Puck Stop	The Wheels Come Off in So Cal by Andrew Kulyk & Peter Farrell

LOS ANGELES—So after last week, is there anyone who is still really excited about returning to the old NHL scheduling format?

The Buffalo Sabres made their first road trip out to the Left Coast since 2003, and what used to be an annual excursion and a tradition of a spate of late-night games back home had become a dim memory. Since the lockout ended, the NHL had adopted a schedule that saw each team playing an opponent from the other conference but once in three years.

For this trip there was more than the usual sense of anticipation, among the players as well as Sabres fans, both back in Buffalo and out in Southern California. No fewer than 10 players on the Sabres roster had never traveled to California in a professional capacity. For Media Relations Coordinator Chris Bandura, who travels with the team, this was his first trip ever to the California arenas, having joined the Sabres in 2005 after working for the Rochester Americans.

Adding to the backdrop of drama for the first stop, at Anaheim last Wednesday, was the first ever showdown between the Miller brothers—Buffalo Sabres goaltender Ryan Miller squaring off against younger brother Drew Miller, a forward for the Anaheim Ducks. The Millers’ parents as well as their uncle and aunt flew out to California to be a part of the historic family occasion.

The younger Miller was exultant after the 4-1 Anaheim win, saying, “Yeah, juniors, minors, college, this is the first time we ever crossed paths.” Drew Miller didn’t figure in the scoring in this one but recorded two shots against his older brother. When a member of the Anaheim media pointed out that Drew still has a Stanley Cup ring to show for bragging rights, he laughed and replied, “Well, I won’t hold that in his face.”

In the Sabres locker room, a dejected Ryan Miller took questions about his team’s poor showing, especially the second period, when everyone seemed to go to sleep. It was only when asked about his feelings on facing his brother that Ryan’s eyes lit up. “Having this chance to play each other is something that two brothers just dream of as kids, and here we are in the National Hockey League together. It’s a shame because of the conference setup we don’t get to see each other as often as we’d like, but hopefully next year when the schedule changes that too will change. But yeah, this was something very meaningful for all of us. I just wish it had ended better for our team.”

Everyone was expecting a much better outing the following night at the Staples Center, where the Sabres were taking on the hapless Los Angeles Kings and their newly minted ECHL goaltender Jonathan Quick, making his first career start in the NHL.

Nonetheless, the Kings’ dismal offense made mincemeat of the Sabres, scoring four in the first period and chasing Jocelyn Thibault after just 20 minutes of play. It didn’t get any better in the second period, with the Kings going ahead 7-0 before Buffalo’s Drew Stafford final broke through with a goal in an eventual 8-2 defeat.

Think this one didn’t sting? By the third period the entire Sabres bench was a collection of long faces. Unlike the previous night, where an agitated Lindy Ruff gave his post-game comments in terse, one-word answers, he had more to say after the team’s second loss in a row, at least attempting to put the finger on what had gone wrong in these past two games. Ruff said, “Look at Carolina. We killed them last week in our building, then they turn around and go and beat the Rangers. These things happen all the time.”

If there was one thing everyone agreed on, players, coaches and front office, it was that a trip to the Pacific time zone does not take any kind of toll on the players, and should not be used as an excuse. Said defenseman Jaro Spacek, “We’ve been out here two days now, so we’re used to the time change and the weather out here is very nice.” Forward Jochen Hecht added, “Fatigue is not a factor. I am ready now to play two more periods.” Chris Bandura also said that there were no special challenges or differences to coordinating such a long trip. “Basically it’s just acclimating to new buildings and front office staffs we haven’t met before, otherwise it’s just like any other trip,” he explained.

As we bid goodbye to the Sabres and headed home, the team flew up to San Jose, where they throttled the Sharks to salvage two points on this trip. But as they, too, headed back, this was painfully clear—as a playoff contender, there is work to be done.

TARO SEZ…

■ Jochen Hecht suited up in his 500th NHL game against San Jose.

■ This was only the second time in franchise history that the Sabres lost at Anaheim and Los Angeles in the same season(January 9-10, 1997).

■ This was not the first time that a Sabres player suited up against a brother. The brothers Dryden, Ken and Dave, played in opposing nets in the 1970s, and Marty and Matheiu Biron have also seen action on different teams.