The Sabres attempt to reach the Stanly Cup may be in spite of the NHL commissioner, Gary Bettman's official announcement of the canceling of the 2004-2005 season, when it was his intention to inform fans that this game will be changing. It was the changing for the better that was his goal.Long gone were the teams that could flash monetary prowess to bait the stars to come to their teams.
Long gone were the clutching, grabbing and hooking that slowed the elite players to a crawl, hence slowing a usually very fast game. However what he did not inform fans on were that there are good chances that teams generally un-noticed in most seasons, would become threats to the normal cup contenders.One of the most surprising teams of the New and Improved NHL is the Buffalo Sabres. This is a team that throughout its service in the NHL has had its up's and down's. Never a team to really pack a punch in the league, the Sabres has merely floated in the hockey world. Today however, there seems to be a new kid in town, and Buffalo is its name.
This is a team of speed and intensity, they play smart hockey, and know exactly when to capitalize on their opposition's mistakes.In this new transition game that the NHL has developed, speed is the prime candidate for success. And Buffalo has it in spades, top this off with a rookie goalie that has no sense of quit in him and you have a good recipe for winning.
The funny thing is, most sports analysts pegged the Sabres to be at the bottom of the heap come playoff time. After all, the last time the Sabres made any real noise in the NHL was in the year 1999. This was the year that they went to the cup final, and lost to the Dallas stars.Now that the Sabres have made a name for themselves, and are in hunt for the holy grail of hockey, one could expect that there will be more teams in the off season making pitches to their scouting and coaching staff to make duplicate prints of the 2005-2006 Buffalo Sabres.
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By: Mark Barnes
