Ottawa, ON, Canada (WGR 550)  -- While the Buffalo Sabres find themselves struggling to stay in the Eastern Conference playoff chase, Jason Pominville is enjoying personal success this season.  The captain has racked up 47 points (17G, 30A) in 49 games, but the disappointment of being near the bottom of the standings is not lost on him.  While the deficit may be larger this year, the Sabres are in a similar spot as last season, and Pominville is not looking to throw in the towel any time soon. 
 
Pominville met with the media on Friday to discuss his All-Star selection and his team’s struggles this season.  Instead of dwelling on the missed opportunities and chances in the first half of the season, Pominville is looking forward to making a hard charge at the top 8 in the East and believes that he and his teammates are up to the task. 
 
This is the first NHL All-Star appearance for the Repentigny, Quebec native.  When this weekend is all over it is back to reality for the leader of the blue and gold.  He will return to the team that sits in 14^th place overall in the Eastern Conference, 10 points, and 5 spots, out of the playoffs. 
 
That fact is not lost Pominville and his teammates.   Even though this weekend is a time to get away from the game and rest for many of his teammates, the captain believes that the team’s struggles are always top of mind.   Pominville believes that as a group the blue and gold “always constantly try to find ways to improve yourself or find ways to improve the team.  Not finding excuses but finding ways that can help the team out.  I think it’s on everybody’s mind and I think it should be that way and we want to be better and we know we can be better.“  The Sabres will need to look like the team start started the year 10-5-0, and not the one that has gone 10-19-5 since.
 
Despite the grim outlook after such a promising start, the captain does have hope that Buffalo can make a run at a playoff spot, adding, “there’s a lot of games to be played yet and we gotta make a push and we gotta make it soon but at the same time…it is tough to keep it off your mind, you’re constantly thinking about it.”  Winning in New Jersey to start the All-Star break was a step in the right direction for Buffalo.  The victory snapped a 5-game losing skid and gave the team only their third win in January (3-7-1).
 
If the Sabres do not make the playoffs, they will have squandered what was a brilliant start to the 2011-12 season.  After posting back-to-back wins in Europe the blue and gold rattled off separate 3-game and 4-game win streaks, respectively before heading into a tailspin.   That fact is not lost on Pominville, acknowledging,  “got off to a really good start…expectations were high, we got a good start.  I mean, for a little while we were winning games that we probably should’ve lost and losing games that we probably should’ve won and then had to deal with, with a bunch of injuries.”
 
Pominville is not using injuries as a tool to excuse the season away.  Instead, he praised the players called up from Rochester to this point, and is not looking back on what could have been.  Instead, he is adamant that the players in the Sabres’ locker room “know that we have the personnel to get ourselves back, back in the hunt.”
 
------------------
Daniel Alfredsson selected Pominville to take part in the skills challenge relay competition on Saturday night.  He is slated to be a target shooter in the competition, and will also get a chance in the elimination shootout competition. 
 
Luke Adam was selected as one of the rookies to take part in the skills competition on Saturday as well.  He will compete in the hardest shot competition as member of Team Chara.
 
You can hear the All-Star Game live from Scotiabank Place at 4 o’clock on Sunday on the flagship home of the Sabres Radio Network – WGR Sports Radio 550.

Twitter: @PatWGR