Peyton Krebs scanned the visitors’ dressing room in Nationwide Arena in Columbus while trying to decide Wednesday morning which of his Buffalo Sabres teammates was the best at the ritual of reading the starting lineup before each game.
“Someone did a leg kick once,” Krebs said with a smirk. “Hmmm. Who did the leg kick?”
Krebs then inquired with defenseman Jacob Bryson, who quickly responded: “Joki!”
The Sabres’ cameras didn’t capture the moment for their social-media followers, but Krebs and Bryson recalled that defenseman Henri Jokiharju did a leg kick when announcing each of the club’s five starters before a game recently.
“Ukko!” Krebs mimicked with an exaggerated kick. “It’s fun to lighten things up before the game and get the boys fired up.”
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It’s a storied tradition in hockey that someone in the dressing room read the starting lineup in front of the entire team. Sabres captain Kyle Okposo recalled the practice being done at times throughout his 16-year NHL career, but it didn’t become a routine in Buffalo until last season.
"Try to get a W and play with your heart."Odin Okposo delivered the pregame hype! 🔥#LetsGoBuffalo pic.twitter.com/huJvhtOMqF
— Buffalo Sabres (@BuffaloSabres) March 6, 2022
There wasn’t a grand plan to begin doing it, either. Like most rituals in the sport, this one was driven, at least partially, by superstition. Krebs, for example, read the five starters before a March game in his hometown, Calgary, and the Sabres went on to beat the Flames in overtime.
“We went on a bit of a heater when it was Krebsy’s turn,” Okposo said with a laugh. “I think we just did it one day and, like anything, you get a little superstitious because you win and all right, let’s do it again and then it becomes a thing.”
The Sabres gave fans a behind-the-scenes look at the pregame routine last season when their cameras captured Krebs shouting each of the five names while energetically walking around the dressing room. The 21-year-old wasn’t a natural. He admittedly did a poor job in Calgary and ahead of the Sabres’ next game in Vancouver before he learned more energy was needed.
“I messed the whole thing up,” he joked. “They didn’t post the video for that one. We won in overtime, so you’ve got to do it again, obviously. I did it in Vancouver and Don’s like, ‘You’ve got to do something better there. It’s pretty bad.’”
We have seen rookie winger JJ Peterka stand in the room and list each of the five starters while pointing in the air. Defenseman Owen Power read the lineup card on his birthday, then a few more times, including once when sitting at his dressing-room stall before he was able to pull his hockey pants all the way up to his waist.
Nearby, Jeff Skinner and Dylan Cozens were laughing at Power’s fashion faux pas.
The most memorable in the past year wasn’t by a player on the Sabres’ roster. Okposo’s son, Odin, announced the starters ahead of the club’s game on kids day and even gave a pep talk before including each player’s number with their name: “Try your best to win. Try to get a W and play with your heart.”
“You get into the mundane parts of the season and it’s tough,” Odin's father explained. “It’s hard. Games 30-65 are not easy. You’re starting to get to that point, middle of winter, Tuesday night game and you’re like, ‘Oh man, I don’t have it tonight.’ But you’ve got to find ways to be fresh and it’s definitely nice to incorporate stuff like that throughout the year to freshen things up.”
World Juniors update
Sabres prospects Isak Rosen and Noah Ostlund were named to Sweden’s roster for the IIHF World Junior Championship, which will be held in Nova Scotia from Dec. 26 through Jan. 5.
A first-round draft choice in 2021, Rosen has three goals and 14 points in 20 games during his first season with the Rochester Americans. The winger was a standout for Sweden at the rescheduled world junior tournament in August when he had four goals and five points in seven games to help the country win bronze.
"We're very excited for Rosen," said Rochester coach Seth Appert. "We anticipate that (rookie forward Jiri Kulich) will be chosen as well for (Czechia). ... (Rosen's) been so good. He's done such a good job as a young 19-year-old going through adversity, being away from home. And growing his game here in North America."
Ostlund is a key contributor for Djurgardens IF in the club’s quest to earn promotion to Sweden’s top professional league after being relegated at the end of last season. Through 19 games this season, Ostlund has two goals and 11 points while playing center and wing. The 2022 first-round pick is expected to play his natural position, center, for Sweden.
Matt Savoie, who the Sabres selected ninth overall in July, didn’t make Canada’s roster for the tournament. A 5-foot-9 forward, Savoie has 12 goals and 29 points in 23 games for the Winnipeg Ice of the Western Hockey League.
Rather than attending Canada’s evaluation camp in August, he chose to rest the ailing shoulder that prevented him from participating in Sabres development camp in July. Savoie had some promising moments during Sabres training camp before he was sent back to Winnipeg.
Non-Sabres news
Hamburg native Quentin Musty was named the Ontario Hockey League’s player of the week after he recorded two goals and nine points with a plus-4 rating in two games for the Sudbury Wolves.
Musty, 17, extended his point streak to 12 games Sunday afternoon with a Wolves franchise record-tying seven-point performance (one goal, six assists) in 13-2 win over the Niagara Ice Dogs. No Wolves player had totaled seven points since Mike Fisher and Norm Milley accomplished the feat in the same game on Dec. 18, 1998.
Musty leads Sudbury with 34 points, including nine goals, in 22 games this season. He was selected first overall in the OHL draft in 2021, and he was recently given an ‘A’ rating by NHL Central Scouting for the 2023 NHL draft.
