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BRIERE NOT AFRAID TO GO TO DIRTY AREAS |
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Understandably, Danny Briere's scrum was the most popular after the skate. Briere held court in the middle of the Philly room. He was all smiles as he was asked questions about his uncanny knack of scoring goals and setting up his mates in the Playoffs.
Briere leads his team with two goals against Buffalo in this series.
Love the guy or hate him for leaving Buffalo, he has scored 89 points in 89 NHL Playoff games. 37 goals and 52 assists. He's also a +3.
Briere marvelled at fellow "small guys" Pat Lafontaine, Mats Naslund and Dino Ciccarelli when he was a youngster coming up. He plays the game the same way as his diminutive heroes did.
How does Danny get his small frame into the dirtiest of areas in the slot and in the low post?
"First of all, having a guy like Hartnell on my line.. ya know, he gets in there and I kinda follow his path and then try to get the rebounds behind him and try to find the loose pucks. I think a lot of it is mental. It doesn't really matter how small or big you are, you can be the biggest guy out there and if you don't wanna pay the price, its not gonna work out or you're not gonna score goals'.
Briere took time out to prop Gerbe, Ennis, and Pominville of the Sabres for their prowess in and around the slot and crease.
"They are not the biggest guys, but they are very active and they will go to those hard areas".
No free lunches in these NHL Playoffs, eh, Danny?
"Most of the goals are scored in the crease, within a few feet, so you have to be willing to get in there".
Ryan Miller and the Buffalo D will have #48 on their radar screen tonight.
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I chatted up Danny as he was leaving the room for the team bus to the hotel.
Danny told me that his three boys are at home with his parents right now. They are all on Easter Break from school, however, they cpould not make the trip to Buffalo with Dad due to their hockey commitments.
"All three are playing hockey right now, and they are so busy. They wanted to come(to Buffalo) but could not because of hockey".
Danny's folks are in from Gatineau, and are in charge of driving the boys to and from the rink while Dad is at work.
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Seems like the Flyers have a spy on Myers at all times. Lindy likes the way that Myers is taking the puck when the Flyers give him big ice.
Peter Laviolette: "They like to have their D join, and its hard to miss Myers-- guy is so big and skates so well. We want to limit him."
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12:18 PM:
Just left the Philly room. The Flyers starters left the ice between 11:45 and Noon. Chris Pronger is still on the ice getting extra skating work.
It appears that Pronger will only play when his team needs him the most. They enter Game 4 with a 2-1 lead. If it were the other way around, Laviolette would likely activate his future Hall Of Famer.
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Chris Pronger is on the ice right now with the full squad. His shot appears to have more heat on it and his wheels look none the worse for the wear. He's being very vocal on the ice and is cracking jokes while waiting on line for drills to begin.
Will he play tonight?
I'll ask Laviolette after the skate.
I'm also going to get Danny Briere's take on the Ryan Miller allegation that #48 is chirping like a robin.
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Rather uneventful game day skate for the Sabres.
Ten skaters participated:
Goose, Gerbe, Ennis, McCormick, Mancari, Weber, Gargnani, Monty, and Leopold. Derek Roy was also working out with this ten man sortie. Roy skayted hard and was skated even harder after the session by sabres assistant coach, James Patrick. Roy will not play tonight, however, he's skating extremely well and appears to be nearing his return to the leineup. More on that later.
Here's what went down in the Buffalo room:
* Ryan Miller worked out, then left the room without speaking with the media. Not a big deal as he will go get his pregame carbs and head home for a nap.
* Pat kaleta will play tonight despite the facial injury. Kaleta did not speak with the media after the skate, however, Ruff ruled out using Mancari.
* Grier and Ennis will both play.
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