Classless

That's the cleanest word I can come up with right now for how I feel about the Buffalo Sabres. Buffalo was well on it's way to victory last night against Philadelphia when I witnessed something that should have been contemptible at the least and downright inexcusable at the most.

With all of five seconds left in the third period and trailing 6-3, the Flyers were whistled for a penalty. The faceoff was in the Flyers' defensive zone, to the left of goalie Antero Niittymaki. Remember, Buffalo was winning 6-3 with five seconds left in the game. There was absolutely zero chance for the Flyers to win this game. All that was left was for the linesman to drop the puck and for the timekeeper to run off five seconds.

So, what does Buffalo coach Lindy Ruff do? He sends out his number one powerplay unit to take the draw -- with five seconds left!! The worst part is that the players actually went for it. Sabres center Daniel Briere, who, in the interest of full disclosure, is on my fantasy team, won the draw back to the point and the defenseman actually took a shot that was, thankfully, blocked.

What was the point to this? For the players, it's a chance to pad the stats. For Ruff, a chance to run up the score on a team that he's had a few run-ins with over the years. (One incident that comes to mind is when Ruff was pelted in the face with a beer after the Sabres eliminated the Flyers from the playoffs a few years back. Talk about wasting a beer.)

This whole incident displays to me the complete lack of respect and classlessness -- if that's even a word -- that the Sabres embody. Once upon a time I felt bad about the no-goal Stanley Cup loss they suffered. I could even get onboard with them in the whole small market, underdog thing they had going for awhile. Not anymore.

Combine the worst uniform/logo in all of hockey with the utter disrespect they show to their opponents and you come up with a team that deserves nothing but disdain from every self-respecting hockey fan.

POST-SCRIPT: You know what the worst part of this is? This incident didn't receive one mention in either Tim Panaccio's or Ed Moran's recount of the game. For all the talk lately of how the Flyers have started to stand up for one another, where was it last night at the end of the game? They just rolled over and took it from the Sabres. So long as that keeps happening, they have no chance of improving.

West beats East, 12-9

The 55th NHL All-Star Game took place in Dallas last night with the Western Conference topping the East 12-9. Buffalo Sabres forward Daniel Briere was named the game's MVP after recording a goal and four assists. Columbus' Rick Nash and Minnesota's Brian Rolston paced the West with two goals apiece.

The game may best be remembered not for what happened on the ice, but rather for conversations among the broadcasters. Miked for sound were New Jersey Devils goaltender Martin Brodeur and Dallas Stars goaltender Marty Turco. They were both scheduled to have a running commentary with the broadcasters in booth -- until Brodeur's mike was destroyed by a Rolston slapshot.

Turco carried on brilliantly, though, and really seemed to enjoy what he was doing. The banter between Turco and the booth was genuine, witty, and, thankfully, not forced in any way. The funniest part was when Turco was talking to the booth only to have to make a save in the middle of a sentence -- and then kept going without missing a beat.

It was a gimmick to be sure, but one that worked fantastically.