7/9 Recap: Grey takes it to Blue in final minute

The Sabres Development Camp shifted to scrimmage mode Thursday at Dwyer Arena with a civil war match-up between Team Blue and Team Grey. Two 30-minute halves were played, and yes, there was a Dan Murphy sighting. For those who don't want to read, Grey took a 5-4 win thanks to an Igor Gongalskyi penalty shot goal in the final minute. Grey Roster G - Enroth, Lamoureux D - Myers (6), Southorn (5), Adams (52), Fienhage (26), Kostka (8), Crawford (44), Butler (37), Weber (red) F - Jokinen (22), Gongalskyi (27), Legault (9), Turnbull (21), Tropp (10), Lagacé (29), DeSousa (38), Gogulla (13), Gerbe (20) Blue Roster G - Eno (31), Knapp (30) D - MacKenzie (28), Biega (26), McNabb (6), Generous (55), Persson (28), Schiestel (5), Gragnani (4), Brennan (61) F - Fine (12), Orpik (27), Adam (19), Gallimore (76), Foligno (8), Byron (37), Kennedy (29), Payerl (36), Whitmore (22), Schutz (14) Grey Lines: Gerbe - Turnbull - Legault Weber - Myers Gogulla - Tropp - Jokinen Kostka - Butler Lagacé - Gongalskyi - DeSousa Crawford - Fienhage Southorn - Adams Blue Lines Adam - Kennedy - Whitmore Brennan - Generous Byron - Foligno - Orpik Gragnani - Persson Fine - Schutz - Gallimore Schiestel - Biega Fine - Byron - Payerl McNabb - MacKenzie Also saw Adam - Byron - Orpik as well... Forwards Zack Kassian, Tyler Ennis, and Brayden Irwin did not participate. ------------------------------------------------ It was a tough start for Blue netminder Nick Eno. Just 30-seconds in, Travis Turnbull fed a puck to the front of the net, where it found Maxime Legault. Legault chipped a backhand past Eno to give Grey an early 1-0 lead. Turnbull motored all afternoon to put on one of the day's top performances. He made some smart defensive plays with his stick and was charging hard on the forecheck. On the other side, Eno appeared nervous and shaky in the first ten minutes as he battled some pedestrian shots. Moments after Legault's tally, Grey's Nick Crawford would punch a shot through from the left point. An opportunistic Jacob Lagacé was there to belt the puck in and give Grey a 2-0 advantage. At 22:25, Felix Schutz capitalized on a funky dump-in bounce to get Blue on the board. Grey starter Jhonas Enroth exited the crease to play the puck, leaving the net wide open for the German to half the lead. Blue would tie it up seven minutes later when Tim Kennedy's sharp pass was tipped by Burke Gallimore over Enroth's right shoulder to make it a 2-2 game. The contact elevated once the players cycled through a few shifts. Like Turnbull, Marcus Foligno set a good pace skating into every check with good contact. Many of his workmanlike bumps came in open ice to knock the man off the puck. The stronger hits started after the 20:00 mark when Brayden McNabb stepped up and shouldered Lagacé to the ice. From there, a forechecking Turnbull had a nice collision with Matt Generous in front of the blue cage, while Maxime Legault took two solid runs at Andrew Orpik. The pops culminated with Chris Butler popping TJ Brennan's helmet off after a nice corner take-out. The only thing close to resembling a dust-up came late in the half with Nathan Gerbe taking a few shoves at fellow Beantown collegian Alex Biega after a whistle. There were two penalties called in the first half. Like last year, the offended player would take a penalty shot in lieu of earning power play. Unlike last year, the penalty shots were performed with the offender on chase from the far blue line. Tim Kennedy was called for hooking Justin Jokinen. Eno stopped the attempt for Team Blue. Later on, Kennedy would ring the post on Enroth as Chris Butler (tripping) was closing in. The second half gets underway with Legault and Foligno continuing to finish their checks. Legault put a real solid hit on Michael Fine on the very first shift. Overall though, the physical tone was much more subdued than the first 30-minutes. After Luke Adam failed to take Adams wide, Grags got called for a trip of Chris DeSousa at the other end of the rink. DeSousa deked left on the penalty shot, but couldn't lift the pick over Connor Knapp's right pad. At the 18:30 mark, Gerbe would get the first goal of the half but roofing a Turnbull feed through minor traffic over Knapp's right shoulder. Five minutes later, DeSousa would break down the left side and pump a slap shot cleanly past Knapp to put Grey ahead 4-2. Knapp looked like a goaltender with a lot of potential. He gets square to the shooter and covers a lot of net. I'm curious to find out how new his pads are, given some of the excessive rebounds they were kicking out. The unforgiving pads twice bounced pucks right into the slot that I think would normally be controlled. A minute after the Desousa tally, a Team Blue line of Adam-Byron-Orpik combined to get some down low pressure near Lamoureux that resulted in a goal. It was unclear who scored it, but it closed the gap to 4-3. Blue would tie the game 4-4 when Schutz hit an oncoming Dennis Persson, who in turn buried a low wrister past Lamoureux. Schutz would get called for hooking Igor Gongalskyi in the final minute of play. The Russian forward skated in on his penalty shot and buried the puck five-hole on Knapp to give Grey the 5-4 win. Additional game notes: - Schutz was strong the whole way through. He had some points, but also made some straight line plays through the D to get to the net. After performing well together last season, he and Orpik reprised their trapping ways for a shift by pinning Myers and Weber deep. The play resulted in a scrum in front of Enroth and a near goal. At another point he almost forced Weber into precarious waters near his own goal due to his strong pursuit. - Weber and Myers were an interesting duo. Both players have executed better. Myers got dinged for a turnover early on, but balanced it out with some break-ups and a otherwise good passing. - Early on, Fine took advantage of a tentative Mark Adams by picking the puck cleanly from the high-schooler to spark a break the other way. - The least experienced of all the camp players, Adams continued to demonstrate his best asset - skating. A few times he weaved in and out of neutral zone space to advance the puck. He has a natural inclination to follow the play when he does skate it in, but I suspect he has the recovery wheels in his bag. He'll gain the necessary strength as he grows, but for now looks to have a decent set of tools in place. - Along with Adams, Nick Crawford is a guy I'd like to see get his shot off quicker. It doesn't always have to be a wind-up. Off-speed shots to the cage are often just as effective as 90MPH blasts. Crawford played his usual safe game today. - Corey Fienhage had his physical brand of hockey on display. That side of his game is something to build around, and again I'll point out the good footwork that makes it happen for him. His best contact came in the first half when he put a very authoritative finish on Tim Kennedy in the corner. The package is definitely in place. The #1 thing I'd like to see him improve in the next three years is the time taken to make a decision. He needs to corral the puck, have his head up, and find a taker. The fact that he's hard to move will help limit turnovers against smaller players, but keeping up with the pace will be key moving forward. - Persson showed decent mobility in the opening half, once picking a good spot to fill a lane deep with the puck. Lacking options while skating it up the left side, Persson glided into the corner where he dumped it off and smartly retreated to his blueline post. - Philip Gogulla had a quiet outing statistically, but I thought he was productive in playing his game. He keeps the puck when he gets it, and looks good coming down the wing with his big, wide stride. Like a condor. - Adam showed good awareness and two-way dedication. He has all the scorer's tricks. He knows when to elevate the puck, and is open to using defensemen as screens. He missed a great opportunity to wipe out Mike Kostka as the defenseman was looking up to knock a puck out of the air. - Late in the first half, Biega made an on-the-spot stick-lift and immediate clear from in front of his own net to prevent a Grey forward from scarfing up a Jordon Southorn rebound. - Paul Byron held his own all afternoon. He was pesky without the puck and in good control with it. He likes to bump guys despite his smallish frame and generally works hard to make his plays. - Justin Jokinen was responsible for one of two very nice cross-ice passes in the neutral zone that are worth the recall, but he'll need to keep sharpening his d-zone awareness in the WCHA. Offensive skill set certainly present. - Foligno made a really nice play in the second period to intercept an up-ice attempt clean out of the air. The 17-year old got rid of it quickly in an effort to push himself towards the net, in effect clearing a path behind him. - Matt Generous skated hard with the puck, made good decisions from the point, and played a sound defensive game. - Drew Schiestel also skated very well, at one point looking like he could take the puck coast-to-coast, but instead he pulled up before hitting the hole. I didn't see him tested defensively. - Aside from the big hit on Lagacé, McNabb looked solid. He showed good reaction to the play, and was quick to move it out of his end. - Lamoureux is a gamer who surprisingly holds his ground rather well for a small netminder. With the game built on down-low pressure and traffic, Lamoureux sets well and lets his d-men do their jobs. As noted yesterday, he really does like to ditch his stick of it means making a save as evidenced by the two occasions on Thursday. - Aside from the goal, DeSousa was more involved in the second half. I noted one weak clearing attempt, and another spot where he maybe could have looked to get into the zone. I know you can't be north/south all of the time, but this one play is where I'd like to have him tried to kick an extra gear to assert himself into a scoring play. In his defense, he may have been near the end of a shift. - Gragnani is staying back in his defensive posture. There was one play late in the scrimmage where his partner was sucked towards the boards and he was late to read it, leaving the middle wide open. Other than that, he looked in control out there. - Adam Payerl was persistent on the forecheck. He did a good job of putting himself into the right spots in both zones. There's no flash to his game, but he's a hard worker who has acquitted himself well this week.

Development Camp Notes 7/7-8

After two days of development camp practice sessions, the stage is slowly being set for a Friday scrimmage. Fans looking to catch an early glimpse of 2009 first round pick Zack Kassian have been disappointed due to the winger's absence from a foot injury. Tuesday's main rink activity began with the forwards going through a series of drills emphasizing skating, agility, and puck handling. After starting with simple accented crossovers both forward and backwards, the group moved to biscuit control. Three pivots through two zones, backwards arcs, and so on. Meanwhile on the second rink, the goaltenders and defensemen were being put through through similar sets. Roughly 45:00 later, the groups would split for shooting work on both sides. Wednesday's main rink session saw half of the squad focus on puck movement drills. Three-pass breakouts. D-to-D, up-ice and go with 2-1s, and 1-1s. The session would close with a 3-3 shinny (with goalies) between the bluelines that has proven to be the closest simulation of game action thus far. I've seen more of some than others to this point (and it's only been practice sessions) but here are some basic observations from Tuesday and Wednesday drill work. I've tried in include every player in camp. There isn't much to focus on with players like Chris Butler, Nathan Gerbe, Tim Kennedy, Marc-Andre Gragnani, and Mike Weber. They're participating in full, doing what they do well. Gerbe looks to be working on his shiftiness by adding more flip-passes to himself to his budding repertoire. Kennedy looks well-oiled galloping with the puck. All five will help dictate the pace of the scrimmages. Interesting line combos from Wednesday's practice included Adam-Foligno-Kennedy (note Kennedy at RW and not C) and Whitmore-Byron-Gallimore (note Byron at C and not W). Fine-Payerl-Orpik rounded out the forward run, while Schutz skated between rearguards Weber and Butler in short-lived drill work. D combos for left/right purposes included Southorn-Kostka, Crawford-Myers, Adams-Fienhage. Tyler Myers is bigger and better. The bulk of his passes have been crisp. Now it's time to add a little mustard to his shot. Still, he's going to be a stay-back, shutdown guy who plays simple offense. His reach and skating ability transcend any level of competition, making a transition to the bigs this fall a very real proposition. He's already thrown out a first pitch at a Bison's game. Can any other Sabres blueliner make that claim? Tyler Ennis stands out with his exceptional crossover and stick skills. It's been well documented, but it's worth another mention because he'll challenge soon. His direction with it relative to his body is impressive - it's on a yo-yo - an essential skill for a smaller player when taking a guy one-on-one. Marcus Foligno has impressed with a first class effort. He's not a hands guy, but it shouldn't matter if he keeps grinding his gears, striding low and hard on every shift. He's going to make his cake in front of the net where he'll score a few gutty, ugly goals before his career is over. Definite blue collar roots at play. Corey Fienhage is built for the rugged NHL. He's very fluid and uses his excellent size in 1-1s to lean and rub players out. Elements of Derian Hatcher with better feet. Very no-nonsense. Even looks mean in drills. Aside from enjoying the physical contact (I compared him to a safety's patrolling mentality in the back field when he was drafted), he's good at getting in front of shots. For his efforts, he was stung inside a shin guard on both days. From the point, he's shown his hard rising right-handed shot on a couple of occasions. He's set to blossom in Grand Forks. Andrew Orpik has steadily improved his feet. He had a good camp last summer, and looks more AHL-ready this go round. Similar vibes are coming from Maxime Legault. Good mobility, good technique, good frame, good hustle, good depth. Despite recording the first fall of the day on Tuesday, Jacob Lagacé's approach is beginning to conjure up images of J.P. Dumont with less body fat. He's not the biggest player and he's not the most gifted skater, but he knows what to do with the puck when near the net. Facing Crawford, he labeled a low wrister past Lamoureux. Good instincts. Mark Adams can certainly move well. Like Nick Crawford last year, he's keeping his stick on the ice and playing things simple as he adjusts to the quick flow. It will be interesting to see how his heads up game heats up in a scrimmage setting against a faster, stronger peer group. Not a ton brewing with Crawford. He has a quiet, steady demeanor and just focuses on the basics. I expect the same in the pick-up. It's good to see Luke Adam back to full capacity. He looks to be in good shape and ready to strap it on. There isn't marked improvement to his skating, but he's going just as hard and his goal scoring touch is still in tact. That's good enough. Coming down the left side, he's shown a slight preference for the short-side. Known for getting in low, his accuracy from the dots has been understated. Phil Lamoureux - shoot high. Jhonas Enroth - shoot low. Both have been faring well against the shooters. Enroth flashing leather, and Lamoureux ditching his stick in Hasek-ian style on a few occasions to make some nice stops. I've seem more of them than Connor Knapp and Nick Eno. Knapp got torched a few times in a breakaway session, but it's not a performance indicator at all with it coming at the tail end of a long session. Knapp is on my Thursday radar. Jordon Southorn continues to demonstrate a three-zone skill set. He moves well laterally and plays the chest, but can be beaten by solid handlers. He's made a couple of nice decisions to break-up 2-1s over the past two days, only to get jocked by Justin Jokinen and Tim Kennedy with slick underneath moves during 1-1s. Jokinen looks a shade bigger than when he entered Mankato last fall. He relies greatly on his stick at the moment. One thing I'll be looking for next season is confidence in the size he's building up. Paul Byron's playmaking ability has been pretty sharp in the limited work. He ducks in and out of spots, initiates contact when playing the puck, and has put the puck on the stick of his mates in scoring position. Similarities to Tim Connolly's vision and distribution. Corey Tropp continues to exhibit the game of a projected third-line player. Nice hard turns, real good with the puck in pivot drills, good hands. It all translates well to what we've seen him do with the Spartans. No need to be concerned with him missing time last season. Brayden McNabb has shown tendencies of a steady, collected defender. It's been a limited viewing situation thus far, but he looks just as sturdy in person as he did on this monitor over his WHL season. Plenty of room to fill out, too. T.J. Brennan and Drew Schiestel are two other guys whose progress will come out in scrimmage environment. I've had limited viewing to this point, but Schiestel is a great skater who is still improving his defensive game. Brennan has gotten better year-over-year while sacrificing his rush-joining lusts for a stronger defensive foundation. Philip Gogulla and Dennis Persson are in this bucket as well. I only watched them in skating drills on Tuesday. Both looked to be going through the camp motions with ease at that point, and will be looked at more on Thursday. Alex Biega looks a year older. Same as last year - excellent skating, head up, good leverage. Drew MacKenzie continues to show a good two-way set of skill as well. Also from the 'more of the same' file - Mike Kostka, Felix Schutz, Derek Whitmore, and Matt Generous. All smart players who show their experience in the camp environment. Schutz is often nonchalant in his approach. The oldest play in camp, Whitmore got dumped on his can by Butler at the right post during a 3-2. Invitee Chris DeSousa is showing why he's there. Some players dance, and others go right at the defender with a "go through" mentality. Again, consistent with prior viewings. Michael Fine has a well put together frame for the pros. Longer upper body with a good center of gravity. He's not standing out for one special thing, but he's right in line with the players who the Sabres chose on draft day. Even if he remains in Soo, he'll be a player worth tracking next season in the OHL. Adam Payerl made some crafty plays in tight during Wednesday's session. He's a heady guy who works hard. Igor Gongalskyi seems to skate better when he has the puck on his stick. You can see that he's worked on his fundamentals since his OHL days. Burke Gallimore has been an adequate line filler. He has shown offensive wherewithal, especially as the middle-man on a solid tic-tac-toe play with Byron/Whitmore, but I'm not feeling the same overall energy level as the other invites. Brayden Irwin looked well engaged on Tuesday, but I didn't see him on Wednesday.

Development Camp details formally announced

From Sabres.com: The Buffalo Sabres announced today they will be holding a summer development camp from July 6-10 at Dwyer Arena on the campus of Niagara University in Lewiston, N.Y. There will be on-ice sessions open to the public from Tuesday through Thursday from 3 p.m. - 6 p.m. each day, and on Friday from 11 a.m. - 2 p.m. Below is the full camp roster. An participant missing from the list is goaltender Brad Eidsness of North Dakota, who ironically was replaced by the keeper he inherited the Sioux gig from, J.P. Lamoureux (Alaska - ECHL). Andrew Orpik who just completed his senior year at Boston College will also not attend. Other notables include edgy LW Igor Gongalskyi (Fresno/Stockton - ECHL), a former junior mate of Andrej Sekera in Owen Sound, and big forward Brayden Irwin (University of Vermont), a teammate of 2007 pick Drew MacKenzie and repeat invitee after a decent showing last summer. Also, 2008 draftees out of the WCHA, Corey Fienhage (North Dakota) and Justin Jokinen (Minnesota State), will be participating in their first Sabres sanctioned activities after not attending last year's camp. Forwards Luke Adam Paul Byron Chris DeSousa Tyler Ennis Michael Fine Marcus Foligno Burke Gallimore Nathan Gerbe Phillip Gogulla Igor Gongalskyi Brady Irwin Justin Jokinen Zack Kassian Tim Kennedy Jacob Lagacé Maxime Legault Adam Payerl Felix Schutz Corey Tropp Travis Turnbull Derek Whitmore Defensemen Mark Adams Alex Biega TJ Brennan Chris Butler Nick Crawford Corey Fienhage Matt Generous Marc-Andre Gragnani Mike Kostka Tyler Myers Drew MacKenzie Brayden McNabb Dennis Persson Drew Schiestel Jordon Southorn Mike Weber Goaltenders Nick Eno Jhonas Enroth Connor Knapp JP Lamoureux

Gold storms back for 8-7 win

Gassed and ready to break camp, the group of talent assembled at the Buffalo Sabres 2008 Development Camp strapped it on for one last scrimmage on Tuesday. With the lack of hitting promoting wide-open play, the tired bodies still provided some solid action. Jean-simon Allard, Derek Whitmore, and Brady Irwin joined Dylan Hunter, Mike Funk, and Paul Byron on the list of non-participants. Byron developed a sore shoulder last week, and has stayed away from the ice in preparation for Team Canada's Development Camp on the 25th. Team Blue got off to another quick start, leading Gold 4-2 at the half time break, but a nine-goal closing stanza would result in Gold's only win of the weeklong gathering. Depleted up front, Alex Biega, Mike Card, and even Mike Weber all saw time as a forward for Team Gold during the afternoon skate. In a similar vein, Marc-Andre Gragnani assumed Allard's forward spot with Blue, skating on a line with Tim Kennedy and Jacob Lagace. Adam Dennis (Blue) and Nick Eno (Gold) started each half in the nets. Scoring synopsis: Five minutes in, a Tyler Myers wrist shot from the point deflected past Nick Eno to open the scoring for Team Blue. Felix Schutz and Mark Van Guilder were in front, but were crediting Myers with the goal as it appeared to bounce off a Gold defender. The line of Van Guilder-Schutz-Orpik continued to impress throughout the afternoon. One of the prettiest plays of the day was an in/out move by Van Guilder that was stopped by Jhonas Enroth. Moments later, Drew MacKenzie jumped up to work a textbook give-and-go with Tim Kennedy, one-timing the return past Nick Eno to give Blue a 2-0 lead. MacKenzie quietly performed well in camp, showing steady play and a bit of an edge amongst a stacked defensive deck. Just as Enroth was getting set after an on-the-fly goalie change, Andrew Orpik blasted home a Felix Schutz feed to make it 3-0 Blue. Corey Tropp would get Gold on the board, pumping a pass from Tyler Ennis past Brad Eidsness to cut Blue's lead to 3-1. The Ennis-Cepis-Tropp unit gelled in the scrimmages, using speed and nifty plays down low to set each other up. Blue would strike again shortly after Tropp's marker. Tyler Myers took a Marek Zagrapan pass into the zone, and spotted Nathan Gerbe heading toward to the net. Gerbe slid a backhander along the ice inside the right post to score Blue's final goal before the break. Tyler Ennis cut Gold's deficit in half when he took a Jacob Cepis pass into the zone and got off a quick wrister. The puck would deflect off a Blue defender (Dennis Persson perhaps), and get past Eidsness. Ennis continues to remind us of a new-era Daniel Briere. His stick-to-it-ness on every play is reminiscent of the former #48, and he even stands like him in warm-ups. End of 1st - Blue 4, Gold 2 The first and second goals of the back-and-forth 2nd were scored via penalty shot. After a hack by Patrick Kaleta, Nathan Gerbe would skate in on Eno, fake a slapper, then deke three times before finishing it off with a backhand. Brilliant. Nick Crawford would later get it back for Gold, beating Adam Dennis stick side to make it 5-3 Blue. A large Gold presence parked in front of the Blue net, Luke Adam took a Vincent Scarsella look and roofed a backhander from in tight to get the comeback juices flowing. On the next shift, a patient Felix Schutz circled in front of Nick Eno and found an opening to put Blue back ahead by a pair. Unfettered and kicking it up a notch with a win in mind, Gold's Mike Kostka finished off a give-and-go with Kaleta to make it a one-goal game. Felix Schutz would again engage in the game of "top that", going top shelf with a pretty backhand. Mark Van Guilder picked up the assist on the seventh and final Blue goal. With Jhonas Enroth now feeding off the Gold energy, Kaleta one-timed a Chris Butler pass from the left point to make it 7-6. Luke Adam would strike again on the way back down to tie the game, 7-7. Minutes later, Scarsella set-up Josh Vatri for the game winning goal. Final Score: Gold 8, Blue 7 Other notes: In a hurry to catch a 7:00 flight out of town, Chris Butler again showed his ability to take the puck down the ice and get a shot off. The guy epitomizes the term "all-situations defenseman", and will be a rock out of the gate for Portland. At one point, Lagace picked him cleanly and took the puck back the other way. Butler chased him down and shoved him to the ice like a mini-linebacker. Butler's partner Mike Weber also had a decent rush into the zone in the 2nd half, but was quickly shut down in the circle. Tyler Myers was seen wheelin'-and-dealin' at various points, causing Sabres Asst. Coach James Patrick to remark, "Tyler Myers is going to be a very good defenseman". Agreed. Dennis Persson was noticeable in front of both nets today. For the good, he continued to jump into play, causing screens and attracting defenders. He also made a few nice passes into the slot for tip opportunities. For the bad, he had the puck poke checked from him at the edge of his crease by Felix Schutz, resulting in a shot on goal. With Mark Van Guilder showing traits of a steady, dependable forward, fellow invitee Jacob Cepis was equally impressive all week. Cepis was going hard the whole way through, charging to the net expecting a puck. When isolating Alex Biega, you really notice his excellent footwork and his ability to stand up against the rush. Marek Zagrapan sprung Gerbe on a breakaway early, but like many others, was running out of gas late. The tank being on E was also the likely villain when Philip Gogulla made an own-zone giveaway to Mike Card in the 2nd half. The save of the day came when Enroth robbed Orpik with a big glove in the 2nd. Jhonas was flashing the leather late, and his supreme hand-eye coordination was evident by his snaring of several tips throughout camp. More in the comments later.

Eyeballing the shot clock

The radar gun made an appearance at this afternoon's Development Camp session. On the main pad, the Blue and Gold groups separately rotated between three stations - two for shooting, with a center ice passing area nestled in between. A shooter tutor tested the players' accuracy at one end, while they had the opportunity to get clocked for bragging rights at the other. With the radar gun in play, each skater fired eight shots on net (two each of the snap, wrist, slap, and backhand variety). For the sake of data capture, the best scores of the snap and wrist shots are combined into one category. Not only was the general speed for each player's snap and wrister roughly 1-2 MPH apart, but most of the guys released the puck in the same manner during those sets. Below is a MPH chart for each participant. Blueliners T.J. Brennan (93), Drew Schiestel (88), Mike Kotska (88), and Alex Biega (87) clocked in with the fastest slappers. We knew that Brennan and Biega could bring the heat, while the howitzers of Schiestel and Kostka were a pleasant surprise. Biega also flicked the quickest backhander (49 MPH). On the wrist/snap shot side of things, Mike Weber (74), Mark Van Guilder (73), T.J. Brennan (71), Luke Adam (71), Chris Butler (70), and Marc-Andre Gragnani (70) all eclipsed the 70-MPH plateau. Van Guilder's snap shot was just five miles-per-hour off his 78-MPH slapper. Today's moment of levity came when the first Blue group hit the radar station. To my point earlier, Felix Schutz didn't really know the difference between a snap shot and a wrist shot (we actually remarked about his snap ability two days ago in this space). When explained to him, it was clear that a traditional wrist shot is not part of repertoire. This was further evidenced by his awkward looking 57-MPH "bomb". Don't worry, Felix. We know you can play. (Gogulla later debunked the notion that German coaches don't teach that part of the game by executing a textbook wrister.) The two squads switched pads midway through the session, with skating and conditioning drills being conducted on the other side. The players will take the ice from 3-5 PM tomorrow and Tuesday before going their separate ways to hopefully catch some rays. These guys deserve it.

Saturday Scrimmage Recap

This afternoon at the Sabres Development Camp, Team Blue shutout Team Gold, 5-0. Nathan Gerbe scored a pair of goals for the winners, while Andrew Orpik added a goal and an assist. Felix Schutz and Dennis Persson rounded out the scoring. The starting lineups were as follows: Blue Gerbe-Zagrapan-Gogulla Sekera-Card Eidsness Followed by: Van Guilder-Schutz-Orpik MacKenzie-Gragnani Kennedy-Hunter-Allard Myers-Southorn-Persson Eno Gold Ennis-Cepis-Whitmore Butler-Weber Enroth Other base combos: Kaleta-Irwin-Adam-Tropp Schiestel-Kostka Vatri-Scarsella-Lagace Brennan-Biega-Crawford For the most part, the defensive pairs for both teams were shuffled around with each team dressing seven. Sekera was seen with Gragnani, Weber played with Biega, Card with MacKenzie, etc. The Gold forward lines varied quite a bit as well. Paul Byron and Adam Dennis did not participate in today's scrimmage, nor did Drew Stafford. The first period started quickly, with Gold controlling the opening draw. Jacob Cepis quickly entered the zone wide, but couldn't connect on a centering pass to Tyler Ennis. A member of the CCHA All-Rookie Team with Bowling Green teammate Nick Eno, Cepis made a good overall impression today. Ennis was very noticeable, using his small frame to find angles to fit the puck towards the net. He sparked the offensive side of things nearly every shift. He seemed to take a stick in the mouth while coming across the middle early on, and slashed back at MacKenzie after taking an elbow up high at the end of the same shift. Most of the first half was back and forth, with both Jhonas Enroth and Brad Eidsness making some keys saves for their squads. Nick Eno relieved Eidsness at the midway point, and was able to shut the door on his Gold foes. The Gerbe-Zagrapan-Gogulla line maintained pressure whenever they were on the ice, but the combo of Van Guilder-Schutz-Orpik was equally impressive for Team Blue. Going 1-2 on the forecheck, the trio plugged the neutral zone and generated many offensive opportunities throughout the day. Schutz made a nice intercept early resulting in Enroth having to make two big saves. Van Guilder, a graduate of Notre Dame, often spearheaded that 1-2 and looks to be positioning himself nicely for a spot in Buffalo training camp. He hit a crashing Orpik, who cashed a one timer past a sprawling Enroth for the only goal of the first. Other notes from the first half: Tyler Myers used his long reach to break up a couple of Gold rushes in the neutral zone. Later in the half, his partner Jordon Southorn made a nice breakup on a backdoor attempt by Corey Tropp. The speedy Alex Biega showed off his cannon point shot, one timing a Nick Crawford pass into the belly of Eidsness. I don't think there's a more aware player on the ice than Biega. Eidsness was able to see most of the shots all day with his ability to stay with the puck. We continue to be impressed with his attention to detail, and technical approach to each shooter. Hopefully he received some consideration from Hockey Canada before they sent their summer invites. Crawford handled some early heat well, winning a puck battle with Gerbe after a foot race back into his own end. Aside from the elbow on Ennis, MacKenzie played a pretty solid game. I remarked yesterday about him looking much smaller than Butler, but that's not really the case. They're about the same height with different body types. Butler is broader with his mass. Andrej Sekera used his world class skating ability to bail himself of his own zone with a fine end-to-end rush. Patrick Kaleta seemed frustrated, coughing up a puck early on, then getting thwarted by Eidsness on a scoring chance down low. The Blue unit of Kennedy-Hunter-Allard had issues gelling early, but was able to get it going. Kennedy provided the best opportunity in the first half, taking an Allard pass into the low slot to slip a pretty backhander at Enroth. The following shift, the Buffalo native made another slick move to cut inside only to be stopped again. He later had a decent collision along the boards with Jacob Lagace. Overall, Kennedy had a good day carrying the puck. Allard was again working hard all day. He made me nervous once on the backcheck by throwing a bad centering pass right up the gut from behind his net, but it proved harmless. Schutz made me similarly nervous by carrying a puck right in front of his goalie, but he seemed to do it in a much cooler manner. Shortly after Eno entered the Blue crease, Luke Adam came hard down the right side and rang a wrister off his left post. At one point, Schiestel and Kostka were paired together and made clean breakouts on successive shifts. Kostka was very smooth throughout the day with good decisions and a crisp first pass, while Schiestel showed hints of a physical game in the corners and behind his net. One of the more surprising shifts in the first came when Mike Card stickhandled his way through everyone in Gold, only to fire a wrister high over Enroth's glove. Worth mentioning was Card's handling of Brady Irwin in a corner battle. End of Half: Blue 1, Gold 0 The Second Half 30:00 back on the clock. The half once again begins with Enroth versus Eidsness. Eidsness started the action making a big, cross-ice save for Team Blue. We're not sure who the shooter was unfortunately, but it drew a nice applause from the crowd. Minutes later, Southorn made a nice pinch and lobbed a thick wrist shot at Enroth, who steered it to the corner with his blocker for his first save of the second. Just 2:40 in, Vincent Scarsella tripped up Felix Schutz near center ice. Schutz would come down on the ensuing penalty shot to beat Enroth for a 2-0 Blue lead. Near the midway point, Andrew Orpik sent Dennis Persson in alone on Enroth. The defenseman went five-hole while tumbling to give Blue a 3-0 edge. Before the scrimmage was through, Nathan Gerbe would close the scoring with a pair of goals. Marek Zagrapan came gliding down the left side and made a nice feed to the rookie, who fired a short-side shot past Enroth. The Swede probably should have had that one. Later, Gerbe would corral a perfect saucer pass from Gogulla and fire a laser from the dot over Enroth's glove for the 5-0 dagger. While Gold wasn't scoring goals, the pair of Chris Butler and Mike Weber emerged as two of their better players. Butler took the puck from end-to-end several times in the frame, creating scoring chances and breaking up Blue chances before they could develop. At one point, he gave an extra rub in the corner to his pal, Gerbe. Weber, on the other hand, controlled things with key defensive plays down low. Other notes from the second half: Team Gold's best shift came near the halfway mark, when the unit of Ennis-Cepis-Tropp twice applied pressure inside of a minute. The end of the shift resulted in a 3-1 opportunity that was shut down by Eidsness. Tropp would later miss a good chance by firing high on Eno. Marc-Andre Gragnani did see one shift early as a LW with Zagrapan and Gogulla, and later drifted into forward motion while skating a defensive shift. More proof that he's wired for LW. I'm not sure if it was Brennan, Weber, or even Adam, but someone connected with a nice check on Tyler Myers after his successful pinch. Myers shook the hit off while retreating back to his post. Brennan tried to make things happen for Team Gold late, taking the puck up ice for a rush down the left side. He's paid special attention to his own end all camp, and performed very well doing so. He's physical against the rush, and played mostly mistake free hockey today. Only once did he fail to clear his end (in the face of a Van Guilder forecheck). Along that note, a early cross-ice pass inside the blueline from the steady Schiestel was nearly picked off by Van Guilder at the 6:00 mark. It would've resulted in a solid Blue chance if intercepted, but the puck was just beyond reach of the attacker. Schiestel was later unsuccessful on a penalty shot after being tripped by Kennedy. After stealing a Mike Weber headman, a frustrated J.S. Allard skated to the bench after failing a deliver a 2-1 pass. Later in the period, a puck slipped past him near the point, and he was outskated on the way back down. Right when Eno relieved Eidsness at the 15:00 mark, Kostka sprang Kaleta on a long feed. The forward slid the puck to his backhand when approaching the crease, and either lost control or fell victim to the Eno pokecheck. A frustrated Kaleta would later break a stick in disgust on his way to the bench. On the next shift, Eno would stop Ennis on a short break. Trailing 4-0, Weber fell to his belly to break up a Orpik pass to Schutz. This is one of those plays I was referring to. He would later pull the same trick, busting up a few chances by the Gerbe-Zagrapan-Gogulla line. Mike Card again demonstrated his offensive game, rushing in late to punch a shot on Enroth. On the way back down, a circling Adam kicked the puck to a pinching Kostka. Eno made a strong, point blank stop. Josh Vatri and Jacob Lagace both mucked down low and got pucks back to the point. Vatri in particular was noticeable, as he likes to get in deep and make his presence known. In the same cluster, Vincent Scarsella is fun to watch in a Marty St. Louis kind of way. Tyler Myers made a few more breakups for Team Blue in the second by using his stick to disrupt the oncoming flow. He didn't show much in the way of a physical game, but he was poised otherwise. Late in the half, he was tripped up by Vatri, but couldn't settle a hopping puck on the penalty shot. After noticing his speed and wingspan on the forecheck in the first, I didn't see much from Brady Irwin in the second. Cepis and Van Guilder were the more effective invitees this afternoon. Jhonas Enroth didn't have the strongest outing, but he did make some solid stops including a difficult tip before the buzzer. Adapting to different rink dimensions may be partially in play on both of Gerbe's goals, as each involved quick, cross-ice reactions. Final Score: Blue 5, Gold 0

Blue defeats Gold, 5-0.

Already holding 1-0 lead after the first half, Team Blue scored four more times in the second (two 30:00 halves with a rolling clock) to seal a 5-0 victory over Team Gold. 2nd period goals: Felix Schutz scored on a penalty shot after being tripped by Vincent Scarsella at the 2:40 mark. It was hard to tell if he went stick or five-hole on Enroth. Minutes later, Andrew Orpik sent Dennis Persson in on Enroth. Persson beat his countryman five-hole while tumbling to the ice to give Blue a 3-0 lead. Carrying the puck down the left side, Marek Zagrapan spots Nathan Gerbe cross-ice, who in turn buries a hard shot past Enroth on the short side. Gerbe later closed the scoring with his 2nd of the day. Philip Gogulla made a perfect saucer pass down the left side to Gerbe, who beamed a laser from the dot over Enroth's glove into the far corner. More later. These bleachers aren't comfy...

Blue leads Gold 1-0 after one

Entering the zone from the left side, Mark Van Guilder found a crashing Andrew Orpik to give Team Blue a 1-0 lead. That's how the half ended, but don't worry. SabresProspects is taking notes with nearly every shift. Look for a detailed wrap up this evening. Getting ready for the second here at Dwyer.

Getting ready for Blue vs. Gold

It looks like we're going to get our first scrimmage of camp today. Be sure to check back later for a complete report on the day's happenings.

Friday Camp Notes

Nathan Gerbe's legs just might be longer than Tim Kennedy's. This is just the first of many observations taken from Friday's development camp practice session. It's hard to get a feel for these players as a whole during drill work and shortened 4-4 and 4-3 workouts. The end of camp scrimmage sessions will start to fill in the gaps, but we won't fully capture the overall effectiveness of these kids until the ensuing regular seasons - wherever they may be. Still, here's some reaction to what took shape this afternoon at Dwyer Arena. Gerbe had another strong showing, displaying pure skating and shooting skills through the variety of drills. His tenacious nature suggests it's not going to take long before he's creating upward pressure on the Sabres top 12. He's not going to get faster or bigger anytime soon, so once acclimated to the speed of things, he's good to go. Tyler Myers continued to show promise with his skating and positional game. He made one questionable clearing pass in a 4-4, but in his defense, the blueline interceptor was wearing the same color jersey. His reach alone causes problems for the oncoming attack, and he's shown good closing speed when feeling opportunistic offensively. Along similar "opportunistic" lines, it was nice to see Corey Tropp kick up an extra gear in an attempt to split a pair of defenders. Tropp seems to be getting bigger, and we continue to come away happy with his developing skills. Chris Butler displayed strength in many facets today, consistently closing angles down with his body and reach while again displaying a hard, low point shot. He's a steadying presence on the ice. Today, he showed excellent lateral movement to find good shooting lanes. He's physically close to ready, but will definitely benefit from a year seasoning in Portland. He tumbled with Gerbe early in a 3-2 drill. Mike Weber was his usual tough self in front of his net, and we're more impressed with his continued dedication to footwork. With better feet he's a better closer, often forcing guys wide to push. Dennis Persson had a solid, two-way outing. In 4-4's, he twice stepped up to score on Eno, and his overall effort was simple yet sharp. He looked like a different player today after some early concerns yesterday. In early 1-1's, Marek Zagrapan and Drew Schiestel had a good battle in front of Adam Dennis. Schiestel was focused on locking up Zagrapan's stick, while Zags bumped for position. Schiestel keeps impressing with his skating. He plays a solid positional style in his own end, and we're liking his smarts and overall make-up more and more. His puck carrying skills are excellent, so all you really need to see next season in St. Catharines is general consistency while using any added strength to hold his positional ground. Zagrapan looks ready for training camp. Today, he and Philip Gogulla showed glimpses of chemistry while skating with Gerbe in 3-2's. The trio brought the heat against Butler and Mike Kostka, making creative reads to keep Brad Eidsness busy in the first half hour. Gogulla is up to snuff for North American play. If he remains stateside after camp this fall, the Jochen Hecht clone will be right in the thick of things on the Portland call-up list. He's a long strider who controls things offensively, but could opt to go back to the DEL if he doesn't stick with the Sabres. At the other end of the ice, Kennedy, Dylan Hunter, and J.S. Allard had trouble getting things going in the 3-2 against T.J. Brennan and Nick Crawford. The unit found themselves twice doing push-ups for not scoring, and was bailed out on their third series when Kennedy buried a rebound past Adam Dennis. Dylan Hunter then followed by roofing one on Dennis. Both goals were set up by Allard. Kennedy looked better today, but still had trouble cutting low. He again showed an edge when he did get there, and has good hands for loose pucks around the net. A scrimmage session will be a better medium for his smart game. Brennan looked well early, at one point riding Allard into the boards for the first boom of the afternoon. He's rolls with a real good stride, and has a pro-sized frame in the works. Allard himself showed traits of a smart, serviceable player this afternoon. It'll be interesting to see how he comes out physically in the scrimmages since he's not an overwhelming force. A strong-armed Alex Biega held his ground against Allard in a 1-1 drill, then dumped his fellow Quebecois on the ensuing rebound. Biega is another player who keeps demonstrating qualities of a solid two-way defenseman. He had a real solid battle with Gerbe at one point, rekindling the Beanpot rivalry. He later took a wrister off the helmet from drill partner Weber, but was OK. Andrew Orpik knows what his role is on the ice. He likes to bull his body to the net, and drifts towards the corner and lower wall to make plays on the puck. It's a good mentality for a converted defenseman to have, and resulted in a goal during the 3-2's while on a line with Felix Schutz and Mark Van Guilder. I think he's a strong candidate to be signed next year. Eidsness was sharp this afternoon. Technically sound, he is rarely out of position while mature with his rebounds. In early warm-ups, he stopped most everything in the 1-0 and 2-0 skates. (The 1-0's are generally designed to get the goalie some rubber - i.e. shoot from beyond the hash - and the 2-0's get the goalie going laterally.) Nick Eno made some really nice saves in tight during 4-4 and 4-3 action. His legs are long and quick. His puckhandling skills could still use some work. After a centering pass exceeded the reach of a streaking forecheck, an Eno misplay towards a defenseman behind his own net resulted in him just getting back to stop an open Tyler Ennis. Ennis showed some craftiness today, using his quickness to fire high from all angles in an effort to keep the goalie honest. He likes to hold on to the puck, looking to shoot more than pass (from what I was able to take in today). Mike Card displayed more steady tendencies today. The plan is to not scrutinize his game until fall. Marc-Andre Gragnani is a puck handler with vision. He is likely needed on the blueline in Portland this season given the numbers, but with all things equal, his skill set suggests that he'd be best used at LW. For now, we'll pencil him closer to a Mark Streit than a Christoph Schubert. Felix Schutz is deceptive offensively, showing some polish with a couple quick snappers. We like his game, and are hoping for a solid two-way commitment in the AHL. Luke Adam again showed his effectiveness around the net in limited viewing. Every time I watch him, he does something positive. After stepping in front of Mike Card pass, he went down the ice late in the 4-3's to beat Enroth. We saw enough of him last season to know what we now have in house. Same with Paul Byron. He has great speed entering the zone, and falls into open spots to get into scoring position when he doesn't have the puck. Jordon Southorn was effective in drill work with Myers. He looks like a steady guy who has the skill to wheel it a bit when given space. I'm curious about his reaction to pressure in the defensive zone. Drew MacKenzie has the makings of a smart defender, but I spent more time watching others. I did see him get beat once by Byron. He's listed at 6'2, 200 pounds, yet the 6'1, 190-pound Butler appears much larger from the angles I've been viewing from. Jacob Lagace has yet to reveal much. He's battling his way offensively in drill work. He had trouble keeping up with Gerbe in 2-2's, but you see his overall talent level at work. Derek Whitmore continues to look like a serviceable AHL contributor. I haven't paid a ton of attention to him. He's 23, and there's a lot to cut through. Mike Kostka is showing solid basic skills. He's yet to get worked over, but I'm not putting any value in a development camp for the rookie free agent. We need to see him against the big forwards in training camp. Invitee Jacob Cepis continues to show effective speed on the outside. He's not out of place among the other smaller forwards. Nick Crawford skates well enough, and seems to handle the puck well. He doesn't look out of place. Invitee Brady Irwin continues to stand out among the invitees. A very swift skater down the wing, he used speed to beat Jhonas Enroth with a low wrister, and later deked him on a breakway. I didn't pay much attention to Enroth today, but he was giving up a few goals late in the session. He looked a little tired, but I spent the bulk of the time on the other side. For the second day in a row, I didn't look too deep at local invitee Vincent Scarsella. He seems to have solid hands and a creative side, but the eyes and pen have been busy elsewhere. By the way, I don't recall seeing Drew Stafford today. Mike Funk and Matt Generous were on the handout yesterday, but I've yet to see either on the ice. Rej Sekera was on the 2nd rink today, and is all set for top-6 action with Buffalo. I'm pretty much done worrying about him in this space. Same with Pat Kaleta. We'll report on who he tries to line up in the scrimmages, but that's about it. If I think of more, I'll add it to the comments. Overall, it's a really strong crop of prospects this summer. The revised Top 20 is sure to be a dandy.

Some more from the small pad

(Pardon the bullet/note format, as these are being sent in via a mobile device) Gogulla is so patient with the biscuit. He buys time and uses the boards well - eventually finding open space for a teammate to swoop in and carry on. In 4-4's, Gerbe just came breaking down the right side and did his spin-o-rama backhand from the hash - only to be stopped by Dennis. Schutz just made a fabulous thread the needle pass to a breaking Orpik on the way back. Eidsness stuffed the down low attempt. Orpik has made a few safe plays with the puck in the 4-4's. He looks to have improved his footwork since last summer. Eidsness is very strong in the shootout drills. Weber tried to do the Gerbe spin, but was stopped by Eidsness. Schiestel has impressive hands, quickly going high backhand in the shootout. His skating shined in the 3-3 portion. Kennedy is working hard. He's got some rough edges to his style and has had some issues getting in tight against big defenders today.

First drill observations

Byron blows a tire on his first turn. Very deft with the puck otherwise. Enroth looks sharp in his movement. Swift side to side, covers space well in this 3-0 warmup drill. Stopped most of the pucks sent his way. Quick low shots were the ones that beat him. Eno is getting lit up early in drill #2. Improved greatly near the end. Nice glove. Not as agile as Jhonas. Tropp, Adam, Ennis, Byron have goal scorer written all over them. Again, these were merely undefended shooting drills. 1-1 and 2-1 drills Adam very good east-west mover entering the zone. Ennis has ridiculous wheels and makes good, quick decisions. He's a lot to handle. Byron beat Persson cleanly wide. Persson has trouble pivoting backwards. He fared better against Cepis. Myers is the real deal in terms of skating and skill. In a D posture, Gragnani crashed into the boards. Put him back at LW already. Irwin is a very impressive skater. Looks like a player. I'd like to see him in a game setting.

Away we go...

3:08 Dennis Persson is the first to the gate. For his prize, he gets to watch the 'boni roll around six times... 3:16 The rest of the team has joined Persson in the bench area. The sheet is clean, yet the arena waits. Maybe they're waiting for Michael Buffer to do the formal intros. 3:22 Cunney says let's go...

Waiting for Ruffmen

2:50 After some calistenics behind the near-side goal, it looks like the troops should be hitting the ice in the next fifteen minutes or so... 2:54 The place is filling up quickly with parents and their kids...I wonder if people will be yelling "SHOOT!!!" like they do from the 300's during the regular season... 2:55 We have a George Babcock sighting...Nathan Gerbe and Chris Butler are hanging out in gym clothes on the bench. Maybe they won immunity or something, but it doesn't appear they're in a rush to get their gear on. Per the handout: Team Blue Gerbe-Zagrapan-Gogulla Kennedy-Hunter-Allard Van Guilder-Schutz-Orpik Vatri-Scarsella-Lagace Sekera-Myers MacKenzie-Card Southorn-Persson Gragnani-Generous Dennis Eidsness Team Gold Tropp-Byron-Stafford Ennis-Cepis-Whitmore Adam-Irwin-Kaleta Brennan-Crawford Butler-Weber Schiestel-Kostka Funk-Biega Enroth Eno

Heading up to Dwyer

SabresProspects will be cruising up to Niagara shortly for the day's practice session. We'll try to squeeze in some live entries, barring full cooperation from our trusty Q9C.

Five invitees added to Development Camp roster

As practice sessions are set to get underway at the Sabres Development Camp, the team has added five names to the roster as camp invitees: Josh Vatri, RW (Kingston/OHL) Jacob Cepis, C (Bowling Green) Brady Irwin, C (Vermont) Mark Van Guilder, LW (Notre Dame) The list is rounded out by local talent, RW Vincent Scarsella of Canisius (Lackawanna). Mike Card has been added to the list after being omitted from the initial roster release, while unsigned Benjamin Breault is not in camp and is officially done with Buffalo.