PITTSBURGH -- On a hot and steamy day in the Steel City, center prospect Radek Faksa has the early candidate for quote of the weekend.
Faksa, while cruising down the river on a prospects boat cruise/media session today, got a huge grin while thinking back to his recent meetings with the Sabres.
"I remember this one girl from Buffalo," Faksa said. "She was very nice."
Other Buffalo recollections from players who will hear their names during the first round of the NHL draft Friday:
*Olli Maatta: "We took a look at the locker room, and it’s pretty nice. I’ve been there once before during the world juniors, and it’s a nice town. ... It’d be a nice city to play hockey in, of course. Another Finnish guy, [Joel] Armia [2011 first-round pick], is there, too."
*Morgan Rielly: "The people there were extremely courteous, and it’s a beautiful rink by the way. That change room and that training area is pretty special. ... Certainly, the training area there was world class. You can’t ask for too much more than you have there in Buffalo."
*Cody Ceci (who stopped at Darien Lake Theme Park on the way to Pittsburgh): "I went there [to Buffalo] right after the combine for a little bit of extra testing, and that all went well. It was a good experience. I went to Duff’s for wings, had some of those. Those were really good. [The Sabres] seemed interested, but you never know. It’s all up in the air. It’s really a mystery where I’m going right now."
Among the reports rolling out of town:
*ESPN's Pierre LeBrun says Buffalo native and Chicago forward Patrick Kane is not available on the trade market.
*TSN.ca's Bob McKenzie says Pittsburgh center Jordan Staal has rejected a 10-year contract offer from the team, which will ignite trade rumors.
For all the latest, please follow along at Twitter.com/BuffNewsVogl.
---John Vogl
