Thomas Vanek represented Austria at the recent World Championships in the Czech Republic.

Buffalo beefed up Amerks
By John McGourty | NHL.com
June 16, 2005

Buffalo Sabres General Manager Darcy Regier is a creative and wily executive and he has spent this past year devising ways to make his organization stronger. Last fall, Regier transferred people and equipment to the Rochester Americans, Buffalo's American Hockey League affiliate. Since then, he's spent a good bit of time riding back and forth on the New York Thruway with coach Lindy Ruff.

"We saw virtually all of their home games and we discuss the team all the way down and back," Regier said. "Lindy has been on the ice with the team, helping Rochester head coach Randy Cunneyworth and his assistants Doug Houda and Jim Corsi, the goaltending coach. We sent our video crew and our strength and conditioning coaches there as well. Rochester has been using a lot of our resources and it's been a great learning experience for all of us."

Buffalo has several players in Rochester who appear ready to step up to the NHL. They swept the Hamilton Bulldogs in the opening round of the Calder Cup playoffs before falling to the Manitoba Moose.

"I like this Rochester team because they are a team," Regier said. "They do things together, they work for each other and they are having success because they act like a team. Thomas Vanek led them in scoring, but everyone contributed and supported each other."

Vanek, Buffalo's first pick, fifth overall in the 2003 Entry Draft, is a bright and determined young man. His father was a good hockey player in his native Slovakia and Austria. Vanek had a friend in the Red Deer, Alberta, area, who helped Vanek find a local team when he moved here at age 14 in pursuit of an NHL career.

Vanek then played three seasons with the Sioux Falls Stampede of the USHL. He led the USHL in goals, points, hat tricks, power play goals in 2001-02, then was WCHA rookie of the year the following season as the University of Minnesota won its second-straight NCAA championship. Vanek played another season for the Golden Gophers then produced a 42-goal, 68-point rookie season for Rochester.

"He's helped and been helped," Regier said. "He had a very good year. He's very mature and intelligent. He's been in North America since he was 14 because he wants to play in the NHL. He's focused and his English is very good. Coming from Minnesota, he had to make the transition from the Olympic-size rink to a game with a red line that is much tighter. There is much less time and space and he had to adjust. As opposed to doing skill things on his own time the way he wanted to do them, he had to change to become more of a team player in a system. He made the adjustment and found a way to utilize his skills.

Vanek won't need to bring his linemates with him. He played on every line and with every teammate.

"The only thing consistent is that he stayed on left wing," Regier said. "He was playing with Derek Roy near the end of the season, but he had played with centers Jiri Novotny and Chris Taylor. Vanek has gotten stronger and his speed improved. He has very good hands and equally good vision to go with it."

Right wing Drew Stafford, the Sabres' first pick, 13th overall, in 2004, has had two solid seasons with the University of North Dakota. He had 11 goals and 32 points in 36 games as a rookie and 13 goals and 35 points in 40 games this season when the Fighting Sioux went to the NCAA Final game.

Stafford and the North Dakota Fighting Sioux made it to the final game of the NCAA tournament this spring.

Stafford has extensive international experience. He played on the gold-medal U.S. team that won the 2004 World Junior championship. He also played for the U.S. Under-18 team. Stafford attended Shattuck-St. Mary's High School in Minnesota where he was named best all-around athlete-citizen. Many scouts consider him a "can't miss" prospect.

"Any time you go to the final game, you'd prefer to win it, but North Dakota came on very strongly as the year went on," Regier said. "He really grew as a hockey player and had the good fortune to play for the U.S. in the world juniors. Like Vanek, it's just a development process for him as well. His skating is his strength. He has good hands and is a good playmaker and he comes from a hockey background. Drew has good size at 6-foot-2 and he's over 200 pounds. It will be a matter of how quickly he can learn and mature as an individual and in his game. "

Statistics can tell you a lot about a player, but not everything. Left wing Daniel Paille, Buffalo's first pick in 2002, 20th overall, had four years with the OHL Guelph Storm in which his goal totals increased each season. He had 37 goals and 43 assists in 59 games two years ago. Those numbers plunged to 14 goals and 15 assists in 79 games this season. Regier is anything but disappointed.

"Paille is the type of player every team needs," the GM said. "He is a very unselfish player. This is a kid who loves playing hockey above everything else. He doesn't get ahead of himself and he gets on the ice and works his tail off. He's fundamentally a very sound player and solid on his skates. He's well coached and a great competitor, as well as fearless. He does a lot of the work that some of the other, more skilled players need from a teammate.

"We love his character. He played two years on Canada's World Junior team and was captain the second year. You see that, from the outside, then you get him in your organization and you see why. He has a great family background, a great foundation to build on."

Regier describes Paille as "the type of player every team needs."

There aren't many players who get passed over in the junior drafts who later get drafted by NHL teams. Clarke MacArthur, Buffalo's third pick, 74th overall, in 2003, is one, perhaps due to a four-inch growth spurt in his first year with Medicine Hat. You couldn't be more consistent that MacArthur who put up 75, 75 and 74 points in his three WHL seasons. He helped the Tigers to the WHL regular-season championship last year when he had 35 goals. MacArthur was the seventh-leading scorer in the playoffs as Medicine Hat was defeated in the Memorial Cup semifinal game. MacArthur had 30 goals this past season as Medicine Hat was knocked out of the playoffs this season by a tough Prince Albert team.

"Clarke really benefited from playing for coach Willie Desjardins in Medicine Hat," Regier said. "He showed tremendous growth by going from being a points guy to a well-rounded, team-first guy. Those attributes got him on the world junior team. We saw that he was a very competitive kid when we had him in our training camp. That pushes him on a shift-by-shift basis. He has good hands. You can gauge his commitment by the fact he's in Rochester now, working with our strength and conditioning staff."

Denis Ezhov was Buffalo's fifth pick, 114th overall, in 2003. He's a stay-at-home defenseman with a reputation as a cautious, well-conditioned defender. He's not too tall, but he's muscular and well balanced. Regier said he has split this season between the top and second Russian leagues and there hasn't been much to report. Regier said Ezhov's appearance in the World Junior tournament may be his season highlight.

"They used him in critical situations at the world juniors," Regier said. "I thought he handled himself well. He's a good puck-moving defenseman. His points totals may be a little misleading (he didn't have any this season, according to some records). They don't usually give second assists in the Russian leagues."

Chris Thorburn, at 6-foot-3 and 200 pounds, won't be any more fun to play against in the NHL than he has been in the AHL or juniors. Thorburn, the second pick, 50th overall, in 2001, bangs, scraps and cuts off offensive players and looks like the prototypical third-line center who takes on the other team's top line. That's what you do with guys who pick up 185 penalty minutes while going plus-10. He skates well and has been moved from center to right wing.

Paetsch was much improved in his second season in Rochester.

Nathan Paetsch may never again have a year like he had in 2000-01 when he had eight goals and 54 assists in 70 games for Moose Jaw, but he had 52 and 54 points in his final two WHL seasons. He struggled a bit his first year in Rochester, but had four goals and 19 assists this past season. Paetsch isn't overly physical at 6 feet, 200 pounds but he is tough and works very hard. His leadership has been recognized at all levels and he plays a smart game. His offensive skills led to him being used as a forward earlier this season.

"He's back on defense now," Regier said. "He's a puck-moving defenseman and he'll be adding more offense to his game. He is a very good character kid and a good competitior. Sounds like James Patrick? I'd like to see him have as lengthy and distinguished a career."

Buffalo's second pick, 43rd overall, last summer, defenseman Michael Funk, was paired on the Portland Winter Hawks' defense with all-world prospect Braydon Coburn, who's headed to Atlanta. Coburn got all the glory, but Funk is a smooth-skating defender and is growing into his 6-foot-4 frame. Portland squeezed a lot of bad decision-making out him and now Funk is a seen as a fine puck-moving defenseman who is not afraid to join the rush when the opportunity is there.

Some people wondered a few years ago what kind of coach roughneck Dale Hunter would be for the London Knights. Some of them also thought Dylan Hunter made that team only because his father was coach. Well, Dale Hunter was OHL coach of the year in 2004 and 2005 and his son had 104 points off 31 goals and 73 assists. That's a 25-point gain from a year ago and the Sabres, who took Dylan Hunter with the 273rd pick, in the ninth round, last summer are as happy about that as any member of the Hunter family.

"What stands out is what a great competitor Dylan is," Regier said. "The kids who really want to be players find a way to do it, despite where they have been drafted. He fits that description. He's a smart kid and a good playmaker. It's tough to argue with the success that London had when he was on the ice."

Novotny, the Sabres' No. 1 pick, 22nd overall, in the 2001 Entry Draft, was a child phenom in his native Czech Republic where he played on their World Under-18 team as a 16-year-old. He captained the team in 2001. Novotny excels in all areas of the game, except scoring. He is an excellent faceoff man, a great passer and checker and a leader.