BIRON: Sabres' depth pushed to limit in 2006 Eastern Conference Finals

In Round 1 against the Philadelphia Flyers back in 2006, we had Dmitri Kalinin, Brian Campbell, Toni Lydman, Jay McKee, Teppo Numminen and Henrik Tallinder as our top six defensemen. They're probably the best group of six defenseman I ever played with. Rory Fitzpatrick was our seventh defenseman and was very good as well.

By the time we started the 2006 Eastern Conference Finals against the Carolina Hurricanes, we had already lost Kalinin to injury, but our group of six was strong.

Game 2 saw Numminen out because of a lingering groin injury and Doug Janik inserted in the lineup. Doug had not played in the NHL that year and had only 10 games of NHL experience by then.

The Hurricanes were going back and forth between Martin Gerber and Cam Ward in net. We felt that we could overcome the injuries that were starting to pile up on defense by taking advantage of questionable goaltending.

In Game 3, Jeff Jillson filled in on D for Janik. Again, no NHL games for Jillson that year, but he was more experienced with time in San Jose and Boston.

Cam Ward was pulled in Game 3 so we were again very confident. But we had a bigger problem on the horizon. Henrik Tallinder broke his arm late in the game and now we are down to only four defensemen who had played NHL games that year.

Jillson and Janik were both in the lineup for Game 4, but Martin Gerber stole the show, posting a shutout.

Game 5 was pivotal. We went up 3-1 early in the second period, Gerber was pulled for Cam Ward and we seemed to be in the driver's seat. Unfortunately, this is when Ward would become the player who won the Conn Smythe Trophy. With some luck to his side, Ward made a breakaway save on Maxim Afinogenov.

Max was flying and had a quick shot going five hole on Ward. The goalie barely moved as he was for sure beaten, but the paddle of his stick stopped the puck from going through his legs.

That save gave the Hurricanes the big break they needed.

Well, they obviously got more breaks as you probably know how this story ends. But it was the start of a chain reaction.

We lost Game 5 and came home to an incredible atmosphere in Buffalo for Game 6. Danny Briere scored in OT and the building was literally shaking.

I saw fans body surfing out the front door after the game and we could hear them chant, "LET'S GO BUFFALO" from our locker room as they were exiting the arena.

Teppo Numminen tried to play in Game 6, but only played about four minutes and was unable to contribute. We knew we had a big task ahead of us going into Carolina for Game Seven, but man, did we ever feel so confident that we were going to be able to get the job done.

We all left the building that night with a big smile on our faces excited to have this opportunity to play one game where the winner would go on to the Stanley Cup Final.

Games 1, 3, 5, 6 and 7 of that series will be shown on "Sabres Classics" this week on MSG at 8 p.m.