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Revenge A Dish Best Served By Snipeshow |
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Boxing Day. 2015.
Team Sweden faced Team Switzerland at the IIHF World Junior Hockey Championships.
The game was chippy and physical. Then, the mood turned to anger.
Suisse forward Chris Egli senselessly head-hunted Swedish superstar William Nylander and knocked him out of the tournament with a concussion.
Egli received a game misconduct and was suspended for three games by the IIHF.
Nylander was selected eighth overall by the Toronto Maple Leafs at the 2014 NHL draft.
Team Sweden spanked the Swiss 8-3 on the scoreboard.
With his brother lost to a concussion Alex Nylander would have to assume a larger role on the highly skilled Swedish team. Alex led Sweden in points with 9. Sweden finished fourth in the tourney, losing the bronze medal game to Team USA.
The memory of the attack on his brother still remains in Alex's thoughts.
This afternoon, the Swedes will get a another shot at the Swiss.
The two heated rivals will once again exchange chirps, slashes and elbows in Montreal at 5:00 pm EDT in their preliminary round game at the World Junior tournament.
Asked Tuesday about the Egli hit on his big brother, Alex, the Buffalo Sabres first round draft choice in 2016, responded the way any brother would. “Snipeshow” hates the hit more today than he did a year ago.
“ It was sick.. ugly, the ugliest hit I've seen in a long time. I do not understand what the guy was thinking of, it was idiotic”, said the younger Nylander who scored two goals in Sweden's 6-1 drubbing of Denmark on Monday.
“They (Suisse) will certainly play dirty, you have to be ready for it”.
Asked by Swedish media if he will be motivated by his disdain for Egli's hit on his brother, Alex responded in the affirmative.
“Yes, I will surely remember last year. It would be sad if it happens again. But we will play our game and skate. I won't think much of it, winning is the most important”
Alex said that he and his teammates are going to stand up early and show the Swiss that Team Sweden can also play the heavy, physical game.
“It's just hitting back, not ugly, but we must show that they can not out hit us. Then it is important not to put too much energy on how they play.
Chris Egli was not selected to play for the Swiss team at this tournament, however, there will still be some hard feelings for sure.
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The head coach and general manager of Team Sweden had to reach out to Buffalo Sabres GM Tim Murray to ask for his permission to loan Sabres prospect Alex Nylander to his country for another kick at the can for WJC gold supremacy.
Murray, the horse trader, gave the loan his approval, but there was a string attached.
Murray told Michael Traikos of The National Post that he had one condition for Team Sweden.
Murray wanted to be assured that Nylander was going to be a focal point and a go-to guy for Team Sweden.
“When they asked me for permission, I asked what his role would be,” Murray said. “I think I knew the answer, but you still want to hear it from their lips, obviously.”
Nylander led Sweden in scoring with nine points as a 17-year-old at last year’s IIHF World Juniors. Many observers feel that Alex is the best hockey playing Nylander. This analysis includes bro William (Toronto Maple Leafs) and pops Michael , who played 20 years in the NHL. Alex, the sniping forward was Buffalo's first round draft choice at the NHL Draft in Buffalo last June. On loan to the Rochester Amerks this season, Alex has scored 17 points in 25 games as a rookie.
Alex Nylander is one of five AHL players on loan for the WJC tourney. Sweden’s Oliver Kylington (Calgary Flames), Team USA’s Jack Roslovic (Winnipeg Jets), Russia’s Denis Guryanov (Dallas Stars), and Daniel Vladar (Boston Bruins) of the Czech Republic are the others.
Murray expects Alex Nylander to exceed the body of work that the 18 year old Swede created last season at the legendary IIHF WJC tourney.
On Monday, Alex scored twice to power the 6-1 rout of Denmark in Sweden's first preliminary round game .
“The world juniors is a short tournament and sometimes the expectations for individual performances can get high, for sure,” Murray said. “We expect a lot from (Alex Nylander), but I’ve been around long enough where we’ve lent players from the National Hockey League or the American league who have gone to play for Team Canada and had a limited role and you kind of get pissed off after. But that’s just the reality of it.”
Not to worry, Tim.
The man who has glossed himself “Snipeshow” will not have any problems living up to your high expectations for him in this tourney. I think it's pretty safe to say that Nylander will be eclipsing the nine points he scored in seven WJC tourney games last December and January.
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Congrats to former Buffalo Sabres and Boston Bruins forward Dan Paille, who has signed a two-year contract to play for Brynas in the Swedish Elite League.
**
Winning in Detroit on Tuesday certainly pumped air into Buffalo's tires.
The Sabres currently trail the Boston Bruins by six points in the suddenly compelling battle for third place in the tightly contested Atlantic Division.
The Sabres host the Bruins on Thursday night. The same two teams will slug it out in a Beantown matinee on New Years Eve day.
The Bruins currently have 40 points to the Sabres 34 points. Two head to head regulation wins by the Sabres would give them 38 points and would move them squarely onto the tailgate of the Bruins.
“They’re within earshot,” Bylsma said.
“You have a chance of sweeping these two games and gaining four points on them, putting yourself right near them, right next to them in the standings.”
Adding more fuel to that the Bruins have played 37 games. The Sabres have played just 34 games.
Having two games in a row against the team that leads you by six points in the standings is exciting enough. Having three games in hand on the Bruins makes Sabres fans want to stalk down the bear.
***
Forward Tyler Ennis has missed Buffalo's last 22 games following groin surgery.
Dan Bylsma said Wednesday afternoon that the former Medicine Hat Tiger star has begun skating by himself. If there are no setbacks, Ennis could join Sabres team practices in the next week or 10 days.
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