VOORHEES, N.J. -- Claude Giroux doesn't consider there to be any added pressure despite the fact Mike Richards and Jeff Carter -- two of the team's offensive staples -- were traded in the offseason.

"There's not a lot of pressure, but more excitement and a challenge and there's a lot of ice time to be taken," Giroux said following the opening day of training camp at the Virtua Flyers Skate Zone.

"When you see something like that, it kind of makes you push more and play harder and better. Guys are pretty excited for the preseason games. We have a lot of new players and Mike and Jeff are gone, but there's another spot open for ice time and power-play time. The young guys have a chance, so it's an opportunity."

Giroux, who led the Flyers with eight power-play goals, 51 assists and 76 points last season, centered a line with 39-year-old right wing Jaromir Jagr and left wing James van Riemsdyk on the opening day of training camp on Saturday.

"When I was a kid, I looked up to (Jagr) because he was obviously one of the best young players to ever play," Giroux said. "So, anytime you have a guy like that on your line, it's pretty exciting. He's that kind of player who knows how to score goals and is always in good position to get open. He's been in the league for a long time, so anytime you have a player like that on your line it's good. I'll be playing with JVR too, so I was playing with two strong guys."

Only time will tell if the JVR-Giroux-Jagr line remains intact throughout training camp since coach Peter Laviolette has stressed that no line is safe at this stage in the preseason.

VOORHEES, N.J. -- Flyers coach Peter Laviolette is making no promises. In other words, just because Danny Briere and Scott Hartnell have played together the last two season, doesn't necessarily mean they'll be together to start the 2011-12 campaign.

Briere and Hartnell had much success on a line with Ville Leino the past two seasons in Philadelphia. Leino signed with the Buffalo Sabres in the offseason, however, leaving a hole on one of the team's most prolific units. Laviolette was asked who has the best shot at replacing Leino.

"I wouldn't assume that Briere and Hartnell will be together to open the season and I truly believe that everything is open and Hartnell may be a fit with somebody else," Laviolette said following the opening day of training camp Saturday. "I think Paul Holmgren said it best to the players, nobody should really assume anything. It's wide open with regard to what we're looking at and that's why to ask about one person (Jakub Voracek) being with two guys who have been together … it's going to shake up.

"We're going to take a look at different options and see what we see out here."

Briere and Hartnell actually opened the first day of camp on a line with offseason acquisition Voracek.

VOORHEES, N.J. -- One of the Flyers big free-agent acquisitions, Jaromir Jagr, will be holding a press conference with the media at 1 p.m. here at the Flyers Skate Zone.

He seems to be taking in much of the session and watching attentively while working drills with his linemates. There doesn't seem to be much interaction with other players, but that was probably expected. He seems to have nice jump but it is strange to see him wearing orange and black.

He opened the first practice on a line with left wing James van Riemsdyk and center Claude Giroux. He also participated in 2-on-1's with Max Talbot. Jagr and Talbot signed deals with the Atlantic Division champion Flyers in the offseason.

VOORHEES, N.J. -- So we're here at the Flyers SkateZone in Voorhees, N.J., for the opening day of Flyers training camp.

The place is absolutely packed as the organization has plenty of activities for the fans. While it's still early, reporters present here in the press area are saying coach Peter Laviolette is already deviating a bit from what the veteran coach had on his board yesterday.

Right off the bat, Laviolette has Danny Briere centering Jakub Voracek and Scott Hartnell. So it's possible Flyers' fans will see offseason acquisition Voracek replacing Ville Leino on that line. There's Claude Giroux in the middle between James van Riemsdyk and Jaromir Jagr. Blair Betts is the pivot between Jody Shelley and Andreas Nodl and Michael Nylander was with Wayne Simmonds and Max Talbot.

Ilya Bryzgalov and Sergei Bobrovsky are the two goalies on hand in the first session.

TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. -- The Buffalo Sabres certainly made their initial appearance in the Traverse City Prospects Tournament one to remember.

In the process, they also got the best of their New York neighbor, as Marcus Foligno scored a pair of goals to lead the Sabres to a 5-2 victory over the New York Rangers in the championship match on Wednesday at Center ICE Arena.

The Sabres become the fifth different team to win the prospect tournament in the last five years.

"When you make improvements and have new additions to the organization with rookies and bunch of guys who haven't made the NHL yet, and go into a tournament and pull a championship, it's exciting for the organization and exciting what's to come in the future for the Sabres," Foligno told NHL.com.

Indeed, the Sabres outscored the opposition, 9-1, in the third period of their three victories in the five-day tournament en route to winning the trophy. In their only loss of the tournament, a 5-2 setback to Detroit on Tuesday, the Sabres were outscored, 3-0, in the final period.

"The third period was a focus of ours (against New York)," Sabres' prospects coach Ron Rolston said. "On Tuesday, that was a change and we wanted to get back to that (Wednesday). We just want to make sure that our guys were playing the right way and paying attention to details. We were able to make three strong finishes on those last three goals."

Corey Tropp's goal 1:28 into the third snapped a 2-2 tie before Daniel Catenacci connected at 15:00 to give Buffalo (3-1-0) a 4-2 cushion. Foligno then tacked on his second of the game when he drove home a shot off a breakaway after taking a pass from Zack Kassian at 17:47 to close out the scoring.

"It's weird … this whole tournament, we were a third period team," Foligno said. "Besides the Detroit loss, I think we all knew we had a little bit more in the tank (in the third) and we had 20 minutes left in this tournament to leave it on the ice. There was a lot of positive energy between intermissions and Rolston got us to work."

Foligno, who finished the tournament with 3 goals and 2 assists, was happy to chip in on the score sheet.

"It's always fun to score and help out with the points, but at the same time you want to do your job and do your role," he said. "I'm glad I had those opportunities to put the puck in the net."

Luke Adam had a goal and one assist and goalie Nathan Lieuwen made 21 saves in the triumph. The Rangers (2-1-1) received goals by J.T. Miller and Ryan Bourque.

"Our boys were resilient," Rolston said. "They worked really hard and as the tournament progressed, they knew what we had to do to be effective and have success. You felt it on the bench; we had a lot of energy and guys had good communication in terms of how we needed to play, so that was good to see."

Buffalo's top line of Luke Adam centering Foligno and Kassian proved to be quite a handful throughout the tournament. In Buffalo's loss to the Red Wings, Adam was a healthy scratch.

"Luke Adam is a great player and pretty good with the puck, and he has a great shot," Foligno said. "Kassian has a big body down low. We create space for each other and are all big guys and when we're in the offensive zone, it's tough for the opponents to kind of keep up with our pace."

Kassian agreed.

"I think we're three big bodies that like to play down low and that really favored us and we were moving it really good to find openings," Kassian said. "Luke has that great shot, so if he's in the slot you just give him the puck … it's going to be a goal more so than not."

Many of the Sabres' prospects are now looking forward to the start of training camp on Friday, including Kassian, Adam, Foligno and defensemen Mark Pysyk and Brayden McNabb.

"My goal is to play as many exhibition games as I can and do as well as I can," Foligno said. "I want to continue this strong effort I had in Traverse right through main camp. It'll be fun with all the guys and to get to play with pros."

Kassian feels Traverse City has certainly given the players one leg up entering main camp.

"Everyone in there is in game shape, ready for main camp," he said. "For me, personally, I hope to get in some exhibition games and play well."

Follow Mike Morreale on Twitter at: @mike_morreale

TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. -- Don't think for a second that New York Rangers prospect J.T. Miller doesn't know who his opposing coach will be when his club battles the Buffalo Sabres on Wednesday in the championship game of the Traverse City Prospects Tournament.

"Yeah, that's Ron Rolston, my coach for two years at the NTDP (National Team Development Program)," Miller told NHL.com

The most decorated head coach in NTDP history left after seven years to become the coach of the Rochester Americans, the American Hockey League affiliate of the Buffalo Sabres, in July. He's coaching Buffalo's prospects in the tournament this week. The Rangers and Sabres will square of in the tournament final here at Center ICE Arena at 7 p.m. ET.

Rolston guided his teams to five medals and multiple tournament championships in international competition. He is the only coach in U.S. history to win three gold medals in the Under-18 World Championship (2005, 2009, 2011). His team also captured a silver medal in the 2007 U18 World Championship.  Rolston's teams never missed a championship game in either of the two major NTDP tournaments -- the World U18 Championship and the World U17 Hockey Challenge.

Miller, who was drafted 15th overall by the Rangers in June, knows his team will have their work cut out for them.

"It's going to be great playing against him … it's about time," Miller said. "He's taught me a lot that I know, so I'm going to use what he taught me against him and hopefully it works out. I'm sure he has some really tough defensive systems up his sleeve, so it should be a good game."

The Rangers won their only other trip to the Traverse City championship game in 2007, defeating the Columbus Blue Jackets, 5-1, behind the play of Artem Anisimov, Brandon Dubinsky, Michael Sauer, and Marc Staal. This is the first year Buffalo is competing in Traverse City.

Miller, who passed on a scholarship to the University of North Dakota to sign with the Ontario Hockey League's Plymouth Whalers for the 2011-12 season, skated in 48 games with the USNTDP U18 team this past season. He produced 11 goals, 37 points and 80 penalty minutes.

"He's a really good hockey player, a lot of tools and a bright future," Rolston praised. "He's come a long way in the two years I had him as far as maturity. This will be his next step, getting with an organization and working with their leadership to continue his maturity and development. He's strong and can skate, plays hard. The Rangers have a lot there to work with."

Miller, from East Palestine, Ohio, led Team USA in scoring with 13 points in six tournament contests en route to capturing the gold medal at the 2011 U18 World Junior Championship in Germany. He tied for third among all tournament skaters in points, fourth in assists (9), sixth in goals (4), and seventh with a plus-8 rating.

In addition to Miller, the Rangers' prospects have been led by defensemen Tim Erixon (1 goal, 3 assists), Dylan McIlrath and Samuel Noreau and forwards Shane McColgan (2 goals, 2 assists), Ryan Bourque (3 goals), Christian Thomas (1 goal, 3 assists), Blake Parlett (5 assists) and Jonathan Audy-Marchessault (2 goals, 3 assists). Goalies Jason Missiaen (1-0-1, 2.94 goals-against average, .898 save percentage) and Scott Stajcer (1-0-0, 2.00 GAA, .929 save percentage) have performed well.

The 6-1, 200-pound Miller appeared in 95 career games over two seasons in the United States Hockey League with the USNTDP, registering 26 goals and 42 assists for 68 points, along with 159 penalty minutes.

"I think the pace (of the tournament) is great and the physicality that goes with it just takes it to a whole new level," Miller said. "I'm just trying to get used to it every game and trying to play more consistent. It's a tough game and you just can't beat yourself up too much and just get right back at it on the next shift. I'm trying to work on that."

Miller was asked what he anticipates from the Rolston-coached Sabres.

"A hard-nosed hockey game," he said. "They'll do their jobs and be responsible all over the ice. You have to play your role under Rolston … that's what he taught me over the years."

The Sabres have been led on offense by the triumphant top-line trio of Marcus Foligno (1 goals, 2 assists), Luke Adam (2 goals) and Zack Kassian (3 assists). Defensively, Brayden McNabb and Mark Pysyk have excelled. Nathan Lieuwen (1-1-0, 4.00 GAA, .862 save percentage) and Ryan Rondeau (1-0-0, 3.00 GAA, .885 save percentage) have split goaltending duty.

Follow Mike Morreale on Twitter at: @mike_morreale

TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. -- Slovakian Marek Tvrdon scored two goals and Evan Mosher turned aside 19 shots to lead the Detroit Red Wings to a 5-2 victory over the Buffalo Sabres on Tuesday in the final round-robin contest of the Traverse City Prospects tournament.

Tvrdon, who was drafted by the Red Wings in the fourth round (No. 115 overall) last June, scored both his goals in the first period when Detroit opened a 2-1 edge. Tvrdon will spend his first full season in North America this season with the Vancouver Giants of the Western Hockey League. He had 6 goals and 11 points in 12 games with the team in 2010-11.

Phil Varone scored the first-period goal for Buffalo, which had forwards Luke Adam and Daniel Cantenacci and defenseman Brayden McNabb listed as healthy scratches for the match. Detroit was without six players, including 2011 first-round pick Tomas Jurco, who was sidelined with a lower-body injury.

Marcus Foligno scored 13:21 into the second to pull the Sabres into a 2-2 tie. Detroit scored three goals on 11 shots in the third -- receiving goals from Bryan Rufenach, Joakim Andersson and Trevor Parkes. Nathan Lieuwen turned aside 32 shots for Buffalo, which went 0-for-7 on the power-play.

Detroit will play Carolina in the seventh-place game on Wednesday at Center ICE Arena. Buffalo, meanwhile, will battle the New York Rangers in the championship match at 7 p.m. ET.

The fifth-place game will feature the Minnesota Wild against the Dallas Stars and the third-place match will have the St. Louis Blues against the Columbus Blue Jackets.

TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. -- Michael Chaput scored unassisted in the second period for the go-ahead goal, and Paul Dainton made it stand with 26 saves as the Columbus Blue Jackets scored a 3-1 victory against the Minnesota Wild on Tuesday in the third game for each club at the Traverse City Prospects tournament.
 
Mike Thomas scored in the first to give Columbus a 1-0 lead before Joey Martin connected for the Wild 3:19 into the second to square the contest. Chaput's goal 17:43 into the second snapped a 1-1 tie. Tyler Johnson then scored 16:50 into the third to extend the lead to 3-1.
 
Matthew Hackett, who was the winning goalie in last year's Traverse City tournament final, made 26 saves in defeat.

TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. -- In what was perhaps the most exciting finish to a game in the 2011 Traverse City Tournament, Justin Shugg connected 2:19 into the second overtime off a breakaway to bring the Carolina Hurricanes their first victory of the tournament, 4-3, against the New York Rangers.
 
Shugg received his opportunity after a nifty theft on Christian Thomas at the Carolina blue line before speeding, uncontested, down right wing. Despite the loss, the Rangers still advance to the tournament championship game against the Buffalo Sabres on Wednesday at Center ICE Arena.
 
The Rangers snapped a 2-2 tie in the first when Christian Thomas converted a feed from Shane McColgan with just one second on the clock. Jonathan Audy-Marchessault and McColgan also collected goals for the Rangers, who suffered their first loss of the tournament.
 
Scott Pitt and Tyler Carroll connected for Carolina in the opening period.
 
Beau Schmitz scored 17:42 into the second to pull the Hurricanes into a 3-3 tie. Both goalies played well throughout. Carolina goalie Mavric Parks stopped 38 of 41 shots, including 23 in the third period. Rangers goalie Jason Misssiaen turned aside 35 shots in the loss.

TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. -- Ty Rattie scored a pair of goals and dished out two assists, and Philip McRae had a goal and two assists to lead the St. Louis Blues to a 6-1 victory against the Dallas Stars on Tuesday at the Traverse City Prospects Tournament.

Goalie Jake Allen made 27 saves to notch his first victory of the tournament.

Anthony Nigro and Tyler Shattock scored first-period goals as the Blues opened a 2-1 lead. Matt Tassone scored the only goal for Dallas, which has lost two straight games. Jay Barriball also hit for St. Louis, which finished 3-for-10 on the power play.

Dallas defenseman Jamie Oleksiak totaled 7 penalty minutes and engaged in his first fight of the tournament with Yannick Veilleux.