Monday, April 25, 2011
Posted: 2:17 p.m.
By Tim Panaccio
CSNPhilly.com
BUFFALO, N.Y.There is really nothing quite like a Game 7. The drama, the emotion, the stakes.
They are games to be embraced, cherished and remembered, Ken Hitchcock used to say.
Unless youre the Buffalo Sabres.
Among the Sabres in the lineup that will face the Flyers Tuesday night at Wells Fargo Center, only seven have Game 7 experience from a previous NHL playoff seriesRyan Miller, Paul Gaustad, Mike Grier, Rob Neidermayer, Jordan Leopold, Steve Montador and Derek Roy, who will make his series debut after missing four months with a left quad tear.
Virtually the entire Flyers roster -- minus Kris Versteeg and Andrej Meszaros -- has been through this before, many of them, as recent as last springs Boston series as Flyers.
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Its a great experience to go out there and know all is on the line and you are playing with the guys in the room and for each other, Roy said. And its going to be a moment that will last forever. We should cherish it.
History favors the Flyers. Lifetime, the Sabres have never won a Game 7 on the road (0-4).
The Sabres players mentioned above were all part of Buffalos 2006 run to the Eastern Conference finals against Peter Laviolettes Carolina Hurricanes. Their Game 7 experience was awhile ago.
This is a young Sabres group, which has already won two games in South Philly. Will it matter that most of the Sabres havent faced this kind of pressure before?
They have some definite playoff experience, Miller said of the Flyers. Some of them were thrown into new situations where they had to perform. Best way I can describe this situation is, if someone is going to get experience, it has to happen sometimes.
Were in a situation that is new for us. Lets go for it. Thats how you get experience. You have to go through it. That sounds like a stupid quote from me, but when you get down to it, you have to start somewhere.
Miller says the team that plays calm and doesnt allow their emotions to overrule their minds will fare best in Game 7.
You know its going to be intense, he said. You go out and be smart and try to be as calm as possible. I dont think it benefits anybody to go out there running around with your head cut off for the first, five minutes.
You have to let the game settle down into a regular hockey game. Thats what playoffs are about. A lot of energy and hype but it always settles into a hockey game.
Miller stressed not allowing the crowd to dictate how you start the game.
Being in a situation like this, you go out and put everything on the table, he said. Have the ability to play a calm hockey game.
Weve done well in this series and battled hardthe times weve beaten the Flyers, weve done a good job of sticking to our game plan. Its just another hockey game in the series and raced to four wins.
Sabres coach Lindy Ruff said hes so excited about this game that he moved the team charter flight to Philly up an hour on Monday.
I said to the team, wrap your arms around this, enjoy it, put a smile on your face, Ruff said. Theyve Flyers got some pressure there theyre going to face playing at home. We want to get on our toes and play our game.
This is not just another hockey game for Roy, whose quad was shredded and had to be surgically repaired over the winter.
Roys entry into the series coincides with Tim Connollys exit because of the board hit the Sabres center took from Mike Richards in Game 6.
Connolly is believed to have a concussion andor shoulder injury. He has a long history of prior concussions. Roy said the club was waiting for the right moment to activate him even though he wasnt supposed to be available until mid-May.
The doctor poked around and said, surgery, youre done,Roy recalled about what happened to him in December. To them, its just another patient. To us, this is our lifestyle. What we love to doBut right now, Im back and Im ready and what doesnt kill you, makes you stronger. Im stronger mentally from this.
Roy had led the Sabres through December in scoring with 35 points before his injury ended his season.
Miller knows about big game pressure, going back most recently to the 2010 Vancouver Olympics where he backstopped Team USA in its thrilling gold medal game loss to Team Canada.
Miller, he admits, can draw back on that for this game, too.
Ive seen some games and had some ups and downs, Miller said. For me, Im trying to make another game in the series and go out and establish myself, get into my world and shut everything else off.
Ruff said while he cant change the past -- his losing to Laviolette in Game 7 of the 2006 conference finals -- he can changed the present. That was the year, of course, Laviolettes Hurricanes won the Stanley Cup.
We have a fairy tale ending to this one, Ruff promised of Tuesdays showdown.
E-mail Tim Panaccio at tpanotch@comcast.net
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