St. Thomas, Ontario (WGR 550) - The Buffalo Sabres showed up at the Joe Thornton Community Center on Wednesday to a bunch of excited kids getting ready for the evening's Kraft Hockeyville game in St. Thomas, Ontario.
The players got the chance to really interacted with the fans, and Dylan Cozens enjoyed all the smiles.
"I signed a few Leafs jerseys, which I wasn’t too pleased about, but I couldn’t say no to the kids," said Cozens jokingly on Wednesday. "But putting myself in their position, no matter what team you cheer for, anytime you get to see an NHL player, it’s pretty cool.
"Growing up in a small town, anytime there’s any NHL player up there, it’s a huge thing. There was a charity game that I remember and everyone wanted to go to that. It was a cool experience for us getting to meet some NHL players. Craig Anderson was one I got to meet when I was 10 or 11-years-old, so we know how much it means to these kids. I’m really happy to be here and excited."
Sabres head coach Don Granato has played in, and coached many games like this. He says it’s always a fun time.
"It is a great atmosphere, and our players can all identify with those kids in the stands and the facility itself," said Granato ahead of Wednesday's game. "It’s a beautiful venue, and it brings back lots of memories with youth hockey and when you really played for the love of the game."
Jacob Bryson is from London, Ontario, which is about 30 minutes from St. Thomas. He practiced a lot at the Joe Thornton Community Center, and says he’s excited to be back.
"I think it’s the first time, or the closest I’ve been to home in my career," said Bryson ahead of Wednesday's contest. "I’m about 20 or 30 minutes from here, so it’s exciting because there’ll be a lot of kids out there."
Being here with all the kids around made Bryson reflect.
"I was a big London Knights fan growing up, and I always went to their morning skates and asked for sticks," Bryson said. "I was in the same position. It’s always cool to give back to them, because you know how excited they are to be here."
In this day and age, many of the autograph seekers are adults trying to make money. The fact this was all kids made it special from the Sabres defenseman.
"You can tell they were happy, and this doesn’t occur often," Bryson said. "They’re so excited, and so are we. So it is awesome to see them smile, and even the parents were smiling."
Getting to this season, there are eight NHL defensemen in training camp competing for six spots on opening night.
"It’s tough. We’ve got eight really good 'D' here, and there’s a lot of young guys that are really good too," Bryson said. "It’s nice being able to play with everyone, get a chance and seeing all these guys that are first years here. This is my fifth year, so I feel like a veteran almost, but competition is always good. It raises the compete a little, and that’s what 'Donny' and Kevyn [Adams] want in our camp."
Here are the lines from the morning skate:
Forwards:
Lukas Rousek – Dylan Cozens – Victor Olofsson
Linus Weissbach – Tyson Jost – Michael Mersch
Brett Murray – Peyton Krebs – Brendan Warren
Aleksandr Kisakov – Justin Richards – Graham Slaggert
Defense:
Owen Power – Henri Jokiharju
Ryan Johnson – Jacob Bryson
Mats Lindgren – Norwin Panocha
Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen will start in goal and play two periods for the Sabres. Former Knights goalie Michael Houser will play the third period for Buffalo.
