The Buffalo Sabres got some much-needed good news on Friday as interim head coach Don Granato and interim assistant coach Matt Ellis have both cleared the NHL's COVID-19 Protocols, the team announced.
The Sabres were forced to play Thursday night's game against the Pittsburgh Penguins without both coaches after they entered the COVID-19 protocols just a couple hours before puck drop at PPG Paints Arena. That forced general manager Kevyn Adams to step in behind the bench and serve as the stand-in head coach. Rochester Americans head coach Seth Appert made the trip to Pittsburgh and joined the team to help coach with Adams and Dan Girardi.
The Sabres ended up losing Thursday's game, 4-0, suffering their 16th-consecutive loss and seventh shutout loss of the 2020-21 season.
Both coaches were not on the ice for Friday's practice at TD Garden in Boston. They will re-join the team after practice, as they get ready to face the Bruins on Saturday afternoon. Running practice on Friday for the Sabres were Appert, Girardi, skating development coach Mike Ansell and video coach Myles Fee.
Despite not having Granato and Ellis back just yet for practice, Sabres defenseman Brandon Montour was very pleased with the news that both coaches cleared COVID-19 protocols.
"We've experienced it a few times now with positive cases. Those newer faces on the bench, newer roles with 'Donnie' [Granato], and we were all hoping for the best news with his sake and his health," Montour said following Friday's practice. "All we were thinking about was the health of them and hopefully their safe, so we're glad everything's kind of on track with that, and we'll see them soon."
Buffalo got more good news on Friday with a pair of players returning to the ice for team practice.
Tage Thompson was back skating again after missing the last two games due to a non-COVID-19 related illness. He skated on a line with Brett Murray, who was recently called up from the Rochester Americans and assigned to the taxi squad.
The third member of that line was Kyle Okposo, who made the trip to Boston after missing the start of the road trip with an upper-body injury. When asked about what happened before the road trip, Okposo was not particularly sure when it happened.
"I believe it happened in practice, and it was kind of something that I've dealt with in the past, kind of some of those similar symptoms that have popped up in the past," Okposo said after Friday's session in Boston. "It was more of my neck, and I got it worked on and was able to get better quickly. We stayed out in front of it, which was good."
Okposo has had well-documented issues in the past with concussions, which has tied in to some other issues with neck injuries that led to some scary symptoms. The 32-year-old admitted that he was alarmed by what he was feeling after practicing with the team on Sunday before the trip.
"It's something that's been part of my life here over the past number of years, and something that [I'll] probably will continue to deal with, but I have a great team here in place and great people around me to work with that know what to do and how to get through it," Okposo said. "I'm happy that I dealt with it quickly."
With Okposo skating on the line with Thompson and Murray, it seems unlikely that he will be in the lineup for Saturday's game in Boston. However, it could be possible for him to get back to game action Monday night against the Philadelphia Flyers back home at KeyBank Center.
"We'll see what happens. It's up to the coaches and the staff, and kind of see what happens. Haven't made any decisions yet," Okposo said.
Meanwhile, forward Eric Staal was not on the ice for the Sabres on Friday. It was reported by TSN hockey insider Frank Seravalli that Buffalo was working on a trade with Staal, with the Montreal Canadiens being considered the top contender to land the veteran center.
Later in the afternoon, both teams made the trade official, with the Sabres acquiring a third and fifth round pick in the 2021 NHL Draft from the Canadiens for Staal.
While the deal for Staal had not yet been made official when speaking with Okposo, the veteran forward knew that a deal was coming in his post-practice comments.
"It's pretty obvious. No body is naive here. Everybody knows what's going on with the situation we're in and we know that there's going to be changes coming. It still doesn't make it any easier," Okposo said. "I found about about 'Staalsy' [Staal] right before practice, and just got off the ice to wish him well. He's a character guy, he's a really good person, he's a good man. He's had a heck of a career to date, and he's going to continue to play well. Wish him nothing but the best."
The Sabres will face off with the Bruins on Saturday at 1 p.m. ET with pregame coverage on WGR starting at 12 p.m. ET with Brian Koziol. You will be able to hear from Granato for the first time since clearing COVID-19 protocols, while also hearing from both Montour and Okposo.