Sabres crush Leafs. In other news, sky is blue.

Yeah, it's only preseason, but surprise, surprise, Buffalo had no problem with the Toronto Maple Leafs last night at the Air Canada Centre.

Derek Roy scored three goals and three assists to lead the offense. Thomas Vanek added a goal and three assists.

Here's the "Game in 6 Minutes" from MapleLeafs.com:

BUFFALO 7, TORONTO 2 - F
BUF - 2 - 3 - 2 -- 7
TOR - 0 - 2 - 0 -- 2

GOALS
BUF: Roy 3 (PP,SH), Tallinder, Stafford (PP), Pominville, Vanek
TOR: Kubina (SH), Kilger

GOALIES
BUF: Ryan Miller (22 SA, 2 GA)
TOR: Vesa Toskala (36 SA, 7 GA)

I didn't actually see the game, so I won't give out Pucks & Schmucks. Maybe for Friday's game...

Next Game: Friday @ Pittsburgh, 7:30 PM

Keep your head up, Mr. McAmmond

During last night's Senators/Flyers preseason game, Philadelphia's Steve Downie laid a massive hit on Ottawa Senator Dean McAmmond.



McAmmond left the ice on a stretcher, and is now out with a concussion.

Oddly enough, the Senators decided there's no place in the game for hits like that.

"It was a cheap shot. There's no part in the game for hits like that," said Senators right-winger Brian McGrattan, who was ejected from the Senators' 4-2 exhibition victory after he sought justice on the offending Downie. "A guy can't defend himself and you take a 40-foot run and jump and hit him. Hopefully the league takes a look at it. Those are the hits we don't want in our game.

"You don't want to see stuff like that. We're not out there to kill each other."

Gee, Brian, you're probably right. Going headhunting like that is totally out of line.


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BSI sends our condolences to the family of Bill Wirtz, the owner of the Chicago Blackhawks, who passed away at age 77. Congrats to Hawks fans everywhere. Now your team might actually get better. At least there's a chance you can see the home games on TV now.

Say it ain't so, Jim!

Well, it's a sad day for Sabres fans. News broke today that no one really saw coming: Sabres color analyst Jim Lorentz is retiring.

During the final three preseason games, the team will use three different former Sabres players as the color commentator during the radio broadcasts -- Matthew Barnaby (Wednesday vs. Toronto), John Tucker (Friday at Pittsburgh) and Mike Robitaille (Saturday vs. Pittsburgh).

Lorentz has been a staple of Sabres television broadcasts since 1992. He spent 7 years as a player in the organization.

This is pretty much the beginning of the end of Rick Jeanneret as well. I can't imagine that he'll stick around for much longer, especially with the way the team seems to be regressing.

So, from all of us, thanks Jim, for years of blatantly obvious observations and witty comments.

Here's a selection from YouTube, part of the broadcast for the last game in the Aud.

Too much for a brain to process

Photo courtesy of Getty Images

Preseason opener: Columbus 4, Buffalo 1

Sure the Sabres didn't put their best lineup on the ice Friday night, but the offense was nowhere to be found in the team's exhibition loss to Columbus.

Buffalo managed just 5 shots in the 1st period, and ended with a total of 21 for the game. Clarke MacArthur* scored the only goal for Buffalo, deflecting in a shot by Mike "Bring In Da Noise, Bring In Da" Funk, but it wasn't enough.

The Blue Jackets were 3-for-10 on the powerplay, and the goal by Rick Nash occured 2 seconds after a Drew Stafford penalty expired. Jocelyn Thibault was overall underwhelming in his debut as a Sabre.

The game was exceedingly intense for a preseason game, all started by Pat Kaleta's 1st period hit on Columbus' Nikolai Zherdev. A brawl ensued, which led to ejection of Andrew Peters. Kaleta had a target on his back the rest of the night, and a fracas late in the 3rd was started by him.

For being in opposite conferences, there seems to be some bad blood developing between the clubs. When the Sabres traveled to Ohio's capital last season, the Blue Jackets were quoted as saying that it was the most intense atmosphere they've ever had at the arena, thanks to the legions of Sabres fans that made the trip. Should the league's schedule get changed, this could be a developing rivalry.

Oh, and they get together to do it again on Sunday night at Nationwide Arena. Expect some physicality.

(*officially eSabre's new man-crush, details to come)

COLUMBUS 4, BUFFALO 1 - F
CBJ - 0 - 2 - 2 -- 4
BUF - 0 - 1 - 1 -- 1

GOALS
CBJ: Russell, Brule 2, Nash
BUF: MacArthur

GOALIES
CBJ: Mason (21 SA, 1 GA)
BUF: Thibault (22 SA, 4 GA)

GAME PUCKS (3 guys who played well)
MAREK ZAGRAPAN - Was clearly one of the best Sabres on the ice. Looked solid in all facets of the game, and showed some signs that he'll be a go-to-guy in the near future.
ANDREJ SEKERA - Except for getting his face beat in during the 1st period brawl, played a really solid game. With Numminen out, Sekera is going to get his chance to contribute, and looks like he will.
PATRICK KALETA - We all know what he does by now. If he earns a roster spot and playing time, it won't take long for him to reach that echelon of pests with guys like Sean Avery and be hated around the league. Nothing special, but his presence was felt.

GAME SCHMUCKS (3 guys who didn't)
JOCELYN THIBAULT - Uninspiring. Ryan Miller clearly means a lot to this team, and all Sabres fans better hope Millsie doesn't get hurt.
NATHAN PAETSCH - Didn't really show much of anything to set himself apart as an NHLer. He has to be hearing Sekera sneaking up behind him.
DEREK ROY - TV and Roysie are gonna be getting a lot of pressure this season because of their contracts. Preseason isn't any different. Was far from looking like a $4 million forward, and didn't really play much better than any other center on the team.

Next Game: Sunday @ Columbus, 5 PM

It's about damn time: Sabres open preseason tonight

The long wait is finally over.

No, not the wait for another blog post (Sorry about that whole disappearing thing), but finally some hockey!

The, um, hated?... Columbus Blue Jackets visit HSBC Arena tonight as Buffalo's first preseason victim.

The game isn't on TV, so if you don't have a ticket (only singles were remaining yesterday), you're stuck hearing Rick & Jim on WGR.

For many fans, it'll be a game riddled with questions... like "Who the hell is that?!?". But, for the rest of us who know their stuff, and can tell you that T.J. Brennan is a St. John's Fog Devil, it's a great opportunity to see the future out on the ice.

Here are the lines for tonight, according to the Buffalo News:

Thomas Vanek - Derek Roy - Drew Stafford
Phillip Gogulla - Jochen Hecht - Jason Pominville
Clarke MacArthur - Marek Zagrapan - Mark Mancari
Andrew Peters - Dylan Hunter - Patrick Kaleta

Toni Lydman - Jaroslav Spacek
Brian Campbell - Mike Funk
Nathan Paetsch - Andrej Sekera

Jocelyn Thibault
Adam Dennis

If you're gonna be at the game, keep an eye out for the Vanek-Roy-Stafford line. If they start to click, then that could have a huge impact on lines to start the season. That would push Afinogenov down to the second line, probably putting him with Connolly and Kotalik.

Both Thibault and Dennis are expected to get time tonight.

Puck drops at around 7:05 tonight. Can be heard on WGR.