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At 10am today, probable 2nd-overall draft pick, and probable future Buffalo Sabre Jack Eichel will be joining the USA squad as they hit ice in Prague, Czech Republic in the IIHF World Hockey Championships. Although it's down a ways on the list of important tournaments for those of us in North America, having Eichel in it should pique many a Sabres' fans interest.
Eichel and two other collegians--Dylan Larkin and Jimmy Vesey-- are expected to help provide some offense for Team USA. Eichel and Vesey finished No. 1 and No. 3, respectively, in NCAA scoring while Larkin was 11th. The trio will be joined by KHL scoring forward Steve Moses who set a KHL scoring record playing for Jokerit and was recently signed as a free agent by the Nashville Predators. The rest of the US forwards at this point feature a bevy of two-way players and checkers meaning that goals may be pretty hard to come by.
One should note that the IIHF rosters will undergo some changes as NHL teams fall out of the playoffs and their players opt to play in the tournament. Just added to the US lineup yesterday are NY Islanders forwards Brock Nelson (82 games, 20 goals, 22 assists) and Anders Lee (76gm, 25g, 16a) who represent a significant upgrade in offense over the previous lineup.
Of note on the US squad, 17 yr. old phenom Auston Matthews played in an Team USA's only exhibition game of the tourney and scored a goal in the 4-1 US triumph. According to SI's Alan Muir, it's the first time a player hit the ice for the Worlds before being draft-eligible. Even though the US could use his skills, the game was just a pit stop for "the next one" on his way back from Switzerland. Matthews just finished leading the US squad to gold in the 2015 World U18 Hockey Championships. He had eight goals and seven assists in seven games and was named tourney MVP.
On tap for the Americans this morning is a bout with Finland who finished with the silver medal last season.
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Despite a second consecutive 30th place finish, the Buffalo Sabres have increased season ticket prices from 3.8% to 6.1%. According to team president Ted Black, "Everyone in the Sabres organization shares the thirst this community has for bringing the Stanley Cup to Buffalo and that remains our primary goal," he wrote in a magazine that accompanied season ticket holder invoices.
The title of the magazine, “Buffalo Sabres 2015-16: The Next Chapter." In it he said, “When we made the decision to drastically overhaul our roster and undertake the process of rebuilding the Buffalo Sabres through the accumulation of a historic number of high draft picks, we knew it would require patience and commitment.
It is our hope that you continue with us as we march toward that goal [of the Stanley Cup] and keep the passion and dedication that makes our region such a special place.”
Season tickets begin at $1146 in 300 Level IV seats and peak out at $4468 for 200 Club seating.
There are 16,000 season ticket holders and over 3000 names on the season ticket waiting list.
Thanx to the Buffalo News Jon Vogl for his work on this.
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With the conclusion of a season that included plenty of turmoil and player movement culminating with the firing of head coach Ted Nolan, one would think that Black, owner Terry Pegula and GM Tim Murray would gather all the media types together for an end of season pow-wow, but it was not to be. For the second time in four years, the Sabres declined a year-end presser which miffed some in the media.
The end of year presser is "a scene repeated in every NHL city, whether the principals are reviled or revered. Except in Buffalo," wrote Mike Harrington of the Buffalo News. "They are the only NHL team, playoff qualifier or not, to not hold such a gathering. They are the only team to refuse to answer questions about the coming offseason.
"And most important, they are the only team to not provide information to their fans about their plans moving forward. This is minor-league stuff all the way."
Harrington was not pleased that the players answered questions at locker cleanout day while management did not. "This is organizational arrogance to the highest degree," he wrote, "from an organization that has no business being so full of itself."
A lot of respect should be paid to those in the media, like Harrington, who've had to cover the Sabres over the course of the last three seasons. Since the end of the 2011-12 season, the last time no end of season presser was held, the team has finished with a cumulative 66-123-24 record while landing 23rd, 30th, and 30th in the league overall. Beat reporters were there day-in, day-out, game after game, coach after coach, loss upon loss asking players and coaches pretty much the same questions.
So if they're a bit ticked off as to the general manager or even team president gathering the media to answer questions as to what in the hell just happened, they have every right to be.
In saying that, what more needs to be said about two consecutive 30th place finishes and gutting the organization of nearly every ounce of talent gathered by the previous regime for futures? And what information can a reporter glean from stock answers?
As to what happened over the past season, any question as to "tanking" was, is and will be answered by "Our time is the future."
And as for other possible questions:
Media--Are there any free agents out there in whom you might be interested?
Sabres--We'll be going over that with our scouts, but are focused on the draft right now.
Media--What are your intentions with your second first-round pick next month?
Sabres--We don't even know where it will fall. We have plenty of options including trading it outright for a player we like or using it to trade up. It's too early to tell right now, but we have flexibility.
Media--Do you think players like Sam Reinhart and Nikita Zadorov can play prominent roles next season?
Sabres--We'll look at them throughout camp and the preseason to see where they are development-wise then make a decision.
Media--Do you foresee Jack Eichel jumping right into the top line role?
Sabres--We haven't even drafted him yet. We'll evaluate every player to see where they might fit in.
Media--What's Chadd Cassidy's future?
Sabres--It's something we'll discuss after a thorough evaluation.
Media--Now that Detroit has been eliminated from the playoffs, will you pursue him as the Sabres next coach?
Sabres--He's still under contract with the Red Wings and he won't be available until July 1st, should they not renew his contract. Mike Babcock is a helluva coach and there's not a team in the league who wouldn't be interested in him.
and so on, and so on.
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