WGR

‘According to the report, Olofsson says that he has left the Swedish Hockey League club Färjestad BK and will join the Sabres organization. The 28-year-old reportedly told the Värmlands Folkblad that he signed a contract last week, and while he couldn’t say which club he signed with, it’s a foreign club and the news should become official pretty soon.’

‘”I think that if we go to 24 [teams], you’re going to see the [New York] Rangers in some way,” he said in his weekly appearance on WGR. “The Rangers would be ahead of Buffalo, so I think one of the things I think they’re considering is if we go by division, like of the top-12 [in the Eastern Conference], seven are in the [Metropolitan] and five are in the Atlantic. The Rangers would be the seventh team in the Metro and go to the Atlantic. They’re talking about the same thing out West with seven in the Central and five in the Pacific, and one of the [Central] teams might move into the Pacific.”‘

‘Teams like the Rangers and Blackhawks, who have higher point percentages than the Sabres, have a legitimate gripe that they would not be included in this format. For the Sabres sake, it would mean the continuation of their season.’

‘The group is meant to be a collection of leaders of the diverse industries and businesses that have been economically impacted by the state’s shutdown due to the COVID-19 pandemic.’

‘Prior to being drafted by the Sabres, Portillo led Sweden’s SuperElit junior league in both goals-against average (1.99) and save percentage (.931) in the 2018-19 season.’

‘The first round pick (seventh overall) of the Sabres in the 2019 NHL Draft finished his 2019-20 campaign with the Lethbridge Hurricanes as the seventh-leading scorer in the WHL with 85 points (38+47) in just 51 games. Cozens was on pace for 41 goals and 52 assists for 93 points in 56 games this season before the 2019-20 campaign was canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic. He finished the season tied for fifth in the WHL in goals, while also tying for the league-lead in shorthanded goals with four.’

‘Friday will broadcast Game 7 of the series back in Raleigh, where Buffalo ended up falling short of a trip to the Stanley Cup Final in a 4-2 loss. Buffalo took a 2-1 lead heading into the final 20 minutes of play, thanks to goals from Jochen Hecht and Doug Janik, but the Hurricanes stormed back to take the lead and eventually capture their first Stanley Cup title in franchise history.’

‘You’ll have plenty of smiles on your face as you watch some of the key moments from their opening round defeat of the Philadelphia Flyers. Of course, there’s the big Brian Campbell hit on R.J. Umberger and the Briere double overtime goal in Game 1. It was interesting to hear Briere say the players were worried about that matchup going into the series. Briere said they knew they could beat the New York Rangers and New Jersey Devils, who were other possible first round opponents, but they didn’t think they had much of a chance against the Flyers.’

‘On Friday, the Sabres will broadcast a “Beyond Blue and Gold” compilation on MSG, which will feature an hour-long showing the “Scary Good,” “Return to Ground Zero” and “Wipper Snapper: Through the Lens of Bill Wippert” episodes.’

‘“In Vancouver, I think we’re behind Toronto or Buffalo in the whole city lockdown, but for the most part, people are staying home and people are wanting to get through this.”’