It appears another Sabre is ready to jump the pond.
That’s the word out of Buffalo on Friday as team captain Jason Pominville is reportedly set to sign with Mannheim of the German league, according to Bill Hoppe of the Olean Times Herald.
Pominville told Hoppe he’s been in talks with Mannheim for a while and figured now was a good time to join the club -- especially in light of stalled CBA negotiations.
“If it does get settled quick, then I’ll be able to skate for a few weeks, a month – whatever it is,” Pominville said. “It’ll be a mini training camp. And if not, I’ll have a team for the rest of the season.
“I think it’s a move I wanted to do. I just want to play.”
Once the signing’s official, Pominville will become the third locked-out NHLer to join Mannheim. The Deutsche Eishockey Liga club already has Florida’s Marcel Goc and Boston’s Dennis Seidenberg in the mix and also has a standing offer to German-born Jochen Hecht, Pominville’s teammate in Buffalo.
“It’s a team my family felt comfortable going to,” Pominville explained. “We know that maybe eventually Jochen will be there. We’ll be living close to our friends. That’s the good part about it.”
With the move, Pominville becomes the eighth Sabre to have signed overseas during the lockout, joining Tyler Ennis (Switzerland), Andrej Sekera (Slovak Extraliga), Thomas Vanek (Austria), Tyler Myers (Austria), Alex Sulzer (Germany), Jhonas Enroth (Sweden) and Mike Weber (Norway).