The Daily Dasherboard 1/17/2011

Happy MLK day! Most people are home enjoying a nice Monday off before we all have to head back to work. But we often forget who Martin Luther King Jr. is and what he stood for. It doesn’t matter how tall, big or the color of one’s skin is. Dr. King proved that you too can make a positive impact in both intolerant and tolerant societies!

Speaking of leaders, how about those Sabres, eh? Losing to one of the worst teams in the eastern conference doesn’t look good on the resume. But then again, this is the same Islanders team in which ended Sidney Crosby’s 25 point game streak and beat the Penguins in a shoot-out not to long ago.

Headlines From Across the Interwebs

Ruff Works Sabres Hard at Practice (WGR550.com) BUFFALO, NY – The Buffalo Sabres have four games in six nights this week starting tomorrow night in Montreal.  Therefore head coach Lindy Ruff used Monday’s practice as a way to really push his troops and work on various drills.  In all, the practice went over an hour at HSBC Arena.

Weekend wrap: Teams going overseas, Clouston’s future, Sharks’ coaching (ESPN.com)- The Edmonton Oilers, Washington Capitals, Buffalo Sabres, New York Rangers, Los Angeles Kings and Anaheim Ducks have been asked by the league to partake in next season’s Premiere Games, multiple industry sources told ESPN.com Saturday.

Stafford pulling the trigger for Sabres (Buffalonews.com) – Drew Stafford is good buddies with Kyle Okposo, a forward for the New York Islanders, and planned to spend part of the Buffalo Sabres’ weekend on Long Island catching up on what’s happened since their summer together. There wouldn’t have been much hockey talk for Okposo, who had shoulder surgery during the preseason and has yet to play.

Sabres Podcast: Lindy Ruff (Sabres.com) – Lindy Ruff met with the media after practice.

Around the Rink

NHL needs to take a look at concussions (http://msn.foxsports.com/nhl/) - The recent sidelining of Pittsburgh Penguins captain Sidney Crosby due to a concussion not only dispelled the myth the NHL protected or coddled the young superstar but served as proof it still has a long way to go to protect its players from serious head injuries.

NHL could use some mustard (montrealgazette.com) – Where were we? Ah yes. When I first saw Carey Price doing the Buffalo Stance, or the Buffalo Taunt, or whatever it’s called, after beating the Pittsburgh Penguins to win a shootout at the Bell Centre, I had a knee-jerk reaction:

Breaking down the NHL season’s first half (thestar.com) – If the second half of the NHL season is anything like the first, fans are in for a wild ride:

Marleau To Hit 1,000 Games Today in Phoenix (sjsharks.com) – San Jose Sharks forward Patrick Marleau will play his 1,000th NHL game today against the Phoenix Coyotes at Jobing.com Arena in Glendale, Arizona at 1 p.m. PST, becoming the first player in franchise history to play all 1,000 games in a Sharks uniform.

1,000th game for Jamie Langenbrunner (espn.com) FRISCO, TX – The Dallas Stars will honor Jamie Langenbrunner with a pregame ceremony prior to the forward’s 1,000th career NHL game on Monday night against the Los Angeles Kings.