This argument was about a stick, and it happened on the team bus after practice this season. But arguments are the least of it for Buffalo Sabres teammates Matthew Barnaby and Rob Ray. Sometimes someone's teeth gets knocked out; other times someone gets tossed out the window. So a stick is small stuff. "He had a brand new stick that he had just taped up, and I was the one who broke it on him," Barnaby said. "I told him that someone else had done it, and it came back to me. Boys will be boys."

The boys got to pushing and shoving, throwing punches. Next thing Barnaby knew, he was looking for his teeth. Again. "He ended up head-butting me right in the teeth and knocking them out," Barnaby said. "It was a bridge, but it had just been put in. Nerve endings are exposed; it's not a fun thing. He didn't care, though. Absolutely no sympathy." Tough guys aren't supposed to care. But with Barnaby and Ray, the caring runs deep and goes way back.

They were roommates for a couple years before Barnaby got married and became a father. The two could make "Animal House" look like "Mister Rogers' Neighborhood." Sometimes they squared off over the remote. Barnaby liked VH-1, Ray preferred the Discovery Channel. The Discovery Channel usually won out. "One time I threw him right through a window -- Venetian blinds, screen and all," Ray said.

With Barnaby at the center of trade talk, who stands beside him? His sparring partner. Ray wants Barnaby -- and the Sabres -- to be happy. Even if it means saying goodbye. "It's beyond the point where he can give 110 percent, because he and management have lost confidence in each other," Ray said. "It becomes just a little bit of a distraction for everybody else." Distraction has been a Barnaby trademark. A fourth-round draft choice in 1992, Barnaby rubbed Ray the wrong way.

"When he first came in, he never shut up," Ray said. "He was in your face all the time, and he was more of a pain than anything." Coaches told Ray to help Barnaby. At one point they had to tell him to work the kid along, not work the kid over. "I got a call two weeks before training camp one year and they said 'We don't want you fighting Matthew Barnaby in training camp,'" Ray said. "But the first day on the ice he's coming after me. He's just that kind of guy, and I think that's why he made it, because he just knew what he wanted and he went after it."

Barnaby, unhappy since the departure of former coach Ted Nolan, led the team with seven playoff goals last season after asking to be traded. This year, he's back in the trade mix. "Wherever he goes, he'll fit in," Ray said. "He's one of those guys that you hate to play against but you like to have on your team."

Sometimes Barnaby's bent for getting under the skin affects the wrong team. He was ejected early during a home loss to Nashville last week, and coach Lindy Ruff benched him. "I was trying to play my game, but there's a fine line," Barnaby said. "You have to be able to judge what's emotional and what's stupid, and that was stupid." Ray, who has counseled Barnaby on everything from picking his fights to choosing his words, said Barnaby's admission of guilt signals a turnaround. "Before he would have made an excuse or blamed somebody else," Ray said. "But now he's accountable for his actions and says when he's right and wrong."

Ray once opened his door to Barnaby and now is trying to help his friend walk away with dignity. This week, Barnaby stopped talking to the media. "He's definitely got to shut up now," Ray said. "This is the time to be quiet and let management work things out." "I told Matt, 'You're going to live here when you're finished, your wife's family is from here; you don't want to embarrass yourself or them. Hockey is only for another few years but you're going to live here for the rest of your life."'

Barnaby said that no matter what happens he and Ray will stay in touch.

"There are plenty more fun times ahead," he said.