Published by hockeybuzz.com, 9-25-2018
Quick. Raise your hand if you know where Clinton, NY is?
Good for you if you knew and good for the roughly 1,900 residents of the Oneida County village just outside of Utica, NY who will be hosting the 2018 Kraft Hockeyville preseason game featuring the Columbus Blue Jackets versus the Buffalo Sabres. Not only is Clinton hosting the event but they've also secured $150,000 for upgrades to their arena.
For posterity sake, Clinton beat out Brandon, SD, third place Shreveport, LA and fourth place finisher Middlebury, VT for the win.
Buffalo is just under 200 miles from Clinton, as the crow flies east on I-90. The Sabres are the home team today and according to reports from the 2,000 seat arena, fans started were chanting 'Let's Go Buffalo!' as they took the ice for the morning skate. Clinton rolled out the red carpet for the event with players signing autographs on the way in.
Also from the rink, Paul Hamilton tweeted out these lines for the Sabres:
Jeff Skinner-Jack Eichel-Sam Reinhart
Alexander Nylander-Patrik Berglund-Kyle Okposo
C.J. Smith-Casey Mittelstadt-Andrew Oglevie
Justin Bailey-Evan Rodrigues-Danny O'Regan
Some quick notes:
--Reinhart picks up where he left off after the Toronto game on Saturday. The 22 yr. old signed a contract extension last Wednesday and started out on Buffalo's second line before replacing Tage Thompson on Eichel's line vs. the Leafs. It wouldn't be surprising to see this trio start the season opener on October 4.
--Nylander is having an excellent training camp and gets a premier spot on the second line with veterans Berglund at center and Okposo on the other wing. With LW, Conor Sheary out, Nylander has a prime opportunity to not only land on the opening night roster, but also skate in a top-six role. So far Nylander looks as if he's taken that opportunity to heart.
--Props to Okposo who has looked much better so far this camp. We had vague ideas as to how serious his bout with concussion treatment went but Tim Graham of The Athletic took us into the deep, dark recesses of just how bad it was for Okposo. He looks as if he's back to where he was prior to the problems he suffered through in the Spring of 2017.
--The third line is interesting in that Mittelstadt has been meh so far this camp while Smith and Oglevie have been excellent. It's a line featuring three college players--Mittelstadt who was selected eighth overall (2017) before attending the University of Minnesota and college free agent signees Smith (UMASS-Lowell, 2017) and Oglevie (Notre Dame, 2018.) This might be the line to watch tonight.
--Rodrigues has been on the wing all camp and has floundered. Last season he played much better at center than he did on the wing yet head coach Phil Housley put him on the wing in camp. We'll see if the change back to center can get Rodrigues going.
--O'Regan will probably be dropped off in Rochester on the way back to Buffalo as the waivers-exempt forward will continue his development with the Amerks. As for Bailey, he's been pretty good but has yet to do anything to set him apart from the rest of the Sabres bottom-six forwards. Unlike O'Regan, Bailey is not waivers-exempt and if his so-so camp continues, Buffalo will have a tough decision to make when they pare their roster to 23.
Clintonians are in for a treat as not only will they see the likes of Eichel, Skinner and Reinhart up front, but they'll also get a close up view of defenseman Rasmus Dahlin who, according to Sabres.com, will be on the top-pairing with Casey Nelson. The other d-pairings are Jake McCabe/Zach Bogosian, a duo that played very well together when both were healthy, and Brendan Guhle/Will Borgen.
The Guhle/Borgen pair is interesting. Guhle has been struggling all camp while Borgen and his stay-at-home style seems to provide a solid anchor for anyone who's paired with him. Borgen's almost assured of starting out in Rochester while Guhle was considered a possibility for the big club before camp. As of now, both could end up with the Amerks.
The goaltenders are Jonas Johansson and Scott Wedgewood.
Game time is 7 pm on NBCSN.
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