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Satan could be headed out of Buffalo


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According to TSN.ca:

Satan could be headed out of Buffalo

Canadian Press

3/5/2004

AMHERST, N.Y. (CP) - Miroslav Satan says he'll probably be dealt before Tuesday's NHL trade deadline, which doesn't say much for his faith in Buffalo's chances of sneaking into the playoffs.

``Most likely, yeah,'' the Sabres' leading scorer replied when asked after practice Friday if he believes a trade is imminent.

Buffalo, eight points out of a playoff spot with 16 games remaining, plays Saturday in Toronto and at home Sunday against St. Louis. General manager Darcy Regier's finger is on the trade button, and he'll be under tremendous pressure to push it if his team doesn't prove in those two games that it can avoid missing the playoffs a third consecutive year.

``It's been like a roller-coaster for the last three years, up and down,'' said Satan, who after being named first star in a 4-3 win Wednesday over Ottawa waved to the home crowd as if to say goodbye. ``I don't think it's anything anybody is satisfied with and, if the Sabres decide (trading him) is something that will solve their problem, I'm willing to do anything to help the team.

``I don't feel as if I need it but maybe it'll be something that is fun. It's hard to say. I don't want to get ahead of myself. We'll talk when something happens.''

Satan has 25 goals and 20 assists in 66 games. He is the highest-paid Sabre at $4.75 million US, and he's under contract at $5.25 million US for next season. Those numbers would scare off most teams in a typical season, but there is nothing typical about this spring.

``This year, it's different,'' says defenceman James Patrick. ``With a pending labour stoppage possibly next season, it's more than ever a fire sale.

``I personally feel it somewhat embarrasses the league. The trade deadline should be somewhere halfway through the season because if you have a playoff spot now, and the finances, you can load up on so much talent.''

Regier has confirmed that teams are making offers for Satan, and the New York Islanders and the New Jersey Devils are reported to be among the suitors.

Coach Lindy Ruff frowned when he was told what Satan had said. He'd rather talk about a spirited run that lands a playoff berth than comment on trade rumours, and he conveys the impression that he honestly believes the Sabres can still make it - with the six-foot-three Slovak remaining in the lineup.

``You're not going to close eight points in a day or two but we need to close by a couple of points (this weekend),'' he said. ``If we close by a couple of points a week, we're right there at the end of the year.''

This is how he rationalizes it: ``From Christmas on, we've played pretty damn good hockey - six or seven games over .500. That is the model that leads you into the playoffs. We skipped a beat a couple of weeks ago and lost four games in a row, which really hurt us, but we rebounded with a big win against Ottawa, and I think the one thing you see is that this team isn't shutting it down.

``We're still finding ways to win games people don't expect us to win and we're staying in the picture. Our team's mood is upbeat.''

The Sabres rallied to beat the Leafs 6-4 in Toronto in the teams' last meeting. But Ruff knows the Leafs are hot so he altered his line combinations in practice and had Satan skating with Chris Drury and Daniel Briere, and he's revising his game plan.

``We're looking at a bit of a different road look for Toronto,'' he explained. ``Obviously, the way we've played on the road hasn't led to many points so we're going to concentrate on playing a harder defensive game.''

New Leaf Brian Leetch will draw considerable attention from the Sabres.

``He can do a lot of damage but we've been able to keep the ropes on him (when he was with the Rangers) and we hope to do it again,'' said Ruff.

The Sabres were in the Stanley Cup final in 1999 but they haven't been in a playoff game since Dominik Hasek left in the summer of 2001, largely because Martin Biron hasn't been able to fill Hasek's skate boots.

``We moved along the line that we were going to go with Biron,'' said Ruff. ``I don't think you know what you're going to get initially.

``He's had his moments where he's been very good for us,'' said Ruff, mixing his thoughts before returning to the goaltending issue. ``We're the youngest hockey club in the league. We've had growing pains.

``It's no secret that Dom was a guy who could single-handedly reverse any streak. There were nights where he was flat-out unbeatable. A netminder can do that for a team. You can look at Toronto when (Ed) Belfour was out of the lineup and when he's back in the lineup. You can take those stats to the bank, too.''

http://tsn.ca/nhl/news_story.asp?ID=75060

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did they making offer before pick up Hrdina & Koslov or it's another forward acquisition ?

I will say this one more time : If Lou trade for Satan... I will run nacked @work and scream little noise very irritating for my colleagues ! :P

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New Jersey confirmed as interested according to (N)Єverson really doesn't mean that much. In all the years of reading his drivel, I'm waiting him to be even in the same ballpark as Lou when it comes to trade ideas. Has one his rumors ever come to fruition? I definetely don't remember one.

Edited by pattyelias
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New Jersey confirmed as interested according to (N)Єverson really doesn't mean that much. In all the years of reading his drivel, I'm waiting him to be even in the same ballpark as Lou when it comes to trade ideas. Has one his rumors ever come to fruition? I definetely don't remember one.

Yes, but this is the Buffalo GM confirming the rumors this time...big difference.

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Regier has confirmed that teams are making offers for Satan, and the New York Islanders and the New Jersey Devils are reported to be among the suitors.

All Regier did was confirm that there are teams making offers. The Devils being among the reported teams comes from TSN relying (N)Єverson's dimwitted reporting as usual.

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I think that's why I just laugh at the trade rumors reported. All a writer has to do is [insert] (player on a non-playoff team) being sought by [insert] (any team in the running for playoffs). It just gets silly sometimes.

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Nieuwy....it gets extra silly with (N)Єverson since being the jerkoff Ranger fan that he is, all he does is constantly make stuff up. Honestly the closest to him being right regarding a Devils trade was the ALMO trade, and that was just because he talked about the Devils getting Messier for months. Well, at least he got the team right in that case.

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I cant stand Satan, but if Lou got him, then Lou obviously really believes in him..........

That being said....I dont think hes coming here........

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Nieuwy....it gets extra silly with (N)Єverson since being the jerkoff Ranger fan that he is, all he does is constantly make stuff up. Honestly the closest to him being right regarding a Devils trade was the ALMO trade, and that was just because he talked about the Devils getting Messier for months. Well, at least he got the team right in that case.

I know, (N)Єverson is absolutely horrible. But it seems like most of these reports are just mailed in - you know? Just pull out a name and a team, and voila! A new rumor! ;)

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New Jersey confirmed as interested according to (N)Єverson really doesn't mean that much.  In all the years of reading his drivel, I'm waiting him to be even in the same ballpark as Lou when it comes to trade ideas.  Has one his rumors ever come to fruition?  I definetely don't remember one.

Yes, but this is the Buffalo GM confirming the rumors this time...big difference.

Actually Buffalo confirmed teams are making offers, but they did not attribute the Devils and Isles to him. That's the "reported" part that's foggy. If they had Regier saying it, they woulda put him in that sentence.

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