Miro Satan: Sabres sniper knows how to handle pressure

By Dave Ricci

The Sabres’ philosophy for offense seems to always be scoring by committee. Night in and night out, win or lose, you will most likely hear at least one Sabre say "we all have to contribute we can’t rely on just one guy." Despite that line of thinking game after game the onus of scoring falls on the shoulders of one man: Miroslav Satan.

The 28-year-old winger from Topolcany, Slovakia, came to Buffalo via a trade with the Edmonton Oilers on March 18, 1997. Since then Satan has pocketed 187 goals as a Sabre, 60 of which were on the power play.

During his tenure as a Sabre, Satan has topped the 30-goal mark three times; he scored 40 in 1998-99 and was a key offensive threat in the Sabres run to the Cup finals that season. Despite his numbers and obvious natural ability, Satan deals with the knock of being inconsistent, often going a considerable stretch of games without a goal. "You never know it depends on a lot of things," Satan casually explains. "Sometimes all of the circumstances are right and things are going well for you, and sometimes they aren’t even though you are still doing the same thing you did when things were good."

Former Buffalo Sabre, and current rink-side reporter for Empire Sports, Danny Gare. deposited 354 goals in his 13 NHL seasons. Gare knows what it’s like to have everyone’s eyes on you but feels this is a role Satan has come to accept as his job and he’s more than able to handle the pressure. Gare said, "If you’re looked upon as being that type of individual, and that has been your role throughout your career, even when you were younger, you don’t mind it. I think it’s a role you look at and accept that you have to produce to maintain your part on the hockey team. Miro does it so well, he’s had his ups and downs this year but so has the team. It’s a pressure situation when you’ve got to be able to score every night. When he’s on a roll Miro can get you a pile of points."

Knowing this is what he was bred to do, Satan calmly goes about his job without being distracted by what outside voices think of his performance. Whether his game is going well or not, Satan maintains an even keel. "All you can do is try again and again; if it doesn’t go, you just have to keep trying and trying. Keep shooting the puck; create chances; that’s the best way to deal with it. Outside pressure (from media or fans) is normal; it always happens: they look at me as a guy who should produce. When it doesn’t happen for the team or for myself, I’m the first guy who’s going to be mentioned, it comes with the territory and there’s nothing I can do about it…you can’t let it effect you."

Jochen Hecht feels Satan is in there night after night giving his best but the simple fact is it just isn’t easy to score in this league and it isn’t unusual for players to hit scoring droughts. "It’s very tough to score, I know for myself, I’ve gone a long time without a goal. He’s a smart player but sometimes there are no openings; the puck doesn’t bounce your way."

Satan is by no means the most physically strong player on the ice, and he doesn’t have explosive speed but he still finds a way to get the job done. Hecht said, "Even when he has two or three guys on him, he can still find the open man in the middle."

Sabres rookie goalie, Ryan Miller, often marvels at just how skilled Satan really is. "Miro mixes it up (on the ice). it’s just like his demeanor just real laid back and patient and that’s exactly how he is with the puck." Miller went on to describe from a goalie’s point of view just how tough it is to handle Satan. "He can drag you out, make you spread out so he can find the (five) hole or he can just blow it by you so you have to respect all aspects of that." For Miller one of the highlights of practice is being able to go one-on-one with Satan.

Miller feels that a lot of players in the NHL try to use quickness to get around other players. What sets Satan apart from the pack, in Miller’s opinion, is Satan’s ability to control the puck. "He just understands where (and how) to be able to put the puck where you’re not going to be able to reach it," "Miro keeps moving the puck so the other guy can’t reach it. I think that’s the biggest thing about Miro: he understands the concept of making room for himself."

Satan has played in two NHL All-Star games, the Olympics, was Sabres co-MVP in 1998-99 with Dominik Hasek and he recently entered the Sabres top ten for most career goals.

Danny Gare thinks it’s still too early to say just where Miro rates in comparison to the all-time Sabre greats like Gilbert Perreault and Richard Martin, but Satan is certainly on track to make his mark on the Sabres scoring charts. "I don’t know if you can put him in a category of a Martin or Perrault or (Dave) Andreychuk just yet. The jury is still out on where he’ll end up; that all depends on how long he stays here."

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