Sabres Down to 6 Arbitration Hearings

• Buffalo signs Lydamn and Pominville, down to 6 arbitration hearrings

• Flames sign Defenseman Brad Ference
• Red Wings re-sign Jason Williams
• Lightning re-sign Sarich before arbitration
• Lamoriello says he'll honour Gomez award

NHL Jeff's Take: On A Buffalo Sabres team full of surprises, Jason Pominville still stood out. Many thought the 2001 draft pick had fizzled out and would never really make it, well, for at least one season, he proved them wrong. It is still to be seen whether it just so happened that everyone on the Sabres team had basically a career year last year or if they truly are as good as they seemed. If so, Pominville should be a force in Buffalo for years to come.

GM Darcy Regier acquired Tony Lydman just prior to the start of the 2005-06 season. Lydman became on eof the most underrated defenseman in the league as he climbed up the Buffalo defense ladder. In the playoffs he was an iron man on a team full of injuries. With the loss of Jay McKee, Lydman will be looked at as the go-to guy for shot blocking and penalty killing.

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