Kevin Oklobzija @kevinoDandC
The #Sabres ( and #Amerks) will not have sole ECHL affiliate, coach Ron Rolston says. A 2 here, 3 there, mixture. They had been in Gwinnett.
Rats. They're going to carpet bomb the Coast with the number of contracts they have, especially during the lockout...
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It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it. - Aristotle
I was personally hoping the ECHL affiliate would be Elmira. But that franchise is a train wreck right now. Who knows if they will even field a team?
Some day I'd like to see a Buffalo-Rochester-Elmira Western New York hockey system. It would be nice to be able to see guys at all levels.
Edit - I just checked the ECHL forum and it appears there is an agreement to allow the Jackals to play in Elmira this year. So maybe some of the Sabres talent can go there.
I'd love to see Terry Pegula buy the Jackals and have the Sabres with their own ECHL team. I just don't get the feeling that the organization (Darcy) really values the ECHL all that much. Who know though, with them now approaching the 50 contract figure every year. I think having a foothold in the Southern Tier would help the Sabres business long term.
Last edited by Blue n Gold Forever: 09-27-2012 at 05:47 PM.
I was personally hoping the ECHL affiliate would be Elmira. But that franchise is a train wreck right now. Who knows if they will even field a team?
Some day I'd like to see a Buffalo-Rochester-Elmira Western New York hockey system. It would be nice to be able to see guys at all levels.
Edit - I just checked the ECHL forum and it appears there is an agreement to allow the Jackals to play in Elmira this year. So maybe some of the Sabres talent can go there.
I'd love to see Terry Pegula buy the Jackals and have the Sabres with their own ECHL team. I just don't get the feeling that the organization (Darcy) really values the ECHL all that much. Who know though, with them now approaching the 50 contract figure every year. I think having a foothold in the Southern Tier would help the Sabres business long term.
Unfortunatly we are playing and i'm none to happy about it. I don't know much about this Pegula fellow other then he has cash but it can't be any worse than our deal now with an Egyptian and a bunch of slime politicians.
Hodgson and Foligno are among 34 Sabres prospects who will take part in the Amerks' camp. The list of players with NHL experience also includes forwards Luke Adam, Corey Tropp, Mark Mancari and Kevin Porter, and defensemen Brayden McNabb, T.J. Brennan and Joe Finley.
"We're all excited to get going and play some hockey," McNabb said. "We're going to have a really good team. A lot of guys with NHL experience, so I'm looking forward to that."
Quote:
It's probably the Amerks' best preseason roster since 2004-05, which was the most recent NHL lockout. Ryan Miller, Jason Pominville, Thomas Vanek and Derek Roy led Rochester to the best record of the regular season.
"I talked to Miller about that," Hodgson said. "He said he used that as a springboard for his career. I know a lot of them did. They had a real good team there that was known throughout the league as a pretty stellar team that turned out to be great in the NHL, too."
While there are obviously differing opinions now on the "Rochester core" from the last lockout, it is an encouraging thought to think that possible elements of the perceived next core (Hodgson, Foligno, McNabb, Girgensons, Tropp) could really accelerate their development in the AHL and hit the ground running once the NHL resumes.
it is an encouraging thought to think that possible elements of the perceived next core (Hodgson, Foligno, McNabb, Girgensons, Tropp) could really accelerate their development in the AHL and hit the ground running once the NHL resumes.
Yeah, if there's one positive thing about the lockout, that would be it.
It seems we'll be reading more and more of Kevin Oklobzija in the months ahead than any of the TBN crew - while this latest article just emphasizes the opportunity and heightened talent level the AHL will see that has already been covered, this bit was interesting as to how many AHLers during the last lockout went on to become key pieces of their NHL franchises:
Quote:
Scan the rosters from the 2004-05 American Hockey League season — the highest level of North American professional hockey that year — and it’s a Who’s Who of the NHL.
Zach Parise, Niklas Kronwall, Mikko Koivu, Eric Staal, Dustin Brown, Marc-Andre Fleury, Jason Spezza, Ryan Miller, Patrice Bergeron, Ryane Clowe. The list goes on and on.
The skill level was never better, thanks to a season-long NHL lockout. And now, thanks to the second lockout in eight years, it’s NHL Jr., Version II.
The players in will benefit greatly. The AHL is always a proving ground, but now under-the-radar prospects can show they’re capable of playing against NHLers.
And the comparisons of the Sabres' "core" group from '04-'05 to this year's are bound to be an ongoing theme:
Quote:
Sabres goalie Ryan Miller often talked during the 2004-05 season about how the group in Rochester would someday comprise the core of the Sabres, and that the experiences they shared as Amerks would be invaluable in the future.
Miller knew what he was talking about, considering he, Thomas Vanek, Jason Pominville, Derek Roy and Paul Gaustad were the heart of the Sabres for the past several seasons (Roy and Gaustad were traded in the past six months).
This year’s crop of Amerks — with Hodgson, Foligno, Tropp, Girgensons, McNabb and Pysyk — are in the same position.
Yeah, if there's one positive thing about the lockout, that would be it.
I wish that the resumption of play - whenever it happens - after this lockout would bring back not only a lot of prospects/rookies & 2nd year pros ready to make impacts on NHL rosters but also the obstruction rule enforcement like it did after the last lockout. Unfortunately, that probably isn't destined to happen this time....
Another note, JGL wasn't on the ice with either group.
Another thing on Knapp, he was getting beat high by everyone. From all areas of the ice. Not sure if this is the same as the other practices or development camp. Hope to have a better look at him Wednesday.
I'm thinking about getting a 20 game season pass. Do I need to purchase the package by a specific date? Or can I wait a couple weeks, and purchase it a few weeks into the season?
Another note, JGL wasn't on the ice with either group.
Via WGR550: "Jerome Gauthier-Leduc and Jacob Lagace sat out with undisclosed injuries. Neither sounded series. Evan Rankin was back for the second straight day after sitting out with a virus."
The 34 players were divided up into two teams and put their skills on display for 40 minutes before rounding out the day with a special teams-specific session that saw the groups alternate on the power-play and penalty kill.
Led by a pair of goals from both Marcus Foligno and Brian Flynn, Team Blue erupted for five unanswered goals and ultimately cruised to a 6-1 win over their Team White counterparts. Mark Mancari also contributed a pair of assists while Luke Adam provided the lone tally for Team White.
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LINE COMBINATIONS
TEAM BLUE TEAM BLUE FORWARDS 71 Marcus Foligno 12 Kevin Porter 25 Mark Mancari
28 Zemgus Girgensons 22 Phil Varone 15 Evan Rankin
83 Jacob Lagace 92 Kevin Sundher 10 Brian Flynn
16 Jamie Wise TEAM BLUE DEFENSEMEN 2 Joe Finley 47 Matt MacKenzie
7 Brayden McNabb 34 Jerome Gauthier-Leduc
44 Drew Schiestel
TEAM BLUE GOALTENDERS 33 David Leggio
31 Nathan Lieuwen
TEAM WHITE TEAM WHITE FORWARDS 72 Luke Adam 19 Cody Hodgson 14 Corey Tropp
74 Nick Tarnasky 32 Rick Schofield 29 Maxime Legault
45 Riley Boychuk 23 Shawn Szydlowski 24 Jonathan Parker
91 Frederick Roy TEAM WHITE DEFENSEMEN 3 T.J. Brennan 13 Mark Pysyk
20 Nick Crawford 4 Alex Biega
5 Corey Fienhage
TEAM WHITE GOALTENDERS 49 Connor Knapp
30 Shane Madolora
