For Buffalo Sabres D Josh Gorges, one gate has closed while another is wide open for him.
That’s life in the NHL. It’s a business. Players are taught by their agents and teammates to expect the unexpected. If Wayne Gretzky can be traded, any player can be traded.
Gorges was traded to Buffalo for a 2016 second round pick on July 1. For he and his family, the initial sting and anxiety have subsided and he is ready, set, and raring to get to Buffalo to author the next chapter in his impressive professional hockey career.
Gorges has been skating for the past couple of weeks with fellow NHLers in Kelowna. On Thursday, he departed for Montreal to collect up the personal items that he and his wife will need in their new home in Buffalo. The Gorges welcomed their first child into th eworld earlier this summer. Gorges told the Kelowna Capital News that he is pumped to get to Buffalo to bond with his new mates and to get ready for the September 11 opening of Sabres training camp.
"There are a lot of great guys in Buffalo, I know a few of the players already, and I'm looking forward to starting a new chapter and a new challenge along with them.”
"I've had good conversations with management, ownership, training staff, all those types of people and what's getting me excited to play is that they're all great people, and that's what you want to be involved in, working with people that want to do the right thing."
His former Montreal club lost out to the NY Rangers in the Eastern Conference Finals. Looking back, Gorges had hoped to stick and stay with the Canadiens to see their vision through to the end, which would have been a Stanley Cup Finals berth. It wasn’t meant to be. His work in Montreal is done, but his memory will remain.
"You never expect to be traded but you always know that there's a chance," said the former captain of the Kelowna Rockets. "You hope it never does happen to you, especially when you're in the right situation like I was in Montreal".
"It was shocking because of the things that were going on there were great, the team was succeeding, we had a great playoff run," he continued. "And when you start something like I did in Montreal, you want to see it through to the end…and that end is winning the cup with a team you've been a part of for so many years. But we understand it's part of the business, you move on and make the best of it. Now I'll go to Buffalo and do everything I can to help that team be successful."
Gorges can fondly reflect on his seven seasons in Montreal. He served his NHL apprenticeship there. He learned how to turn adversity and losses into wins there. Gorges will use those up and down experiences to help Ted Nolan and his assistant coaches to inspire and mentor the kids and vets who are now his Buffalo teammates. His transition to life in Pegulaville will be made so much easier by the presence of his great friend and former Montreal captain, Brian Gionta, who himself is geeked to be playing at home in front of friends and family. Gorges will fit nicely in the summer workout group in Buffalo that consists of Matt Ellis, Cody McCormick, Chris Stewart, Zemgus Girgensons, and a whack of other players who have been pushing each other this summer. In the next few days, the majority of players will return to Buffalo and will get their shinny on in anticipation for puck drop on training camp.
His new teammate Chris Stewart has said vehemently that he feels like the Sabres are going to surprise a lot of naysayers and haters with their ultra-talented club this season. Gorges happens to agree with Stewart.
"We're a young team, a team with a lot of upside, a lot of potential," he said of the Sabres.
"Once we make that work, put the work boots on and play as a team, I think we have a lot of potential. I'm excited about it."
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What an excellent touch by Terry and Kim Pegula and their HARBORCenter team. In honor of Labor Day, they bought lunch for all of the dedicated men and women who have been working feverishly on the new HARBORCEnter project.
The HARBORCenter project is nearing its completion with late October openings planned for the two ice rinks and the retail component.
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