2002–03 Buffalo Sabres season

2002–03 Buffalo Sabres
Division	5th Northeast
Conference	12th Eastern
2002–03 record	27–37–10–8
Home record	18–18–5–2
Road record	9–27–5–6
Goals for	190
Goals against	219
Team information
General manager	Darcy Regier
Coach	Lindy Ruff
Captain	Stu Barnes (Oct.–Mar.) Vacant (Mar.–Apr.)
Alternate captains	Rob Ray (Oct.–Mar.) Rhett Warrener
Arena	HSBC Arena
Average attendance	13,776
Minor league affiliate(s)	Rochester Americans
Team leaders
Goals	Miroslav Satan (26)
Assists	Miroslav Satan (49)
Points	Miroslav Satan (75)
Penalty minutes	Eric Boulton (178)
Plus/minus	Jochen Hecht and Curtis Brown (+4)
Wins	Martin Biron (17)
Goals against average	Mika Noronen (2.42)

The 2002–03 Buffalo Sabres season was the 33rd season of operation for the National Hockey League franchise that was established on May 22, 1970.^[1] The Sabres failed to qualify for the playoffs for a second consecutive season. The 72 points accumulated in the regular season was the lowest total for the franchise since the 1986–87 season.

Off-season

Regular season

Final standings

Northeast Division

No.	CR		GP	W	L	T	OTL	GF	GA	Pts
1	1	Ottawa Senators	82	52	21	8	1	263	182	113
2	5	Toronto Maple Leafs	82	44	28	7	3	236	208	98
3	7	Boston Bruins	82	36	31	11	4	245	237	87
4	10	Montreal Canadiens	82	30	35	8	9	206	234	77
5	12	Buffalo Sabres	82	27	37	10	8	190	219	72

^[2]

Note: CR = Conference rank; GP = Games played; W = Wins; L = Losses; T = Ties; OTL = Overtime loss; GF = Goals for; GA = Goals against; Pts = Points
         Bolded teams qualified for the playoffs.

Eastern Conference^[3]

R		Div	GP	W	L	T	OTL	GF	GA	Pts
1	P- Ottawa Senators	NE	82	52	21	8	1	263	182	113
2	Y- New Jersey Devils	AT	82	46	20	10	6	216	166	108
3	Y- Tampa Bay Lightning	SE	82	36	25	16	5	219	210	93
4	X- Philadelphia Flyers	AT	82	45	20	13	4	211	166	107
5	X- Toronto Maple Leafs	NE	82	44	28	7	3	236	208	98
6	X- Washington Capitals	SE	82	39	29	8	6	224	220	92
7	X- Boston Bruins	NE	82	36	31	11	4	245	237	87
8	X- New York Islanders	AT	82	35	34	11	2	224	231	83
8.5
9	New York Rangers	AT	82	32	36	10	4	210	231	78
10	Montreal Canadiens	NE	82	30	35	8	9	206	234	77
11	Atlanta Thrashers	SE	82	31	39	7	5	226	284	74
12	Buffalo Sabres	NE	82	27	37	10	8	190	219	72
13	Florida Panthers	SE	82	24	36	13	9	176	237	70
14	Pittsburgh Penguins	AT	82	27	44	6	5	189	255	65
15	Carolina Hurricanes	SE	82	22	43	11	6	171	240	61

Divisions: AT – Atlantic, NE – Northeast, SE – Southeast

P – Clinched Presidents Trophy; Y – Clinched Division; X – Clinched Playoff spot

Schedule and results

2002–03 regular season[4]
October: 3–5–2–0 (home: 2–2–1–0; road: 1–3–1–0) Game Result Date Score Opponent Record Recap 1 W October 10, 2002 5–1 New York Islanders (2002–03) 1–0–0–0 Recap 2 W October 12, 2002 6–1 @ Montreal Canadiens (2002–03) 2–0–0–0 Recap 3 L October 13, 2002 0–3 @ Chicago Blackhawks (2002–03) 2–1–0–0 Recap 4 T October 17, 2002 4–4 OT New York Rangers (2002–03) 2–1–1–0 Recap 5 L October 19, 2002 2–3 Phoenix Coyotes (2002–03) 2–2–1–0 Recap 6 W October 22, 2002 2–1 Philadelphia Flyers (2002–03) 3–2–1–0 Recap 7 L October 25, 2002 1–2 New Jersey Devils (2002–03) 3–3–1–0 Recap 8 L October 26, 2002 2–5 @ Pittsburgh Penguins (2002–03) 3–4–1–0 Recap 9 T October 29, 2002 1–1 OT @ Vancouver Canucks (2002–03) 3–4–2–0 Recap 10 L October 31, 2002 0–3 @ Calgary Flames (2002–03) 3–5–2–0 Recap
November: 1–9–2–1 (home: 1–4–1–0; road: 0–5–1–1) Game Result Date Score Opponent Record Recap 11 T November 1, 2002 1–1 OT @ Edmonton Oilers (2002–03) 3–5–3–0 Recap 12 L November 3, 2002 2–3 @ Columbus Blue Jackets (2002–03) 3–6–3–0 Recap 13 L November 7, 2002 0–2 @ Carolina Hurricanes (2002–03) 3–7–3–0 Recap 14 L November 9, 2002 4–6 Atlanta Thrashers (2002–03) 3–8–3–0 Recap 15 L November 12, 2002 3–4 Boston Bruins (2002–03) 3–9–3–0 Recap 16 L November 15, 2002 2–3 Toronto Maple Leafs (2002–03) 3–10–3–0 Recap 17 L November 16, 2002 1–4 @ Ottawa Senators (2002–03) 3–11–3–0 Recap 18 OTL November 19, 2002 3–4 OT @ New Jersey Devils (2002–03) 3–11–3–1 Recap 19 W November 22, 2002 5–4 Columbus Blue Jackets (2002–03) 4–11–3–1 Recap 20 L November 23, 2002 1–4 @ Boston Bruins (2002–03) 4–12–3–1 Recap 21 T November 27, 2002 1–1 OT Tampa Bay Lightning (2002–03) 4–12–4–1 Recap 22 L November 29, 2002 1–4 Pittsburgh Penguins (2002–03) 4–13–4–1 Recap 23 L November 30, 2002 1–3 @ Toronto Maple Leafs (2002–03) 4–14–4–1 Recap
December: 4–8–1–1 (home: 3–4–1–1; road: 1–4–0–0) Game Result Date Score Opponent Record Recap 24 W December 4, 2002 4–0 Mighty Ducks of Anaheim (2002–03) 5–14–4–1 Recap 25 W December 6, 2002 4–1 @ New York Rangers (2002–03) 6–14–4–1 Recap 26 W December 7, 2002 4–3 Washington Capitals (2002–03) 7–14–4–1 Recap 27 L December 10, 2002 2–4 Ottawa Senators (2002–03) 7–15–4–1 Recap 28 T December 13, 2002 1–1 OT Chicago Blackhawks (2002–03) 7–15–5–1 Recap 29 L December 14, 2002 0–2 @ Philadelphia Flyers (2002–03) 7–16–5–1 Recap 30 W December 18, 2002 4–2 Boston Bruins (2002–03) 8–16–5–1 Recap 31 L December 20, 2002 0–3 Florida Panthers (2002–03) 8–17–5–1 Recap 32 L December 21, 2002 2–6 @ Montreal Canadiens (2002–03) 8–18–5–1 Recap 33 L December 23, 2002 2–5 @ Pittsburgh Penguins (2002–03) 8–19–5–1 Recap 34 L December 26, 2002 2–3 Ottawa Senators (2002–03) 8–20–5–1 Recap 35 L December 28, 2002 3–4 Minnesota Wild (2002–03) 8–21–5–1 Recap 36 L December 30, 2002 3–4 @ Washington Capitals (2002–03) 8–22–5–1 Recap 37 OTL December 31, 2002 0–1 OT New York Islanders (2002–03) 8–22–5–2 Recap
January: 7–2–2–2 (home: 3–1–1–0; road: 4–1–1–2) Game Result Date Score Opponent Record Recap 38 W January 3, 2003 6–3 Carolina Hurricanes (2002–03) 9–22–5–2 Recap 39 W January 4, 2003 2–1 OT @ Ottawa Senators (2002–03) 10–22–5–2 Recap 40 L January 7, 2003 2–3 @ Philadelphia Flyers (2002–03) 10–23–5–2 Recap 41 W January 10, 2003 4–2 Boston Bruins (2002–03) 11–23–5–2 Recap 42 W January 11, 2003 3–2 @ Montreal Canadiens (2002–03) 12–23–5–2 Recap 43 W January 14, 2003 1–0 @ Minnesota Wild (2002–03) 13–23–5–2 Recap 44 T January 16, 2003 2–2 OT @ San Jose Sharks (2002–03) 13–23–6–2 Recap 45 W January 18, 2003 1–0 @ Phoenix Coyotes (2002–03) 14–23–6–2 Recap 46 T January 21, 2003 0–0 OT Pittsburgh Penguins (2002–03) 14–23–7–2 Recap 47 W January 24, 2003 4–0 Toronto Maple Leafs (2002–03) 15–23–7–2 Recap 48 OTL January 25, 2003 3–4 OT @ Ottawa Senators (2002–03) 15–23–7–3 Recap 49 L January 27, 2003 1–5 Nashville Predators (2002–03) 15–24–7–3 Recap 50 OTL January 30, 2003 1–2 OT @ St. Louis Blues (2002–03) 15–24–7–4 Recap
February: 4–7–1–1 (home: 3–3–0–0; road: 1–4–1–1) Game Result Date Score Opponent Record Recap 51 L February 4, 2003 1–4 @ New Jersey Devils (2002–03) 15–25–7–4 Recap 52 L February 7, 2003 2–4 Vancouver Canucks (2002–03) 15–26–7–4 Recap 53 L February 8, 2003 1–3 @ New York Islanders (2002–03) 15–27–7–4 Recap 54 L February 11, 2003 2–3 St. Louis Blues (2002–03) 15–28–7–4 Recap 55 L February 13, 2003 2–4 @ Detroit Red Wings (2002–03) 15–29–7–4 Recap 56 W February 15, 2003 5–4 New York Rangers (2002–03) 16–29–7–4 Recap 57 OTL February 17, 2003 3–4 OT @ Atlanta Thrashers (2002–03) 16–29–7–5 Recap 58 W February 19, 2003 2–1 OT Montreal Canadiens (2002–03) 17–29–7–5 Recap 59 L February 21, 2003 1–4 Los Angeles Kings (2002–03) 17–30–7–5 Recap 60 W February 23, 2003 4–1 @ Tampa Bay Lightning (2002–03) 18–30–7–5 Recap 61 T February 24, 2003 2–2 OT @ Florida Panthers (2002–03) 18–30–8–5 Recap 62 L February 26, 2003 2–3 @ Washington Capitals (2002–03) 18–31–8–5 Recap 63 W February 28, 2003 5–3 Dallas Stars (2002–03) 19–31–8–5 Recap
March: 7–5–1–3 (home: 5–2–0–1; road: 2–3–1–2) Game Result Date Score Opponent Record Recap 64 OTL March 1, 2003 1–2 OT @ New York Islanders (2002–03) 19–31–8–6 Recap 65 L March 4, 2003 1–2 Washington Capitals (2002–03) 19–32–8–6 Recap 66 W March 6, 2003 4–2 Toronto Maple Leafs (2002–03) 20–32–8–6 Recap 67 W March 8, 2003 4–0 @ Florida Panthers (2002–03) 21–32–8–6 Recap 68 T March 9, 2003 1–1 OT @ Tampa Bay Lightning (2002–03) 21–32–9–6 Recap 69 OTL March 12, 2003 2–3 OT Carolina Hurricanes (2002–03) 21–32–9–7 Recap 70 L March 14, 2003 2–4 Tampa Bay Lightning (2002–03) 21–33–9–7 Recap 71 L March 15, 2003 3–5 @ Atlanta Thrashers (2002–03) 21–34–9–7 Recap 72 W March 18, 2003 5–2 Philadelphia Flyers (2002–03) 22–34–9–7 Recap 73 L March 19, 2003 0–3 @ New York Rangers (2002–03) 22–35–9–7 Recap 74 OTL March 22, 2003 2–3 OT @ Toronto Maple Leafs (2002–03) 22–35–9–8 Recap 75 W March 24, 2003 4–3 OT Colorado Avalanche (2002–03) 23–35–9–8 Recap 76 W March 26, 2003 2–1 Florida Panthers (2002–03) 24–35–9–8 Recap 77 W March 28, 2003 4–1 Montreal Canadiens (2002–03) 25–35–9–8 Recap 78 W March 29, 2003 3–1 @ Carolina Hurricanes (2002–03) 26–35–9–8 Recap 79 L March 31, 2003 0–3 @ Dallas Stars (2002–03) 26–36–9–8 Recap
April: 1–1–1–0 (home: 1–0–1–0; road: 0–1–0–0) Game Result Date Score Opponent Record Recap 80 W April 2, 2003 4–3 Atlanta Thrashers (2002–03) 27–36–9–8 Recap 81 L April 5, 2003 5–8 @ Boston Bruins (2002–03) 27–37–9–8 Recap 82 T April 6, 2003 2–2 OT New Jersey Devils (2002–03) 27–37–10–8 Recap
Legend:   Win (2 points)   Loss (0 points)   Tie (1 point)   Overtime loss (1 point)

Player statistics

Scoring

• Position abbreviations: C = Center; D = Defense; G = Goaltender; LW = Left wing; RW = Right wing
• † = Joined team via a transaction (e.g., trade, waivers, signing) during the season. Stats reflect time with the Sabres only.
• ‡ = Left team via a transaction (e.g., trade, waivers, release) during the season. Stats reflect time with the Sabres only.

No.	Player	Pos	Regular season
			GP	G	A	Pts	+/-	PIM
81	Miroslav Satan	LW	79	26	49	75	−3	20
77	Chris Gratton‡	C	66	15	29	44	−5	86
12	Ales Kotalik	RW	68	21	14	35	−2	30
17	Jean-Pierre Dumont	RW	76	14	21	35	−14	44
41	Stu Barnes‡	C	68	11	21	32	−13	20
37	Curtis Brown	C	74	15	16	31	4	40
24	Taylor Pyatt	LW	78	14	14	28	−8	38
71	Jochen Hecht	LW	49	10	16	26	4	30
18	Tim Connolly	C	80	12	13	25	−28	32
45	Dmitri Kalinin	D	65	8	13	21	−7	57
44	Alexei Zhitnik	D	70	3	18	21	−5	85
51	Brian Campbell	D	65	2	17	19	−8	20
22	Adam Mair	C	79	6	11	17	−4	146
3	James Patrick	D	69	4	12	16	−3	26
10	Henrik Tallinder	D	46	3	10	13	−3	28
48	Daniel Briere†	C	14	7	5	12	1	12
25	Vaclav Varada‡	RW	44	7	4	11	−2	23
61	Maxim Afinogenov	RW	35	5	6	11	−12	21
4	Rhett Warrener	D	50	0	9	9	1	63
26	Eric Boulton	LW	58	1	5	6	1	178
28	Jason Botterill	LW	17	1	4	5	1	14
74	Jay McKee	D	59	0	5	5	−16	49
8	Rory Fitzpatrick	D	36	1	3	4	−7	16
16	Chris Taylor	C	11	1	3	4	−1	2
5	Jason Woolley‡	D	14	0	3	3	−1	29
55	Denis Hamel	LW	25	2	0	2	−4	17
19	Norm Milley	RW	8	0	2	2	−2	6
15	Milan Bartovic	RW	3	1	0	1	0	0
43	Martin Biron	G	54	0	1	1		12
60	Paul Gaustad	C	1	0	0	0	0	0
21	Radoslav Hecl	D	14	0	0	0	0	2
6	Doug Houda	D	1	0	0	0	−2	2
33	Doug Janik	D	6	0	0	0	1	2
29	Jaroslav Kristek	RW	6	0	0	0	−2	4
23	Sean McMorrow	LW	1	0	0	0	0	0
30	Ryan Miller	G	15	0	0	0		0
35	Mika Noronen	G	16	0	0	0		0
32	Rob Ray‡	RW	41	0	0	0	−5	92

Goaltending

No.	Player	Regular season
		GP	W	L	T	SA	GA	GAA	SV%	SO	TOI
43	Martin Biron	54	17	28	6	1468	135	2.56	.908	4	3170
30	Ryan Miller	15	6	8	1	410	40	2.63	.902	1	912
35	Mika Noronen	16	4	9	3	411	36	2.42	.912	1	891

Awards and records

Awards

Type	Award/honor	Recipient	Ref
League (in-season)	NHL All-Star Game selection	Miroslav Satan[a]	[6]
	NHL Player of the Week	Miroslav Satan (December 9)	[7]
	NHL Rookie of the Month	Ales Kotalik (January)	[8]
	NHL YoungStars Game selection	Ryan Miller	[9]
		Taylor Pyatt
		Henrik Tallinder

Milestones

Milestone	Player	Date	Ref
First game	Ryan Miller	November 19, 2002	[10]
	Radoslav Hecl	November 30, 2002
	Jaroslav Kristek	January 10, 2003
	Doug Janik	March 14, 2003
	Sean McMorrow	March 22, 2003
	Paul Gaustad	March 24, 2003
	Milan Bartovic	April 2, 2003

Transactions

The Sabres were involved in the following transactions from June 14, 2002, the day after the deciding game of the 2002 Stanley Cup Finals, through June 9, 2003, the day of the deciding game of the 2003 Stanley Cup Finals.^[11]

Trades

Date	Details		Ref
June 22, 2002 (2002-06-22)	To Buffalo Sabres 1st-round pick in 2002	To Columbus Blue Jackets Rights to Mike Pandolfo 1st-round pick in 2002	[12]
	To Buffalo Sabres 2nd-round pick in 2002 3rd-round pick in 2002	To Atlanta Thrashers Vyacheslav Kozlov 2nd-round pick in 2002	[12]
	To Buffalo Sabres 2nd-round pick in 2002	To Nashville Predators 3rd-round pick in 2002 2nd-round pick in 2003	[12]
	To Buffalo Sabres Jochen Hecht	To Edmonton Oilers Atlanta’s 2nd-round pick in 2002 Nashville’s 2nd-round pick in 2002	[12]
July 24, 2002 (2002-07-24)	To Buffalo Sabres Adam Mair 5th-round pick in 2003	To Los Angeles Kings Erik Rasmussen	[13]
November 16, 2002 (2002-11-16)	To Buffalo Sabres Future considerations	To Detroit Red Wings Jason Woolley	[14]
February 25, 2003 (2003-02-25)	To Buffalo Sabres Rights to Jakub Klepis	To Ottawa Senators Vaclav Varada 5th-round pick in 2003	[15]
March 10, 2003 (2003-03-10)	To Buffalo Sabres Future considerations	To Ottawa Senators Rob Ray	[16]
	To Buffalo Sabres Rights to Michael Ryan 2nd-round pick in 2003	To Dallas Stars Stu Barnes	[17]
March 11, 2003 (2003-03-11)	To Buffalo Sabres Daniel Briere 3rd-round pick in 2004	To Phoenix Coyotes Chris Gratton 4th-round pick in 2004	[18]

Players acquired

Date	Player	Former team	Term	Via	Ref
August 7, 2002 (2002-08-07)	Peter Ratchuk	Pittsburgh Penguins		Free agency	[19]
August 12, 2002 (2002-08-12)	Jason Botterill	Calgary Flames		Free agency	[20]

Players lost

Date	Player	New team	Via[b]	Ref
June 14, 2002 (2002-06-14)	Christian Matte	ZSC Lions (NLA)	Free agency (VI)	[22]
July 10, 2002 (2002-07-10)	Richard Smehlik	Atlanta Thrashers	Free agency (III)	[23]
July 29, 2002 (2002-07-29)	Darren Van Oene	Boston Bruins	Free agency (UFA)	[24]
August 3, 2002 (2002-08-03)	Bob Corkum		Retirement (III)	[25]
August 18, 2002 (2002-08-18)	Mike Hurlbut		Retirement (VI)	[26]
September 10, 2002 (2002-09-10)	Bob Essensa		Retirement (III)	[27]
N/A	Mario Larocque	Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins (AHL)	Free agency (UFA)	[28]
October 2, 2002 (2002-10-02)	Luc Theoret	Bossier-Shreveport Mudbugs (CHL)	Free agency (UFA)	[29]
December 3, 2002 (2002-12-03)	Jeremy Adduono	Bridgeport Sound Tigers (AHL)	Free agency (II)	[30]

Signings

Date	Player	Term	Contract type	Ref
June 27, 2002 (2002-06-27)	Curtis Brown	1-year	Option exercised	[31]
	Jay McKee	1-year	Option exercised	[31]
July 3, 2002 (2002-07-03)	Rob Ray	1-year	Re-signing	[32]
July 12, 2002 (2002-07-12)	Mika Noronen	multi-year	Re-signing	[33]
July 25, 2002 (2002-07-25)	James Patrick	2-year	Re-signing	[34]
July 30, 2002 (2002-07-30)	Tim Connolly	1-year	Re-signing	[35]
July 31, 2002 (2002-07-31)	Brian Campbell		Re-signing	[36]
	Chris Gratton		Re-signing	[36]
	Rhett Warrener		Re-signing	[36]
August 7, 2002 (2002-08-07)	Rory Fitzpatrick		Re-signing	[19]
August 8, 2002 (2002-08-08)	Martin Biron	2-year	Re-signing	[37]
	Radoslav Hecl		Entry-level	[38]
	Jason Pominville		Entry-level	[38]
August 12, 2002 (2002-08-12)	Francois Methot		Re-signing	[20]
August 26, 2002 (2002-08-26)	Ryan Miller	2-year	Entry-level	[39]
September 4, 2002 (2002-09-04)	Maxim Afinogenov	multi-year	Re-signing	[40]
September 18, 2002 (2002-09-18)	Jiri Novotny	multi-year	Entry-level	[41]
October 8, 2002 (2002-10-08)	Vaclav Varada		Re-signing	[42]
May 28, 2003 (2003-05-28)	Derek Roy		Entry-level	[43]
	Chris Thorburn		Entry-level	[43]

Draft picks

Buffalo's draft picks at the 2002 NHL entry draft held at the Air Canada Centre in Toronto, Ontario.^[44]

Round	#	Player	Nationality	College/Junior/Club team (League)
1	11	Keith Ballard	United States	University of Minnesota (WCHA)
1	20	Daniel Paille	Canada	Guelph Storm (OHL)
3	76	Michael Tessier	Canada	Acadie-Bathurst Titan (QMJHL)
3	82	John Adams	United States	Boston College (Hockey East)
4	108	Jakub Hulva	Czech Republic	HC Vitkovice Jr. (Czech Republic)
4	121	Marty Magers	United States	Omaha Lancers (USHL)
6	178	Maxim Shchevyev	Russia	Elemash Elektrostal (Russia)
7	208	Radoslav Hecl	Slovakia	Slovan Bratislava (Slovakia)
8	241	Dennis Wideman	Canada	London Knights (OHL)
9	271	Martin Cizek	Czech Republic	Slavia Prague Jr. (Czech Republic)

See also

• 2002–03 NHL season

Notes

1. Satan was an injury replacement for Mats Sundin of the Toronto Maple Leafs.^[5]
2. In parentheses is the player's free agency group on July 1 if applicable.^[21]

References

• "Buffalo Sabres 2002-03 roster and scoring statistics at hockeydb.com". www.hockeydb.com. Retrieved December 12, 2022.
• "2002-03 Buffalo Sabres Roster and Statistics". Hockey-Reference.com. Retrieved December 12, 2022.

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38. "Sabres Sign Jason Pominville And Radoslav Hecl". Buffalo Sabres. August 7, 2002. Archived from the original on October 14, 2003. Retrieved November 28, 2022.
39. "Sabres Sign Ryan Miller". Buffalo Sabers. August 26, 2002. Archived from the original on October 10, 2003. Retrieved November 28, 2022.
40. "Sabres Agree To Terms with Maxim Afinogenov". Buffalo Sabres. September 4, 2002. Archived from the original on July 21, 2003. Retrieved November 28, 2022.
41. "Sabres Sign 2001 1st Round Draft Pick". Buffalo Sabres. September 18, 2002. Archived from the original on October 10, 2003. Retrieved November 28, 2022.
42. "Sabres Agree To Terms With Vaclav Varada". Buffalo Sabres. October 4, 2002. Archived from the original on October 10, 2003. Retrieved November 28, 2022.
43. "BUFFALO SABRES SIGN MEMORIAL CUP MVP DEREK ROY". Buffalo Sabres. May 28, 2003. Archived from the original on August 11, 2003. Retrieved November 28, 2022.
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