Kukla's Korner Hockey

Kukla's Korner Hockey

Jeff Skinner Is Dedicated To The Game

08/08/2019 at 9:52am EDT

from Lance Lysowski of the Buffalo News,

The puck careened off the blade of Jeff Skinner’s stick and wide of the empty net, banging off the glass near a group of unsuspecting spectators on a Friday night in late July.

Skinner slightly shook his head and clenched his lips, yet he quickly took his place in front of the net to try to tip the next shot from his skills coach, Bill Bowler.

Skinner scored on the next shot and almost every other attempt that followed. The two then gathered the loose pucks and continued the hourlong workout in Paramount Ice Complex, a bleacherless rink with four ice surfaces in North York.

These workouts with Bowler prepare Skinner for a number of situations he’ll face when trying to score goals for the Buffalo Sabres — from attempting a quick wraparound after gathering the puck off the end boards to batting a puck out of the air backhanded — but they are only one piece of an offseason regimen that sparked a career year and earned the 27-year-old All-Star winger an eight-year, $72 million contract in June.

"We feel very comfortable in how Jeff handles himself off the ice, how he's dedicated to conditioning and training," Sabres General Manager Jason Botterill said shortly after the contract was signed.

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About Kukla's Korner Hockey

Paul Kukla founded Kukla’s Korner in 2005 and the site has since become the must-read site on the ‘net for all the latest happenings around the NHL.

From breaking news to in-depth stories around the league, KK Hockey is updated with fresh stories all day long and will bring you the latest news as quickly as possible.

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