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Downie and Landeskog Nearly Fight In Prax |
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Day 3 at Colorado Avalanche training camp got heated when disturber/grinding winger Steve Downie took a man-sized run and Avs captain Gabriel Landeskog.
Not sure what exactly caused the fracas but Dater tweeted that Landeskog had tripped Downie earlier in the practice session. Downie blew out his ACL in just game two of the lockout-shortened NHL season. He had surgery to repair the knee. He's just now back to good health and likely wanted to tear Landeskog's head off for being so careless. Downie obviously passed his Avs team physical, otherwise, he would not have been on the ice for training camp.
To know Downie is to know that he would drill a family member through the zamboni doors if they screwed with him. Why would he care if it was his captain who got the better of him. Downie has acted first and asked questions later in his NHL career.
After the practice session, Dater got Landeskog's take on what caused the fur to fly.
According to Dater, Downie hit Landeskog and they two nearly dropped gloves. Landeskog was not pleased with Downie's hit on him which was likely a pay back for the Landeskog trip on Downie earlier on in the session.
Boys will be boys.
I havent seen Patrick Roy's reaction to the Downie-Landeskog kerfuffle yet, but I'll be willing to wager that Roy doesn't mind that sort of give and take one bit. Roy wasn't a choir boy when he played.
Passions are running high in the Rocky Mountains. I like it.
I'll keep you posted.
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Several select Buffalo Sabres season ticket holders got a big thrill on Saturday afternoon when their favorite players played the role of the mail carrier. Season tickets were delivered door to door, in communities all over Western New York.
How Swede it is to see Jhonas and Hank on the front porch.
Marcus and CoHo
Myers and Ehrhoff
Staff and Enzo
PK36 and Weber
Sabres owner Terrry Pegula and President Ted Black also got in on the act.
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The Montreal Canadiens and Buffalo Sabres are back on the ice today getting ready for the first exhibition game of the 2013 training camp. The Habs will play in their annual "White and Red" scrimmage at 1:00 pm today.
The Sabres are skating from 8:45-1:00 pm at First Niagara Center in Buffalo. They will conduct their game day skate at FNC on Sunday morning at 10:30 before they board their charter flight to Montreal to play the Canadiens at 7pm Friday night.
Sunday also represents the day that first cuts will be made from the Buffalo training camp roster.
Sabres fans will notice the #48 for Team White. Danny Briere. It will be nice to see #48 on a more frequent basis now that he is a division rival. Briere and the Sabres had conversations after the veteran center/winger was bought out by the Flyers in July, however, he opted to pursue the bright lights and the bigger city in Montreal.
You'll also want to keep an eye on #72 for Team Red. Former Rochester Amerks heart and soul guy, Nick Tarnasky, signed a free agent contract with the Habs this summer and he'll be getting a serious look in training camp from Michele Therrien and the Habs coaching staff. Tarnasky played the role of enforcer and big brother for the Amerks last season. If he plays on Sunday night, look for Tarnasky to shake things up by being a physical force. If he has to drop the gloves, so be it. All's fair in love and war. Ron Rolston may want to ice a heavier shenanigans. For example, if Rolston wants to start youngsters Rasmus Ristolainen, Nikita Zadorv, Zemgus Girgensons, Johan Larsson, Mikhail Grigorenko, and Joel Armia, it will be in his best interests to play his more experienced vets as insurance policies in the lineup on Sunday night. Best to not expose the kids to veteran sniper fire in their first exhibition games of their careers. I get a feeling that there will be some shenanigans in this game. Thats why I would play veteran badasses like Big John Scott, Cody McCormick, Steve Ott, Pat Kaleta, Mike Weber, and Marcus Foligno to counter-balance a Habs lineup that may include new addition heavyweight George Parros, Brandon Prust, Travis Moen, and Nick Tarnasky. The Habs had scouts at the Traverse City tournament last weekend, as did the majority of NHL teams. The word in scouting circles is that the Sabres play an uptempo, in your face style, hold-onto-pucks, hard forecheck style.. The Sabres played a brand of heavy hockey at TCity that would prompt coaches like Therrien to want to play a more grinding, physical puck possession style to counter Buffalo's aggressive forecheck.
It only makes sense that Therrien will want to control the puck and will want to take the play directly to the Buffalo net. The Habs will be aggressive. The Sabres have to match, then exceed Montreal's intensity. If that means dripping gloves and throwing hands to protect teammates then so be it. Scouts are in the building for every NHL game. Even exhibition games. Its never too soon for Rolston to introduce his brand if hockey to the rest of teh NHL. Why not go heavy in game one in Montreal and send a ripple effect through the NHL that the 2013-14 Buffalo Sabres are big, strong, skilled, confident, young, and will not take any crap from any opponent. Rolston should build his Montreal lineup with one thought in mind:
"We'll beat you on the score sheet and on the fight card, of we have to".
Let it be known from the first moment of the Ron Rolston Era that the Buffalo Sabres will not be intimidated, nor pushed around. You wanna play? You gotta pay. Finish every check with purpose. get your stick up in the grill of opponents as they finish their checks. Protect the fort with zero tolerance and extreme prejudice.
For the Sabres, nothing builds unity and a brotherhood quite like a bar fight in another team's barn. What better barn to make a statement in than the home of the Montreal Canadiens?
Just because the Sabres are the youngest team in the NHL (26.1 average age) doesn't mean they have to act like it. Need proof? take a look at the 2013 Montreal Canadiens. They went from 2011-12 laughingstock to 2013 playoff team. Their kids Brendan Gallagher, Alex Galchenyuk, and David Desharnais made huge contributions to their success last season. The Habs changed their culture when they signed gritty leader Brandon Prust and the started taking their pound of flesh from their opponents in a nightly basis, rather than getting their asses kicked. The Sabres can learn from the extreme makeover that Marc Bergevin and Rick Dudley performed on the Habs right before our very eyes in 2013. The Habs were dramatically improved from one season to the next largely due to the change in attitude in their room. The Sabres have an opportunity to sell their new culture and their new philosophy in Montreal on Sunday night. They should treat it like a statement game, not an exhibition game.
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Here's Montreal's rosters for their 'White and Red" team scrimmage on Saturday afternoon.
TEAM WHITE
31 – CAREY PRICE
35 – DUSTIN TOKARSKI
36 – MAGNUS NYGREN
44 – DAVIS DREWISKE
46 – MATT LASHOFF
61 – RAPHAEL DIAZ
79 – ANDREI MARKOV
84 – DARREN DIETZ
8 – BRANDON PRUST
32 – TRAVIS MOEN
38 - SEBASTIAN COLLBERG
45 - MIKE BLUNDEN
47 – JÉRÉMY GRÉGOIRE
48 – DANIEL BRIÈRE
51 – DAVID DESHARNAIS
53 – RYAN WHITE
67 – MAX PACIORETTY
75 – CHARLES HUDON
86 – STEFAN FOURNIER
89 – MARTIN REWAY
TEAM RED
30 – PETER BUDAJ
70 – ZACHARY FUCALE
6 – DOUGLAS MURRAY
24 – JARRED TINORDI
26 – JOSH GORGES
55 – FRANCIS BOUILLON
64 – GREG PATERYN
76 – P.K. SUBBAN
11 – BRENDAN GALLAGHER
14 – TOMAS PLEKANEC
17 – RENE BOURQUE
25 – MICHAEL McCARRON
27 – ALEX GALCHENYUK
37 – GABRIEL DUMONT
49 – MICHAËL BOURNIVAL
57 – MARTIN ST-PIERRE
60 – CHRISTIAN THOMAS
71 – LOUIS LEBLANC
72 – NICK TARNASKY
81 – LARS ELLER
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Why lookie here....
Jhonas got a new back to school bucket!
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