By KEVIN OKLOBZIJA
There’s a bit of an unknown element when a veteran player who has spent considerable time in the NHL is reassigned to an American Hockey League team.
Will they be bitter? Will there be a woe-is-me attitude? Will they buy into all that is their new team, when deep down they believe they should still be in the NHL?
In the case of Nicolas Aube-Kubel, the answers are no, no and absolutely yes.
Demoted to the Rochester Americans by the Buffalo Sabres on Jan. 28, the 10th-year veteran winger has regained his scoring touch while eagerly assuming a leadership role with his much-younger teammates.
Aube-Kubel earned first-star honors on Wednesday, scoring one goal and setting up another as the Amerks vaulted to a 3-0 first-period lead and defeated the high-powered Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins 5-2 at Blue Cross Arena at the War Memorial.
“I think he’s finding his game,” Amerks coach Michael Leone said. “It’s a tough situation for a player to come down; there’s a lot of emotions but he’s been great.”
Wednesday was Aube-Kubel’s 10th game with the Amerks, who pushed their AHL-best record to 34-14-3-1. He has produced four goals, three assists and seven points while providing speed as well as physicality on the wall.
“He’s really happy to be here and I respect him a lot,” Leone said. “The guy has played over 300 games (302) in the NHL, he’s won a Stanley Cup, and it would be easy to come down and pout. But his attitude has been great.”
Indeed, he’s one of the many smiling faces in the dressing room.
“Unbelievable dude, he brings positive energy every day,” said goalie Devon Levi, who stopped 28 Penguins shots. “And he’s a helluva player on top of it.”
Those attributes were, after all, some of the reasons why the Sabres signed him as a free agent on July 1. But he just never found his rhythm in Buffalo. He suffered an injury in his first game and then when healthy he never found a groove, or playing time.
In 19 games, he scored just one goal and one assist, and as January came to a close, the reassignment was inevitable. He has regained his stride in his month with the Amerks.
“I’ve found my game a little more and it feels good to play more minutes and start skating and hitting,” said the 28-year-old Aube-Kubel, who won a Stanley Cup with the Colorado Avalanche in 2021-22.
A second-round draft pick of the Philadelphia Flyers in 2014, he had only spent a portion of training camp with some of the Amerks, so for when he arrived a “Hi My Name Is” nametag may have been appropriate.
Except he wasn’t a stranger for long.
“Growing up I switched schools like seven times in seven years so making new friends was never a problem, it’s part of my personality,” he said. “This group is so fun. I’m surprised how old I am compared to the other guys. I’ve always been one of the younger guys on other teams but it’s fun to see guys respect me and from there trying to push them and help them.”
One of those youngers is 18-year-old Finnish rookie Konsta Helenius, Aube-Kubel’s linemate.
“He’s super young so I’m always trying to give him feedback, help him out a little bit,” he said. “When I played my first year at 20 years old I had so much to learn, so I think he’s way ahead of where I was at 20 years old.”
Aube-Kubel helped set up the game’s first goal, by defenseman Ryan Johnson, just 3:14 into the game, then Mason Jobst scored on a power play at 9:24 off a Riley Fiddler-Schultz set-up.
When Aube-Kubel scored on a partial breakaway at 14:12, the Amerks had a 3-0 lead. Levi was credited with the only assist on the goal. He made a blocker save on Valtteri Puustinen’s wrister from above the right circle and the rebound caromed out above the left circle and Aube-Kubel took off.
“I was backchecking and when I turned around there was no one on the ice in front of me,” he said.
Noah Ostlund’s eighth goal – and seventh in his past 19 games – gave the Amerks a 4-1 lead 1:23 into the third period. The rookie center has produced 18 points over those 19 games after having just one assist in his first 12 games.
“It’s just not producing,” Ostlund said. “I’m playing better, too.”
Isak Rosen’s 26th goal, into an empty-net goal at 18:54, clinched the Amerks 11th win in the past 13 games.
“Our starts have been unbelievable,” Levi said. “It’s tough to come back from 3-0.”
Amerks beat a very good team last night. They are fast, aggressive, and dangerous on breakouts. They came into the game with the fewest regulation losses (also the fewest games played to be ‘fair’) And the Amerks stayed with them. After an excellent 1st period, Amerks slowed down in the 2nd but played well in the 3rd to capture the victory.
The crowd was small and we were all pretty confused when a faceoff penalty was called (delay of game?) Never an explanation. But it gave a swarming Pens team a 6 on 4 advantage with over 3 minutes to play and a 4-2 deficit. Things got dicey but Amerks did a great job killing the penalty.
We are starting to expect this team to do great things when the games are on the line.
As for the Sabres, Amerk fans hope they play well enough to leave their paws off of us but not well enough to make the playoffs, ensuring a strong Amerks squad into the post season. With 11 points to make up to get to the 2nd WC and 7 teams to leap over, even a good winning streak for Buffalo won’t be enough to get it done realistically.