The Buffalo Sabres will open training camp for the 2014-15 season on Thursday 9/18, when veteran players are expected to report for testing and physicals. Beginning Friday 9/19, the team’s practice sessions at First Niagara Center will be open to the public, with practices being broken down into multiple sessions throughout each day.
There will be 36 forwards, 18 D, and five goalies at the 2013-14 training camp.
Here's the complete training camp roster:
FORWARDS:
Luke Adam Joel Armia Justin Bailey Nick Baptiste Joe Blandisi William Carrier Dan Catenacci Eric Cornel Zac Dalpe Nic Deslauriers Matt Ellis Tyler Ennis Brian Flynn Marcus Foligno Brian Gionta Zemgus Girgensons Mikhail Grigorenko Cody Hodgson Colin Jacobs Mike Joly Pat Kaleta Vaclav Karabacek Justin Kea Jonan Larsson Brendan Lemieux Cody McCormick Torrey Mitchel Matt Moulson Sam Reinhart Jack Rodewald Jordan Samuels-Thomas Tim Schaller Drew Stafford Chris Stewart Kevin Sundher Phil Varone
DEFENSE:
Brady Austin Drew Bagnall Andre Benoit Josh Gorges Jerome Leduc Ryan MacKinnon Brycen Martin Jake McCabe Andrej Meszaros Tyler Myers Nick Petrecki Mark Pysyk Rasmus Ristolainen Chad Ruhwedel Tyson Strachan Jared Walsh Mike Weber Nikita Zadorov
GOALIES:
Jhonas Enroth Matt Hackett Nathan Lieuwen Andrey Makarov Michal Neuvirth
The Sabres will then open their preseason slate of games on Sunday 9/21, when they travel to Washington, DC, to face the Capitals in a 5 p.m. start.
Thursday 9/18 Players report for testing and physicals. **Closed to public.**
Friday 9/19 Session one: 11-11:45 a.m. Session two: 1:15-2 p.m. Session three: 3:30-4:15 p.m.
Saturday 9/20 Session one: 10-11:15 a.m. Session two: 11:30 a.m. – 12:45 p.m. Session three: 1-2:15 p.m.
Sunday 9/21 Pre-game skate (in Buffalo): 9:15-10 a.m. Practice session (non-game group): 10:15-11:30 a.m. Buffalo at Washington: 5 p.m., Verizon Center
Monday 9/22 Session one: 10-11:15 a.m. Session two: 11:30 a.m.-12:45 p.m.
Tuesday 9/23 Practice session (non-game group): 9-10:15 a.m. Pre-game skate: 10:30-11:15 a.m. Carolina at Buffalo: 7 p.m., First Niagara Center
Wednesday 9/24 Session one: 10-11:15 a.m. Session two: 11:30 a.m.-12:45 p.m.
Thursday 9/25 Off day
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Dateline: Washington DC. June 2011
Washington Capitals goaltender coach Arturs Irbe will not return to the team next season.
The Capitals said Thursday that Irbe's contract is expiring and that he is leaving the club so he can spend more time with his family.
Irbe spent two seasons with the Capitals, mainly mentoring young goalies Michal Neuvirth and Semyon Varlamov.
Irbe, 47, has spent the past three seasons coaching in Latvia for the Latvian national team, head coached by Sabres head coachted Nolan, as well as for the KHL Dinamo Riga.
Prior to that, he served two seasons as the goaltending coach for the Washington Capitals. Irbe was credited with developing Washington’s three top prospect goalies at that time. The trio included: now Buffalo Sabre Michal Neuvirth, Colorado Avalanche starter Semyon Varlamov and Washington Capitals starter Braden Holtlby. Under Irbe’s tutelage, the Capitals became the first team in NHL history to boast of three goalies 22 years of age or younger to win 10 or more games in a single season. You would think that Irbe’s impressive goaltending development success would have been admired and rewarded by Washington management, however, It was quite the opposite. During his time as Caps’ goalie coach, there were rumors that Neuvirth and Varlamov were not particularly pleased with Irbe’s coaching and teaching methods. Holtby’s name was never attached to the Irbe chatter, just that of Neuvirth and Varlamov.
Irbe was initially hired by the Capitals in 2009, largely due in part to his ability to speak and communicate in Russian with the young Varlamov.
The Caps lost a good man when they allowed Irbe to skate away from DC. Their loss was Latvia’s gain. Ted Nolan offered Irbe the opportunity to spread his coaching wings and to brand himself as a true hockey coach rather than type cast the NHL veteran of 13 years as Latvia’s goalie guru.
After the 2010-11 season in Washington, Varlamov signed a three year, $8.5 million contract with the Colorado Avalanche.He has since signed a five year, $29.5 million contract extension with the Avalanche for whom he was a Vezina Trophy finalist last season. Neuvirth struggled to seize several opportunities to unseat Holtby as the starting goalie in Washing and was traded to Buffalo at the 2014 NHL trade deadline.
In August 2011, after his Washington contract had expired and it wasn’t renewed, Irbe opened up to Latvian Sportacentrs.com (as translated by Slava Malamud for Washington Post) about wanting to be more than just a goalie coach. Irbe was seeking an expanding role on the Washington coaching staff, however, then Caps GM George McPhee was interested in talking about expanding Irbe’s role with the Caps.
“Coaching goalies is very interesting but I have passed this level already,… said Irbe. “Two years of this kind of work was enough and I don’t see myself in this role anymore, even though I have offers right now, including long-term ones. I want to grow professionally, move forward, earn more. Washington, after all, is quite an expensive city. So I had measured all the pros and cons of working for the Capitals and decided it would be better for me in Latvia.…
“There were many positives in working for Washington,… Irbe added. “But If I continued to coach goalies there, sooner or later it would have turned into a routine. Plus, there were no opportunities for career growth at all.…
Irbe didn’t want to be pigeon-holed as being just a goalie coach. He wanted the opportunity to prove to his GM that he could offer more value to the Caps and their players.
“I had asked George McPhee whether I could hope for any kind of career growth over an indefinite period of time, to become an assistant coach, to increase my responsibility. But he answered that a goalie coach is the most secure job. They counted on my working with Capitals goalies for many years and that I would be satisfied with that. ... Washington offered me a new deal but after a lot of thinking I had decided not to sign it.…
Dateline: Buffalo, NY. July, 2014.
Buffalo Sabres and Team Latvia bench boss Ted Nolan hired his friend and trusted confidante Irbe to serve on the Buffalo’s goalie coach. Nolan also hired Bryan Trottier, Danny Flynn, and Tom Coolen to round out his coaching staff. There will be an Irbe-Neuvirth reunion. I’m not sure if there ever was a rift between the goalie and his coach in Washington, but we will find out next week when Sabres training camo opens. Neuvirth was injured late last season after the trade that sent him to Buffalo, so Ted Nolan and Tim Murray were not able to get a really good look at the 26 year old Czech puck stopper. Neuvirth only played two games for the Sabres. He missed the season's final 15 games with a hip injury (3/16-4/13). A bright spot was that he turned aside a career-high 51 of 54 shots faced at Carolina on March 13. He also made 42 saves in his Sabres debut at Florida on March 7.
Neuvirth will have his work cut out for him as Incumbent back-up Jhonas Enroth will enter training camp as the prohibitive choice to be Buffalo’s #1 goalie this season. Enroth lived in the shadow of the winningest goalie in Sabres history Ryan Miller for the past four seasons. Now, for the first time in his NHL career, Jhonas will enter camp as the odds on favorite starting goalie candidate. He’s earned the opportunity to be the #1 netminder in Buffalo after humbly supporting Millerand his teammates the past four seasons. I’ve been a witness to Enroth’s entire career in Buffalo and I can tell you firsthand that he is repsected by all of the players, young and old in the Buffalo room. He’s admired by his peers and coaches in a similar fashion as Nathan Gerbe was revered by his teammates in Buffalo. Enroth is the underdog understudy. He’s not you prototypical 6’4 220 lbs. NHL goalie. He’s every bit of 5’10 and 185 lbs. He’s the “little engine that could…. Enroth never makes excuses and is always quick to praise his teammates for their support. Neuvirth and Enroth bonded away from the ice last spring when both goalies were injured in the final month of the most dreadful season in Sabres history. The two men are currently skating in Buffalo with their teammates in preparation for next week’s training camp and the long exhibition season.
I’m betting that Irbe will be taking an immediate liking to Enroth. Something tells me that Irbe will see a lot of himself in Enroth. Irbe overcame long odds to play at a successful level in the NHL. He led his Carolina Hurricanes team to the 2002 Stanley Cup Finals.
Neuvirth better eat his Wheaties because he’s going to have to play out of his skull in training camp if he’s going to steal Enroth’s net. Neuvirth will also have to prove to Irbe that he has matured in the past three seasons. Irbe already knows the good, the bad and the ugly about Neuvirth's game. Enroth can just play his game with confidence. Can Neuvirth do the same?