Sabres at a glance
	Camp schedule: Sept. 12-15: Jack Gatecliff Arena (St. Catherines, Ontario) Sept. 16-20: Ice Palace (North Charleston, S.C.) Sept. 21: HSBC Arena Coach: Lindy Ruff (5th season, 254-123-50-5) General manager: Darcy Regier (5th season)

Good luck, Lindy Ruff. The Sabres coach ought to have a fun time trying to figure out a lineup on opening night. Although both players were acquired at last year's trade deadline, the Sabres lost leading scorer, Donald Audette, and their third-leading scorer, Steve Heinze, to free agency. And they traded their most valuable player and one of the most successful goaltenders in the league -- Dominik Hasek -- to Detroit. They also bid adieu to Dave Andreychuk and Doug Gilmour.

The departed players combined for a total of 4,512 NHL games. The good news is that they acquired talented young center Tim Connolly from the Islanders and left wing Slava Kozlov from Detroit in the Hasek deal. Will that be enough to make the Sabres a contender? Not likely.

Minus a Dominator: With Hasek off toiling on the 401K tour that is the Detroit Red Wings, the Sabres will be placing the goaltending duties on the shoulders of 24-year-old Martin Biron. Heading into 2001-02, Biron has a total of 68 NHL regular-season games on his resume. That's only one more than Hasek played only just last year. But Biron is widely believed to be the real deal. That certainly be found out soon enough.

Saying goodbye, finally: Mike Peca was conspicuous by his absence last year because of a contract dispute. Now, he'll be playing in a different part of New York this year after signing an outrageous deal with the Islanders. They certainly missed him last year -- not only his leadership but his Selke-worthy skills. The club finished a decent-enough fifth in the conference, but with him they likely would have beaten Pittsburgh in the second round of the playoffs.

Money changes everything: With Hasek and Peca gone, the Sabres save a Brinks truck full of money. Sabres' general manager Darcy Regier, like many small-market teams, has elected to go younger, cheaper and less experienced. Hello, rebuilding process.

Sabres 2001-02 preseason schedule
Date	Opponent	Time
Fri., Sept. 21	Ottawa	7 p.m.
Sat., Sept. 22	Columbus	6 p.m.
Tue., Sept. 25	at Columbus	7 p.m.
Thu., Sept. 27	at Toronto	7:30 p.m.
Fri., Sept. 28	at Ottawa	7 p.m.
Sat., Sept. 29	vs. Toronto at Copps Coliseum, Hamilton, Ontario	7:30 p.m.