Wanna blog? Start your own hockey blog with My HockeyBuzz. Register for free today!
 

Nolan To His Sabres: Want It. Prove It. Earn It.

September 18, 2014, 5:57 PM ET [3 Comments]
GARTH'S CORNER
NHL news by Garth • RSSArchiveCONTACT
Buffalo Sabres tryouts begin at 10am on Friday morning. The players were given their Wingate tests and their physical exams on Thursday. Then, they delivered tickets to the team's season ticket holders.

The heavy lifting begins bright and early Friday morning and Ted Nolan can't wait to get started.

Don’t make the mistake of calling it training camp because that phrase connotes that the team will come together to begin preparations for the 2014-15 NHL regular season. The team selection process hasn’t even begun yet. Ted Nolan inherited Darcy Regier and Ron Rolston’s mess of a hockey club last November and on Friday morning, he will officially be handed the reins of the Sabres. He, Bryan Trottier, and his lieutenants have to evaluate 60 players over the course of the next three weeks before they can arrive at their final roster. Nolan admitted on Thursday that he’s been losing sleep lying in bed at night thinking about this new season to start. He’s been thinking about his new coaches, the new player acquisitions, the new draftees, the returning vets, and the daunting challenge of have to scrub the memory of last season’s 21-win nightmare from the memory banks of every player in the organization.

You see, gone are the days when the Sabres would skate back into town from their summer homes and then take their natural position on the ice in mid-September like they had in the previous April or May. For example, Ryan Miller was always the starting goalie. Thomas Vanek and Jason Pominville were first line wingers. Christian Ehrhoff was a top pair D. Those days are gone. Ted Nolan is saying “Good riddance” to the past and cannot wait to put his own unique stamp on the present and the immediate future. Nolan and Tim Murray have said goodbye to Ville Leino, Christian Ehrhoff, Zenon Konopka, John Scott, Matt D’Agostini, Kevin Porter, Jamie McBain, and Henrik Tallinder. For the first time in over a decade, top prospects and free agents will be singing for their supper. Nothing will be handed to any player. Roster spots and ice time will have to be earned. Ted Nolan doesn’t know most of the players that will be at his tryouts and he certainly doesn’t owe them anything. He said Thursday that there will be many bubble players who will fight for a few jobs, especially on the blue line. Nolan wants people who compete, work and battle. No spectators. All players, including the vets like Tyler Myers, Pat Kaleta and Drew Stafford are going to have to earn their opportunities. Their Buffalo resumes mean nothing right now. Their reputations can’t secure them their roster spots. They must earn it. Nolan will not be playing favorites at his tryouts either. He shared a great line about prospect which is : "Prospects are great. Then some of them turn into suspects, and some of them turn into rejects so you never know with drafts". " Take that Connor McDavid and Jack Eichel. Nolan isn't a fan of the whole "Dishonor For Connor" campaign that you fans are waging. Losing isn't in his DNA. He's not going to tell his team to tank games just for the opportunity to pick an 18 year old junior phenom who may never pan out as an NHL superstar. Instead, he's going to go to war with the guys that he knows and trusts, like his 20 year old protégé Zemgus Girgensons. If second overall draft pick Sam Reinhart proves that he can compete, make plays and withstand the physical pounding that is part and parcel of the NHL, then he will be given his 10 game tryout with the Sabres. If he fails to impress Nolan and Murray, he’ll be shipped back to Kelowna where he’ll get a chance to tear “The Dub” a new ass this season. Which would mean that Reinhart would also get a chance to represent Canada at the World Juniors which will be held in Montreal and Toronto at Christmas time. On the other hand, Nolan respects the work that Rasmus Ristolainen has put in this summer and is really impressed by the young Finn's dedication. Ditto Brendan Lemieux, who Nolan says reminds him of Claude Lemieux sandpapery self just jammed into a 18 year old's body. Can Lemieux, a peepy second rounder, beat Samson Reinhart to the NHL? It depends how badly both players want it.

Nolan wants to the players to prove themselves to their coaches. There will be no freebies.


Thanks, Sabres.com

Jhonas Enroth and Michal Neuvirth both want to be the #1 goalie for the Sabres. Nolan is saying "have at it boys". May the best man win.

The fun will begin will begin on Friday morning when Nolan and his assistant coaches will begin the process of evaluation three groups of twenty players at a time. Each twenty man group will skate for 90 minutes each. Group “A” will get the tryouts started at 10am sharp, followed by Group “B” at Noon, and then Group “C” will start at 2pm.


**



Brian Gionta has been skating in Buffalo with his new teammates for three weeks now. He said Thursday that the new energy in the room is contagious amongst he and his new teammates.

The former Montreal Canadiens captain said that he believes that the first 10-15 games will be imperative for the Sabres. Obviously, a winning record is what he and his teammates are striving for rather than chasing the leaders from the first month of the regular season until April.

Gionta, like Chris Stewart and Ted Nolan, has no time for all of the chatter around Buffalo regarding picking first or second overall in the June NHL Draft.

Good on ya, Brian.

Losing is for losers.

The future captain of the Sabres will not accept the losing mentality. That the opinion of the fans, not the players. Gionta wants to prove people wrong this season, just like he has shut the mouths of haters who said he was too small to play in the NHL.



Thanks, Sabres.com



***

Nolan will be naming his new captain early in the tryout period.

I'm calling my shot now:


Brian Gionta will be the captain.

**

I snapped some pics during media availabilities on Thursday.










Join the Discussion: » 3 Comments » Post New Comment
More from GARTH'S CORNER
» Hailing Taxis
» He With The Gold Makes The Rules
» Sedentary Seven
» The Sedentary Seven
» GadZuccs