Updated:
News broke late Tuesday night that the Rochester Americans have signed RIT captain and Hobey Baker Finalist Matt Garbowsky to an amateur tryout contract.
Garbowsky will not have to leave the 585 area code to continue his hockey career.
The Amerks signed Garbowsky to a one-year AHL pact with the Buffalo Sabres organization for the 2015-16 season. Per Kevin Oklobzija of the Rochester D and C, Garbowsky will sign an amateur tryout contract with the Rochester Americans on Wednesday so he can join them for the final nine games for the regular season.
“It just kind of made sense,… said Garbowsky, a 24-year-old native of St. George, Ontario. “Being in Rochester for four years, there’s that sense of familiarity.…
Congrats to captain Matt Garbowsky, who has inked a deal with @AmerksHockey. Hobey Baker Finalist led #RIT to the @NCAAIceHockey Tourney!
— RIT Tiger Hockey (@RITMHKY) April 1, 2015
The 5'10" and 180 lb. center Garbowsky scored 26 goals and added 28 assists for 54 points in 40 games played this season.
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Wisely, the Buffalo Sabres have told young defenseman Mark Pysyk that his season is officially over.
A mystery ailment has sidelined Pysyk since his February 28 collapse while playing in a three-on-three basketball game with his Amerks teammates.
The Sabres and their doctors have completed several comprehensive tests in order to pinpoint the cause of Pysyk's collapse, however, there has yet to be a conclusive finding. For that reason, the Sabres have told Pysyk to concentrate on his health and not hockey.
Pysyk began working out a couple of weeks ago with his sights set on being cleared to play so that he could be activated and recalled by the Sabres.
Not so fast.
Rochester D and C scribe Kevin Oklobzija spoke with Rochester Amerks head coach Chadd Cassidy about Pysyk's situation.
"He's not even back skating and he won't play this year," Cassidy said following practice on Tuesday. "He's not able to do full workouts. The fact he had a setback, what, 10 days after he had been working out, that's a red flag right there"
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Jake McCabe will be ready to return to the Amerks lineup this weekend per Cassidy. McCabe has been sidelined with concussion symptoms.
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Its hard to believe that tomorrow is April 1st. For long stretches of this past arctic winter it felt like spring would never arrive in the northeast. Having to watch brutal NHL hockey while literally freezing in one's own man cave on a nightly was a fate worse than death itself.
I was bored at lunch time today and decided to do an analysis of the bottom four teams in the NHL standings to see how badly they performed in the month of March.
Here are the standings heading into Tuesday night's action:
27th: Toronto 62 points 28th: Edmonton 59 points 29th: Arizona 54 points 30th: Buffalo 50 points
I wish to congratulate the Edmonton Oilers for being the best of the NHL's worst teams in the month of March. Were it not for their pride and heroics, we would have a three team race for McEichel right now. The Oilers opted to take the high ride in March. They have been playing inspired hockey for the better part of the past month despite injuries to key players. The Oilers appear to be content to select D-man Noah hanifin or center Dylan Strome with the third overall pick in the NHL Draft. For their efforts, they will be receiving a big bag of nothing, just the moral victory of knowing that they chose to win games rather than tank out the remainder of their March games.
The Oilers played 13 games in March. In those games, they earned 13 points. Doesn't sound like much, however, the Oilers as a team couldn't tie their skates properly from October until January, let alone win hockey games. They currently sit in 28th place in the NHL standings with 59 points.
The Toronto Maple Leafs hold the distinction of being the NHL's worst team in March. They played 14 games in March. They will play their 15th and final game of the month tonight against Tampa. To date they have earned just 5 points. Lets go ahead and give them a regulation loss against Stamkos and the Bolts. The Leafs currently sit in 27th place in the NHL standings with 62 points. The Leafs have a real opportunity to dive under the Oilers to claim sole possession of 28th place in the final standings.
The Buffalo sabres and Arizona Coyotes each "earned" 7 points in March. Buffalo needed 13 games to accumulate 7 points while the Coyotes needed 14 games to do so.
The Sabres defeated the Coyotes in regulation on Monday night and now have 50 points in the standings. The Dogs have 54 points. Buffalo have played 76 games while the Dogs have played 77 games. Buffalo hosts Toronto on April Fool's day while the dogs will kick off a home and home series with San Jose on Friday night.
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Murray: McDavid and Eichel Are Both Franchise, Certainly Impact Players pic.twitter.com/YHFZJuPijr
— SabresBuzz (@SabresBuzz) March 31, 2015
Tim Murray hasn't traveled with the Sabres on their road trips for weeks. Instead, he sips a Timmy Ho's while he handicaps the best prospects at the top of this June's NHL Draft class. He doesn't do so from his desk inside the First Niagara Center. His gypsy blood takes him to chilly rinks in medium and small sized OHL and NCAA markets. Murray will tell you that he can't properly and respectfully evaluate a player via internet streamed video nor by reading reams of chicken-scratch notes that have been submitted by his own scouts. For Murray, the proof is in the pudding. That's why he has been barnstorming North America for the past 20 weeks.
Murray thinks that the 2015 NHL Draft is a "good" draft, not a "great draft" like the 2003 NHL draft was. Murray loves the top end of the draft and rightly so because that is where he and the Sabres will be selecting in either the #1 or #2 positions.
Last Thursday night, Murray was in Erie, PA to assess the greatness that is Connor McDavid. Thge Erie Otters and Sarnia Sting began their first round playoff series with Murray seated in his customary seat in the lower bowl. He has also been keeping a close eye on his Erie forward prospect Nick Baptiste, as well as super center and top five pick Dylan Strome . Murray also has been charting the play of draft eligible forward Pavel Zacha of the Sarnia Sting. It was in Erie that Murray confided in the NY Times that he has been watching McDavid too much lately. Murray is intoxicated by McDavid's off the charts skill set and professional attitude. He would love nothing more than to
On Friday night, Murray high-tailed it eastward to Manchester, N.H. where he watched consensus #2 overall pick Jack Eichel play on back to back nights. Eichel's Terrier advanced to the NCAA Frozen Four with nail-biter wins over Yale and Minnesota Duluth. BU goalie Matt O'Connor has also been an object of Murray's desire. There's no chance now that Murray can sign and play the free agent tendy due to the fact that Buffalo's season ends on 4/11 and the Frozen 4 begins on 4/9. Murray was prepared to sign and play O'Connor in NHL games now had his Terriers been booted from the NCAA postseason.
On Monday night, it just so happened that his schedule took him to the Meridian Centre in St. Catherines. Murray was there scouting Ottawa 67s center Travis Kocecny and Niagara IceDogs D Vince Dunn while his Buffalo Sabres were winning in regulation in Arizona on Monday night.
Such is the life of Tim Murray. He's the man in constant motion.
The second year GM has heavier lifting to do than to watch his team go through the motions in the final stages of the worst season in franchise history.
When Murray accepted the Buffalo GM job in January 2014 it was with the caveat that he was embarking in a mission to steadfastly execute the razing of the Sabres franchise in order to rebuild it in a winning likeness. Murray has kept his word and has been working the plan that he had so artfully crafted some 15 months ago.
Murray was asked to assess the two players at the top of the NHL Draft: Connoir McDavid and Jack Eichel. Murray put to bed any speculation that he's a McDavid or bust kind of GM when he told TSN 1200 on Monday night that he thinks that Eichel and McDavid are "very close" to one another in terms of their overall value. Side by side, Murray gardes both centers similarly. Murray noted that McDavid may have a slight edge in the court of public opinion, especially in Canada, because of all of teh media attention that he receives. Eichel doesn't have nearly the same amount of media demands on his time as McDavid does which is a big reason why the BU Terrier can go to the rink and just worry about hockey. Eichel is being visited by 25-30 U.S. and Canadian media members after game day skates and after games. Nor is Eichel being visited in his locker room between period by uber fans who are seeking his autograph.
The bottom line is that Murray thinks that McDavid and Eichel each are franchise players, certainly impact players. That's good enough for him. Both are high character young men who happen to be sickly skilled with supreme hockey smarts and jaw dropping manual dexterity.
Murray gave Eichel is seal of approval.
"Jack deserves a lot of talk and a lot of praise because he's just a helluva hockey player and you know, there's going to be lots of good discussions on those two guys by 2 or 3 or 4 teams at the bottom before the lottery. Certainly, I think that both the guys are going to help the teams that are lucky enough to get them ".
There. He said it Sabres fans. You now don't have to feel like you got the booby prize if McDavid goes to another team in the NHL Lottery and you get "stuck" with Jack Eichel. To the contrary. Murray is saying that Eichel's brand is just as equitable and valuable, however, McDavid gets the halo effect in the marketplace due to his very high media profile and his top of mind awareness.
Eichel is a superior talent who will electrify NHL fans for the next 15 years.
Murray should be commended for putting his Sabres in pole position to select either McDavid or Eichel in the NHL Draft.
He also restated his desire to improve his team via the acquisition of notable free agents this summer. He also will be looking to catch notable stars who get chopped off the rosters of teams who will be met with salary cap crises. Its not outside of the realm of possibility that Murray lands Tyler Toffoli from L.A., Patrick Sharp or Johnny Oduya from Chicago and/or Ryan O'Reilly from Colorado. The still nose -diving Canadian dollar coupled with flat salary cap continues to be a huge impediment to the GMs of contending teams. Look at how Garth Snow dramatically improved his Islanders by snatching D-men Johnny Boychuk and Nick Leddy from Boston and Chicago, respectively. There will be more cap casualties this fall. NHL teams can operate at 10% over their salary cap until such time that NHL training camps end. Then, the great purge will begin. Murray will have acres of salary cap space to catch difference makers when then fall off the rosters of their current teams.
Click the link below to hear Murray's full interview from the second period intermission of the 67s and IceDogs game on TSN 1200:
Sabers GM Tim Murray joins AJ to talk Travis Konecny, McDavid/Eichel and NHL Draft @AJonSports @TSN1200 #NHLdraft
— Stephen Bunda (@TSN1200Bunda) March 31, 2015