Prospects reunite at camp
Sabres locals grew up together
LEWISTON — Patrick Kaleta remembers playing against Tim Kennedy and Andrew Orpik. He also remembers he didn’t like them much.
Kaleta would ride to Holiday Twin Rinks or the Nike Base with his Hamburg Hawks equipment stowed in the back. Kennedy and Orpik, meanwhile, would trek to the rinks with their Buffalo Regals gear ready to go. For a good seven years in the 1990s, Kaleta would barrel into the corners with his Western New York foes right alongside him.
“We were pretty big rivals back then,” Kaleta said. “I would say we weren’t the biggest fans of each other.”
Gradually, the trio grew up and split up. Kennedy went west to Iowa and Michigan. Orpik moved east to Massachusetts. Kaleta headed north to Peterborough, Ont. They kept skating, though, and they’ve found that you can go home again.
Orpik, Kaleta and Kennedy are back on the same rink, and this time the 22-year-olds are all on the same team. The Buffalo Sabres’ summer development camp has a Western New York feel with those three joining Lackawanna’s Vincent Scarsella on the ice at Niagara University.
“It’s a lot of fun,” Orpik said in Dwyer Arena. “You see how each guy develops in terms of where they were when they were younger and how they are now. You never stop talking to the guys. Timmy and I remained friends even when we weren’t playing together, talking to each other, seeing how things are going.
“It’s interesting the different paths guys take, but sometimes eventually you end up in the same spot again.”
Each has a different goal at the Sabres’ camp. Kaleta played 40 games for Buffalo last season, and the Angola native wants to learn more offensive skills to make sure he stays in the big leagues. Kennedy is in his first month as a pro, and the South Buffalonian is trying to show he belongs in the NHL right away.
“I’m hoping to turn a few heads,” he said.
Orpik’s stay with the Sabres ends when the camp closes Tuesday. The seventh-round pick from 2004 will head back to Boston College for his senior year.
“You look at those guys, and those guys are unbelievable players,” said the East Amherst native. “They’ve taken the next step in their career, and I still have to develop a little bit in college. My situation at BC is so great, I love the school so much, that staying four years isn’t a burden whatsoever.”
Their paths may be different, but they believe their journeys have had the same result. They’ve shown local kids that mornings in Western New York’s rinks can end with nights in NHL arenas.
“It’s just gives them a chance to look at us and realize, ‘Man, it can really happen if we just work for it,’ ” Kaleta said.
Scarsella is trying to follow their examples. The 18-year-old is in his first professional environment after completing his freshman year at Canisius College. The St. Francis product had 31 points in 37 games to earn the invitation.
“College is one thing, but when you’re playing the best of the best that are drafted, I was really curious to see how I’d do,” Scarsella said. “It’s been fun.”
Scarsella is 5-foot-7, 155 pounds, and it’s made for two interesting moments. In one, he came out on the winning side of a chase for a loose puck with first-round pick Tyler Myers, who towers over everyone at 6-7.
“I think he kind of went over me,” Scarsella said.
In the other, he took a lighthearted shot at Kaleta. Scarsella got to know him while growing up with the hard-hitting forward’s brother.
“He’s kind of an intimidating guy,” Scarsella said. “I asked him to fight today, but he kind of backed down.”
He finished the story with a laugh, but like Kennedy, Kaleta and Orpik, at least he has a story to tell. It features local guys, local rinks and national dreams.
“It’s just showing there’s good talent that’s around this area,” Kennedy said. “It’s good for the area.”
