Buffalo N.Y. (WGR 550) - Not much has been going on with the Buffalo Sabres in the past week due to the holiday break and a blizzard that grinded the city to a halt. With the blizzard complicating matters, two of Buffalo's games were forced to be postponed to later dates this season.
While the City of Buffalo remains in a travel ban, there is still a chance the Sabres can play their scheduled game on Thursday against the Detroit Red Wings at KeyBank Center.
During his weekly appearance on the "Howard and Jeremy Show" on Wednesday, Sabres head coach Don Granato says he hopes his team will be able to practice on Wednesday. With the travel ban affecting the team's ability to get around the city, some of his team has not been able to get to the rink the skate.
Granato also says general manager Kevyn Adams has been in contact with the league on what will happen with their game Thursday against the Red Wings.
While the team has been unable to get together as a group to skate and practice as usual since the Christmas break, he knows that the time off allotted to his group can be used to their advantage.
“I don’t have much of a concern for that, because there is always a healthy balance when you’re in an 82-game schedule," said Granato with Howard Simon and Joe DiBiase on WGR. "Rest is a weapon, as the old saying is.”
Granato compares this time off from being unable to practice to when the Sabres and the rest of the NHL was dealing with COVID-19, where you just have to wait and see what happens. And while the team waits to see what happens, Granato knows it's a great time for players to get healthy from any ailments.
The Sabres are pushing for a Wild Card spot in the Eastern Conference, and Granato want to use the pressure and expectations as a tool for growth and development over the rest of the season.
“I’ve said it before, everybody likes to win, and we certainly do," Granato said. "With that comes greater pressure and demand, and that’s going to be part of our growth.”
Granato wants to make sure that his players stay in the moment and not focus on the standings, even though the Sabres are not far away from a Wild Card spot.
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Also currently taking place at this time is the IIHF World Junior Championship in Halifax, Nova Scotia and Moncton, New Brunswick. The Sabres have a trio of the team's top prospects playing at this year's tournament, including 2021 first-round pick Isak Rosen (Sweden) and 2022 first-round picks Noah Ostlund (Sweden) and Jiri Kulich (Czechia).
Granato says has been excited to see all three prospects playing well in the tournament, especially with Kulich scoring a hat-trick in Czechia's win on Tuesday night over Austria.
“We feel we have a lot of guys," he said. "I feel our scout team has done a great job in identifying players that have immense appetite, combined with skill. We’re really happy with that.”
Hear more of Granato’s appearance during the “Howard and Jeremy Show” available in the player below:
