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officialsbaseball  
#1 Posted : Thursday, December 06, 2018 9:57:44 AM(UTC)
officialsbaseball

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BUFFALO Thomas Vanek Jersey , N.Y. (AP) Rasmus Dahlin wasn’t kidding about how hockey has become his sole obsession.No more than an hour after completing his introductory news conference in Buffalo on Monday, the NHL’s No. 1 overall draft pick had already changed into a yellow Sabres practice uniform and, with stick in hand, was on his way to hit the ice with a number of fellow prospects.Finally, after a monthlong pre-draft process of interviews, testing and cross-country travel that culminated in hearing his name called first from the podium in Dallas on Friday, Dahlin was back in his element.”I used to play some golf and hang out with friends, but, yeah, I love to play hockey and that’s my 100 percent thing I usually do,” the 18-year-old Swedish defenseman said. ”I’m a pretty boring guy.”Off the ice, maybe.On the ice, Dahlin is considered anything but boring with a heads-up, smooth-skating and play-making style that has already drawn comparisons to elite Swedish defensemen such as Ottawa Senators captain Erik Karlsson and former Detroit Red Wings star Nicklas Lidstrom.In Buffalo, he’s already captured the imagination of a win-starved base of fans, many of whom started submitting orders for Dahlin’s No. 26 Sabres jersey moments after he formally pulled one on to close the news conference.And yet, amid the buzz Dahlin has generated since the Sabres won the NHL draft lottery in April, it’s unrealistic to presume one player alone can turn around a franchise that has finished last in three of the past five years Nick Foligno Jersey , not made the playoffs since 2011 and not won a playoff series since 2007.”I don’t actually think that way,” Dahlin said of whether he feels the weight of expectations on his 6-foot-2, 181-pound frame. ”I’ll bring everything I can to this team and, yeah, try to win hockey games. That’s what I think about.”General manager Jason Botterill was quick to interject once Dahlin completed his answer.”He doesn’t need to be the savior,” Botterill said, before listing the talented young group of players already on Buffalo’s roster, including forward Jack Eichel.”Look, we certainly have to have better results on the ice,” he said. ”But we’re certainly excited to bring Rasmus into our core group here and how they can grow together.”On a day dedicated to Dahlin, Botterill struck an upbeat tone in steering away most questions that featured any hint of negativity.Concerns still abound for Botterill entering his second summer on the job.The Sabres have no established depth in goal after last week’s decision to not re-sign third-year starter Robin Lehner.Offense remains an issue on a team that’s not had a player score 30 goals or 70 points since Jason Pominville in 2011-12, during his first stint in Buffalo.Their payroll structure is out of balance for a losing team, with six players set to make a base salary of $5 million or more, including Eichel, whose eight-year, $80 million contract kicks in this season.Culture remains a question after center Ryan O’Reilly suggested the team adopted a losing mindset last season.Rather than worry how a gloomy culture might affect newcomers such as Dahlin, Botterill is counting on Buffalo’s youngsters to begin changing the atmosphere.”We’re not expecting them to lead the room, but we’re expecting them to bring their positive attributes Authentic Oliver Bjorkstrand Jersey , their competitiveness to that group,” Botterill said.”It’s what we challenged our players at the end of the season. They had to change how they trained. They had to change how they approach the games,” he added. ”The beauty of the National Hockey League is that you can make adjustments, you can make jumps in the standings fairly quickly.”Botterill chuckled when Dahlin said he was already looking forward to playing Buffalo’s cross-border rival Toronto next season.”The question was asked to me before about changing the culture, changing our results on the ice,” Botterill said. ”That’s what we need to bring, players who are very competitive, who want to make a difference.”NOTES: The Sabres will open a four-day rookie development camp Wednesday. … Botterill says the Sabres won’t buy out the final year of Matt Moulson’s contract, but adds the veteran forward won’t play in Buffalo. Moulson spent most of last season on loan to AHL Ontario.— Anyone who has played with Marc-Andre Fleury can tell he’s dialed in by watching his mannerisms.Last year, he rubbed the shaft of his stick after making a save with it on Alex Ovechkin. This year, he continued a career-long tradition of rubbing the post as a sign of appreciation for keeping a puck out.”That’s when you know he’s in the zone,” Pittsburgh defenseman Olli Maatta said.Fleury is in one of the best zones of his career in the playoffs with the expansion Vegas Golden Knights, who have followed up a magical inaugural season with a trip to the Western Conference final. The goaltending of Fleury is the biggest reason they’ve gotten this far and is a continuation of his remarkable playoff reputation rehabilitation.After taking the Penguins to the Stanley Cup Final in 2008 and winning it all in 2009, Fleury lost four of the next five series he played and each postseason posted a save percentage under .900. He has since gotten his groove back, helping the Penguins win the Cup again a year ago, and now leads the NHL playoffs with a 1.53 goals-against average, .951 save percentage and four shutouts.”I don’t think it was anything physically that he changed,” former Penguins teammate and current Capitals defenseman Brooks Orpik said. ”It was all confidence-driven. He’s always been a guy who’s really competitive and really loose at the same time. I think it was just confidence. I think he needed a fresh start. Maybe he just needed a clean slate Ryan Murray Jersey , and you perform better when you’re more appreciated.”It’s impossible not to appreciate the impact ”Flower” has made in the desert as the face of a new franchise as he went 29-13-4 with a 2.24 GAA and .927 save percentage for Pacific Division-winning Vegas. The fresh start might have rejuvenated Fleury more than a decade into his career, but his bounce-back in becoming a great playoff goalie again is six years in the making.The low point came in 2012. Fleury allowed 26 goals over six games to Philadelphia in a first-round exit. The next playoffs, backup Tomas Vokoun started more games, and it was fair to wonder if Fleury had lost it.”You learn from losing,” Fleury said Wednesday. ”You learn from tough times and pressure and stuff like that. It made me a better goalie from it.”Now-Capitals defenseman Matt Niskanen was there for some of the struggles but didn’t level them all on Fleury. By 2014, he noticed a different goalie.”There was a period of time there where maybe (it was) not entirely his fault, a few things went wrong and it snowballed on him and he had a tough go there, I think, mentally for a couple springs,” Niskanen said. ”But by the time of my last year there he was really good again.”The scars of another second-round exit led to more blame for Fleury, who was scapegoated for a team with Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin not doing more after the Cup in 2009.”Sometimes it’s the way your team plays in front of you,” said Penguins winger Carl Hagelin, who beat Fleury with the Rangers in playoff series in 2014 and 2015. ”Sometimes, like any other player, you might have a bad series or a bad playoffs and I think for a goalie if you have that, people are going to be all over you.”
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