Vey poised to make debut

Because Colin Fraser stayed on the ice for extra work following the team’s morning skate, and because Jarret Stoll remains day-to-day, indications are that center Linden Vey will make his National Hockey League debut against the Buffalo Sabres tonight at STAPLES Center. Named an alternate captain with the Manchester Monarchs, Vey posted 11 points (3-8=11) in 10 AHL games prior to his call-up last weekend.

Judging by line rushes, it is likely Vey will see the majority of his time centering Kyle Clifford and Jordan Nolan.

Vey, a fourth round pick in 2009, is set to make his debut against Tyler Ennis, a former teammate of his with the WHL’s Medicine Hat Tigers. Ennis has five points (2-3=5) in 17 games with the Sabres.

On whether he has spoken with his family, and whether they’ll be watching:
Yeah, of course. They’ll be watching. Obviously it’s exciting. First one, hopefully I can get into it tonight.

On whether he’s nervous:
A little bit. You’ve just got to think of it as just another hockey game. Obviously it’s a little more than that, but I’ve been playing ever since I was four years old, and I’m looking forward to this. I think there’ll be a little bit of nerves the first shift, but once you get into it, I’ll be fine.

On whether he has spoken to any of the other players for advice:
Like everybody else, I think you just keep it simple. I think you don’t want to try to do too much. It’s your first game, and you don’t want to make too many mistakes. You just go out there, play your game, and like I said, just keep things simple.

On any favorite players he had when he was younger:
When I grew up, I liked Lemieux, Mario Lemieux. Who didn’t? He was such an amazing player. Actually, I was 11 years old when he first came back. In 2001 my dad surprised me and took me to Calgary to watch him. I’ll never forget that day. We got to meet him after the game and everything. [Reporter; How old were you?] I think I was 11 years old. [Reporter: That was a pretty long drive, huh?] We actually flew. It was an hour and a half flight, but we flew into Calgary and spent the weekend, so it was a pretty special weekend.

On whether he has any family or friends currently in Los Angeles:
No. The unfortunate thing is you never know if you’;re playing or not, and with everything being so expensive to fly out, you never know. So unfortunately they’re not here, but I’m sure they’ll be watching.

On his hometown of Wakaw, Saskatchewan:
It’s 15 minutes northeast of Saskatoon. [Reporter: How big of a town?] A thousand people. Really small. Everybody knows everybody. [Reporter: You’ve got Dwight King beat. I think his hometown is like 6,000]. Yeah, it’s really small. I actually played against his hometown a lot when we were younger. Never against him – he’s a couple years older.

Wikipedia pictures of Wakaw, SK:
Wakaw2

Wakaw

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