'Pure excitement' | Thompson to represent Sabres at All-Star Game

Tage Thompson was called into Don Granato's office Thursday morning, before the Sabres held their team meeting and took the ice for practice at KeyBank Center.
Granato had good news: Thompson had been selected to represent the Sabres at the NHL All-Star Game, the latest honor in what has been a remarkable season for the 25-year-old forward.
The NHL announced the initial eight-man rosters for each division on Thursday night, with one player selected from each of the league's 32 clubs. The three remaining players on each roster (two skaters, one goaltender) will be selected as part of the NHL All-Star Fan Vote, which begins at 9 p.m. Thursday and runs through January 17.
All-Star Weekend will be held on February 3 and 4 in Sun Rise, Florida. Thompson said he plans to be accompanied by his wife, Rachel, and their son Brooks, who turns six months old on Friday. He described his emotion Thursday as "pure excitement."

"I think you dream of playing in the NHL, winning a Stanley Cup, being an NHL All-Star," he said. "To get selected and be able to go is a pretty cool feeling."
Thompson ranks second in the NHL with 30 goals, three behind leader Connor McDavid. He is tied with Jason Robertson for third in the league with 55 points.
He is on pace to score 68 goals, which would mark the second-highest total in Sabres history. His pace of 125 points would rank third.
Thompson enjoyed a breakout season in 2020-21, when he was a finalist for the All-Star Game as Buffalo's "Last Man In" candidate. He finished the season with 38 goals, a remarkable total for a player who had scored a combined 18 goals in three seasons prior.
When Thompson scored his 30th goal on April 1 of last season, Granato - a believer in Thompson since their days together at the U.S. National Team Development Program - told him on the bench he had more in him. Thompson scored his 30th goal this season on January 3.
"It's not a surprise," Granato said. "Everything he's doing, you could see, not only did he have the potential to do it and the capability to do it, you could see he had the determination to do it through the daily work ethic and the routing he has established."
Thompson was named NHL Third Star of the Month for December, a month that saw him earn back-to-back Second Star of the Week honors from the league. He has created a season's worth of highlights in three months, ranging from 100 mile-per-hour slap shots to knee-buckling dekes in the paint.
Thompson has scored six points in two separate games this season; there had only been 10 such games in Sabres history before this season. He and Pat LaFontaine are the only Sabres players to have two such games in a single season.

Thompson's first six-point game was a four-goal, two-assist effort on Halloween. He scored five goals along with an assist for an encore during Buffalo's 9-4 victory in Columbus on December 8. Dave Andreychuk is the only other Sabres player to score five goals in a game.
Even after that historic performance, Thompson had his sights set forward.
"The great and the bad part about it is you have a night like this, but tomorrow is a new day," he said that night. "You can't be satisfied. Obviously, it's a great achievement. You want to be happy for yourself. But at the same time, there's more to do. We're not where we want to be as a team and it's my job to help us get there."
The Sabres have won seven of their last eight games thanks in large part to Thompson's consistent dominance. When he was held off the score sheet during a loss in Ottawa on Sunday - a game he came inches from tying late - he demanded more of himself afterward.
He responded with his third hat trick of the season in a comeback victory in Washington on Tuesday, a game that held dual significance following the hospitalization of Buffalo Bills safety Damar Hamlin one night prior. After wearing a "Love For 3" jersey into the arena, Thompson scored his third goal of the night exactly three minutes into overtime.

He reflected on the game and what it meant for Buffalo after practice on Thursday.
"I think we have a lot of guys that truly do love the City of Buffalo and want to see it flourish and do well," he said. "I think for us, from our standpoint, all we can do is continue to work hard and try to turn this team around and try and win some games, get into playoffs and bring some life to the city.
"Whatever we can do away from the rink to help the community when it's hurting, we're going to do. This is home for me and for obviously everyone in this room. You want to take care of your home and the people around it."