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- NHL players ostracizing LGBTQ+ fans by refusing to wear rainbow jerseys, says sports commentator CBC News
- At Pride Night, some Chicago Blackhawks fans were upset about the lack of jerseys — while others were glad event still happened Chicago Tribune
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Kim Pegula, co-owner of Bills and Sabres, went into cardiac arrest in June, remains in recovery: daughter – Fox News
- Kim Pegula, co-owner of Bills and Sabres, went into cardiac arrest in June, remains in recovery: daughter Fox News
- Jessica Pegula opens up about her mom, Bills and Sabres co-owner Kim Pegula’s cardiac arrest Yahoo Sports
- Kim Pegula Suffered Cardiac Arrest Last June WGRZ-TV
- I Want to Talk to You About My Mom by Jessica Pegula | The Players’ Tribune The Players’ Tribune
- Pegula reveals mother Kim went into cardiac arrest with sister saving her life: “Even though she doesn’t like to take credit” TennisUpToDate.com
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Buffalo Sabres acquire goalie Ben Bishop from Dallas Stars in salary cap-related move
BUFFALO, N.Y. — The Buffalo Sabres acquired goalie Ben Bishop in a trade with the Dallas Stars on Friday in a salary cap-related paperwork move involving a veteran who is not expected to play again because of degenerative right knee injury.
The Sabres add the final year of Bishop’s contract, which represents nearly a $5 million cap hit to boost their payroll closer to the NHL’s $60 million minimum. Buffalo, which also acquired a seventh-round pick in next month’s draft, was projected to be nearly $20 million under the cap floor before acquiring Bishop.
The Stars, meantime, acquired future considerations from Buffalo to free Bishop’s salary from their books to provide more flexibility to re-sign and add players this offseason.
There is no anticipation the 35-year-old Bishop will resume playing.
Without saying he’s retiring, Bishop announced his career was over in December following a 2½-year saga in dealing with the injury. The decision came after the three-time Vezina Trophy finalist gave up eight goals in a minor league rehab stint only to have his ailing knee swell up again.
The injury first developed during a seven-game second-round series loss to St. Louis in the 2019 playoffs, which led to him having surgery to repair a torn meniscus. The pain persisted the next year, with follow-up surgery revealing the cartilage in the knee had all but worn away.
“I guess one of the hard things is, I get out there and I still feel pretty good in some of the practices and you still feel like you have the skill to play in this league,” said Bishop, who is from Denver and grew up playing youth hockey in St. Louis. “But then when your knee tells you you can’t, it’s tough.”
Bishop hasn’t played an NHL game since allowing four goals on 19 shots in a 6-3 loss to Colorado in the second-round of the 2020 playoffs.
Overall, Bishop has a 222-128-36 record split between five teams over 11 seasons beginning with St. Louis in 2008-09. He also played for Ottawa, Tampa Bay and Los Angeles.
In 2015-16 with the Lightning, Bishop led the NHL with a 2.06 goals-against average.
At 6-foot-7 and 210 pounds, Bishop was the NHL’s tallest goalie and selected by the Blues in the third round of the 2005 draft.
Sabres will learn at NHL draft lottery if they’ll own two early picks in first round | Buffalo Sabres News
The lottery balls will determine Tuesday night where the Sabres pick in the first round of the NHL draft and whether they’ll have two early selections.
Kevyn Adams, the Sabres’ general manager, has a 5% chance of winning the first overall pick for a second consecutive year when the NHL draft lottery is held at 6:30 p.m. They hold the ninth-best odds, trailing, in order, Montreal, Arizona, Seattle, Philadelphia, New Jersey, Columbus, Ottawa and Detroit. The event will be broadcast on ESPN.
But the Sabres could also hold an additional top-16 selection. Vegas’ first-round draft pick will transfer to Buffalo if it doesn’t fall in the top 10, as outlined in the Jack Eichel trade. The Golden Knights hold the 16th-best lottery odds after missing the Stanley Cup Playoffs and have a remote 0.5% chance of leaping the maximum 10 spots. They can’t pick higher than sixth.
If Vegas defies the odds and picks in the top 10, they will retain the pick and send their 2023 first-round selection to the Sabres, no matter the outcome of next season.
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The Sabres are guaranteed to own at least two picks in the first round of the draft, which will be held July 7-8 in Montreal. They have their selection and the one acquired from the Florida Panthers in the Sam Reinhart trade, which will be late in the round. And though much can change between now and draft day, Adams told reporters last week that he expects to keep his picks.
Seemingly every Sabres player on the roster, no matter their experience, improved under Granato and his staff.
“I think when it comes to this year’s draft, we’ll be open,” Adams said. “We will have conversations. Is there something that we do that makes sense that we think is going to put us in a better position? Then we’ll do it. What we won’t do is do something we think is just a short-term fix because that’s just kind of what I talked about earlier. That’s not where we’re at right now.
“If you’re putting me on the spot, I would expect that we would make our three picks. I believe in the pipeline you have to build.”
The prospect pipeline received much-needed reinforcements at the draft last July, when the Sabres picked Owen Power first overall, followed by Isak Rosen, Prokhor Poltapov, Aleksandr Kisakov, Stiven Sardarian, Josh Bloom, Olivier Nadeau, Viljami Marjala, William Von Barkenow, Nikita Novikov and Tyson Kozak.
Previous trades by Jason Botterill left Adams with five selections in the 2020 draft. And although two of Buffalo’s picks, Jack Quinn and JJ Peterka, are on the cusp of the NHL following remarkable rookie seasons in Rochester, more young talent is needed in the organization.
Since the 2018 draft, only three of the Sabres’ 17 selections after the second round have signed an entry-level contract: Matej Pekar (fourth round, 2018), Lukas Rousek (seventh round, 2019) and Bloom (third round, 2021).
Two notable prospects, goalie Erik Portillo (third round, 2019) and defenseman Ryan Johnson (first round, 2019), are expected to return to their respective NCAA schools next season and are eligible to become unrestricted free agents in the summer of 2023.
The pipeline was bolstered through the acquisition of goalie Devon Levi in the Reinhart trade, but he opted to play another season at Northeastern University following a record-breaking sophomore year. The Sabres hold Levi’s NHL rights until the summer of 2024.
Early returns from the Sabres’ draft classes in 2019 and 2021 look promising, yet future development and injuries are difficult to predict. And they could take advantage of a talented crop of available prospects atop this draft.
According to NHL Central Scouting’s final rankings, the top North American skaters available are center Shane Wright (Kingston, OHL), center Logan Cooley (USA Hockey National Team Development Program), left wing Cutter Gauthier (NTDP), center Matthew Savoie (Winnipeg, WHL) and center Conor Geekie (Winnipeg). The top available European skaters are left wing Juraj Slafkovsky, right wing Joakim Kemell, defenseman Simon Nemec, defenseman David Jiricek and center Marco Kasper.
“When we talk about long-term sustainable success, you need talent,” Adams said. “You need talent that can come up from Rochester, and you don’t have to rush them. You can let them grow and develop. And then when they’re ready, boom, they’re here and they’re ready to be impactful, not just surviving.”
The Amerks’ postseason continues on the road Tuesday with Game 1 in the best-of-five second-round series against the Utica Comets. Rochester pulled off an upset in the first round, sweeping the Belleville Senators in two games behind Brett Murray’s overtime goal Friday night.
But this matchup is far more challenging. The Comets’ 43 regular-season wins were tied for third in the American Hockey League, trailing only Chicago (50) and Stockton (45). Utica received reinforcements from the New Jersey Devils in the form of 2020 first-round draft choice Alexander Holtz and winger Fabian Zetterlund, who had a breakout 24-goal season.
Aaron Dell is expected to remain in goal for Rochester, which is without Sabres prospect Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen because of injury. Arttu Ruotsalainen was the Amerks’ leading scorer in round one, and he has 18 goals and 51 points in 57 games this season.
Luukkonen remains “week to week,” said coach Seth Appert, and defenseman Mattias Samuelsson is day to day. Winger Linus Weissbach, who was injured in Game 1 against Belleville, remains unavailable.
Here’s the rest of the series schedule, if games four and five are necessary:
Game 2: Saturday, May 14 at Utica, 7 p.m.
Game 3: Sunday, May 15 at Rochester, 5:05 p.m.
Game 4: Tuesday, May 17 at Rochester, 7:05 p.m.
Game 5: Thursday, May 19 at Utica, 7 p.m.
Sabres center Dylan Cozens was selected to represent Canada at the IIHF World Championship, which will be held from May 13-29 in Finland. Cozens, 21, had 13 goals and 38 points in 79 games for Buffalo this season. He previously played for his home country at World Juniors, where he won gold in 2021 and finished second at the tournament in scoring in 2021.
Sabres show potential in memorable season finale, send RJ off with OT win | Buffalo Sabres News
The crowd inside KeyBank Center serenaded Bills players with the ‘Shout’ song and fueled the Sabres with numerous chants of “Let’s Go Buffalo!”
There were audible gasps in response to the action on the ice and emotional applause to pay tribute to legendary broadcaster Rick Jeanneret. They gathered to bid farewell to the man who narrated some of the greatest triumphs in franchise history, but they also filled the building to watch a pesky Sabres team that’s inspired hope for a fan base that’s tired of tumult and disappointment.
The come-from-behind 3-2 overtime win over the Chicago Blackhawks in front of 16,505 fans Friday night to cap the 82-game 2021-22 season was a snapshot of all that’s changed on and off the ice for the Sabres since the club gathered for training camp back in September. They tied the score twice to force overtime, and Casey Mittelstadt scored the winning goal to clinch a 32-39-11 season record.
“Oh boy, I don’t even know what was going through my head,” Mittelstadt beamed. “It was a good way to end the year. Obviously, there have been some ups and downs for everyone. … It was a great way to end it for RJ.”
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Rick Jeanneret calls his final game Sabres game Friday night after a career of 50-plus years.
On the ice, there were highlight-reel, tension-inducing plays by the foundational players who are the new faces of the franchise. Tage Thompson, a 24-year-old who switched to center in camp, scored his team-leading 38th goal of the season to tie the score 1-1 in the third period on a cross-ice pass from a rejuvenated Jeff Skinner.
Power, only 19 years old and eight games into his NHL career, scored his second goal on a shot through traffic to tie it again with 5:38 remaining in regulation. And Mittlestadt finished the job in overtime on a rebound created by Dylan Cozens.
The Sabres outshot the Blackhawks 19-4 in the third period and overtime.
“I think we just fed off the crowd and each other on the bench,” said Thompson. “I don’t think there was anyone that didn’t think that we were going to comeback and win that. I think the reason is the character we have in our group.”
Power and fellow defenseman Rasmus Dahlin, drafted first overall in 2021 and 2018, respectively, displayed their wizardry with the puck and mature play around their own net. The pair, along with Mattias Samuelsson and Henri Jokiharju, gives Buffalo a formidable top four on the blue line for their quest to reach the playoffs.
Alex Tuch, a Syracuse-area native acquired in the blockbuster trade that sent Jack Eichel to Vegas, energized his teammates and the crowd with relentless play with and without the puck. The lineup was filled with players who are expected to be on the Sabres for years to come, including recent first-round draft choices Cozens, Mittelstadt and Peyton Krebs, who also arrived in the Eichel deal.
The sounds. That voice. We’ll never forget it. Jeanneret got to call one last winning goal from the Buffalo Sabres in the final game of his career.
Of the 16 skaters in the Sabres’ lineup, only three are pending unrestricted free agents: Vinnie Hinostroza, Mark Pysyk and John Hayden. It’s possible all three could be back with the club next season. Ten in the lineup were under the age of 25. And the Sabres’ progress across the past two months illustrates that the young core’s potential is far from reached.
Even through a rigorous schedule, the Sabres’ .611 points percentage since March 2 ranked 13th entering Friday. Overall, Buffalo’s points percentage saw its biggest improvement since 2015-16, which only occurred because the franchise tanked the previous season. The Sabres went 16-9-3 across March and April. They finished fifth out of eight teams in the Atlantic Division after being picked to land at the bottom.
“To all of the fans that came out tonight, I think we took it to heart by not wanting to let down RJ our the fans in the building,” said Thompson.
And the Sabres have accomplished this despite a long list of injuries, a Covid-19 outbreak and Tuch’s late arrival. Craig Anderson, the team’s top goaltender, missed the final three games with a lingering injury. Dustin Tokarski was forced to start both games of the back-to-back to cap the season.
In addition to Thompson’s breakthrough season, Skinner rebounded with 33 goals to give the Sabres their first tandem with 30-plus since 2010-11. Victor Olofsson and Kyle Okposo both reached the 20-goal mark, while Tuch set a new career-high in points per game. Seemingly every player on the team, no matter their experience, improved under coach Don Granato and his staff.
The Sabres’ 229 goals were the franchise’s most since they last reached the playoffs in 2010-11. Most of the roster, as well as the entire coaching staff and management team, will be back next season.
The Sabres seemed to win back a large portion of their disillusioned fan base with the same relentless work ethic of the franchise’s best teams. Unlike early in the season, fans are no longer coming to games wearing jerseys featuring names of the team’s former core players. Now, you’ll see Dahlin, Thompson, Cozens, Tuch and Power, among others.
The excitement has reached the other team in town. Bills first-round pick Kaair Elam attended the game with a dozen of his new teammates, including Josh Allen. The crowd roared when the group was shown in a suite at the game.
It was a party at KeyBank Center, capped by the Sabres saluting their fans from center ice. And though it will be the last until hockey returns in the fall, they showed the crowd that there should be more to celebrate in the near future.
“You can only hope to win people [over] to love it the way we do,” said Granato. “I try to create an environment, we do, to help our players find that passion to play and we know that if we can play that way, the building will feel that way. And if the building feels that way, it’s going to be really special. We’re still building, but I do love how our guys moved toward that this year.”
Here are other observations from the finale
Tokarski delivered another gutsy performance under difficult circumstances. He made 27 saves in the 5-0 loss to Boston on Thursday and had little time to rest before starting the finale. His breakaway stop on Sam Lafferty occurred shortly before Power’s tying goal.
Domanik Kubalik and Dylan Strome scored for Chicago (28-42-12), which took a 2-1 lead on the latter’s goal with 10:27 left in regulation.
The Sabres could have simply kept Aaron Dell on the roster to backup Tokarski with Anderson unavailable, but the club chose to reward Michael Houser’s dedication and perseverance. Houser, 29, was recalled Friday from Cincinnati after a 42-save playoff shutout for the Cyclones. It was approximately three months earlier that at a Covid-19 positive test prevented Houser from playing at least one more game with the Sabres.
Similarly, the Sabres had Pysyk draw back into the lineup on defense to replace Casey Fitzgerald, who joined the Amerks.
Kyle Okposo arrived at the arena early Friday, like he does ahead of every game. He wasn’t preparing to play, though. A lower-body injury prevented the 34-year-old winger from suiting up with his teammates in the finale. But Okposo wanted to be around the rest of the Sabres to immerse in the final night of their seven-month journey.
Okposo was announced before the game as the recipient of the Sabres’ Rick Martin Award, which is voted on by the fans.
“You’re missing your biggest leader in Kyle,” Granato said with a blend of pride and sadness.
Injured Sabres goalie Malcolm Subban, a Toronto native, sang an outstanding rendition of the American national anthem before the game that conjured smiles from his teammates and rousing applause from the crowd. Subban suffered a season-ending injury Jan. 11 but has remained around the team. He’s a pending unrestricted free agent.
Observations: Rasmus Dahlin, Victor Olofsson reach milestones in Sabres’ win | Buffalo Sabres News
PHILADELPHIA – Tage Thompson didn’t even bother to celebrate.
Thompson’s done this to enough goalies this season, and the Philadelphia Flyers resisted so little, that the display of skill seemed routine. He collected a pass from Jeff Skinner, skated untouched to the slot and beat rookie goalie Felix Sandstrom with a low shot to push the Buffalo Sabres’ lead to two goals late in the second period.
There’s nothing routine about what Thompson and the Sabres have accomplished in Don Granato’s first full season as coach. Their 5-3 victory over the Flyers on Sunday in Wells Fargo Center was the latest example of how the young core and surrounding veteran players have collectively improved this season.
The outlook for next season is bright and that couldn’t be said in the final weeks of most seasons during the franchise’s 11-year playoff drought. The Sabres (29-38-11) swept both games of the back-to-back, home-and-home against the Flyers (23-42-11) behind two goals from Victor Olofsson, one by Anders Bjork and Thompson added his second of the game with the net empty. It was a second straight comeback win for Buffalo after it allowed a goal only 1:18 into the game Sunday.
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“That’s great for our group,” said Bjork. “It shows our maturity. You can tell we don’t feel like we’re giving up. When teams score a goal or two against us, we still have that confidence that we’ve grown over this year. I think that’s a huge step from the beginning of the year when we were letting games go, when teams would score one or two goals quick on us.”
With his 19th and 20th goals of the season, the latter of which gave Buffalo a 3-2 lead in the second period, Olofsson established a new career-high in points (44). He’s one of five non-rookie Sabres to reach a new personal best in points this season, joining Thompson, Rasmus Dahlin, Rasmus Asplund and Henri Jokiharju.
The Sabres have four 20-goal scorers in the same season for the first time since it was done in 2017-18 by Jack Eichel, Sam Reinhart, Ryan O’Reilly and Evander Kane. The difference, though, is the current group that’s thriving under Granato – Thompson (36 goals), Skinner (31), Olofsson (20) and Kyle Okposo (20) – will be here next season. Kane was gone before the trade deadline in 2018 and O’Reilly left that summer.
For perspective, Thompson’s 36 goals matched the career-high 36 totaled by Eichel during the 2019-20 season. And Thompson has done this despite moving to center from the wing in training camp. Olofsson, 26, reached the 20-goal mark after playing through a wrist injury that impacted his left-handed shot.
There were no issues with his best weapon Sunday, as the winger scored a pair of power-play goals on one-timers from the right circle to help Buffalo rally from an early 1-0 deficit.
“It’s all big for us as coaches, to see these guys succeed individually, get rewarded individually,” said Granato. “Knowing they’re committed to what we’re doing. They’re very committed to their team, they’re very committed to their teammates and when you have guys like that, that come to work every day, practice or game. … When they do score, we are very excited for them, personally.”
The Sabres’ power play entered Sunday ranked fourth in the NHL since March 17, a product of the club finally having scoring options on both units. And another prominent success story in Granato’s first season shined again, in every situation no less, against the Flyers.
Dahlin became the seventh different defenseman in franchise history to reach the 50-point mark with his pair of primary assists in the first period. Still only 22 years old, Dahlin has a career-best 10 goals while averaging 23:58 of ice time this season.
“He’s an incredible player,” Sabres defenseman Mattias Samuelsson said of Dahlin. “I think he’s a superstar in this league.”
The Flyers are 2-10 in their last 12 games and were missing several key veterans, including former Sabres defenseman Rasmus Ristolainen. Sandstrom, who was playing in his third career NHL game, appeared overmatched early in the game and received little help from his teammates. Philadelphia made a horrible line change that led to Bjork’s goal.
But Philadelphia provided a test for Buffalo. The Flyers tied the score 2-2 only 1:20 into the second period and threatened again in the third when Zack MacEwen made it 4-3. But Sabres goalie Dustin Tokarski played well enough to help his teammates hold on, finishing with 32 saves for the win. Dahlin, Skinner and Peyton Krebs each finished with two assists.
The Flyers, like most teams at the bottom of the NHL standings, don’t have a clear path to contending. They’re expected to hire another full-time head coach this summer and could make more significant roster changes. The Sabres, meanwhile, had another game in which their young core showed how far they’ve come since the season began and continued to build for next season.
“With experience here in this stretch, I think we’ve been playing good hockey and winning some games,” said Samuelsson. “With that, you learn what you need to do and what each guy’s role is late in the game and how to manage the clock.”
Here are other observations from the game:
The celebration was subdued, but there’s no question that the Sabres’ second goal of the game, Bjork’s fifth of the season and his first since Dec. 14, was important for the 25-year-old winger. He was a healthy scratch in 19 of the team’s previous 21 games, including 17 straight, and needs to show management that he can fill a bottom-six role in the final season of his contract in 2022-23. A bad Philadelphia line change and quick pass by Dahlin sprung Bjork for a breakaway that gave the Sabres a 2-1 lead with 2:26 left in the first period.
A role on the power play isn’t imminent for Owen Power. Someone is going to have to perform poorly enough to open a spot for the 19-year-old defenseman. The Sabres’ power play has scored twice in three of its last four games. Olofsson’s first goal Sunday tied the score, 1-1, at 8:36 into the game.
Power gained more valuable experience against the Flyers’ top players. He finished with a minus-3 rating in 22:09 of ice time, skating at even strength and the penalty kill. There were inevitable mistakes as he acclimates to the NHL, but he also showed poise and didn’t get rattled after the early goal against.
Samuelsson was outstanding again for the Sabres, leading the team in ice time (26:05) and blocked shots (4). He also was credited with five hits and thwarted a potential 2-on-0 in the first period by using his reach to knock the puck off the stick of Scott Laughton. This was Samuelsson’s first NHL game in Philadelphia. His father, Kjell, played nine seasons as a defenseman for the Flyers and has worked with the organization in various coaching roles since 1999-2000. He’s currently a player development coach for the team.
“Samuelsson is a beast back there,” Granato beamed.
The Sabres will face the New Jersey Devils in Prudential Center on Thursday at 7 p.m.
‘There’s a lot of excitement and there should be’ as Sabres sign No. 1 draft pick Owen Power | Buffalo Sabres News
BOSTON – When news broke Friday that Owen Power signed an entry-level contract with the Buffalo Sabres, Kevyn Adams received an onslaught of text messages from the team’s players.
In Florida preparing for a game against the Panthers, the Sabres wanted to know when their newest teammate was scheduled to arrive and how they could congratulate him on beginning a professional career.
“They wanted to connect with him,” Adams, the club’s general manager, said during a video conference call. “It says a lot to me of what this group is all about. And you know how excited they are to welcome him in.”
The hype surrounding Power’s arrival intensified late Thursday night when his season ended with Michigan’s devastating overtime loss to Denver in the Frozen Four at Boston’s TD Garden. And it will increase in the coming days, as Power is expected to join the Sabres on Saturday in Tampa, Fla., and he is tentatively scheduled to make his NHL debut Tuesday night in Toronto against the Maple Leafs. Scotiabank Arena is a short drive from his family’s home in Mississauga, Ont.
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“We’re really looking forward to him joining us here shortly,” forward Jeff Skinner said after the Sabres’ 4-3 loss to Florida. “There’s obviously a lot of excitement and there should be. He’s going to be a great player for us. And we’re excited for him.”
The final few weeks of the Sabres’ season will be Power’s preview to his NHL career. He returned to Michigan – the first No. 1 draft choice to wait to turn pro since Erik Johnson in 2006 – to win a national championship as a sophomore and experience a normal college hockey season after the Covid-19 pandemic prevented him from playing in front of large crowds as a freshman. Now, he’ll join the Sabres’ blossoming young core that’s taken strides during the season’s second half.
“It’s a proud day for our organization,” Adams added. “We certainly believe in Owen and his abilities both on and off the ice, just the person he is. You’ve heard me talk over and over again about culture and what we’re building here and he is a phenomenal person, human being just the way he carries himself. He treats people well. We’re excited just to have him join this group and come in and be himself. And he can just come in and play. He doesn’t have to feel like the weight of the world’s on his shoulders.”
The season went brilliantly for Power, as he totaled three goals and 32 points in 33 games. He was named the Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year and led the Wolverines to a conference tournament title. In between, Power represented Canada at the Winter Olympics in Beijing, where he led the team in average time on ice per game. Before the abrupt cancellation of the IIHF World Junior Championship, Power became the first defenseman from Canada to total a hat trick in the tournament when he accomplished the feat in the opening game.
Power will enter the NHL with high expectations, but he won’t be asked to shoulder a heavy workload or immense responsibilities right away. The Sabres have fellow No. 1 pick Rasmus Dahlin and Mattias Samuelsson on the left side, which will allow coach Don Granato to use Power in specific situations to help his development.
“He’s going to bring some new energy and I’ve only heard good things about him,” Dahlin said. “We’re super excited to have him. He’s probably going to refresh my mind with a little bit of offensive play. It’s going to be a great piece to have in our team.
The club’s depth chart on defense also includes Henri Jokiharju, Jacob Bryson, Casey Fitzgerald, Mark Pysyk, Colin Miller and Will Butcher. Adams spoke to Dahlin on Wednesday about his role in helping Power acclimate to the NHL.
“I really believe that Owen, the transition, Rasmus has been through it,” Adams told The Buffalo News at the Frozen Four. “He’s young, but Rasmus has taken huge steps and he’s a leader. You have that group with him, Sameulsson, Jokiharju, Bryson. They’re young players, but Owen can just come in and play. Being a number one pick, having a guy next to you in the locker room that’s in that position, it helps with that transition.”
Power arrives with experience against older players, as he also represented Canada at the world championships last spring. He began the tournament in a depth role before ascending to the top pair, leading the club in average ice time per game as the team won the gold medal. The return to school also provided Power with more time to mature on and off the ice. He became a more well-rounded defenseman by showcasing improved instincts in the offensive zone and a savviness on the forecheck near his own net.
In Michigan’s Frozen Four overtime loss, Power skated with three different defense partners, including Luke Hughes, and played the right side on the penalty kill. He seemingly took every other shift late in regulation and during overtime.
“It’s unbelievable being around him all the time, just because the time he puts in, the commitment he has to the game and the love he has for the game,” said Michigan goalie Erik Portillo, a Sabres prospect. “But also, I think he’s really taken steps in being the first D man. Being that strong link that everyone can trust in any situation. That’s where I’ve seen him grow the most.
“You can trust him, you feel so good when he’s out there.”
A memorable season by Power and the Michigan Wolverines ended Thursday night with a 3-2 overtime loss to Denver in the Frozen Four at TD Garden.
There was never a doubt that Power would be done with college hockey after his sophomore season. Regardless of Michigan’s tournament results, Power planned to join Buffalo at the conclusion of Michigan’s season. But the timing of his arrival is ideal for both him and the Sabres.
The club has shown significant growth on the ice since returning close to full health, posting an 8-3-3 record in March that featured victories over Toronto, Vegas, Calgary, Vancouver and Pittsburgh. The Sabres’ eight-game point streak from March 8 through April 1st was their longest since the 10-game win streak in November 2018.
The franchise’s playoff drought reached 11 season, but the outlook hasn’t been this bright in some time. Their prospect pool in Rochester will strengthen considerably if Adams manages to sign Portillo and Minnesota defenseman Ryan Johnson, a junior drafted 31st overall in 2019. But Power will step into the NHL right away, bolstering a defense corps that’s improved drastically with the development of Dahlin and Samuelsson, in particular.
“He’s got an incredible amount of attributes to go with the size,” Sabres coach Don Granato said of Power, who is 6-foot-6. “And obviously the size is his height now, but it’s going to continue to get strength and more strength. …He’s got an unbelievable calm to his game, he can slow the pace down and dictate the pace. But again, in fairness to him, he’s going to have time. It’s gonna take time like all other great players to acclimate to this level. He’s never experienced it, although he does have the advantage of having men’s world championships and playing with men, but it’s a different ice sheet. It’s a different game, the NHL is the NHL, it’s the highest level. And it’s going to be fun to watch him go through that process.”
News Sports Writer Mike Harrington contributed to this report.
NHL admits mistake in disallowing Buffalo Sabres’ last-minute tying goal
BUFFALO, N.Y. — The NHL announced that it made the wrong call in disallowing what would have been the Sabres’ tying goal in the final minute of a 2-1 loss to the Rangers on Friday.
In a statement released by the league Saturday, senior executive vice president Colin Campbell said Victor Olofsson’s goal scored with 57 seconds remaining should have stood because video replays could not “definitively determine” whether the Sabres were offside entering the zone.
The goal was disallowed after a replay showed Buffalo defenseman Rasmus Dahlin crossed the Rangers’ blue line before the puck entered the zone. What review officials failed to take into account was whether Olofsson touched the puck before Dahlin tagged up by getting his skate on the blue line.
Because replays were inconclusive, Campbell said officials should have followed league policy in staying with the original call of a goal being scored.
Without disputing the ruling after the game, Sabres coach Don Granato said he had asked officials whether they could further review whether Dahlin had tagged up. He was informed the NHL had made its decision.
“I can’t have emotion in it. I can’t think about it,” Granato said. “There’s certain things that are out of your control, and you just play. You just trust that the league knows what they’re doing, and you move on.”
The loss extended Buffalo’s skid to 0-5-1, and the team is 3-14-2 in its past 19 in preparing to host the Washington Capitals on Saturday night.
Jack Eichel should be allowed to live the life he wants, not the life the Sabres want for him – The Athletic
BUFFALO, N.Y. — The Sabres are wrong.
Oh, sure, they’ve got the collective bargaining agreement on their side. One of Buffalo’s best orthopedic surgeons backs them, too.
But they’re flat-out wrong in their treatment of Jack Eichel. They’re denying him a basic human right to decide what’s best for his body. They’re holding his career hostage. Despite words to the contrary, they’re thinking about the player first and the person second.
The never-ending saga took its latest turn Thursday, when the Sabres placed Eichel on injured reserve for failing his physical and stripped him of the captaincy. Neither move was shocking. Eichel hasn’t been able to play since suffering a herniated disk in his neck in March. He’s requested a trade and isn’t around the team, so there’s no jersey awaiting a “C.”
This is about more than a letter or cap space. It always has been.
Eichel is a 24-year-old who’s supposed to be in the prime of his life. He’s a physical specimen, a man who’s been pushing his body to legendary limits since his early teen years. He’s fine-tuned every muscle, allowing him to reach the pinnacle of his sport.
And now he has absolutely no say in the next step for his body. The CBA allows teams to determine the course of treatment for injuries. That’s fine for ankle sprains, broken fingers and ACL tears. Life-altering neck surgery is something else completely.
Eichel needs surgery to resume his NHL career and live a healthy life. He and the Sabres acknowledge that.
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Buffalo Sabres trade forward Sam Reinhart to Florida Panthers for 2022 first-round pick, prospect
The Buffalo Sabres continued to ship out veteran players, trading forward Sam Reinhart to the Florida Panthers for their 2022 first-round pick and goalie prospect Devon Levi.
The first-round pick is lottery protected, sources said. If the Panthers pick in the top 10 in 2022, the pick moves to 2023.
Reinhart, 25, was Buffalo’s leading scorer last season with 40 points in 54 games. He spent all seven years of his NHL career with the Sabres, who drafted him second overall in 2014. Reinhart has 295 points in 454 games.
“Sam has established himself as one of the best playmaking scorers in the league, and we are thrilled to be able to add him to our Panthers lineup,” Panthers GM Bill Zito said. “His competitiveness and hunger to succeed will fit seamlessly with the culture we are building here in South Florida.”
Reinhart is a restricted free agent with arbitration rights, coming off a season in which he earned $5.2 million against the salary cap. He’s the latest in a series of RFAs with arbitration rights who have been traded in the past week.
That was the case with Carolina goalie Alex Nedeljkovic, who was traded to Detroit; forward Pavel Buchnevich, who was traded by the New York Rangers to the St. Louis Blues; and forward Conor Garland, who was traded to the Vancouver Canucks.
The Sabres received their second first-round pick in a trade this week, having acquired Philadelphia’s first-rounder in 2021 in a trade for defenseman Rasmus Ristolainen on Friday. Buffalo selected forward Isak Rosen at No. 14 overall.
Levi, 19, gives the Sabres an option for their goalie of the future. A Northeastern University player, he went 6-1-0 with a .964 save percentage and three shutouts for Team Canada in winning silver at the U20 world junior championship this year. He was a seventh-round selection by the Panthers in 2020. His style of play has earned comparisons to NHL stars Carey Price and Jonathan Quick.
But with Sergei Bobrovsky under contract until 2026 with a full no-move clause, and top prospect Spencer Knight ready to shine in the NHL next season, the Panthers’ goaltending depth was solid at the top, making Levi expendable.
Buffalo continues to engage in trade talks regarding franchise center Jack Eichel, who could be the next familiar name shipped out of town.