Buffalo Sabres searching for identity
by MATT KRUEGER Reporter

The 2007-08 Buffalo Sabres have a new look on the bench following the departure of free agents Daniel Briere and Chris Drury. The Sabres, which went 11 games before losing last year, dropped the first two of this season to the New York Islanders. Photo by Patrick McPartland

Two years ago, they were the plucky underdogs who stormed their way to the Eastern Conference finals before losing most of their defensive corps to injury and bowing out of the playoffs.

Last year, they were the favorites to win the Stanley Cup and began the season on a tear with 10 straight wins, only to falter in the playoffs with subpar special teams play.

Now the Buffalo Sabres are an unknown commodity, situated somewhere between elite and awful. And nobody really knows what to expect from the blue and gold.

"Obviously, we're not the favorites," said center Derek Roy, who signed a six-year, $24-million contract during the offseason. "That's pretty easy to see. Everybody's got Ottawa and other teams ahead of us. But that's great. We'll just go out and play our game."

Much of what makes the Sabres such an uncertainty is the loss of co-captains Chris Drury (New York Rangers) and Daniel Briere (Philadelphia Flyers) to free agency. Those two provided the leadership, experience and focus for a team of young, hungry and talented players.

Their departure, along with the absence of assistant captain Teppo Numminen during his recovery from heart surgery, left a void of leadership in the locker room. Overnight, players like new captain Jochen Hecht and assistant captains Henrik Tallinder and Tony Lydman took the reins of a team with the ability to defend its Northeast Division championship or finish out of the playoff race.

Ryan Miller, Roy, Brian Campbell and Jason Pominville are also strong voices in the locker room, and they'll certainly try to rally the team together this season, but it's still a young squad. One player, backup goalie Jocelyn Thibault, has more than 10 years in the NHL. Nine players have three or fewer seasons of experience.

But the team doesn't want to hear that it's lost a step, that it isn't as good as the Presidents Trophy-winning squad from a year ago. They believe they have a good team and want to show it.

"It's no different than any year," said Campbell, who becomes an unrestricted free agent after this season. "It's not my job to tell the identity of the team. We know what the identity of our team is in the locker room and how we play and the confidence we have. That's for reporters and everybody else to decide on."

Buffalo's start to the season was much less that what was hoped for or expected. Back-to-back losses to the New York Islanders Friday and Saturday night have given the team a jolt. Analysts have picked Buffalo to finish somewhere between second and fifth in the Eastern Conference, while the Islanders were expected to place 13th or 14th.

Buffalo gets back to business at 7 p.m. Thursday when the Sabres host the Atlanta Thrashers at HSBC Arena.

e-mail: mkrueger@beenews.com