Sharpen Up: May 14, 2018

The 2018 IIHF World Championship roars on and we're inching closer and closer to the start of our 2018 NHL Draft coverage.
Here's what you need to know.

Ryan O'Reilly and Johan Larsson are competing for gold at Worlds with Larsson and his Swedish countrymates sitting a bit prettier than O'Reilly and his Canadian brethren.
With one game remaining in the preliminary round, Sweden currently sits atop Group A with 17 points, four points ahead of Russia, whom they'll play on Tuesday.
Canada is currently in fourth place with a crucial game against Latvia set for 2:15 p.m. ET on Monday. They'll face Germany on Tuesday.
We'll keep you updated here.
Remaining schedule
Monday: Canada vs. Latvia (2:15 p.m.)
Tuesday: Canada vs. Germany (10:15 a.m.) // Russia vs. Sweden (2:15 p.m.)
Thursday: Quarterfinal Round
Saturday: Semifinal Round
Sunday:Medal Round

Getting ready for the Draft

The 2018 NHL Scouting Combine begins on May 27 when some of the top draft-eligible prospects will be in town to meet with teams and undergo performance testing. The testing day is scheduled for June 2 at HarborCenter and while it's closed to the public, we'll have complete updates for you here on Sabres.com.

Buffalo holds the top pick in the 2018 NHL Draft after winning the Draft Lottery.
If you missed the behind-the-scenes video of how Buffalo's lucky numbers came up, check it out here:

Amerks schedule format, opponents announce for 2018-19

The Rochester Americans will remain in the AHL's North Division, which will expand to eight teams in 2018-19 to welcome the addition of the Cleveland Monsters, who played out of the Central Division for the last two seasons. The Amerks will again be joined in the North Division by the Belleville Senators, Binghamton Devils, Laval Rocket, Syracuse Crunch, Toronto Marlies and Utica Comets.
As was the case last season, Rochester will face Syracuse more than any other team during its 63rd AHL season as the Amerks and Crunch are set to meet 12 times (six home, six road).
The Amerks will play intrastate rivals Binghamton and Utica 10 times each (five home, five road) and will face-off against Cleveland, the top developmental team of the Columbus Blue Jackets, eight times (four home, four road) as the Monsters shift to the Eastern Conference. Rochester's remaining Divisional matchups also include six (three home, three road) against Toronto, last year's Macgregor Kilpatrick Trophy winners, and four each (two home, two road) against Belleville and Laval.
The Amerks will again play the entire Atlantic Division this coming season, with four matchups (two home, two road) each against the Bridgeport Sound Tigers, Hartford Wolf Pack and Charlotte Checkers, who joined the Eastern Conference prior to the 2017-18 campaign.
Similar to last season, they will also face the Providence Bruins and Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins twice (one home, one road), while also seeing the Hershey Bears, Lehigh Valley Phantoms and Springfield Thunderbirds for a pair of meetings (one home, one road).
The AHL will expand to an all-time high 31 teams beginning in 2018-19 as the Colorado Eagles are set to make their franchise debut. Check out all the details here.
For more on Rochester, be sure to check out this written feature about how players developed pride in the Amerks crest. Here's a sampling:

It was a simple question, but one that left Linus Ullmark searching for an answer nonetheless. Much of that had to do with the timing - the Rochester Americans had just been swept in their first-round series against the Syracuse Crunch, a premature conclusion to their first postseason run in four years.
In the dressing room after the game, Ullmark was asked to describe what had been like to play with a group that described itself as 'special' so often this season. The goaltender, defined as much by his optimism as his skill in net, smiled. His eyes began to well. He began to speak, then stopped to take a deep breath.
"It's been fun. It's been real fun," was all he said before stopping again to regain his composure, eventually asking to move to the next question. His silence in that moment spoke volumes about the disappoint he felt for how the Amerks' season had ended. It said even more about what had gone right in Rochester over the previous eight months.
Ullmark explained his emotion when he spoke again less than 48 hours later, this time during his exit interview with the media at Blue Cross Arena. It was not only the product of defeat, he said, but also the realization that their group had likely played its last game together.
Amerks.com also rolled out this handy Season In Review and they'll be sharing a bunch of end-of-season interviews over the next few weeks.