While Daniel Briere was notching a hat trick to help the Sabres over the Lightning in Tampa Bay, a Sabres prospect was scoring a hat trick of his own against the Manitoba Moose.

Well, call it a Mark Mancari hat trick. The Sabres' 7th round draft pick in the 2004 Entry Draft netted two goals and made a nifty poke save in front of an empty Amerks net to lead Rochester to a 3-2 victory over Manitoba.

Mancari tied the score up in the third with 7:46 to play after Patrick Kaleta set him up in the slot, then converted a Michael Ryan pass off a two-on-one with only 1:56 left for the game winning goal.

Sabres prospect Clarke MacArthur opened the scoring for Rochester at 19:10 of the first on a power play goal. Ryan was good for two assists on the night, with Brandon Smith and Dylan Hunter also recording helpers.

Panther prospect Craig Anderson handled the netminding chores, allowing 2 goals on 14 shots. The Vancouver affiliated Moose managed only two shots in the third period.

Former Panther prospect Wade Flaherty turned back 24 Amerk shots for Manitoba, but could not keep out the efforts of the Mancari-Kaleta-Hunter checking line.

The two teams rematch tonight in Winnipeg at 8:30 E.S.T.

Mancari scores twice, makes a neat save in Amerks win
Mancari helps Amerks take down the Moose
Game Summary
Game Report
Boxscore

Everblades bring back Bussy

when Everblades fans talk about the need for a physical presence on the ice, one name always comes up: Ryan Van Buskirk.

That name also resurfaced Friday - as being waived by the Wichita Thunder. So perhaps it was no surprise that the Everblades announced the return of Van Buskirk Tuesday afternoon.

"Bussy's a physical guy, a physical player on the back end and we think that's an area that we can always improve on," Everblades head coach Gerry Fleming was quoted in saying in the Naples Daily News. "So we brought him in to be that guy, to be that crasher and banger, throw some big hits to keep other team's players a little more aware when they're out there."

Van Buskirk played in 2003-04, the season the Everblades reached the ECHL's Kelly Cup finals for the first time, scoring 15 points (2 goals, 13 assists) and spending 50 minutes in the penalty box in 27 games before suffering a separated shoulder.

"I wasn't even planning on playing hockey this year but I wound up going with (ex-Blade Joe) Blaznek to Wichita, then after I got in shape and played in Wichita for four weeks I decided I might as well play at a higher level," Van Buskirk said in the same article. "I sort of initiated things with Gerry and the team to see if they had an opening, and we worked it out, but I have to perform still to hold onto my spot. It's good that I played here before and for Gerry, and my intention is to play hard for this team and help them as much as I can, and I feel like I'm adjusting to the new rules clamping down on clutching and grabbing."

Van Buskirk spent the time since last playing for the Blades in the ECHL with Gwinnett, the AHL with the Chicago Wolves and in the UHL with the Richmond Riverdogs and Motor City Mechanics.

The Blades also announced that Ernie Hartlieb was place on the three day IR with an undisclosed injury, forward Johathan Lehun was moved to the 7 day IR and forward Brad Parsons, who was injured on November 18th against Pensacola, was moved to the 30-day IR.

The Blades take on the Ice Pilots for a pair of games Friday and Saturday at the Pensacola Civic Center. Both games start at 8:05 eastern time.

Everblades sign tough defender
Blades sign defenseman
Everblades ink Van Buskirk to contract