It’s a good thing Ottawa’s Dave Emery provided the Buffalo Chamber Of Commerce Sabres with bulletin board material prior to the Stanley Cup semis, otherwise there would be no bad discernable bad blood between the two teams (see above).  The Buffalo News’ Jerry Sullivan is mildly outraged just the same.

œI™m not a big fan of Buffalo, Emery said early this week. œThere™s not a lot to do on days off.Ottawa™s goalie couldn™t have done a better job of firing up the locals if he™d called a press conference and brought along our old pal, Willis McGahee, for moral support.

Why stop there, Ray? Why not insult our women while you™re at it? Or suggest they move the franchise to Toronto?

Emery said he was rooting for the Rangers to beat the Sabres, presumably because the night life is so shabby in our cultural backwater. OK, so Emery is out of luck if he™s looking to see Les Miserables or take in the Metropolitan Opera. Maybe Lindy Ruff, who has been almost eloquent in his affection for Buffalo this time of year, could offer him some suggestions.

œHe™ll find things to do, Ruff said with a laugh. œRent a Hummer truck, go for a ride. Drive around a little bit.

Good one, Lindy. Emery was involved in a three-car accident in his Hummer on the way to the airport last Friday for Game Five of the New Jersey series (no one was injured). It seems he was rushing to the airport after oversleeping. Emery missed the team flight. Maybe he was exhausted from a big night in that simmering cultural hotbed, Ottawa.

Actually, I suspect Emery wanted to avoid the Sabres for more fundamental reasons. He would rather have taken his chances against the mediocre Rangers™ offense than a Sabres team that lit him up like Times Square on New Year™s Eve in last year™s playoffs.

While he™s groping for things to do on the off days here, Emery ought to watch some tape of last year™s series against the Sabres, when he was about as comfortable as Alberto Gonzales testifying before the Senate Judiciary Committee.

Emery is up against it now. The only thing he™s proved to Buffalo fans is that he can beat up Martin Biron. So if you need someone to rush onto Chippewa Street at 4 a.m. and punch out a bunch of drunken thugs, Emery is your man. Knocking this Sabres team out of the playoffs, well, that™s a different matter.

You don™t like our clubs, Ray? Two weeks from now, you might have some other clubs on your mind. Golf clubs.