Delivering synthetic ice to every player was one of the measures taken by the Sabres to ensure the team remained sharp while its facilities were shut down due to COVID-19. The Sabres went a full week without practicing as a team after seeing two players enter the NHL's COVID protocol last Tuesday.
The goal of the synthetic ice was to allow players to work on their stickhandling. The organization also delivered stationary bikes to aid with endurance training.
"They were trying to do whatever they could, which is phenomenal on their part to help keep guys sharp and do what they can to prepare us for coming back," Staal said.
In addition to physical work, the downtime was used to review video geared toward building on the positives identified through Buffalo's first 10 games. Communication began with individual clips, then built to 5-on-5 loops and finally special teams.
Some players went out of their way to watch hockey throughout the week. Jack Eichel said Wednesday that, in addition to studying other players, he watched some of his own film from last season to try and recreate the habits that led to his 36-goal campaign.
"We have a real nice system that we can actually break it down, with Xs and Os, on the screen, gives them a little delay, we can put some verbiage on there," assistant coach Steve Smith said. "So, we just tried to do our best to keep them engaged for the first few days, for certain."
Smith has been running the practices since the Sabres returned to KeyBank Center on Tuesday due to the absence of coach Ralph Krueger, who announced he had tested positive for COVID-19 last week. The three sessions so far have been geared toward conditioning and skill drills, each consisting of 14 or 15 skaters and three goaltenders. Nine players remain on the COVID-related absence list.
Smith said he expects a larger group for practice on Saturday, indicating the Sabres could add from Rochester to round out their roster. That would leave two days to prepare for their next scheduled game, against the New York Islanders at KeyBank Center on Monday.
"To this point, we were trying to get some pace going from the first couple days," Smith said. "I felt like the first day the guys were a little in awe of what was happening and how we were going to approach this. But the last two days I felt we were really good.
"There was a lot of good substance to the practice and guys had good energy. They had a lot of fun, but they also worked really, really hard, and I think just trying to get up to speed again. I mean, we're going to meet a moving train on Monday night when we see the Islanders. They've been playing through this, so we have to get ourselves prepared for the game."
Staal, meanwhile, might have his junior teammates back in Minnesota to thank for helping him get ready.
"I actually feel pretty good," he said. "I didn't feel very good the first day but after these last two, energy's up and a couple more days before the games start."
