The NHL scouting combine isn’t the most conducive event when it comes to taking in the local ambiance of the Buffalo-Niagara region.
It is not a knock against Western New York, at all, but consider what kind of lengthy yet busy schedule makes up the seven days of the combine: meetings with teams, medical and fitness testing and even brain teasers designed to assess a potential NHL player’s cognitive skills.
Still, more than a few players get a chance to scope out Buffalo, one of 32 destinations where NHL draft hopefuls can land, on an annual basis. The NHL draft will be held June 27-28 in Los Angeles, but this year’s top 90 draft hopefuls got a closer look at Buffalo and its surrounding areas last week, during the NHL scouting combine.
For some, last week marked their first visit to Buffalo. Others only knew of certain parts of Western New York, such as Niagara Falls, and several draft prospects made the 30-minute trip north of downtown to see the international landmark.
Buffalo and Western New York got mostly positive reviews from a straw poll of NHL combine participants Saturday at LECOM Harborcenter.
“It seems like a super-cool place,” said Jackson Smith, a a defenseman from Tri-City of the Western Hockey League, who is projected as a first-round pick. “I walked around a little bit and went to get a bite to eat. And on an Uber ride, when I went to dinner, out with Vancouver, the Uber driver gave us, basically, a whole rundown of the city, so I got to learn a little bit about it.”
Theodor Hallquisth, a defenseman from Orebro of the SHL in Sweden, had never been to Buffalo before last week, and called the city “very nice,” noting its proximity to Lake Erie.
However, Hallquisth had apologetically cut an interview short Saturday morning.
“I’m so sorry, guys,” he told a group of reporters around him, “I don’t feel so well.”
Don’t blame Buffalo. Maybe Hallquisth was overwhelmed by the number of questions he fielded before 9 a.m. Saturday morning.
Or blame the Wingate test. Hallquisth was among the first group of prospects to go through the 14 fitness tests Saturday, including the Wingate. An athlete gets on a stationary bike and pedals for as hard and as fast as possible, for 30 seconds, against a resistance setting that is based on one’s body weight. It measures someone’s anaerobic power and capacity – and the test is known to drive players to exhaustion and even vomiting.
A few players ventured out of the city limits during their limited down time.
Jan Chovan, a center from Slovakia who plays for Tappara of Finland’s U20 SM-sarja, was one of a handful of prospects who talked about their visit to Niagara Falls.
Draft prospect Radim Mrtka speaks to reporters during the NHL scouting combine on Saturday at LECOM Harborcenter.
Radim Mrtka, a defenseman from Czechia who plays for Seattle of the Western Hockey League, said he didn’t do a lot of sightseeing – but also went to Niagara Falls.
“Going there was pretty good,” Mrtka said of the one-afternoon breather that came during the seven-day combine.
Malte Vass, a defenseman from Farjestad BK of the SHL in Sweden, gave a mixed review of Buffalo.
“Not my favorite place in the U.S.,” he said. “But this week has been great. The arena here is really cool and everything here, but I haven’t seen all the city. So maybe I need to go here, one more time.”
As for the local food? Smith, the defenseman from Tri-City, didn’t try any beef on weck.
“But I had a couple wings,” he said, grinning.
None of the prospects mentioned, though, if they tried loganberry or mangled the pronunciation of “Cheektowaga” or “Scajaquada.”
Still, some potential Sabres could eventually get a chance to take in the city, try some local foods and maybe mispronounce a few landmark names.
