Wilcox honored by chance to play for childhood team

Adam Wilcox grew up in Minnesota, but his favorite team was always the Buffalo Sabres. His hockey fandom predated the existence of the Minnesota Wild, which joined the league as an expansion team for the 2000-01 season. Thus, he gravitated to the Sabres and their goaltender, Dominik Hasek.
Having those childhood memories made it that much more special when his coach in Rochester, Chris Taylor, called to inform him he was being recalled to Buffalo on Friday morning.
"I figured he was telling me if I was going to play the next day, so it was quite the pleasant surprise to get that," Wilcox said. "Anytime you get a call-up to the NHL, you're honored. Pretty cool experience. This is my third time and it still feels like the first time."

Wilcox was recalled in response to injuries to Robin Lehner and Linus Ullmark, both of whom are day-to-day. Lehner tweaked a pre-existing lower-body injury and was forced to miss the third period of the team's game against Detroit on Thursday. Ullmark has a concussion.
Chad Johnson will start for the Sabres in Nashville on Saturday, and whether Wilcox gets a game at all has yet to be determined. The 25-year-old has never appeared in an NHL game despite dressing for contests with both Tampa Bay and Florida.
That's not to say Wilcox can't make an impact on the team regardless of his playing time. The goalie is popular in the dressing room of the Rochester Americans, so much so that Casey Nelson was beaming when he was asked about him.
"He brings that laughter, pleasant vibe," Nelson said. "I mean, I'm sitting here having this interview with you and I'm smiling just thinking about it.
"He never has a bad day. That's how it should be. This is a game we love to play, and you should never have a bad day. Obviously with losses comes different vibes and some negative stuff but I think at the end of the day, you look and realize where you're at. Every day should be fun."
On the ice, Wilcox has been a reliable option for Rochester, first as a backup to Ullmark and recently as the team's primary goaltender. He's gone 11-7-7 in 28 games with a .903 save percentage and a 2.82 goals-against average.
"Naturally, I like to battle and compete," he said. "Sometimes it gets me a little out of control, so the big thing for me is just continuing to calm my game down, being more composed, be more controlled and then compete and battle and flop around when you have to."

Wilcox was called upon to lead the stretch before and after practice on Friday, joining Casey Mittelstadt as the second new Sabre to do so this week. Coincidentally, the two followed nearly identical paths to the NHL. Both played high school hockey in Minnesota, junior hockey in Green Bay and collegiately at the University of Minnesota.
That Minnesota connection is beginning to run deep in the Buffalo dressing room, with alternate Kyle Okposo having played for the Gophers as well. That's without mentioning Nelson, a graduate of Minnesota State Mankato, and coach Phil Housley, who like Wilcox is a native of St. Paul.
"He's the pride of South St. Paul," Housley quipped. "He's a great kid, and that's why we signed him. He just brings energy, he just works hard down there. I think the guys really appreciate the work that he gives in that role behind Linus at the time and he's won some important games."

Housley said the potential for Wilcox to get in a game will be evaluated on a day-to-day basis. If he does get in, don't expect any Hasek impressions.
"Whenever I do nowadays, my goalie coach is kind of like, 'What are you doing?'" he said, smiling. "It takes away from being controlled, but I don't think anyone can replicate what he did."

Back to Nashville

The Sabres will begin a two-game road trip against the Predators on Saturday. It will mark Housley's first return to Nashville, where he served as an assistant coach for the past four seasons.
"Saturday night in Nashville - any night but mostly Saturday night - it's a really tough play and the crowd will be roaring," he said. "It's going to be a great experience for our guys and a great challenge."

Lines at practice

28 Zemgus Girgensons - 15 Jack Eichel - 29 Jason Pominville
20 Scott Wilson - 90 Ryan O'Reilly - 23 Sam Reinhart
71 Evan Rodrigues - 37 Casey Mittelstadt - 21 Kyle Okposo
67 Benoit Pouliot - 22 Johan Larsson - 13 Nicholas Baptiste
Extra: 17 Jordan Nolan, 51 Kyle Criscuolo
6 Marco Scandella - 55 Rasmus Ristolainen
45 Brendan Guhle - 8 Casey Nelson
41 Justin Falk - 93 Victor Antipin
4 Josh Gorges - 82 Nathan Beaulieu
31 Chad Johnson
32 Adam Wilcox