Archives for January 2016

‘“He’s definitely a great player. He plays hard every night, plays the right way,” said Boston center and former Selke Trophy winner Patrice Bergeron. “I think you follow guys like that. Eichel is definitely an amazing player and has years ahead of him to become a superstar in this league. Ryan O’Reilly is still young too, and people don’t realize that. Every year he seems to improve.”’

‘Having Eichel around will certainly help the foundation’s bottom line. Matching his first jersey will be a tall order. He scored during his highly anticipated arrival, signaling the start of what fans hope is a long, successful career.’

‘John Rigas is 91 years old, and cancer has spread throughout his body. His friends say he weighs less than 100 pounds and does not have long to live.’

‘”I am a different coach than I was at the end in Buffalo,” Ruff said. “I think there was some frustration in my coaching, and I tried to move forward with the mind-set that what’s ahead of you is more important than what’s behind you.”‘

‘O’Reilly was a one-timer left shooter during Heat 2 of the Gatorade NHL Skills Challenge Relay, receiving passes from Jaromir Jagr. O’Reilly was camped out on the goal line to the right of the net on a sharp angle. He needed to score on two one-timers and was able to do so on his sixth and seventh attempts.’

Amerks squander early lead and lose to Utica (Rochester Democrat and Chronicle)
Matt Donovan hopes regular duty with Amerks helps earn recall to Sabres (Olean Times Herald)
Zalewski scores twice in Comets’ victory over Amerks (Utica Observer Dispatch)
Photo gallery (Utica Observer Dispatch)
Amerks head into All-Star break with 4-2 loss to Comets (Amerks.com)
Annual Wendy’s Skate with The Amerks event slated for Tuesday, Feb 16 outdoors at MLK park (Amerks.com)
Final: Comets 4 vs Amerks 2 (UticaComets.com)

‘O’Reilly said he’s most interested in playing with Atlantic captain Jaromir Jagr, the ageless 43-year-old who has led the Florida Panthers to the top of the division. “He’s a legend and has been so around long and done so much,” O’Reilly said. “It will be exciting to meet him.”‘

‘”We love Southern Ontario Leafs fans,” says Michael Gilbert, VP of public and community relations for the Buffalo Sabres. “When the Leafs are in town, thirty to forty per cent of fans holding tickets are from Southern Ontario,” he adds.’

‘There’s $1 million on the line for the winning team and O’Reilly thinks that will make it competitive, “Absolutely, with a little prize on there too. I don’t think it’ll be physical with guys getting on each other that way, but it’ll still be quick with guys trying to score.”’

‘”It’s going to be kind of exhausting. Most All-Star Games you can relax a bit and take a little bit off, but here, you have to skate or you’re going to be exposed,” O’Reilly said. “It’s automatically going to bring the pace up. For myself, I hope I’m in good enough shape to play decent, I guess.’