"Marty, you will be missed"

I'm not going to get mad. I'm not going to yell or scream. I'm not going to curse anyone out.

I certainly won't cry... in public at least. He wouldn't want me to.

On Tuesday - the 11th hour of the NHL trade deadline - the Buffalo Sabres swapped away beloved backup goaltender Martin Biron to the Philadelphia Flyers, sending me into a quiet range of emotions that most men won't admit to ever having.

The trade, on paper at least, makes sense. With several injured skaters and a need to open up room under their salary cap to fill the void, cutting the second-string goalie's $2.128 million salary was a logical option.

The team picked up Ty Conklin from the Columbus Blue Jackets to take the 1995 first round draft pick's place. In dealing that also sent center Jiri Novotny to Washington and shuffled around some draft picks, Buffalo picked up Dainius Zubrus and Timo Helbling.

Considering how much the added firepower and extra defensive talent will help the Sabres going into the playoffs, I should be excited.

Instead, I already miss Marty. His style, his attitude, his talent - they were a big part of my love of the team.

To me, there's nothing quite like catching a game time Biron sound bite. I still remember word for word from last season's playoffs one little moment when, while being recorded, he taunted Carolina's Eric Staal from the bench.

"Can't stay up on your feet Staal? Eh, can't stay up on your feet?"

How classically Marty. Not even on the ice and still taking shots, accented by his impressively thick, well, accent. All part of the package.

And then there's the on-ice wandering.

I've got a joke with girlfriend that Biron must just secretly want to be a defensemen, or perhaps even a forward. At any given time during a game while he's supposed to be between the pipes he can be found up near the blue line - as casual as if he's on a warm-up skate.

It'd be a death sentence for most goalies, but he (almost always) pulled it off with finesse. And even when he didn't, we (almost always) still squeaked through with the win.

Losing the netminder who stood behind Ryan Miller and previously Dominik Hasek and always stood on his head in a pinch, however, isn't just going to be heartache for me.

Even though he wasn't a star, Biron brought an aura to the Sabres that helped define them after the hockey blackout ended.

Until Tuesday, the team hadn't made any trades all season. Through heavy recruitment from the AHL they squeaked through injuries and have stayed on top in their division. The mix of new leaders coming into their own, old pros sharing their experiences and young players making a big splash, the team's synergy was noted across the NHL - it practically had "made for TV movie" written all over it.

Now with a prominent veteran gone and some new faces in the locker room, a little of that has been lost. Players have come and gone from call-ups and injuries and the team has survived - hopefully it can overcome this too.

I can't begin to recall how many Sabres games I've cleared my schedule for, and losing Biron to the Flyers won't keep me from watching in the future. Miller is a solid goalie, and as long as he can keep his head in the game, can lead us to the Stanley Cup. Still, the wandering Canadian with the thick French voice and perennially underappreciated talent will be missed.