The Buffalo Sabres host the Minnesota Wild tonight.

The two teams are a combined 0-13 in their last 13 games. This is a must-win game if there ever was one. The Wild have won only two of their past fourteen games. The Sabres have lost eight straight games.

The good news is that one team will earn two points. Sabres fans prefer it to be the Wild.


I rode the elevator up to the press box with a group of Minnesota Wild personnel. Wild D Ryan Suter, dressed in a black suit , was in the group. Suter will be seated in the Buffalo press box tonight as he serves the first game of his two game suspension for elbowing Pittsburgh's Steve Downie in the face on Tuesday night. While his teammates were playing two-touch and doing their pregame stretching exercises, Suter was heading north to the place that all NHL players hate to visit: Club 150. Its a cold, lonely place, that's 150 feet above the ice. Suspended, struggling and injured players hate to watch the games. They want to be in the battles with their boys. What's most frustrating for Suter is that his suspension comes at a time when his team needs him the most and he can't help them to correct their collision course with mediocrity. Their head coach and GM are under intense pressure which flows down to the players on the ice. The Wild are in a bad way right now and sure could use their inspirational leader joining them in battle.

If only he would have thought twice about burying his elbow into Downie's kisser. The Pens blew the doors off the Wild 7-2.


Talk about a fish out of water. Suter, the NHL's leading ice time eating D-man with 29:44 TOI average per game, probably hasn't seen an NHL press box since his rookie season in Nashville.

Suter was voted the NHL All Star game last week. He's second on the Wild in assists. He leads the Wild in PIMs and is third in hits. His 23 points (1G, 22A) ate the second highest of his NHL career.

Is Suter important to his team? You bet your ass he is.



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There are several scouts in the house tonight.

Montreal, Nashville, NY Islanders, Detroit, New Jersey, Boston.



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