Good morning, Buffalo Sabres fans. It’s hard to believe that the season is winding down so quickly. But here we are, with just over a week left in the Buffalo Sabres season. Of course, the team isn’t quite done yet, with five more games on tap before they can pack their bags and head home. It starts this weekend with games against Chicago and the NY Islanders.
Some Friday morning reading material for you here:
The finalists for the Hobey Baker have been narrowed to the top three now, or the ‘hat trick’ of finalists. In what is absolutely no surprise, future top NHL draft pick Jack Eichel is one of them. [NHL.com]
Eichel is joined by University of North Dakota goaltender Zane McIntyre and Harvard University forward Jimmy Vesey. Vessel is a Nashville Predators prospect.
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The winner will be announced April 10, but Eichel is unsurprisingly the favorite to win. If he does, he’ll be the first freshman to win the award since famed NHLer Paul Kariya did it in 1993.
(Just think — Kariya won the Hobey Baker in 1993. Eichel wasn’t born for three more years.)
Speaking of awards, as the NHL season winds down, it’s time to start thinking about the NHL awards, starting with the Hart Trophy.
Who will be this year’s MVP? USA Today takes a look at a few of the possibilities.
Could Canadians netminder Carey Price become just the third goaltender in history to win the Hart trophy, joining Jose Theodore and Dominik Hasek?
As the article says, the Hart Trophy is given to the player deemed to be most important to his team. Price has been an integral part of the Habs’ success, which is why he’s being considered the favorite for the award.
We’ll just have to wait and see.
Now, for something in a different line of thinking — let’s take our attention to Twitter.
We all know that the NHL as a league is opposed to tanking. League officials have spoken out against it, and they’re basically not supposed to talk about it.
But the folks running the Twitter account of the NHL Shop apparently didn’t get that memo, as they Tweeted out this yesterday.
How long until this tweet is deleted? pic.twitter.com/zt5PN9W2S6
— Adam Herman (@AdamZHerman) April 2, 2015
The original Tweet has since been deleted, but I’ve got to give credit to whoever came up with that. Clever.
Finally this morning, check out this craziness from overseas in Russia, where a coach – YES, a coach – got swept up in a bench brawl. Oh, and he lost his shirt, tie and blazer.
He got the tie and blazer back, at least.
The Sabres vs. Blackhawks game tonight is one of five on tap for the NHL. Elsewhere, the Habs and Devils face off in the only other game for Eastern Conference teams. For the West, it’s St. Louis vs. Dallas, Colorado vs. Anaheim and Arizona vs. San Jose.
More from Sabre Noise
- 3 biggest standouts at Buffalo Sabres 2023 Prospects Challenge
- 3 takeaways from the Buffalo Sabres final Prospects Challenge game
- Buffalo Sabres experiment with lesser-known talent in loss to Pens
- Buffalo Sabres 75 Bold Predictions for 2023-24: Prediction 51
- Buffalo Sabres vs. Pittsburgh: A quick look at the Penguins prospects