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Tuesday, September 5
Updated: September 7, 1:54 PM ET
 
Several in center of position battles

By Charles Avellino
Special to ESPN.com

 
CAMP AT A GLANCE
 Dominik Hasek
The Sabres need Hasek on the ice as much as possible.
  Coach: Lindy Ruff
'99-00 record: 35-36-11
Camp location: Jack Gatecliff Arena (St. Catherines, Ontario)
Report date: Sept. 8

Preseason schedule:
Sept. 16: Boston
Sept. 17: at Chicago
Sept. 20: Chicago
Sept. 22: Columbus (Syracuse, N.Y.)
Sept. 23: Columbus (Rochester, N.Y.)
Sept. 27: at Toronto
Sept. 29: Washington (Erie, Pa.)
Sept. 30: at Boston

Buffalo is hoping that the large number of trades made at the deadline last March, in addition to a healthy Dominik Hasek, is a formula which will equate to a return to the Cup finals. While having veterans like Doug Gilmour and Chris Gratton around for a full season will certainly help Buffalo, the club can't rely on Hasek to bail them out on a regular basis. Scoring goals will be an issue, once again, and everyone will be encouraged if Dave Andreychuk has a good camp. The left wing, who spent parts of 11 seasons in Buffalo, scored 30 or more goals seven times for the Sabres.

Here's a look at the rest of Buffalo's training camp.

Biggest questions: Scoring, Hasek
Where's the offense going to come from this season? Buffalo finished 20th (213 goals) in total offense last season. Many players who had career years in '98-99 -- Mike Peca, Michal Grosek, Curtis Brown, Dixon Ward -- had letdowns last season. A healthy Gilmour and Gratton should help offensively, but if Peca misses all of training camp, there could be trouble.

Can Hasek stay healthy for an entire season? The Dominator appeared in a league-leading 72 games in '97-98, then 64 contests the following year and just 35 last season. At 35, it might be unreasonable to expect Hasek to start more than 65 games. If he goes down for an extended period of time, the Sabres become quite average.

Biggest position battle: Center
The Sabres have five players entering training camp who could be No. 2 centers on most teams. Gilmour, Brown, Gratton, Peca and Stu Barnes. Gratton was the only one of the five last season who did not score at least 20 goals. The problem with the five is that none are legitimate No. 1 centers. Thus, they will battle for the top two spots, and only four centers will play, meaning someone might switch positions.

Future watch
Here, ESPN.com looks at one or two young players who could make an impact, either now or in the future.

Dimitri Kalinin (Defense):
Kalinin, 20, is not going to bowl anyone over with his offensive skills, nor is he going to be a punishing, physical defenseman in the NHL. However, the 6-foot-2, 198-pound Russian can be a steady defensemen someday. He has excellent skating, passing and puckhandling skills, and the '98 first-round choice (18th overall) will get a chance to make the lineup.

Barrett Heisten (Left wing):
Heisten, the 20th overall pick in '99, has been receiving excellent tutelage the last couple of seasons from University of Maine head coach Shawn Walsh. The left wing reached the double-digit mark in goals each of the past two seasons playing for the Black Bears. Heisten, 20, could make a push for a job this season. The Anchorage native displays good speed at 6-foot-1, 189 pounds and can handle the puck well.

Training camp roster
Goaltenders: Martin Biron, Dominik Hasek, Ryan Miller, Mika Noronen, Gyslain Rousseau.

Defensemen: Brian Campbell, Gerard DiCaire, Jason Holland, Doug Houda, Mike Hurlbut, Doug Janik, Dimitri Kalinin, Matt Kinch, Jay McKee, Sean McMorrow, James Patrick, Richard Smehlik, Henrik Tallinder, Luc Theoret, Rhett Warrener, Jason Woolley, Alexei Zhitnik.

Left wings: Dave Andreychuk, Vasily Bizayev, Eric Boulton, Ryan Courtney, Denis Denisov, Denis Hamel, Denis Hamel, Barrett Heisten, Seneque Hyacinthe, Paul Kruse, Karel Mosovsky, Mike Pandolfo, Andrew Peters, Tim Preston, Erik Rasmussen, Miroslav Satan, Darren van Oene.

Centers: Stu Barnes, Curtis Brown, Paul Gaustad, Doug Gilmour, Chris Gratton, Artem Kriukov, Francois Methot, Michael Peca, Kamil Piros, Brad Self, Chris Taylor, Michael Zigomanis.

Right wings: Jeremy Adduono, Maxim Afinogenov, Milan Bartovic, Craig Brunel, Matt Davidson, Bret Dececco, J.P. Dumont, Ales Kotalik, Jaroslav Kristek, Norm Milley, David Moravec, Rob Ray, Vaclav Varada.

Charles Avellino is a lead NHL researcher at ESPN.





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