One To Watch: Buffalo Sabres

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The bad news for the Buffalo Sabres is that they have a single win in the first ten games of the year and look far from a playoff caliber team. The good news is that this may be a temporary thing as the club has the means to kick off a serious rebuild and quality youth is already on the way. 

Already this year the Sabres have dressed 6 rookies including defenceman Nikita Zadorov who has played just once. Rounding out that group are Zemgus Girgensons, Mikhail Grigorenko, Johan Larsson, Rasmus Ristolainen and the guy who was featured in this write up a year ago. 

2012 Choice: Mark Pysyk - They don't get much more humble or likeable than defenceman Mark Pysyk who I've had the good fortune to get to know over the last 6 years in Edmonton. He made his professional debut last year and played 19 games with the Sabres last year at the end of the shortened season. Pysyk joined me in studio for an hour this past summer and told me that he didn't necessarily expect to make the team out of camp this year but a month in and he's played on the top pairing with veteran Christian Ehrhoff.

My selection as One To Watch for Buffalo this year comes after the jump.

Rookie Watch: Buffalo Sabres

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Each day until September 15th TPS will take a look at one team from the Eastern conference and one club from the West, spotlighting a rookie or two to watch for this season. This afternoon we explore the freshmen candidates of the Buffalo Sabres.

Kootenay on the Verge

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There are two ways to look at the situation that the Kootenay Ice currently find themselves in. The first, call it the half-glass-full version, has the WHL Champions with the possibility of being just the second team ever to come back and win the Memorial Cup after losing their first two games. The second, and probably more realistic, is that the Ice are perilously close to going 0-3 at the Canadian Hockey League's showcase event.

WHL Playoff Notes:Rebels grab 2-0 lead

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Ryan Nugent-Hopkins wasn't the main story on Saturday night, but he did get the party started for fans at the Enmax Centrium. RNH and Andrej Kudrna picked up Saturday where Friday ended with Nugent-Hopkins 3rd straight goal going back to game 1. After that the Oil Kings did a pretty good job of shutting down and targeting physically the budding star for most of the night. It was Brett Ferguson and Adam Kabeitz who did the damage instead. Both had 3 points as the Rebels grabbed a 2-0 lead in the series. The shots were even at 28, but that was about it, as Edmonton's power play is sputtering. It's 0-9 in the two games and only has clicked once all season vs. Red Deer. The Series shifts to Edmonton for game 3 Monday night (TEAM 1260, SHAW TV)