Time for development camp
Should be an interesting week for the Sabres starting Monday at Niagara University, as the team convenes its annual development camp. The public sessions run from 3-6 p.m. Tuesday through Thursday and from 11 a.m.-2 p.m. on Friday.
You'll see five players who appeared in the NHL last year (Chris Butler, Mike Weber, Marc-Andre Gragnani, Nathan Gerbe and Tim Kennedy). You'll see 6-foot-8 Tyler Myers, the top draft pick last season. Zack Kassian, the top choice this year. Marcus Foligno, son of Mike. And virtually every top prospect and recent draft choice in the organization.
It should be a particularly important camp for Myers, Weber, Kennedy and Gerbe, all of whom rate a good chance of seeing regular roles on the big club this year.
There were several hundred fans at every session last year and I'm sure it will be more of the same this time so here's a little quiz for you: Pick the three players from the list below you're most interested in following at camp this year.
Feel free to add your pros and cons on any of the youngsters in the comments section. Especially if there's someone we haven't listed.
---Mike Harrington
(www.twitter.com/bnharrington)
this team needs to find a back-up goalie who will push Miller into being a better goalie until Enroth's ready-- too bad we can't get Marty Biron back-- Miller had to play well back then because he knew Marty could possibly steal the #1 goalie spot away from him.
Posted by: jan | July 08, 2009 at 03:49 PM
Ennis is going to be good no problems there. He has the skill and attitude. However he won't be ready for 2-3 seasons. What about now?
Posted by: GmR | July 07, 2009 at 09:24 PM
I'm most interested in seeing how well Enroth does. I think that the better he looks and the more he improves, the quicker he'll be up with the Sabres as a backup. Also, hopefully he turns out to be a great backup to Miller.
Posted by: Guido | July 07, 2009 at 10:10 AM
Lloyd's nickname in high school was Lil' Smokey. Like the coctail sausages.
Posted by: Rip | July 07, 2009 at 09:26 AM
"Regier cannot get a top 6 forward or top 4 dan to sign for the league minimum."
How should this be a problem? All he has to do is call the Jolly Green Giant, Tom Golisano, and that could be taken care of, lickety split.
Oh, wait... Golisano and company can't be bothered to do the RIGHT thing; they haven't done ANYTHING right since the 2006 playoff run. My bad.
Posted by: Lloyd Marshall, Jr. | July 07, 2009 at 08:47 AM
Regier cannot get a top 6 forward or top 4 dan to sign for the league minimum.
Posted by: World be Free | July 07, 2009 at 07:51 AM
Weber is hurt.
Posted by: Chris | July 06, 2009 at 09:26 PM
I think it's probably time Weber was bumped up.
Posted by: Dave | July 06, 2009 at 04:35 PM
let's hope these guys listen to and are willing to put in the hard work needed to get to the NHL.(Butler would be a good role model) Too bad they couldn't make some of the other Sabres show up and get that reminder as well.
Posted by: jan | July 06, 2009 at 03:19 PM
whoppee! does that mean regier will be there and not on the phone trying to make the team better!..
Posted by: dwight in philly | July 06, 2009 at 11:49 AM
How about Phillipe Gogulla? He's supposed to be making the jump to North America this year. He had a couple of good years playing in Germany in their top league. He's also a forward with a big a frame that could help on the PP. How will he be brought along by the organIzation this year?
Posted by: Justin | July 06, 2009 at 10:55 AM
Frisky112: You could pick up to three players, not just one. That's why the percentages add up over 100. Each player's figure is a percent of the total number of votes.
Posted by: Mike Harrington | July 06, 2009 at 07:10 AM
Myers and Kassian-size!
Posted by: World Be Free | July 06, 2009 at 05:59 AM
You missed Luke Adam. I'm curious to see how he plays after he ruptured his spleen. Pretty freak accident that derailed a strong season with the Fog Devils.
http://www.hockeydb.com/ihdb/stats/pdisplay.php?pid=96396
Posted by: Ryan | July 06, 2009 at 03:25 AM
I'm a little confused by this poll. Why do the percentages add up to way past 100%?
Posted by: frisky1112 | July 06, 2009 at 12:00 AM
Maybe this isn't as big a deal for the development camp as it will be for training camp in September, but I want to see if Myers, Gragani and Weber are ready to make the jump.
If so, there is no reason to sign another defensemen. We could actually try to trade Tallinder/Lydman (hey, there are teams just looking for warm bodies with playoff experience sometimes) for another scorer up front.
Posted by: Brian | July 05, 2009 at 10:18 PM
What about Tyler Ennis? I'm pretty excited to see his offensive potential put to good use. Even if he is another Nathan Gerbe/Derek Roy type player, there has been a bit of hype about his potential.
Posted by: DaveJ | July 05, 2009 at 09:18 PM