Buffalo Sabers | Everything in its time

(Buffalo) Seth Appert is not the best known name in our area, but a single meeting with this professional coach is enough to be marked. Hair worthy of Kerry Fraser, the charisma of a TV host… He’s the type of guy who fills a room with his mere presence.

Guillaume Lefrancois
The Press

Appert is the head coach of the Rochester Americans, a Buffalo Sabres academy. Here he is in the press room of the Sabers training center on Wednesday, after an on-ice session of the team’s prospects. One of the first questions is about Matt Savoie, drafted in 9^e row at the Bell Center in July. A few minutes earlier, Savoie skated for the first time with the Sabers.

Appert responds tit for tat. “He’s electric. “ He then launches into a series of praise, praising his tempo “with or without the puck”, “his level of competitiveness, his intelligence”. Don’t throw any more, the yard is full.

Savoie is the focal point on the eve of the match between the rookies of the Canadian and those of the Sabres. A bit by default, because Owen Power, Jack Quinn and JJ Peterka, considered by many to be the team’s best prospects, do not participate in the rookie tournament.

But Savoie is not demerit either. Author of 90 points in 65 games in the Western Junior League last year, this attacker has great potential, like any player drafted in the top 10. And despite his still frail physique (5 ft 9 in, 170 lbs), he aims high.

“My biggest goal is to play games in the NHL this season,” said the young man.

But even if he wins the rookie tournament, even if he turns heads, will we give him the chance to hold on to a position?

A turning point

If the question is asked, it’s because the new Sabers administration seems determined to avoid the mistakes of a team excluded from the playoffs since 2011.

The current general manager, Kevyn Adams, was hired in the summer of 2020. Two months later, he named Appert head coach in Rochester. After an unusual 2020-21 campaign due to the pandemic, the new regime’s first ‘real’ season yielded an interesting experience.

Indeed, the aforementioned Quinn and Peterka were the Americans’ leading scorers, even though they were only 19 and 20 at the start of the season. However, rather than giving them a chance in Buffalo, we let them dominate in Rochester. And Power, he stayed one more year in college, even though he was the very first pick in the 2021 draft.

It’s a paradigm shift for a team that in previous years offered NHL spots to Jack Eichel, Rasmus Dahlin, Rasmus Ristolainen and Mikhail Grigorenko the season after they were drafted.

Appert gives the example of Peterka, precisely, who collected the points at a good pace, but who had only four goals at Christmas. He scored 24 after the holidays.

“He worked hard,” recalled Appert. Sometimes, by allowing players to face adversity in the American League, they come out stronger, and they don’t experience this adversity in the National League, where it is more difficult because there is more pressure. »

United States Hockey

In addition to the patience with the youngsters, the hiring of Appert in Rochester, and Don Granato in Buffalo, is intriguing.

We have indeed opted for coaches who have gone through the National Development Program of the United States, which supervises the best American hopes. Appert directed Matty Beniers, Jake Sanderson and Thomas Bordeleau; Granato has seen Auston Matthews, Matthew Tkachuk and Charlie McAvoy parade. Development, they did.

From Montreal, it will be interesting to observe the evolution of the Sabers, who obviously began their reconstruction earlier than the Canadiens. At the golf tournament on Monday, Kent Hughes was asked about his plans for Juraj Slafkovsky, who will play against other prospects starting Thursday. “Laval or Montreal? will be the camp’s $1,000 question.

The young defenders of the Canadiens will also be scrutinized. Hughes did not rule out that they make a few round trips between Montreal and Laval.

Canadian and Sabers have in common to have drafted prospects by the ton for two years, 20 and 22 players, respectively. The team that best manages this influx of talent will stand the best chance of emerging from the slump.