Sabres Dahlin tells AP he’s better prepared for 2nd season
BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) » Last season didn’t sit well with Buffalo Sabres defenseman Rasmus Dahlin.
Unaccustomed to losing and no longer a rookie, Dahlin told The Associated Press on Thursday he feels better prepared and is far more driven to help transform the Sabres into contenders.
“I’m putting more pressure on myself. We’re going to be a winning team and be in the playoffs,” Dahlin said. “I think everyone is putting more pressure on ourselves now, and we’re ready to go.”
The first player selected in the 2018 draft is so eager to put last year behind him, he was among the first Sabres players to hit the ice at the team’s practice facility, some three weeks before teams open training camp. He arrived in Buffalo from his native Sweden on Tuesday, and would have been back in town a few days earlier if not for travel complications.
The rookie of the year fi
nalist is motivated after how Buffalo unraveled immediately following a 10game winning streak that had the team briefly sitting first in the overall standings at the end of November. The Sabres then won just 16 of their final 57 games to miss the playoffs for an eighth straight season, the NHL’s longest active drought.
“We played so well in the beginning of the season, so that made you frustrated because we know how good we can play,” he said. “Yeah, we’re going to get something good going on here.”
Expressing unhappiness and acknowledging frustration is new for Dahlin, who spent much of last year looking mostly at the bright side.