Buffalo prepares for games against Detroit and Montreal this weekend.
By Jourdon LaBarber / Sabres.com
BUFFALO, N.Y. — On a morning when 2,500 students filled the stands to watch practice at KeyBank Center as part of the NHL’s Future Goals program, Robin Lehner had to defend his decision to wave to a young fan prior to giving up three goals and being pulled in a 4-3 loss in Toronto on Tuesday night.
Lehner was seen on the Sportsnet telecast waving to a woman seated near the Sabres bench as he took a drink of water during a television timeout. The goalie said she was FaceTiming her son.
Amidst suggestions that the interaction might have affected his concentration in the game, Lehner addressed the matter following practice on Thursday.
“This mom with a 5-year-old kid waving in his pajamas, all happy, you know what, I’m going to wave back,” Lehner said. “I don’t care what anyone thinks. If it was Jonathan Toews or Carey Price or whatever, I’m not anything close to what they are, but they would be [looked at as] the best people in the world.
“You know what, I have this thing around me, and I accept that fact. I accept that fact that it looks bad. But it doesn’t affect my game. People that know me know I’m a calm, relaxed goalie. That’s why I can have a bad goal and bounce back. That’s why I can play through these things. I’m better mentally than that.”
Medical Report
Anders Nilsson was sick with the flu and did not practice. Bylsma said he was not yet sure whether the goalie will feel well enough to dress against Detroit on Friday. Linus Ullmark was recalled from Rochester to serve as the second goalie at practice.
“The night after the Toronto game I got the text that he was not feeling well, I guess that was the morning of the next day,” Bylsma said in regards to Nilsson. “He’s gone through a cycle, so to speak, yesterday and he has kept some food down today so it’s too early to tell.”
Bylsma said that defenseman Josh Gorges, out with a hip injury, was scheduled to undergo an MRI to determine his progress on Thursday afternoon.
Dmitry Kulikov (lower back) continued to skate on his own on Thursday and had elements of physicality added to his session.
Ullmark’s new mask
The Sabres on Thursday announced the team recalled goaltender Linus Ullmark from the Rochester Americans.
Ullmark (23, 6-foot-4, 221 lbs.) joins the team for his fourth recall of the 2016-17 season. Through 29 AHL games in his second AHL season, Buffalo’s sixth-round pick (163rd overall) in the 2012 NHL Draft is 15-13-1 with a .908 save percentage.
The Lugnvik, Sweden native played 20 games for the Sabres as a rookie during the 2015-16 season, posting a .913 save percentage and a 2.60 goals-against average, but has not yet appeared in an NHL game this season. His 8-10-2 record in 2015-16 included wins in each of his last three NHL appearances.
No more minions, at least for now. Ullmark was sporting a brand new mask on Thursday, and replacing the two large eyeballs we’ve become accustomed to seeing were two Swedish goaltending legends who Ullmark described as personal heroes: Stefan Liv and Pelle Lindbergh.
Lindbergh, who became the first European goalie to win the Vezina Trophy while a member of the Philadelphia Flyers in 1985, died in a car accident during the season.
Liv, a professional player in Sweden for most of his career, was killed in a plane crash while a member of Lokomotiv Yaroslavl of the KHL in 2011.
“I wanted to pay tribute to these fallen heroes,” Ullmark said. “Pelle, he was the first European goalie to win the Vezina and all that show that European goalies can play in the National Hockey League, and then you have Stefan that was one of the best guys off the ice, on the ice, and also when it comes to winning, especially those tight games and when it all came down to the trophies and all that stuff. Not being the best regular season player, but once the playoffs started he was a monster.”
In a related move, the Americans announced that the team recalled goaltender Jason Kasdorf from the Elmira Jackals of the ECHL.
Kasdorf, 24, rejoins the Amerks after appearing in three games with the team this season. A native of Winnipeg, Manitoba, Kasdorf shows a 2-6-0 record with a 4.39 goals-against average and a .869 save percentage in eight appearances with the Jackals. He picked up his first pro win on Nov. 27 against the Manchester Monarchs, making 24 saves on 25 shots in a 2-1 overtime victory.
Prior to turning pro, the 6-foot-4, 200-pound netminder completed a four-year collegiate career at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI), posting a record of 38-37-9 in 88 games to go along with 2.39 goals-against average and a .920 save percentage.
*EDITOR’S NOTE — C&C Worldwide Sports Director, Craig Potter, was a reporter for the Bethlehem (PA) Globe-Times in 1985 as I covered the Flyers for 6 seasons from 1981-87. I was there when Pelle Lindbergh was killed in that auto accident. He was a terrific goalie and always made himself available to the media after games, even after a rare poor performance. During the 1983-84 season, Pelle had a bad game at home. He sat at this locker and answered everyone’s questions. Afterwards, while I was waiting for Dan Schope, a writer for the Allentwon Morning Call to finish his story before we drove back to the Lehigh Valley, I went back to see Pelle and thanked him for making himself available. I said to him that most players wouldn’t do that and we appreciated him for making himself available. Back then when players did not want to speak with the media, they would go into the trainer’s room, which was off-limits to the media. Pelle never did that. He gained my eternal respect. He was having a terrific season in 1985 when the accident occurred. His mother was visiting him at the time. They had to wait for his father to come over from Sweden before the memorial service was held at the next home game, which was against Wayne Gretzky and the defending Stanley Cup Champion Edmonton Oilers. All the ads on the boards were covered up for that game. Bob Froese was in net for Philadelphia as the FLyers played inspired hockey and beat the Oilers.