There were 15 players on the ice Thursday in the Northtown Center and there's no question the intensity is growing with the start of training camp three days away. Many of the players were on the ice for nearly 90 minutes in the workouts run by former Sabres Andrew Peters and Jay McKee (coaches can't be around until the new CBA is signed).
The most notable newcomer to Thursday's group was defenseman Tyler Myers, who appeared to have no troubles with his left ankle after suffering a strain while playing in Austria. Myers missed nearly a month and returned to the lineup for AC Klagenfurt to play one game on Friday night
"It's fine. I came back for the one game and it felt fine," Myers said. "I made sure it was ready to go before I came back. I'm feeling 100 percent. ... [The injury] got me a little nervous at the start. Once we figured out what it was, I knew it would be pretty quick. I didn't want to push it to try to come back too early in case the season came back."
Myers played against teammate Thomas Vanek while overseas and got a glimpse of how Vanek is considered the Michael Jordan of Austria.
"It was fun. It was strange. When I first got over there, I didn't realize how big 'Vanek Nation was. To get a taste of that, it's pretty unbelieveable how much influence he has in Austraia and how much those people look up to him."
Other first-timers joining the workouts Thursday were goaltender Jhonas Enroth, defenseman Andrej Sekera and newly acquired backliner Adam Pardy. Also on the ice were forwards Vanek, Matt Ellis, Tyler Ennis, Patrick Kaleta, Ville Leino, Steve Ott, Jason Pominville, John Scott, Drew Stafford and defensemen Jordan Leopold and Mike Weber.
The workouts are scheduled to continue Friday, likely at 10:30 a.m. Peters tweeted on Wednesday night he expects Ryan Miller to be on hand.
Click below for Myers' session with reporters.
Tyler Myers
