Satan

Owner John Rigas, charged with siphoning hundreds of millions from his Adelphia Communications, is up for the Bruce McNall Fraud Award. Why didn't he divert $30 million to the Sabres before the bust? Miroslav Satan is a devil of a scorer. So much for the offense, unless Tim Connolly steps up. How bad is it in Buffalo? Free agent Richard Smehlik fled to Atlanta. The NHL is now running the team. That inspires confidence, eh?

	The Big Question
	Q: Will Sabres fans get any bang for their buck? Because of what's going on in the front office, the Sabres will have to do everything better than everyone else to succeed. They're not going to have money to solve problems. If they have injuries, they'll have to look to the minors. Guys like Chris Gratton, Stu Barnes, Maxim Afinogenov and Tim Connolly must have better seasons. Connolly is a key. We've been waiting for him to explode offensively. He's got to have a better year. The Sabres do have some offensive weapons, such as Miroslav Satan. They lost Richard Smehlik, which will hurt them on defense, but Alexei Zhitnik has to step up and have a great year. Goaltender Martin Biron has to be better. Everyone has to be better for the Sabres to make the playoffs. If they make the playoffs, they've had a great year. -- Barry Melrose
	Good: Martin Biron was faced with an impossible task last season in replacing one of the greatest goalies of all time. How did he do? He ended up top 10 in our rating system, and with a little offensive help he could win more this time. Bad: In real life, Alexei Zhitnik is a fine player, but for fantasy, one lone goal and three straight seasons of a negative plus-minus make him a below average pick. It's possible he could score a few more goals, but don't overrate him. -- Eric Karabell
	Top Prospect
	Karel Mosovsky, RW A good-sized Czech winger who played junior in the Western Hockey League. He lost virtually all of last year to injuries and had major reconstructive surgery, then came to camp this year looking stronger and faster than ever.
	Minors Outlook
	Rochester Americans Their longtime NHL partner down the road in Buffalo is bankrupt and while the Amerks don't have those problems, they are shy on prospects and their traditional corps of veterans is aging. Last year was a bad one. This year might not be much better. -- Bill Ballou

Forwards Granted Buffalo Sabres haven't been known for their offense since their Pat LaFontaine days, but it's getting a little ridiculous. Other than right winger Miroslav Satan, who by no small miracle was able to post 76 points last season, the team is turning out to be the league's biggest collection of could-be's, should-be's and might-be's. Chris Gratton, who should be a top line player in the league, found a bit of chemistry centering Satan at the end of last season. Maxim Afinogenov has the speed and skill to develop into an offensive threat and Stu Barnes provides grit and stability to the top lines. Tim Connolly (22) and J.P. Dumont (24) are still have the young and promising labels, but failed to take a significant step forward last year. Depthwise, they are a serious injury away from destitution. Eastern Conference Position Ranking: 12th Defensemen Fortunately, the Sabres have one of the more sound defensive corps in the conference, although they don't score a bunch. They are five deep with experienced veterans - Jay McKee, Rhett Warrener, Alexei Zhitnik, Jason Woolley and James Patrick - which provides an ideal learning atmosphere for promising youngsters Dmitri Kalinin and Brian Campbell. Eastern Conference Position Ranking: 3rd Goalie So Martin Biron isn't Dominik Hasek (who is?), the 25-year-old still helped the Sabres to the third-lowest goals-against total in the conference (200), trailing only Philadelphia and New Jersey. The Sabres are knee-deep in quality goaltending with Mika Noronen, 23, and Ryan Miller, 22, in the system. Eastern Conference Position Ranking: 12th

Rankings: 10th Overall
Forwards | Defensemen | Goalies

RECORD: 35-35-11-1, 82 points Rank: 20th overall 10th East 5th Northeast Playoffs: None Home: 20-16-5-0 Road: 15-19-6-1 2001-02 results 2001-02 statistics 2002-03 schedule 2002-03 roster OFFENSE DEFENSE GOALS FOR/AVG. Overall: 213/2.60 (17th) Home: 111/2.71 (16th) Road: 102/2.49 (17th) POWER PLAY Overall: 13.3/50-375 (27th) Home: 13.4/26-194 (25th) Road: 13.3/24-181 (23rd) GOALS AGAINST/AVG. Overall: 200/2.44 (10th) Home: 93/2.27 (10th) Road: 107/2.61 (10th) PENALTY KILL Overall: 86.5/41-304 (4th) Home: 87.0/20-154 (7th) Road: 86.0/21-150 (6th) STATS LEADERS GOALS Miroslav Satan (37) J.P. Dumont (23) Maxim Afinogenov (21) ASSISTS Satan (36) Tim Connolly (35) Alexei Zhitnik (33) POINTS Satan (73) Stu Barnes (48) Connolly (45) PENALTY MINUTES Rob Ray (200) Eric Boulton (129) Rhett Warrener (113) PLUS/MINUS Jay McKee (+18) Warrener (+15) Satan (+14) GAA (MIN. 20 GP) Martin Biron (2.22) SAVE PERCENTAGE Biron (.915) * - no longer with team