"The Sabres wonder why people were so suspicious about Tim Connolly suffering a mysterious welt under his eye during Ryan Miller's annual "Catwalk for Charity," but they should take a share of the blame for wild rumors racing across town that suggested Derek Roy decked him.

Let's get this straight:A professional athlete who can stickhandle in a phone booth somehow fell down . . . while practicing a skit for a charity event . . . left practice a day later with a strange groin injury . . . and was unavailable to the media. That's some coincidence.

Well, a team source confirmed that's exactly what it was.

Apparently, Connolly really did take a spill and bopped his head off of a carpet. The welt was a result of rug burn. The Sabres weren't surprised he tweaked his groin, either. The soft ice conditions in HSBC Arena have been a source of concern for two weeks.

The Sabres could have saved themselves two days of questions if they would have said as much. Instead, Lindy Ruff told reporters to simply ask Connolly what happened. Connolly wasn't available for three days, which made the media even more skeptical given his history of concussions and other injuries.

Meanwhile, the source said, the Sabres sat back and listened to the rumor mill with amusement. They told reporters to ask Connolly what happened because nobody wanted to speak publicly about what they viewed as a private matter. The only one who failed to the see the humor was Roy, who was caught in the crossfire."