Some players to keep an eye on and some games to watch tonight

Reprinted with permission from hockeybuzz.com


Yes, the saga continues tonight in Vancouver as the Canucks host the Arizona Coyotes at 10:00pm EST.

From a 'Yote's/Buffalo Sabres perspective, we all know what's at stake. A win by Arizona and it's over. A regulation loss and Howard Simon starts losing hair on his face and ears, security on the Peace Bridge goes orange and fans start gathering fuel for their Ted Nolan effigy.

Just a thought before we move on, were Nolan to get fired at anytime before the end of the season, methinks the team would rally. Whether the rally would be successful or not is another story, but as Bill Hoppe of the Olean Times' Buffalo Hockeybeat pointed out today, he's well thought of by the players as he's managed to keep things upbeat, according to Hoppe, despite the team losing 57 games (including overtime/shootout losses) to date. "Players clearly enjoy playing under Nolan," wrote Hoppe. "They mention the way he communicates, his motivational skills and the freedom he gives them."


Think about it, through everything that the team has gone through this season, Nolan's been up at the podium defending his players and their livelihoods. Said Sabres forward Tyler Ennis who's having a strong season, “He’s well-liked. I think the guys play for him, they play hard for him. He’s been incredible for me. It’s difficult circumstances this year, a lot of changes were made. So we’ll see what happens.”

So if Simon's scenario came true whereas GM Tim Murray told the coach who to play, the coach scoffed and then was fired, it's very possible that it would backfire.

Then again, sometimes we all just have too much time on our hands.


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Some players to keep an eye on as we head to the end of the road:

--Jack Eichel, Boston Univeristy. His Terriers take on the North Dakota in a battle of heavyweights. The programs have a combined 43 Frozen Four appearances and boast rosters featuring 21 NHL draft picks (ND, 14; BU, 7) with more on the way lead by consensus 2nd overall pick, Eichel.

--Matt O'Connor. The BU goalie and Eichel teammate may have been the most sought after free agent from the college ranks. Should the Terriers win, his last game will coincide with the end of the NHL regular season. Should BU lose, there will probably be a team in the NHL that will sign him and allow him to burn a year off of his two-year entry level contract by suiting him up for one game. The Sabres could very well be that team. Also, it's my guess that if the Sabres do finish last, they certainly would be a front-runner for his services as he'd be assured of playing on a team that would feature either Connor McDavid or Eichel.

--Providence Friars defensemen Anthony Florentino and Mark Adams. Prior to the 8:30pm matchup between BU and ND comes the 5:00pm tilt between the other two Frozen Four participants, Providence and Nebraska-Omaha. The Friars have two Sabres prospects on the team in d-men Florentino and Adams. Florentino, a freshman, came in at #19 on the Sabres prospect rankings from Kris Baker of sabresprospects.com and was profiled here back in September.

--Sam Reinhart. As of right now the former 2014 2nd-overall pick is said to be headed to Rochester to finish out the season and his status for tonight is unknown. What is known, though, is that the Amerks could use an injection of NHL-level skill. Their roster has been purged of talent leaving them to work with a plethora of young players, borderline NHL'ers and borderline AHL'ers on amateur tryout contracts.

--Matt Garbowsky. The RIT standout hit the AHL on an ATO once the Tigers were eliminated in the NCAA hockey tournament, Garbowsky took his RIT scoring record  (54 points--26 goals, 28 assists) to the pros and stayed home in Rochester. It's been a difficult transition for the 24 yr. old as he's been thrown into the fire. Head coach Chadd Cassidy would have preferred to ease him in, but under the circumstances there's not much that could be done.

--F, Eric Cornel and D, Brycen Martin. Joining Garbowsky in "The Calvary" are two 2014 draft picks, Cornel and Martin as they will be making their pro debuts. The 6'2" 190 Cornel finished his season the season with 14 goals and 32 assists for Peterborough while Martin finished with seven goals and 38 points in splitting time with Swift Current and Saskatoon.


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Finally, in addition to players, some pre-Arizona/Vancouver scoreboard watching may also help keep one's anxiety's in check.

In a long-shot scenario (very long,) the NY Islanders still have not clinched a playoff berth. NY sits third in the division a mere two points ahead of division foe, Pittsburgh, who is also idle. The Penguins are not only chasing the Islanders, but as the top wild card seed right now, they're trying to fend off the Boston Bruins and Ottawa Senators who are both only a point behind.

The Bruins and Sens both play tonight and things could really get interesting if they both win.

Buffalo owns the Islanders first round pick this year and would get an extra combo in the lottery should NY somehow miss the playoffs. They also have the Islanders second-rounder this season.

In another twist as well, the Edmonton Oilers own the Pittsburgh Penguins first rounder this year and should the Pens miss out, the Oil will have that extra combo in the lottery.