Buffalo Sabres forward Tyler Ennis was somewhat lost in all the star talent Team Canada iced at the 2015 World Championships in the Czech Republic. Sidney Crosby, Nathan MacKinnon, Matt Duchene, Claude Giroux and Tyler Seguin are just a few of the names that carry much more weight around the National Hockey League than his.
Previous to this year's World's, Ennis had back-to-back 20 goal seasons on a Buffalo team that scored 303 goals in 164 games (a measly 1.85 goals per game.) Although he's shown time and again that his abilities shouldn't be taken for granted he still doesn't get the respect he deserves, even within the ranks of Sabres fans and even after he continually proves that this highlight reel goal against probable 2015 Vezina and Hart Trophy winner Carey Price of the Montreal Canadiens wasn't a fluke.
(thx, nhl.com)
At the World Championships Ennis skated mostly in a bottom-six role for the All-Star team that was Team Canada and managed three goals and an assist in nine games before yesterday's gold medal game. In the tournament's final game, Ennis, who was on the fourth line once again, added to those totals. He got the primary assist as his shot deflected off of Cody Eakins' skate on Canada's first goal at 18:10 of the first period. He then buried a wrap-around less than two minutes into the second period for what would be the game winner in Canada's 6-1 rout of Russia.
(thx, IIHF)
For Ennis it must feel a little strange to be on the winning end, but he'll take it. "It feels good to be on the winning side of things again,” Ennis told The Hockey Writers' Joseph Vito DeLuca before the gold medal game.
And that's good news for the Sabres and their fans, "It can be tough losing all the time,” he said. “The last couple years have been tough in Buffalo so it’s nice to have that winning attitude again and I’m bringing this back to Buffalo.”
The bronze medal game of the 2015 World's featured a player of much interest to the Buffalo Sabres, Jack Eichel.
Eichel is the presumed second overall pick of the Buffalo Sabres in the upcoming NHL Draft and this tournament is the first time the 18 yr. old's played against professionals. He was the youngest player for Team USA and was also the one with the most raw skill and talent. After a calculated start to the tournament where he was adjusting to the speed, size and skill of the competition, his speed, on-ice vision and skill-set finally came to the fore.
As chronicled here, he began to breakout of his shell with a beautiful assist vs. Belarus. He would later show some big-game acumen as his OT goal with :29 seconds left gave the US a victory over Slovakia which would clinch 1st-overall in Group-B. Although he, like every other Team USA member, would fail to score vs. Team Russia in the semi finals, the Americans came away with the bronze medal after taking down the home country Czech Republic 3-0.
In the game yesterday Eichel drew the attention of the Czech defense and found linemate Trevor Lewis in front for the tip-in putting the U.S. up 2-0.
(thx, IIHF)
As mentioned, it took a while for Eichel to get going for a number of reasons, but when he did his presence on the ice always drew the attention of the opposition, even to the point where Russia's Evgeni Malkin pounded an elbow into the back of his unsuspecting head.
(thx, cyborgdata)
It's something he'll need to get accustomed to at the pro-level since he'll have a target on his back from day-1.
A bronze medal for the Americans at this tournament was no small feat as this was team filled with a number of veteran players in roles a notch or two higher than their skill level. Mixed in were some quality NHL'ers, mostly on the back-end, some smaller sized international players and a few college kids. The lack of skill and finish up-front was evident in the semis vs. Russia and the only things that kept them rolling to the bronze were the goaltending of Connor Hellebuyck and the coaching of Todd Richards and his staff. Not to take away anything from the likes of forwards Brock Nelson and Anders Lee who scored 20 and 25 goals, respectively, for the NY Islanders last season, or Charlie Coyle who joined the team a few games into the tournament, but the biggest offensive threat was Eichel as he constantly had the opposition either backing off or chasing him.
This bodes real well for the Buffalo Sabres future as both Ennis and Eichel look to be top-six forwards headed into the 2015-16 season. And it should also be pretty enticing to top-line LW, Evander Kane, a former 30-goal scorer for the Atlanta Thrashers/Winnipeg Jets franchise. Kane has been out since undergoing surgery on his shoulder back in February but should be ready to hit the ice for the start of next season. Add in Matt Moulson, a three time 30-goal scorer, and a young but quickly maturing Zemgus Girgensons and the Sabres have five top-six players to work with as of now.
The future's looking bright, might be time to queue some Timbuk 3.
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