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.

Over on the small pad

Simulated 3-2 settings here on the small pad. Excuse me, small seating area... Brennan is strong on his feet down low. Likes to rub the body. Gogulla sees the ice very well. He sent a pass to Gerbe in the high-slot. Gerbe buried it high glove past Eidsness. Weber is a man out here. He forced Kennedy all the way out of his end in a 3-2 drill. Butler isn't too far behind Weber. In fact, he is probably this year's Weber in that the Sabres are going to have a hard time keeping him down. Allard and Zagrapan just went roof on Eidsness. Eidsness moves really well and made some nice stops on Zagrapan and Gerbe. He should do good things with the Sioux. Gerbe is relentless when the puck is near. He has one of the thickest backhands I've ever seen - a good tool for a shifty player. Butler moves well in transition, and rocks a low, hard shot. Kostka looks very fluid. He and Schiestel skate very well, so now we need to see how they do physically in game speed. Boy, Allard has good mustard on his wrister. Biega is looking more nimble than last year. Not bad for a guy built like a mini-tank. Schutz is very crisp with his passes. I'd like to see more finish. Going 4-4 now. More soon.

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...