Admit it, Sabres fans.
You are freaked the F-- out regarding this Saturday night's NHL Draft Lottery.
These past two seasons of finishing in 30th place have taken their toll on your both mentally and physically. You've cried tears of frustration and tears of joy. You are prone to long bouts of depression and moodiness. You are short and terse with co-workers and family members. You eat Prilosec like its Skittles.
You lie awake at night, one eye open, staring at the ceiling fan pondering the future of your Sabres. When you finally do nod off and blow a few zzzzzzs. you dream in technicolor about McDavid and Eichel and being in attendance with hundreds of thousands of Sabres fan at ticker tape Stanley Cup victory parades down Delaware Avenue in Buffalo.
Your mind also plays sick, twisted tricks on you. You are convinced that Gary Bettman and the NHL will rig up and fix the NHL Draft Lottery to hand McDavid to the Toronto Maple Leafs.
You need a break already to all of this madness.
You pray for an end to all of the suffering.
Your prayers will be answered on Saturday night at 8 p.m. when the NHL will select the NHL Draft Lottery order. Your Sabres have a 20% chance of selecting Connor McDavid with first overall. They have an 80% chance of selecting John "Jack" Eichel with the second overall pick in the NHL Draft.
Check NHL.com on Friday for the 1,000 different number sequences that the NHL will be posting. There are 14 teams in the NHL Draft Lottery, therefore, there will be 1,000 combinations of number sequences from between the numbers 1 and 14.
Since the Sabres finished in last place in the NHL standings, they will be given 20% or 200 of the 1,000 individual number sequences,
Blue Creative has produced this quick tutorial to reiterate the methodology of the NHL Draft Lottery.
You can't lose, Buffalo.
You will get to select one of the two generational players in the world who will lead your Sabres for the next 10-12 years.
These are better days!
Best of luck!
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Samson Reinhart will have a couple of changes to have to deal with when he makes his Rochester Americans debut on Friday night.
Firstly, the natural born sniping center will have to play right wing.
Secondly, he will have to wear sweater #32 instead of his customary #23.
Ever since the Buffalo Sabres season ended last week, the Amerks now have a bevy of centers in their locker room. That’s not a bad thing for Chadd Cassidy who has formed a new power trio featuring Johan Larsson-Phil Varone-Samson Reinhart for Friday night.
Reinhart will have a chance to move back to center on Saturday in Binghamton and or in Glens Falls.
Sunday's game will be the first time that Samson has ever played against his oldest brother, Max. The brothers were teammates together with the Kootenay Ice in 2011-12. Samson is 19 and Max, a Calgary Flames farm hand, is 23.
"I'm excited because it's never happened," Reinhart told Rochester D and C's Kevin Oklobzija said after Thursday’s practice.
Reinhart spent the majority of the 2014-15 season with the Kootenay where he ranked third on the team with 65 points (19G, 46A) in only 47 regular-season games. He chipped in a team-leading six goals in seven playoff games. His 1.38 points per game in the regular season ranked him in the top 10 among all WHL players.
Reinhart was Team Canada's best and most consistent performer World Juniors tourney. Team Canada won the gold medal on the strength of Reinhart's stellar performances. Reinhart finished the WJCs tied for the scoring lead 5 goals and 11 points. He was a tournament-best +13 rating. His performance earned him a selection to the tournament’s All-Star Team.
Buffalo selected Reinhart second overall in last June's NHL Draft, one position behind D Aaron Ekblad of the Florida Panthers. Reinhart made his NHL debut on October 9, 2014 and has appeared in nine NHL games with the Sabres.
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If the Buffalo Sabres lose the NHL Draft Lottery on Saturday night, they will select Jack Eichel second overall. Don't expect Eichel to speak to media after the selection process.
Why?
The NHL has announced that Connor McDavid, Noah Hanifin and Dylan Strome will be made available to speak with media after the NHL Draft Lottery drawing on Saturday night. The event will be held at Sportsnet studios in Toronto. McDavid and Strome are Toronto natives. McDavid has said in interviews that he will watch the lottery with his parents and his billet family.
An executive from the team that snares McDavid will also be made available to media.
In summary, the first, third and fourth overall prospects selected in the lottery will speak. But not the second one?
I'm confused.
McDavid and Strome are teammates in Erie, PA. They won't begin the OHL Western Conference Finals until April 23 when they travel to the Soo Greyhounds. Hanifin's Boston College season is now over, as is Jack Eichel's season. Boston University lost the NCAA championship to Providence College last Saturday night.
One wonders why Jack Eichel will not be made available to speak at the NHL Draft Lottery. He's the second overall pick in the draft, right?
Before you mention NCAA violation, slow your roll.
Hanifin and Eichel are both NCAA athletes.
One guess is that Eichel is planning to play for Team USA at the World Championships in Prague.
Eichel has petitioned Boston University for permission to take his final exams overseas so that he can play for Team USA.
Eichel can have his cake and eat it, too.
The World Championships don't begin until May 1.
Perhaps he and his family already have viewing party plans. If thatbis the case, cancel them and get the Eichel clan in an airplane from Boston to Toronto. This is the biggest day in the kid's hockey life.
Do it, Jack.