group II RFAs on this old (ooooold!) cnnsi page...

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/hockey/nhl/2001free_agency/

...as the rules for RFAs were grandfathered into the new CBA.

After reading 50% of these comments, I know know why NBC dumped the game in favor of a 90 pound jockey talking about his horse's turf toe. Grow up people.

To the Devils fan(s) who are trashing Miller, I think your criticism is misguided, at best. The arguments are atrocious and inherently lack any understanding of sports, themselves.

Anyone who has ever played sports at a high level knows it's about one thing: winning. In his last two seasons, Ryan Miller has a record of 70-30-9. In other words, he won 64.2% of the games he started and Buffalo earned at least one point in 72.5% of games where Miller was in net. Also, I don't see one post that, at the time I've written this, argues that Ryan Miller is better than Brodeur. With that said, let's compare their numbers over the last two seasons. You see Miller's above. Brodeur was 91-46-14 over that same timespan. That's a winning percentage of 60.2% (4% lower than Miller's) and the Devils earned at least one point in 69.5% of games started by Brodeur (3% lower than games in which Buffalo earned at least one point in games started by Miller). Oh, and their playoff records over the last two years look like this:

Ryan Miller: 20-14, two appearances in Eastern Conf Finals
Marty Brodeur: 10-10, zero appearances in Eastern Conf Finals

You can come at me with all the GAA and Sv % stats you can find. The fact of the matter is that sports are about winning games and that's exactly what Ryan Miller has done at EVERY level he's ever played at. I am not trying to argue that Ryan Miller is a better netminder than Marty Brodeur; I hope Miller wins half the Stanley Cups that Brodeur has. I'm just exposing the weak argument made by the Devils fan(s) that Miller is no good. Also, his argument that he "cracks" under playoff pressure is wrong, too. The Sens were just better and wanted it more this year. Last year, Miller got a team missing its four top defensemen to one period away from the Cup Finals before two Rory Fitzpatrick miscues cost Buffalo the series. Miller is a fantastic goalie and will continue winning games for many years to come.

As far as the "started his career a little late" comment, that's just an ignorant statement. As has been well-documented, Miller had one of the most successful college hockey careers of all-time. He won the Hobey Baker Award, set an NCAA career record for shutouts and compiled a 73-18-12 record against the top competition in college hockey. He toiled for two years in Rochester because Buffalo had Biron and Noronen. While those two did not have the careers that many thought they would, Biron and Noronen were both voted "Minor League Hockey Player of the Year" during their time in the minors. Understandably, Buffalo wanted to see what they had in those two players before bringing Miller up to the big club.

I hope you see the light when it comes to Miller. He is an excellent player who doesn't always get the help he deserves. Giving up only one more shot a game than Brodeur is more important than it looks when you consider that Buffalo's style of play lends itself to giving up many odd-man rushes and quality opportunities to the other team.

As for the Rangers fan who says the blueshirts "should have won two of the games Buffalo won," I say get over it. You should NOT have won Game 2. NY fans all forget what a soft goal Miller gave Mara to make it 2-1. Buffalo dominated the first half of the 3rd period. Drury's deflection off Malik's turnover is as pretty as you're going to see and Vanek's goal came after NY got stuck in its zone for almost 90 seconds. I'll grant you that the Rangers should have taken Game 5, but Buffalo should have taken Game 4; we all know Briere's shot went in the net, even if we couldn't see it, and Buffalo would have put that game away quickly in OT if the last 11 mins were any indicator. Everything evened out and the better team won.

Congrats to the Sens, once again, good luck in the Cup Finals.

Of course Miller's GAA is higher. He was leading by a lot of goals when he gave up many of those. I wish we could find a stat to see what his save % was when the game was tied or his team was up or down a goal. I bet it was very good. It's human nature to give up a softy or two when your team is up 5-1 with a few minutes left.

Compare it to baseball. Johan Santana would have a higher ERA if Minnesota staked him to big leads every game. Watch a very good pitcher when his team is up by many runs and you'll see him give up more runs than than his ERA suggests. It's about winning. Not about how many goals or, in baseball, runs you give up. Just get the W.

Yet again a Buffalonian fails to see the overall picture. You guys tend to get caught up with face value. Yes vanek is a rfa but given how many teams need help and have large amounts of cap room and seeing how buffalo it tight against the cap as it is do you think buffalo will be able to match 5 to 6 million dollars offers from other teams. I think not unless they decide to let both drury and briere go, which I highly doubt. Look at the team history, they let jp.dumont go last year and the same can be said fo satan because they could not afford to keep him on the team. And of the 2, drury and briere even the GM said they can'y keep both, at least not at the salaries they will command. and I doubt either of them will take 3+ million dollar pay cuts to stay on the team. This also doesn't include the other FA on their team they have yet to sign. Yorr team will be lucky to keep even 1 of the 3.So before you spot of about taking my own advice, look at the whole picture and not trying just sound like you know what your talking about. Yet agian another cheeseburger and fry server just waistng our time. Maybe you should spend a little more time using your brain and less time picking your azz.

I'm a Sabres fan and a realist: Ottawa was just the better team. Rolfe was right on with everything he said. The Sabres aren't/weren't tough enough for playoff hockey. Hell, if Satan and Yashin somehow hadn't laid down like the dogs they are, NY Islanders might have beaten them. Buffalo took them and the Rangers, as they should have, but Ottawa is just on a tear. For the offseason, Buffalo needs to re-sign Drury, get rid of Briere and Numminen, and add toughness. It's pretty obvious...I told many people during the Ottawa series how much I miss a guy like Mike Grier.

Hey Oliwa - I can't tell if you're being funny or if your grammar and spelling are normally this bad.

"Yorr (Your) team will be lucky to keep even 1 of the 3.So before you spot (spout) of (off) about taking my own advice, look at the whole picture and not trying just (to) sound like you know what your (you're) talking about. Yet agian (again) another cheeseburger and fry server just waistng (wasting) our time. Maybe you should spend a little more time using your brain and less time picking your azz.

At least the poster giving Miller's stats used spell check.

"The Rangers and Sens were the two best teams in the Eastern Conference over the last two months."

Obviously spoken by a Rangers fan. Remember how everyone thought NY was going into the playoffs as the hottest team in the league and Buffalo was kind of limping into the playoffs?

Points over the last 28 games (2 months):

Buffalo- 39pts
NYR- 39 pts

Gotta love NY'ers. Speak first, apologize later.

Oliwa: you're an idiot. Many others have pointed it out, but I just have to pile on. You're what makes these boards so tedious: you're a loudmouth and a know-it-all, but you don't actually know squat about the game, the rules, or how to get your point across in a civil manner.

Case in point:

An unmatched offer to RFA Vanek of $5-6 million, which you seem to think is a certainty, would result in the offering team having to give Buffalo 4 first-round picks.

Yeah, I can just see the teams lining up now!

Buffalo may be up against the cap today, but New Jersey pulled off the same trick last season. The Sabres will make room. Think before you say something stupid.

Sabres were very fun to watch this year. Don't change the style - work on getting the special teams back in order like last year and everything else will take care of itself. They are a better team 5 on 5 than the Sens, but the speacial teams were terrible. Sens will still be chasing the cup next year so it will be interesting. Ducks in 6

Sabres fans take heart. Yours is not the only team to get "run over" by the Senators this post season---The Penguins and Devils also got hit by that Mack truck. As a Pens fan my only consolation is that Senators taught my team a valuable lesson that I have no doubt they will learn from. Sabres got the same lesson and it will improve them too.