Month: September 2022

This afternoon the preseason Sabres beat the preseason Capitals 4-3 in OT

Four different goal scorers for Buffalo including Mr Cozens skating with a “shoot-first” mentality that produced 5 SOG, a PPG and a secondary helper on the second Sabres PPG courtesy of Mr Jack Quinn who continues to impress.  

Preseason games are opportunities for some of these players to advance their professional careers, or for inexperienced players to get introduced to the Pro game, these games assist the coaching staff, and the fans get a glimpse of the future in these NHL preseason games that are far from meaningless.

The Sabres next preseason challenge is home Tuesday the 27th versus Philadelphia downtown Buffalo at the KeyBank Center. {7p.m.}

As October and the NHL season approaches, Fantasy Hockey Drafts are being conducted across the globe so get your player lists in order and do not solely rely on last season’s statistics, remember either on an ESPN team/league or with a family/friends league endeavor to enjoy yourself.

This year Buffalo Winter has joined the ESPN FHL on the 10-team Buffalo Pro H2H Points League and the 21-week season weekly matchups begin Oct 7 – 16 with the last weekly matchup on Mar 6 – 12.

There are numerous players on the waiver wire that could become more beneficial than the players currently on your roster for example providing an opportunity to line stack, and peruse the waiver list each day to ensure you have the best available players to you.

The FHL season is just over five months long, a tough haul for anyone but if you are able to put some time and effort into your team each day you may find yourself competing in the playoffs for the championship.

For the NHL 2022-23 Preseason, the NHL has created a 15-day marathon of over 100 games being played from Switzerland and Germany to Wichita, Kansas, and most stops in between.

With numerous split-squad games in the schedule allowing fans to watch their teams play twice in one day as Florida, San Jose, and Ottawa play their games on the road while the five split-squad teams (Columbus, Pittsburgh, Vancouver, Calgary, and Colorado) have a home and away contests.

Nashville and Toronto will have home ice advantage for both of their split-squad games.

October 3rd is the first of two European NHL preseason games (Global Series Challenge) as Nashville takes on SC Bern (Black Bears) at the Post Finance Arena at 2 pm (8 am EST) in Bern, Switzerland.

On October 4^th the second game pits the San Jose Sharks against Berlin Eisbaren (Polar Bears) in the Mercedes-Benz Arena starting at 1:30 pm (7:30 pm EST) in Berlin, Germany.

Some of the travel destinations of the NHL preseason tour include Oklahoma, Missouri, Wisconsin, Utah, Ontario California, Belleville Ontario, New Brunswick, Newfoundland, and to wrap up the preseason a night game in Boise Idaho.

In three days the preseason begins whetting the appetite of Hockey fans across North America and although these games “do not count” they are an entertaining buildup to the fervently anticipated NHL regular season.  

An enjoyable tournament with positive indications that the Buffalo Sabres have a “stocked cupboard”, and having first-round picks involved working hard to make an impression contributed mightily to the success achieved.

First round selected ninth overall for 2022 Mr. Savoie looked good with flashes of offensive brilliance accompanied by an enthusiastic attitude towards playing in Buffalo’s system and contributing without the puck in the proverbial “200-foot game”.

After scoring 69 points in 66 games in the WHL for his junior team in Portland last season seventh-rounder from 2021 Mr. Kozak signed an entry-level contract this summer and is now eligible to play for the Rochester Americans and had an outstanding tournament.

The importance of this tournament is highlighted by the New Jersey Devils as most of their coaching staff and management were in attendance for the Prospect Challenge observing players endeavoring to gain valuable experience, make an impression, and transition into camp.

Pittsburgh was one of six NHL teams participating in this season’s tournament but only played once and Penguins GM Ron Hextall finds the tournament “exciting” to more accurately assess players’ abilities competing against peers instead of at a higher level of competition during training camp.

The Canadiens website wrote of Montreal fans anticipating seeing their newest prospects which included the NHL’s number one draft pick Mr. Slafkovsky as all three games of the Tournoi Des Recrues 2022 were live streamed along with a French play-by-play option.  

Ottawa reported that they invited 26 players to its 2022 rookie camp which includes playing at the Canadian Tire Centre, Bell Sensplex and LECOM Haborcenter for the 2022 Prospect Challenge referred to as “Senators’ rookie games” and ran by their AHL affiliates HC and assistants from the Belleville Senators.

Swedish import for Boston Fabian Lysell commented that he was looking forward to the Prospect Challenge Tournament in Buffalo because it is one of the best spots you can be in to learn and grow throughout the process.

Entertaining, productive, and with opportunities for up-and-coming players, officials, coaching staff, and the front office to participate and observe in what has become in the last seven seasons a well-organized event leading up to NHL training camps and the preseason.

No other professional sport wears a sweater they all don a jersey, Hockey players from its coldest beginnings have always worn a sweater, obviously when outside ice skating or when playing Hockey you need to dress warmly.

European football clubs (soccer teams) have quite literally turned their professional team jerseys into sandwich boards advertising any and everything for the correct amount of funds.

Earlier this week the Montreal Canadiens displayed their newest sweater that includes a bank advertisement affixed to the front because all 32 NHL teams passed a resolution that created a new rule allowing for up to two 3 x 3.5-inch advertising patches on team sweaters.

There are six more NHL teams to engage in patch advertising on their team sweaters this upcoming season which include the Penguins, Capitals, and Wild.

The bean counters, chief business officers, and other executives that monitor the bottom line for their respective NHL teams have assessed a five to 10 million dollar profit for each team through this means of corporate advertising. 

There is a wonderful animated video on YouTube of a short story by Roch Carrier and directed by Sheldon Cohen (also illustrated book in 1979) poignantly highlighting what a Hockey sweater means to those of us who wear them.

I will miss the aesthetic beauty of NHL sweaters and if the visual advertising becomes so overwhelming and distracting…I have always enjoyed listening to Hockey on the radio.