It's been awhile since I've cleaned out my feed reader and I thought this might be a good time to talk about what I've been reading about the Sabres...

From TBN: Rob Ray sues player union

My initial reaction is "AGAIN", didn't he already do this once?  Rob you weren't a very good player while you were in the league so just be happy that you ever made money playing hockey.  I believe you signed the agreement with the league, stating that the case was closed.

The case was settled for $70,000. After the lockout, the union delivered another payment to players, this time in the amount of $150,000, according to the Star. Again, Ray did not get a check. That is the money the Sabres’ television analyst is seeking.

Man Rob you got screwed, I guess you should have thought twice before you signed the agreement.  I think you're gonna lose this time.

Another TBN story:  Miller named to competition committee

After the season that Miller had do you think he's going to be honest in his assessment of goalie equipment?  I can already tell you how these meetings will go...

Forward:  The goalies are too big, what do you expect me to shoot at?

Goalie:  Don't be mad at me because you suck, those pucks hurt and we need extra padding.

Forward:  If I suck so bad than why do you need extra padding?

Goalie:  Ah well, you still suck!

League Rep:  The goal here guys is to get the score to be 7-6 every night and I don't care how we do it but we aren't leaving here till we figure it out!

Goalie:  Do you have any Snickers because we aren't leaving for awhile.

It will go something like what you see above.

From ESPN- NBC picks up option on NHL games
Who Cares!!

Toronto Star- Reports about Jim Balsille buying the Sabres

Truthfully this one deserves it's own post and I'm going to go ahead and put one up tomorrow.  There is plenty being said about this in both the Mainstream and the blogosphere.

Kevin says it better than I can but I'll weigh in anyway

It was a big day for the Buffalo Sabres at the World Championships.  Andrej Sekera helped Slovakia beat Slovenia in an attempt to avoid being relegated to Division 1.  Sekera earned his first point of the tournament when he assisted on a goal by Marcel Hossa.  The win by Slovakia is their first in the relegation round.  Slovakia was 1-2 in the preliminary round with their only win coming against Norway, they beat Norway 5-1 on the first day of the tournament.  They lost their next two games, 4-2 against Germany and 3-2 against Finland.  The 1-2 record tied them with Germany in the standings of their group but Germany advanced by virtue of their 5-2 victory over the Slovaks.

Russia and Belarus played a whale of game that Russia eventually won 4-3 in a shootout.  Max Afinogenov put the Russians on the board in the second period cutting the Belarus lead to 2-1 and he assisted on the Russians third goal, the second of the game for Alex Ovechkin.  Max finished the game a plus one and he now has two goals and two assists in the tournament.  Dmitri Kalinin was a non-factor for the Russians, playing only 10 minutes and 42 seconds in the victory.

Derek Roy and the Canadians will be back in action tomorrow and the United States will wait until Sunday to take the ice.

The World Championships have moved into the qualifying rounds with Canada and the United States both winning today.  If you have not had the pleasure of seeing the games you have missed some really good hockey.  As for the Sabres that are playing in the tournament they have all played pretty well.  I would much rather the Sabres playing in the playoffs but it's great to see the Sabres players doing well.  When I was looking at the stats for Sabres players I was completely surprised to find out which Sabres has the most points.

Philip Gogulla (Germany)- 4GP  1G-3A-4P  2PIM  -1

Gogulla has been outstanding in the tournament thus far even though the German team has been marred with controversy.  Ex-Sabres defenseman Jason Holland began the tournament on the German roster but he was later declared to be an ineligible player and he is no longer allowed to play on the German team.

Ales Kotalik (Czech Republic)- 3GP  2G-1A-3P  0PIM  +1

Kotalik scored both of his goals while the Czech's were on the power play, not a surprising stat considering that Kotalik has become a power play and shootout specialist.  It is still unclear what the Sabres plans are for Kotalik who will enter the final year of his contract.

Jason Pominville (USA)- 3GP  1G-2A-3P  0PIM  -1

Pominville received some criticism for choosing the United States over Canada but his decision is paying off right now.  Pominville struggled in the first couple of games of the tournament but he seems to be much more comfortable now.

Derek Roy (Canada)- 4GP  1G-2A-3P  2PIM  +2

Derek Roy is playing just as well in the World Championships as he did in the regular season.  He is really becoming the player that I thought he would and I will definitely enjoy watching him develop further.

Drew Stafford, Dmitri Kalinin and Max Afinogenov have all been solid as well scoring two points each.  Afinogenov has one goal and one assist in only two games played while Kalinin and Stafford have two assists.  Andrej Sekera has yet to register a point but he is a solid plus one playing for Slovakia.

The tournament will continue over the next couple of days with two games tomorrow.  Canada is off until Saturday when they take on Germany and the United States will take the ice again on Sunday against Finland.

It appears that the Sabres are really trying to get these prospects signed quickly so they can move on to the restricted free agents that we have already been talking about.  I mentioned yesterday that they would need to get guys signed to provide depth at the AHL level if they were going to have their own team, which we all suspect that they will.  The Buffalo News has reported this signing but so far they have not made any other prospect signings.  

Schutz played three seasons in Quebec Major Junior Hockey League before heading back to Germany to play last season.  He had 12 goals and 13 assists in 46 games.  I'm not sure how much help the link will be because it is all in German but if you know German than you know more than I do.

{Update}:  Sabres.com has added a Q&A with Felix Scutz if you want to know more about him.

This is a huge step in the right direction for the Buffalo Sabres.  I'm not sure how much of an impact Gerbe will have in his first season but this is the first step in the Sabres rebuilding there popularity.  Let's be honest as much as I try to put a positive spin on last season, it was a public relations nightmare.  This is step one to rebuilding that.

Gerbe had a huge season at Boston College last year, including winning the National Championship and really making a huge impact at the Frozen Four.  Gerbe will have every opportunity to make the team as a rookie and if he doesn't he will probably see some action at some point.  In comparing him to other young players the Sabres have signed, Thomas Vanek had the luxury of one full season in Rochester because of the NHL lockout but Drew Stafford was called up during his first professional season.

The story is posted at both WGR 550 and at The Buffalo News.

Gerbe said, "I think this was a great oppurtunity for myself to further my career in hockey. It would be great going back to school and finishing up my degree and that's something I'm still going to pursue."

It appears that Gerbe has a good head on his shoulders and the fact that he is five foot nothing has pushed him is whole life.  I don't think that will ever be a factor for Gerbe but only time will tell if that is fact.

WGR is also reporting that the Sabres are in talks with Tim Kennedy, Felix Schutz and Jhonas Enroth.  Stay tuned for more information on these guys as it becomes available.  All three players will be playing next season in the minors if they are signed but they will add some depth to the organization.  It's still unclear where the Buffalo Sabres minor league team will be but it is certain that they will not share a team next season.  

I've stayed away from talking about this years playoffs because of the absence of the Buffalo Sabres but it's time to break the silence.  There is plenty of debate about the four overtime game that was played on Sunday night in Dallas.  Whether it be the penalties that were called, or not called, or the length of the game there are people on both sides of the argument.  The key factor is to look at that game as an impartial hockey fan because the opinion of a Stars or Sharks fan will be completely biased one way or another.

I have a hard time believing that anyone who watched that hockey game could say it was anything but a great hockey game.  It was amazing to watch both teams battle as hard as they did and for as long as they did.  To end a game in any other way would be inhumane, the people who argue that they want to see a shootout end a game like that are simply not hockey fans.  Before you go getting all huffy about me questioning whether or not you're a fan please hear me out.  If you are truly a hockey fan you probably have a favorite team, put your team in the place of the San Jose Sharks and tell me how upset you would be if your team was eliminated by a shootout.

There are also people who favor having the teams play four-on-four in the overtime just like they do in the regular season.  I'm not a fan of four-on-four at any juncture of the season so I am certainly not for it in the playoffs.  If they want to change the rules to four-on-four than change them for the entire game.  It makes absolutely no sense to me why the NHL insists on changing the rules of the game at the most critical juncture of the game.  I understand the need to have a winner but when it compromises the integrity of the game, I take issue with that.  The NHL should not and can not compromise that integrity further by putting on such an exhibition in the playoffs.

The debate about the referees putting away their whistles late in a close game or in overtime has gone on for as long as I remember.  As a little kid I remember questioning why they didn't make calls late in the game.  What happened last night goes in the completely opposite direction and it is hypocritical for the same people who want calls made to question why the referee will make a call.  The NHL fought so hard to get that part of the game cleared up and although it still needs some work they have moved closer to accomplishing that goal.  I remember a time when you could do everything and anything to your opponent without any worry of being called for a penalty, is that what we want?  I can only speak for myself when I say that I don't want that to happen, in fact I hope it goes more in the other direction and they start calling more penalties.

As a Sabres fan that game was quite painful to watch at it's conclusion.  Ex-Sabre defenenseman Brian Campbell sat helplessly in the penalty box while the hated Dallas Stars won the game in four overtimes.  It went a little bit longer than game six in 1999, the famous "NO GOAL" game, but it still brought back some painful memories for me.  It only made it worse for some Sabres fans because Brian Campbell, who was a fan favorite in Buffalo, sat in the box serving a two minute penalty.  In the end the Sharks have nobody to blame but themselves after failing to create any opportunity on their own power play in the third overtime.

If you are a true hockey fan than you understand that the game that was played last night was an instant classic.  The only thing I would change is the team that won but beyond that it was great for hockey.  We can only hope to have another one in the next round or better yet in the Stanley Cup.

There weren't many surprises on day one of the World Hockey Championships. The teams that were expected to win did, Canada, USA, Czech Republic and Russia were all winners on the first day of the tournament and none of the games were close.  Russia had the easiest time beating Italy 7-1 and the closest game was Czech Republic beating Denmark 5-2.

As Sabres fans we are really concerned with two things, how did the USA play and how did the Sabres and their prospects play.  The United States shutout Latvia 4-0 and although they dominated most of the game it was pretty close most of the way.  USA scored all four of their goals while on the power play.  Buffalo native Patrick Kane played well, assisting on the first goal and scoring the second.

USA forward Patrick Kane scored his first-ever senior World Championship goal off a pass from Paul Martin. After accepting the pass, Kane skated slightly inside the top of the left faceoff circle and let go a wrister that beat Masalskis, putting Team USA up 2-0.

Kane would finish the game with a goal and two assists. Paul Martin added three assists.

Ales Kotalik was the only Sabre to score a goal on day one of the tournament, it's no surprise that the tally came on the power play.   Kotalik scored the second Czech goal breaking a 1-1 tie en route to a 5-2 victory.

Five minutes later, Ales Kotalik stole the puck by the boards, drove to the net and beat the left-handed Hirsch on his glove side to give the Czechs the lead for the first time.

Max Afinogenov and Dmitri Kalinin both played a part in the Russians 7-1 victory against the over-matched Italian team.  Afinogenov had an assist and Kalinin led all Russian players in ice time, playing 22 minutes and seven seconds while finishing with a plus three rating.  Those stats are correct Sabres fans, I couldn't make this stuff up if I tried he really led the team in ice time.  Derek Roy (Canada), Jason Pominville (USA) and Drew Stafford (USA) were all held off the score sheet.

The tournament continues with four more games tomorrow afternoon and evening.  Sabres prospect Phillip Gogulla will be on the ice when Germany opens up with a game against Finland and Andrej Sekera will be playing for Slovakia against Norway.  It will be interesting to watch these two guys play because we haven't seen Gogulla over here and Sekera will be looking to build on his solid finish to the season.

This is the second of the free agent reports that I'll be doing over the next couple of weeks.  There is no hurry on getting these done so I have not set a time table on when they will be completed.  There will be posts everyday but we will focus on whatever is news worthy instead of only the free agent reports.

Daniel Paille (RFA)- read post
Paul Gaustad (RFA)-
Clarke MacArthur (RFA)-
Steve Bernier (RFA)-
Mark Mancari (RFA)-
Dmitri Kalinin (UFA)-
Teppo Numminen (UFA)-
Nolan Pratt (UFA)-
Mike Ryan (UFA)-
Jocelyn Thibault (UFA)-

C  Paul Gaustad- 6'5", 225 lbs.

07-08  82GP 10G-26A-36P  85PIM
career  215GP  28G-54A-82P  224PIM

Paul Gaustad just completed his best statistical season in his NHL career.  He put up decent numbers in his three seasons with Rochester before making the Sabres team in 2005-2006.  It was somewhat of a surprise when he made the Sabres but fans quickly understood the decision and he became a fan favorite.  There are many people who believe that he should be the Sabres captain, if not now than in the future.  Paul Gaustad was a seventh round draft pick of the Sabres back in 2000 and he has surpassed all expectations, but many people think there are even bigger things to come.

Strengths

Gaustad is a career over-achiever who uses his size and strength to his advantage.  At six foot five inches he is one of the taller players in the league and he is able to battle in the corners.  This past season he really excelled winning face offs, an area where the Sabres struggled after losing Chris Drury and Daniel Briere.  He is a big guy who isn't afraid to take his lumps in front of the net, much like Thomas Vanek but with less talent.  His 10 goals this season were a career high and five of those goals came while the Sabres were on the power play.

Weaknesses

Like many young hockey players he struggles with consistency.  Lindy Ruff has publicly stated that he needs to play hard 100% of the time in order to succeed in the NHL.  He is not the most talented player on the ice most of the time but if he works hard and uses his size he is usually effective.  Gaustad has long been known for his physical style as well as being a good defensive forward.  His 85 penalty minutes were second on the team, behind resident goon Andrew Peters, but he was a minus four this season.  The Sabres need him to be more consistent in his defensive role.

Bottom Line

Paul Gaustad is a big physical forward on a team that is termed "undersized".  He is also the top face off guy on a team that has struggled badly in that area.  There are many things Gaustad brings to the table that the Sabres would have a hard time replacing.  His consistency needs to be much better but as a former seventh round draft pick he has surprised many people with his solid play.  He was even selected to play for Team USA in the World Championships but he had to withdraw due to a sports hernia injury.

Verdict:  The Sabres will need to re-sign Gaustad to a long term contract.  His upside is much better than his downside and the organization needs a good character guy like him around.

As promised I will be breaking down each and every free agent from last seasons roster.  I will begin with the restricted free agents and I will conclude with the unrestricted free agents.

LW Daniel Paille- 6'0", 197 lbs.

07-08 77GP 19G-16A-35P  14 PIM
career  120GP 23G-26A-49P  34 PIM

It took four professional seasons for Daniel Paille to live up to his first round draft selection but 2007-2008 was a career year for Paille.  He had career highs in goals (19), assists (16) and points (35) in his first full season in the NHL.  Prior to last season he had career totals of four goals and 10 assists in 43 games played at the NHL level.  When Paille came to the Sabres organization he came with high expectations after playing in the 2002 CHL Top Prospects Game.  He followed up the 2002 campaign with his best season while playing for Guelph in the OHL.

Strengths

Paille has grown into a very good defensive player and he can also play a physical style.  In 2007-2008 he was a plus nine and he is a plus 19 in his NHL career.  He is also an outstanding penalty killer for the Sabres, adding some offensive skill to compliment his defensive talent.  Paille had three short-handed goals last season, tying him with Derek Roy for the team lead.  

Weaknesses

Paille came out of Juniors as a first round pick with offensive talent but it took him four pro seasons to show any signs of offense.  Paille could still become a good offensive player but there is always the risk that he could be an underachiever.  Paille has also struggled a little bit with his consistency, he found himself watching some games from the press box because of being in Lindy Ruff's doghouse.  Paille found himself bouncing around the second, third and fourth lines because of a lack of consistency, he averaged only 13 minutes and 27 seconds which is below what a typical third line player would play.

Bottom Line

The Sabres realize what they have in Paille and they will sign him to a new contract over the summer.  I expect the contract to be a two year deal because the Sabres will be reluctant to commit longer to Paille and I would presume that Paille will hope to receive a big contract in a couple of seasons.  His price tag may have increased because of his 19 goal season but the fact remains that he hasn't done a whole lot in his career until last season.  

The Sabres lack of depth at Left Wing will surely be considered when the Sabres are negotiating with Paille.  Thomas Vanek is the top line Left Wing but beyond that it's anyones guess.  Jochen Hecht switched from Left Wing to Center last season but he could move back if necessary and Ales Kotalik is still on the roster, although he is in the last year of a contract.  If things go well for Paille he could easily become a top six forward in the next couple of seasons.

Verdict: Will re-sign

It was certainly a very nice season for Jason Pominville scoring 27 goals and adding 53 assists.  A nice season is one thing but today Pommer was named a finalist for the NHL's Lady Byng Trophy.  The Lady Byng is awarded to the player who displays sportsmanship and gentlemanly conduct and it is often said that it is the award that NHL players don't want to win.  The other finalists for the award are Martin St. Louis of the Tampa Bay Lightning and Pavel Datsyuk of the Detroit Red Wings.

Pominville is hoping to become only the second Sabres to win the Lady Byng Trophy.  If he wins the award he will be in the company of all-time Sabres great Gilbert Perreault.  It's good to see Pommer get some good publicity after being criticized for playing for Team USA in the World Championships.  There are many people who believe he should have played for Canada where he grew up but he chose to exercise his dual citizenship and play for the United States.

It's never too early to start looking towards next season.  I would guess that some teams that are still playing are already looking towards next year.  In fact, it may have been the demise of the Buffalo Sabres last season.  We all have admitted that Ottawa was a better team than Buffalo was but could it have been a lack of focus that forced Buffalo to fall in five games to the Ottawa Senators?

I have talked over and over about the future being bright for the Sabres and today will be the first time we will take a look at what the team may look like next season.  In the interest of being as accurate as possible I will only use players that are on the roster as being on the depth chart.  I will also list Restricted Free Agents but will put an asterisk next to them and list them below the contracted players.

Left Wing

1. Thomas Vanek - (Buffalo Sabres)82GP 36G-28A-64P

2. Jochen Hecht - (Buffalo Sabres)75GP 22G-27A-49P

3. Ales Kotalik - (Buffalo Sabres)79GP 23G-20A-43P

4. Andrew Peters - (Buffalo Sabres)44GP 1G-1A-2P

5. Phillipe Gogulla- (Kolner Haie-DEL) 51GP 11G-33A-44P

6. Dylan Hunter- (Rochester Americans) 70GP 20G-27A-47P

7. Derek Whitmore- (Bowling Green- NCAA) 37GP 27G-10A-37P

8. Daniel Paille- RFA (Buffalo Sabres) 77GP 19G-16A-35P

This depth chart is assuming that the Sabres move Jochen Hecht back to left wing after one season at Center.  It's an interesting idea because Hecht had a career year playing center but he was extremely weak at face offs.  It will be interesting to see how Lindy Ruff and Darcy Regier handle that situation.  Obviously Thomas Vanek is an elite player in the league and will remain atop the depth chart for left wing as long as he is employed by the Buffalo Sabres.  After those two guys it looks a little bit weak, Ales Kotalik may or may not be a member of the Buffalo Sabres next season and beyond that there are no proven players under contract.  Daniel Paille remains an option as a restricted free agent(I will have much more regarding all the free agents in the near future).

Center

1. Derek Roy - (Buffalo Sabres) 78GP 32G-49A-81P

2. Tim Connolly - (Buffalo Sabres) 48GP 7G-33A-40P

3. Adam Mair - (Buffalo Sabres) 72GP 5G-12A-17P

4. Marek Zagrapan - (Rochester Americans) 76GP 18G-22A-40P

5. Paul Gaustad - RFA (Buffalo Sabres) 82GP 10G-26A-36P

6. Clarke MacArthur - RFA (Buffalo Sabres, Rochester Americans) (BUF)37GP 8G-7A-15P (ROC) 43GP 14G-28A-42P

This may be the Sabres weakest position and they will have to look outside the organization for help.  Derek Roy is a dependable point per game guy but beyond that it's weak.  Tim Connolly is also a superstar type player but his durability is a huge question mark.  I expect the Sabres to keep him around for at least one more season but he may not make it through the season.  Clarke MacArthur could also play left wing as well but he is a restricted free agent.

Right Wing

1. Jason Pominville - (Buffalo Sabres) 82GP 27G-53A-80P

2. Drew Stafford - (Buffalo Sabres) 64GP 16G-22A-38P

3. Max Afinogenov - (Buffalo Sabres) 56GP 10G-18A-28P

4. Patrick Kaleta - (Buffalo Sabres, Rochester Americans) (BUF) 40GP 3G-2A-5P (ROC) 29GP 1G-3A-4P

5. Steve Bernier - RFA (Buffalo Sabres, San Jose Sharks) (BUF) 17GP 3G-6A-9P (SJ) 59GP 13G-10A-23P

6. Mark Mancari - RFA (Rochester Americans) 80GP 21G-36A-57P

The Right Wing position could have a whole new look in just a couple of months.  Darcy Regier stated in his post-season news conference that it may be time to find a new home for Max Afinogenov.  In a poll on this site a couple of weeks ago the majority agree with Darcy but I was surprised it wasn't by a landslide.  There are a couple of restricted free agents in the group and Buffalo will have to take a look at how they want to proceed.

Defense

1. Henrik Tallinder - (Buffalo Sabres) 71GP 1G-17A-18P

2. Jaro Spacek - (Buffalo Sabres) 60GP 9G-23A-32P

3. Toni Lydman - (Buffalo Sabres) 82GP 4G-22A-26P

4. Andrej Sekera - (Buffalo Sabres, Rochester Americans) (BUF) 37GP 2G-6A-8P (ROC) 40GP 2G-15A-17A

5. Mike Weber - (Buffalo Sabres, Rochester Americans) (BUF) 16GP 0G-3A-3P (ROC) 59GP 1G-13A-14P

6. Nathan Paetsch - (Buffalo Sabres) 59GP 2G-7A-9P

7. Chris Butler - (U. of Denver- NCAA) 41GP 3G-14A-17P

8. Mike Funk - (Rochester Americans) 58GP 0G-10A-10P

9. Mike Card - (Rochester Americans) 23GP 1G-4A-5P

10. Mike Kostka - (UMass-Ahmerst-NCAA) 36GP 9G-12A-21P

There isn't much experience in the Sabres defensive corps outside of Spacek, Tallinder and Lydman.  Mike Weber and Andrej Sekera both stepped into the lineup and played well at the end of the season but an entire NHL season could be different.  Nathan Paetsch at one time showed a lot of promise for the Sabres but his progress regressed this past season.  The signing of Chris Butler will certainly help in the future but it will be tough to jump right into the NHL from the NCAA ranks.  This should be another position the Sabres try to solidify from outside the organization.

Goalies

1. Ryan Miller - (Buffalo Sabres)76GP 2.64GAA-.906 SV%- 3SO

2. Adam Dennis - (Rochester Americans) 46GP 3.18GAA- .897 SV% - 3SO

The Sabres goalie situation will need to be taken care of from outside the organization as well.  It has been well chronicled that Ryan Miller can not withstand the rigors of playing in as many games as he did and the Sabres will need a reliable back up.  They thought they had that this season with Jocelyn Thibault but he struggled horribly in his limited opportunities this season.  Adam Dennis is an average AHL goalie and will not be able to make the jump to the NHL.

If you are unclear how the World Hockey Championships are conducted, you are not alone.  I'm sure many are wondering how Thomas Vanek has already been playing while other Sabres like Jason Pominville, Drew Stafford and Derek Roy have not even started training camp, the answer can be found here.  Basically it is broken up into many groups and the winner of each group moves up a division while the last place team moves down a division.  Thomas Vanek had an opportunity to play for Austria and help them win their division and earn a spot in the championship division next year.  I hope Austria can avoid a last place finish without Vanek because he will playing in the NHL playoffs next year, at least we all hope so.

Being the only NHL player on the ice certainly allowed Thomas Vanek to stand out in the early portion of the tournament.  He finished fourth in the tournament with 10 points behind teammates Deiter Kalt and Oliver Setzinger who had 11.  Greg Chambers for Great Britain also finished the tournament with 11 points, one more than Vanek.  Vanek finished the tournament with five goals, which tied him with Deiter Kalt for the most in the tournament.

Austria won all five games they played, outscoring their opponents 36-12.  They began the tournament with a rather easy 8-0 win over an over matched Korean team.  Vanek had two assists in the contest and he was a plus two.  It certainly wasn't much of a test for Vanek or Austria but a 1-0 start to the tournament nonetheless.

In game two it became clear that Austria was a tough team in the tournament and that Thomas Vanek was more comfortable in his surrounding.  Austria beat Great Britain 10-5 and Vanek netted a hat trick.  All three of Vaneks goals came on the power play, an area where Vanek usually excels.  Vanek's power play contributions are never more evident than a quick glance at the Sabres season stats.  Vanek scored 19 of his 36 goals for the Sabres on the power play.  Vanek completed his best game in the tournament with three goals and an assist.

Austria faced adversity for the first time in the tournament against the Netherlands.  It took four third period goals to seal a 5-1 victory.  The score was tied 1-1 after two complete periods of play but Austria managed to score two rather quick goals before Thomas Vanek scored twice in the final nine minutes of play to seal the victory for Austria.  Vanek had two goals and an assist on only three shots-on-goal.

Unfortunately Vanek suffered a case of the flu which seen his production go way down in the final two games of the tournament.  Austrai squeaked out a 4-3 win against a tough Kazakhstan team but Vanek was help pointless for the first time in the entire tournament.  He did have four shots on goal but he finished a minus two.  In the clincher, a 7-3 win over Poland, Vanek had only an assist and three shots-on-goal.  He did not take the early day skate because of the effects of the flu but managed to make it through the game anyway.