Sabres loan Nylander to Sweden junior team
Team Koe lead Ben Hebert, left to right, third Marc Kennedy, skip Kevin Koe and second Brent Laing celebrate their win over Team Mcewen during the men’s final at the 2017 Roar of the Rings Olympic Curling Trials in Ottawa.
“It’s a heck of a lot tougher to win now than it was the last time I went in 2010,” Hebert said. “The semifinal and final were tougher games, but we had games during the round robin where we were running guys out of the building in five ends.
“We don’t expect that this time. These world teams have put a lot of work in, a lot of time, we’ve played them all on the tour and they’re very, very good teams. We’re going to have to go there and play a really good week.”
Koe and Hebert live and work in Calgary while Kennedy is
from St. Albert, Alta., and Laing is from Ontario. Kennedy, Laing and Hebert have each won three men’s world championships in their careers and Koe two. They claimed their one world title as a foursome in 2016.
They don’t lack big-game experience, even if Koe and Laing are going to a Winter Games for the first time.
“From playing in those other events, it just kind of gives us some experience,” Hebert said. “It would have been a different story I think going in if we hadn’t been in world championships or if I hadn’t been in the
Olympics before.
“I think the things that go along with the Olympics, the outside stuff, the opening ceremonies, staying in the village and meeting all the other athletes, that stuff’s great. Once you get to the field of play and once we actually get into the action, it’s just going to be an event we need to play great at.”
Koe and company will play Jan. 11 to 14 in the World Financial Group Continental Cup of Curling in London, Ont., and Jan. 16 to 21 in the World Curling Tour’s Meridian Canadian Open in Camrose, Alta. BUFFALO, N.Y. — The Buffalo Sabres have assigned prospect forward Alexander Nylander to play for Sweden in the upcoming world junior hockey championship. Nylander was the Sabres’ firstround pick in the 2016 draft and will be appearing in his third consecutive junior championship, which opens in Buffalo on Tuesday. Nylander led Sweden in scoring in the previous two tournaments. Sweden’s lineup already includes defenceman Rasmus Dahlin, who is considered among the top-rated prospects eligible for NHL draft in June. Nylander has two goals and four assists in 15 games the Sabres’ American Hockey League affiliate in Rochester this season. He missed the first two months with a lower body injury.