BUFFALO – On Sunday morning, interim coach Ron Rolston was asked about youngsters Tyler Ennis, Cody Hodgson and Tyler Myers taking the Sabres over, having a chance to make it their team with former captain Jason Pominville and some other respected veterans now gone.
“They’re in a situation where, for them, is to be the next core of leaders for us,” Rolston said. “And before you can be a leader in any capacity, you’ve got to be consistent. You got to take care of your own game because if you’re not, there’s not a lot of people that follow you if you can’t be consistent.
“So in order to be a leader, that’s really the first step, is, ‘I got to bring it every night,’ and from there, that’s really how you build that leadership because then you start to get guys that are watching you play and you’re setting an example every night. Now you get their attention, you have the respect, and then that moves forward. But those guys have that opportunity for us now.”
Since Rolston spoke, Ennis, Hodgson and Myers have combined for one assist and a minus-9 rating. Ennis was a minus-4 in Tuesday’s 4-1 loss in Winnipeg. Myers was a minus-3.