Bill Hoppe - Buffalo Hockey Beat

Sabres prospect Michael Campoli transported to hospital

BUFFALO – Sabres prospect Michael Campoli was stretchered off the ice this morning with his neck stabilized after getting hit into boards late in a three-on-three development camp scrimmage.

Campoli, 18, was knocked by William Carrier and tried to skate off the HarborCenter ice before falling down. Campoli, a defenseman, stayed motionless on the ice for about 20 minutes surrounded by team medical personnel and the Buffalo Fire Department.

New Update: The Sabres and Campoli ... Read the full article

Sabres prospect Eric Cornel ready for pros after big junior season

BUFFALO – Sabres prospect Eric Cornel figured, hey, as a second-round NHL pick fresh off a big junior season, hockey might be easy for him.

But instead of thriving after the Sabres drafted him 44^th overall in 2014, Cornel struggled to build on a 25-goal, 62-point breakout season with the Peterborough Petes.

The winger’s offensive output dropped to 14 goals and 52 points in 2014-15. His rating plummeted from a plus-2 to an ugly ... Read the full article

Impaired driving charge against Sabres’ Ryan O’Reilly dropped

The impaired driving case against Buffalo Sabres center Ryan O’Reilly was dropped by the Crown this morning shortly after his trial began, according to the London Free Press.

The only identification witness couldn’t place O’Reilly at the Tim Hortons the Ontario Provincial Police said he fled after driving his pickup into on July 9, 2015, according to the paper.

Following the alleged incident, O’Reilly, 25, was arrested and charged with impaired driving and leaving the ... Read the full article

Prospect Judd Peterson could be back in Sabres’ plans

BUFFALO – Technically, Judd Peterson still belonged to the Sabres, but the NHL club wasn’t too interested in evaluating the St. Cloud State University forward.

Just a year ago, Peterson appeared to have no future with the organization that had drafted him out of high school in the seventh round, 204^th overall, in 2012.

After participating in two development camps run by the team’s old regime, Peterson, 22, wasn’t invited back in 2014 or ... Read the full article

Cheektowaga’s Frank Hora living Sabres dream at development camp

BUFFALO – Michael Hora can’t make it to HarborCenter this afternoon, but one way or another, he’ll find a way to watch his son, Frank, a Cheektowaga native the Sabres are evaluating at development camp.

“He always finds a way to watch my games,” Frank Hora, a 20-year-old defense prospect, said Friday after preparing for the annual Blue and Gold scrimmage.

His father, who’s at a hockey camp in Virginia with another son, Anthony, bought ... Read the full article

Sabres prospect William Carrier close to making NHL

BUFFALO – By around mid-March, it looked imminent. William Carrier, the often overshadowed Sabres prospect, was about to earn his first NHL recall from the Rochester Americans.

In a 21-game stretch, Carrier scored nine goals and 20 points. Before his torrid run, Carrier had compiled only 11 goals and 31 points in his first 94 AHL contests.

“One good game, two good games – it just starts rolling out,” Carrier said Thursday following a development ... Read the full article

Kyle Okposo knows Jimmy Vesey would fit with Sabres

BUFFALO – Shortly after winger Kyle Okposo put on his new No. 21 Sabres jersey and spoke to the media Thursday morning, some of the team’s higher-ups reportedly boarded a charter flight from Prior Aviation bound for Boston.

What was the purpose of their trip? Likely a meeting with winger Jimmy Vesey, 23, the former Harvard University star whose negotiating rights the Sabres acquired June 20.

Vesey seems dead set on becoming an unrestricted ... Read the full article

Sabres’ Kyle Okposo sees similarities in Jack Eichel, John Tavares

BUFFALO – Sabres winger Kyle Okposo was beginning his third pro season when the New York Islanders, fresh off a disastrous campaign, welcomed No. 1 overall pick John Tavares.

Over the years, Okposo witnessed Tavares’ rapid development from a raw prospect into one of the NHL’s premier centers.

Now, seven years later, Okposo has another rare opportunity to watch – and even help – Sabres center Jack Eichel, the No. 2 pick in 2015, become ... Read the full article

Sabres prospect Alexander Nylander not looking far ahead

BUFFALO – Sabres prospect Hudson Fasching was looking for small details in Alexander Nylander’s game. Sure, he could see the eighth overall pick possesses terrific speed and soft hands.

But when a player is that talented, Fasching, 20, likes to examine him a little closer.

“You can kind of just tell, if you pay a little extra attention to him, every puck he shoots it’s crisp, it’s in a direction,” Fasching said Wednesday following ... Read the full article

Prospect Austin Osmanski on wearing Sabres jersey: ‘amazing’

BUFFALO – Five minutes before his development camp session started this afternoon, Sabres prospect Austin Osmanski was sitting nervously inside the HarborCenter dressing room, wondering if he should go on the ice early.

Eventually, Osmanski, an East Aurora native, left the room and was the first player on the ice. Winger Justin Bailey, a Williamsville native, followed him.

“Justin Bailey was right behind me, so it was pretty cool,” Osmanski said.

Wearing a Sabres jersey ... Read the full article