Special Ruse Hockey Writer Ron Cherry

Hello fellow Hockey fans, I have been asked by my old friend Murray Lite to come up with a series of Hockey articles for this fine publication.

I’ve decided to dedicate this weekly space to the finest athlete known to man - The Hockey Goalie!

These loners enjoy having frozen discs come at them at more than 90 miles per hour. They have rituals that are down right insane and are like no other athlete around.

Use the comments section at the bottom of the article to post your guess. The first person to guess correctly will get an autographed picture of me.

Look at Me - I'm Nuts!

Players prepare for playoff season.

By Jerry Mulligan

A win at Washington and a loss at home to the Devils still has the Buffalo Sabres perched to leap forward into the playoffs.

Or to cower from them as if the playoffs themselves were an opponent crashing Ryan Miller’s crease.

Either way, the destiny of the Buffalo Sabres is firmly in their own hands.

The NHL playoffs are a special time for players who dream of the Stanley Cup’s eternal reward during a grueling 82-game season.

Coach Lindy Ruff says that the intensity will only increase as the team’s push to the playoffs continues.  “The playoffs are the second season for us.  But the third season can be a lot longer if you can skip the second season.”

The third season, Ruff said, is the summer.   “We play hard for 10 months.  But that doesn’t mean anything if you can’t look into your immediate future and feel the sunburn on your neck.”  In his hands Ruff held a golf bag, and a tattered book.  “It’s the Bob Uecker story.  I’ve read it several times.”

Ruff’s players have their eye on the prize as well, and many Sabres shared how the playoffs bring on the childhood memories of what spring is like for hockey players.

“I spent a lot of time outside as a kid,” said team Captain Craig Rivet.  “I’ve been sending the message to these guys for weeks: walleye season starts April 12th.”  Rivet, clutching his hockey stick in one hand and a tackle box in the other, told his teammates after Saturday’s game, “We’re almost there.”

“I know a lot of the guys are pretty excited about what the next few weeks will bring,” said forward Drew Stafford.  “My destiny is a bass guitar.”  Stafford’s band, ‘Red Seal Peach,’ has achieved a cult following among golf fans and 11-year-old girls.

Every Sabre seems to be wearing a new attitude this April.  Derek Roy was seen leaving HSBC Arena with a fistful of complaint forms that he intends to send to NHL officials.  And Andrew Peters was trying hard to correctly spell his name on the application he has for summer employment with a local roofing company.

Larry Quinn visited the locker room before players left the facility.  “This is what it’s all about, boys,” said the lanky puppet who has helped to drive the franchise to the brink the last two years.  In one hand Quinn held a copy of Forbes Magazine and in the other, a Sabres’ highlight movie titled, “Sabres Hockey 1980-1990:  Mediocrity on Ice.”