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Buffalo Sabres Links: Prospects, Draft Picks

By Melissa Kania

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Good morning, Buffalo Sabres fans! It sure is a good morning, at least for some Buffalo Sabres prospects.

Nicholas Baptiste had four goals Tuesday night as the OHL’s Erie Otters stormed to a 7-5 victory over the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds, to take a 3-1 series lead. On the other side of things, Jean Dupuy had a goal, while Justin Bailey added an assist.

It was certainly a productive night for those Sabres draft picks. The Otters will look to eliminate the Greyhounds on Thursday.

Looking back to the NHL playoffs, with the recent elimination of the NY Islanders, we now know a little bit more about where the Buffalo Sabres’ other first-round draft pick will be this coming June.

At this point, the Sabres will receive the Islanders’ first-round pick, which is slated at selection number 21. That could change, moving up as far as three spots, depending on what other teams do in the playoffs. [TBN]

Either way, this provides a little bit of clarification and can allow fans to begin speculating about what player the Sabres could take with such a pick. It also allows the team staff to start planning, evaluating players and considering their options.

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    • Speaking of the NHL playoffs, the big news of the day at this point is the league’s decision to suspend Niklas Kronwall for tonight’s game seven. [Detroit Free Press]

    Kronwall received the one-game punishment for an illegal check, a hit which the league says he “launched into” and left his feet. You can see video of the hit on the Free Press’ website, but what do you think? This is undoubtedly a loss for the Red Wings, who will have to come out strong in game seven without him.

    If they win tonight, he’ll be available to return to the lineup for game two.

    Now, for an article that I find…. interesting, to say the least.

    This writer over at USA Today says that the NHL playoff handshake line is “completely overrated” and “forced sportsmanship.” Do you agree?

    Here’s the thing: the writer literally says in the piece that the playoff handshake line is custom, but not mandatory, then goes on to say it’s “forced sportsmanship.” No player is ever technically forced to participate, so how you can call it forced sportsmanship?

    And is sportmanship, even if it is forced, such a terrible thing? It goes back to the days of our childhood, when you were told to shake hands with someone after a game, win or lose. It’s about the most basic form of respect, even if, yes, moments before, you were crushing each other against the glass and dropping the gloves (which happens a lot less in playoffs than in the regular season, anyways.)

    I hardly think the league believes a 45-second handshake line wipes away everything that happened over the course of a playoff series. But that isn’t the intention. It doesn’t show that “hockey is a gentleman’s game.” It just shows that at the end of the day, the players are adult enough to shake hands and say “Good series,” regardless of anything else.

    Finally this morning: two seventh-grade female hockey players from Colorado Springs will travel to Italy to play for the West Coast U.S. squad at the World Selects Invitational U-14 tournament. That is pretty incredible. [The Gazette]

    Next: Elmira Jackals Schedule Released

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