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Sekera Opens Mouth, Inserts Skate

September 12, 2013, 10:27 AM ET [44 Comments]
GARTH'S CORNER
NHL news by Garth • RSSArchiveCONTACT
Reggie Sekera just opened his mouth and inserted his skate.

The former Sabres D took a shot at the Buffalo Sabres organization when he said that "Everything is better than Buffalo".





Last time I checked, the Buffalo organization made Sekera a millionaire. They treated him fairly in his time as a Sabre.


Is Reggie referring to the city of Buffalo? Or, the Sabres organization?

When asked about Sekera's comments, GM Darcy Regier said that if they are true that he's disappointed by them.

"Henrik Tallinder is happy to be back", said Regier.


Regier also said:

"I know for young married couples with families, they love being a part of Buffalo."

Oh, by the way, Sekera and his Hurricanes will be playing in Buffalo September 19th.


Sabres fans should bring their "A" game on that night.


***

Regier also took exception with the report that the Sabres are willing to take back some of Thomas Vanek's $714 million contract should the right trade deal come along this season.

Regier said that option is available to every team by way of the new CBA. Its not exclusive to Buffalo.














_____________________________________________________________________


Cody Hodgson is under the weather on this first day of training camp. Doesn't matter. With new contract in hand, CoHo took the ice for his first skate on Thursday.


"Its great. I'm excited to get started".


CoHo said that he never had a doubt in his mind about getting his new deal completed. He said that the past couple of days were a little stressful with him coming back to Buffalo to get ready for training camp with a new contract extension.

"(On Tuesday) I was here (in Buffalo), for physicals and stuff like that, we knew we were gonna get it done, it was just a matter of when. I'm really thankful for the opportunity the Pegulas, and Mr. Regier and everyone here in the organization has given me".

Will Hodgson be pressured or burdened by the new 6 year, $24 million contract?

" I think obviously there's pressure just playing professional sports, but when they (the Sabres) have that much faith in you it makes you, you want to try even harder".



Hodgson says that his summer workouts were as robust as usual.

"Talking with the trainers here and just going over the last year and what I can improve on type of things like that, one thing that stuck out was my power and explosiveness in terms of my skating and my shot, and also being able to play defensively, throwing guys off pucks better, and those kinds of things. I hope that translates on the ice this year".


Hodgson swears by the BioSteel workout and nutrition program. It works for him.

"It was a great summer of training, obviously I had a lot more time to work in getting more explosive and with more power. Overall, it was very good".


Hodgson was grouped with Vanek and Foligno on the top line on Day 1 of training camp. Needless to say, CoHo's thankful to have Vanek back on his left side.

"Its always nice to have an all star with you. Van is great to play with. I played with Marcus in the minors last year and we play really well together".



***

CoHo was asked to comment on the Nazem Kadri two year bridge deal. Was he ever worried that his long term deal may be in jeopardy?

" We were talking in the last few weeks about a long term deal. It was just a matter of when it was going to be done. Seeing Naz, he's in a different situation. Obviuously, he's an awesome player. He finished in the top ten in scoring, but just the way the team (Leafs) dynamics works wiith him, he took a shorter term contract".


At the beginning of this week, the Leafs had only $4.9 million in available cap space and they had to sign two RFAs with it in Kadri and D-man, Cody Franson. kadri accepted the two year "bridge" deal for $5.8 million ($2.7 million this year, $3.1 million next year) because that was the the final offer tabled by the team. Kadri avoided a training camp holdout by signing the bridge deal, just like former RFAs Marcus Johansson and Mikkel Boedker had done last week.

Regier said a few weeks ago that he was hesitant to sign young players to long term contracts, which prompted the speculation that he was referring to Hodgson. perhaps Regier had a change of heart when we delved into Hodgson's passionate approach to improving his skills and strength over the summer. Only Regier can speak to what his motivation was.

" You'll have to ask him (Regier). Obviously, the benefits for myself is that I know where I'm going to be for the next few years and I play better with that security and that comfort, and just knowing that they have that faith in me is a great feeling."


My point all along has been that the Sabres hired former Colorado Avalanch head ciach Joe Sacco for a reason: to develop and maximize the skills and contributions of Buffalo's young centers Cody Hodgson, Mikhail Grigorenko, Tyler Ennis, and Zemgys Girgensons and Buffalo's centers the same way that he had with Matt Duchene, Paul Statsny, and Ryan O'Reilly in Colorado for the four years that he served there.


CoHo says playing in Rolston's system from day 1 will be a huge asset to him as well.

" I think its huge. Ron came in and we were in the middle of the lockout season which is not a normal season. So, we jumped in and tried to pick up as much as possible.. its pretty amazing the resources that the Pegulas have put in here. Everyone in the whole organization gets an IPad. We have our system work, everything is broken down. We were just going through it last night. Today we are working on systems. Starting right now its a lot nicer than a pregame skate trying to go over systems and change some things"




***


Zemgus Girgensons told me:

"I'll fill the water bottles for them if they want me to. I just want to play for the Sabres this season".


Stone cold BEAUTY!!



I asked Girgensons why he seems to have natural chemistry with his winger Nick Baptiste.

Straight faced, Girgo told me:

" We love the same music. Hardcore rap, baby! He gets me. I won't be able to play my hardcore in this room, that's for sure. The older guys won't like it. Nick gets it".


Girgo and Baptiste were linies during Prospects camp in July. They killed it while playing together at Traverse City.

"I love playing him him. We have a lot in common. Fast, play hard. I moved off his wing after one game at Traverse, then I went from center to left wing (with Larsson and Armia).


Look for Girgensons and Baptiste to play hardcore hockey in the days and weeks to come!


***
Here are your Sabres lines for the scrimmage. Also, the practice group.





***

The team will skate early at 8:45am on Friday and will scrimmage from 9:15-10:30am.

Reason: Annual team golf outing.


***

You can tell that Rolston, Cassidy, Sacco and Forton are USA Hockey disciples.

The cross-ice drills are a staple of USA Hockey's coaching philosophy. Denies time and space. Players have to make quicker decisions with puck and positioning.



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