bob_sauve28

Actually its not a choice at all. Why would he call it a "choice," I find that logic puzzling 😇

If he is going to get hurt and miss time, this is a good time for it

Well, this sure makes the Byram trade look a lot better

So you just believe all the lies Kevin Adams tells? Boy are you naive! Rasmus, or whatever his real name is, wasn't really even on the ice or in the city today, that's pretty obvious. The propaganda machine can't even get their facts straight saying he "threw a pass" and was hurt. Ya right. Of course the usual suspects are all in on this, The Clintons, G. Gorden Liddy, Hunt, all of them! I think a few cat eaters were seen around the rink earlier in the week, too. Man its getting bad

Throwing a pass? Was he QBing the PP?

So I guess, if we are going on order of importance, UPL is the next to go down. Krebs slap shot catches UPL on unpadded part of knee, out for season? Krebs has a chip on his shoulder! He's a wrecking machine!

He was fast, that’s for sure. Missed two breakaways

He looked good, though.

Nice PP, Rosen is a good play maker

D-Man is suppose to take away pass and give uP shot on 2-1

Rochester should have a fun season this year

Nice play by Rosen to set up N’s goal

Kulich looks like he passed up empty net, made one move too many after some nice passes

Nice start, this is fun

I bought a ticket and will be heading up. I'll try and post a few thoughts https://www.nhl.com/sabres/news/how-to-watch-buffalo-sabres-pittsburgh-penguins-prospects-challenge The Buffalo Sabres host the Pittsburgh Penguins in the finale of the annual Prospects Challenge at LECOM Harborcenter on Monday. The puck drops at 5 p.m. Tickets are available here. The Sabres split their first two games of the event, winning 3-1 against Columbus on Friday before falling 5-3 to New Jersey on Saturday. Jiri Kulich leads the team with three goals and an assist for four points. How to watch The game will be streamed live on Sabres.com with Andrew Mossbrooks and Kris Baker on the call. Last time out The Devils pulled away late with a pair of empty-net goals, but Rochester Americans coach Michael Leone, who is leading the Sabres prospects at the event, was pleased with how the team competed in the 5-2 loss. "I thought we were engaged, we were physical, we were really competitive, we didn’t shy away,” Leone said. “We were first on the puck, that’s why we had a lot of possession time.” Tyler Tullio scored for Buffalo in the loss. The forward **spoke afterward** about embracing his new opportunity following an offseason trade from Edmonton. Players to watch Buffalo Olivier Nadeau (fourth round, 2021) scored a power-play goal in the opener against Columbus on Friday and asserted himself often with his physicality during the game against the Devils. The 6-foot-1 forward is entering his second professional season, having spent the bulk of last year with ECHL Jacksonville. “I had some tough moments last year, and I realized like I needed to work more on my game on the ice, off the ice, and that was a big summer for me,” Nadeau said. “I wanted to arrive here and prove something, and that’s what I’m trying to do right now.’ Read: 10 Sabres players to watch Pittsburgh Forward Rutger McGroarty is playing his first games in a Pittsburgh uniform after being acquired from the Winnipeg Jets this summer and scored in the team’s Prospects Challenge opener on Friday. McGroarty, the 14th-overall pick in 2022, had 52 points (16+36) as a sophomore at the University of Michigan last season and captained Team USA at the World Junior Championship.

Nathan Paetsch is getting a front-row seat to Komarov’s rise. He was a player development coach with the Sabres when they drafted Komarov and has since moved up to coach the defensemen in Rochester where Komarov is expected to play this season. Because Komarov came to North America when he was 17 years old, the player development process was smoother than it is for other Russian players. Paetsch needed Zoom calls and a translator to have conversations with Nikita Novikov, Buffalo’s sixth-round pick in 2021. But he was able to drive up to Quebec to see Komarov’s games and take him out to dinner. Komarov’s English improved quickly as he was surrounded by people who spoke the language, too. Paetsch noticed something special about Komarov as a person, describing him as someone who has the “it factor.” When Paetsch drove up to watch Komarov’s games in Quebec, he would often call Sabres assistant general manager Jerry Forton to tell him he thought Komarov was the best player on the ice. “It was consistent,” Paetsch said. “There were first- and second-rounders on the ice, and I thought he was the best player. By the second half of that first post-draft year, I could really see him flourishing.” Paetsch knows if the draft were held today, Komarov wouldn’t go in the fifth round and thinks the fact Komarov was dealing with the transition from Russia to North America during his 17-year-old season might have caused him to slip in the draft. But Komarov quickly adjusted to life on the other side of the world, which started with immersing himself in the lives of his billets. Paetsch recalled one visit when Komarov’s billet mom pulled him aside to tell him Komarov had snuck off to buy Christmas gifts for her kids. He’d routinely play pond hockey with them, too. “They helped me a lot,” Komarov said with a smile after a recent Sabres rookie camp practice. “I came and didn’t know any English. I was just trying to learn simple words like ‘hi’ and ‘thank you.’ It was so fun. I was with them for like two and a half years. We still talk. They were so helpful.”

The player Lemay had scouted with the Jets had “really improved, slowly and surely.” “You could see right from the start that the hockey sense was there, the compete was there, and the poise. He just needed to get stronger and get his legs under him, move quicker. And he had the size as well,” Lemay said of the Komarov he’d watched in his draft year. “So it was just a matter of time for him I think to mature physically and get more powerful and that’s what he did the last two years.” Once they had him, they also learned he was more than just one of the best players in the league. Favreau was struck by his great English, positive mood and contagious spirit. Lemay was struck by his passion, his work ethic and the way his competitiveness spilled into practice. “Firstly, he’s a great individual,” added Lemay. “He’s a very good kid. And on the ice, he’s a workhorse who can log a lot of minutes. And what I like at our level, and I’m pretty sure he’s going to do the same thing in the near future at the next level, is he really improved his offense. It was already starting to improve last year but it really took the next step here in terms of offense. But what people really underestimate is how good he is defensively and how hard it is to play against him. Like he can block shots, he’s got a very good stick, good gap, and he can finish his check as well. He can do it all.” When they parted ways after the season, Favreau and Lemay both knew the Sabres had a good one. Favreau describes his game as “so stable” and “so reliable” but “yet very skilled.” “I think he’s an NHL player,” Favreau simply said. “At the NHL level he’s going to be classified as a two-way defenseman but somebody who can escape out of trouble, make a first pass, bring a little bit of offense, and probably one of the best sticks that I’ve seen in my eight years in the Q, and I’ve seen a lot of really good defensemen.”

Without Lamoureux, Komarov stepped up, registering 50 points in just 38 games with the Voltigeurs to lead all QMJHL defensemen in points with 69 in 60 games. At season’s end, he was named the QMJHL’s defenseman of the year. Still without Lamoureux, he then led the Voltigeurs to a QMJHL championship, winning his second consecutive title and, this time, QMJHL playoffs MVP with another 15 points in 19 games. Though he wasn’t able to also win back-to-back Memorial Cups, he’d finish his third and final year of junior with 86 points in 82 games split between the regular season, the playoffs and the Memorial Cup. “(Remparts coaches) Patrick (Roy) and Benoit Desrosiers had done a really good job with him in Quebec and his progression there. And then when we got him, he just kind of took off,” Favreau said. “And he’s such a unique player as far as his hard skills away from the puck and then his soft skills with the puck and being able to make plays, and his vision. So when you combine all of that together, it made for an extremely great hockey player.” In the end, Favreau thought Komarov was probably the team’s most valuable player and Lemay called him the biggest reason they won a QMJHL title. “When we lost Lamoureux, it’s a good thing that by chance we went to get Komarov,” Lemay said. “With the loss of Lamoureux, we told all the D it was an opportunity to have a bigger role and he really did that.”

This season?