Savoie Will Play For Rochester In Calder Cup Playoffs

The Buffalo Sabres assigned 2022 first-rounder Matthew Savoie to the Rochester Americans of the American Hockey League on Sunday after the 19-year-old’s junior club was eliminated in the WHL Championship late last week.

The Sabres also did this with fellow ’22 first-rounder Noah Ostlund and 2021 fourth-rounder Olivier Nadeau after their seasons in the Swedish Hockey League and the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League ended. Ostlund and Nadeau have been relegated to practicing with the Americans and have not seen action in the Calder Cup Playoffs against Syracuse and Toronto, but Rochester head coach Seth Appert indicated that Savoie will likely get a chance to play at some point against the Hershey Bears in the Eastern Conference Final starting this week.

“Once we get him acclimated, he’ll be in the lineup,” Appert said on Monday.

Savoie led the Winnipeg Ice in playoff scoring with 29 points (11 goals, 18 assists) in 20 games, but they were eliminated by the Seattle Thunderbirds on Friday. Appert indicated that the 19-year-old traveled from the West Coast over the weekend. 

Inserting Savoie into a playoff scenario is the first test of whether he can compete for an NHL roster spot when the Sabres gather for training camp in September. The ninth-overall pick is not eligible to play in Rochester next season since he turns 20 on January 1, a day after the cutoff for eligibility.

Canada Upset By Norway

Day #11 of the IIHF 2023 World Championships in Tampere, Finland, and Riga, Latvia saw three of the five Buffalo Sabres players in action. Once again, goalie Devon Levi served as the backup to St.Louis Blues netminder Joel Hofer but forwards Jack Quinn and Peyton Krebs were in the lineup for Team Canada in their 3-2 upset loss to Norway. Quinn was -1 in just over 16 minutes of ice time and had one shot on goal, while Krebs had two shots on goal in 16:50.

FINAL.

Norway wins 3-2 over Canada. pic.twitter.com/z4DjhmfGvQ

— TSN (@TSN_Sports) May 22, 2023

Canada finishes off the preliminary round-robin portion of the tournament against Czechia on Tuesday, while Alex Tuch and the undefeated Americans face Sweden and JJ Peterka and Team Germany face Team France.