Hockey is officially back in Buffalo. Last week offered a tease as the Sabres’ prospects took a 5-2 victory in the Traverse City championship. However, today the big club takes the ice for the first time in preparation for the 2011-12 season.
The Sabres are currently split into practice groups and the first group will be taking the ice this evening. It will be a fun roster to watch as there are plenty of familiar faces along with some young players who should offer fans an interesting vantage point.Villie Leino will play his first game as a Sabre and Luke Adam, Marcus Foligno and Zack Kassian will remain together after dominating in Traverse City. Here is the remainder of the roster:
Tyler Ennis-Ville Leino-Drew Stafford
Nathan Gerbe-Paul Gaustad-Patrick Kaleta
Marcus Foligno-Luke Adam-Zack Kassian
Derek Whitmore-Cody McCormick-Corey Tropp
Andrej Sekera-Tyler Myers
Mike Weber–Marc-Andre Gragnani
T.J. Brennan-Alex Biega
Jhonas Enroth
Drew MacIntyre
According to reports, MacIntrye will start the game for the Sabres and Enroth will relieve him somewhere around the mid-point of the game. This line-up is full of players who many Sabres fans are hoping will make an impact on the NHL roster in the next few seasons.
The Foligno/Adam/Kassian line put up serious points over four games in the Traverse City rookie tournament and the trio represents what many see as the future of the Sabres at forward. Corey Tropp, while stuck in a tough spot in the organization, will have the ability the showcase some of the skill that has been on hold for the last few seasons. Even though there is little chance that Tropp would make the main roster it will be interesting to watch him play against some NHL talent.
Of course the trio everyone will have their eyes on will be Adam centering the Bash Brothers. Foligno and Kassian have been saddled with high expectations and are at the point where they can forge a spot in the long-term plans for the organization. Foligno will certainly need one, maybe even two seasons in the AHL before he is truly ready to take on a role in the NHL. Kassian will be fighting to potentially fill the spot on the right wing on Buffalo’s third line. If he doesn’t win that competition he will end up in the AHL, and I have a feeling that is going to be his destination. There is no reason to keep Kassian on the big club this season to play limited minutes, a full season in the AHL will do wonders for his development.
Defensively there won’t be too many surprises, nor players to watch closely. Alex Biega is the only player of the group not familiar to most fans, but I feel his skillset will seriously hamper his chances to ever crack the lineup for the Sabres.
With this group playing tonight, the remaining players will continue their camp regimen and see action in the next match-up. Now, there will be a great number of players shipped back to their junior squads in the next few days. Expect the entire 2011 draft class, along with some of the late-round picks from last season, to be among those sent back early. That will leave a core of veterans and a few Rochester hopefuls for the remainder of the preseason schedule. Don’t be surprised if Kassian gets every opportunity to make the team throughout the preseason. I would bet he plays in every preseason game, except for maybe one or two, for Buffalo. Lindy Ruff did the same thing with Tyler Myers after he was drafted, with an additional year under his belt I don’t see why Kassian wouldn’t be given additional time to be evaluated.
Don’t expect to take much away from this game other than strong individual games. The power play and penalty kill will likely be a mess and there may be players overmatched at times. Still, hockey is back in Buffalo and that is maybe the best thing about tonight’s game.
Two in the Box 