Articles in Buffalo Sabres

from Lyle Richardson at The Hockey News,

Patrick Kane remains the biggest name still available in this summer's free-agent market.

Rehabbing from a hip procedure, the 34-year-old winger isn't expected to be ready to return to action until December. By then, his agent has indicated he will field contract offers from potential Stanley Cup contenders.

Stephen Whyno of the Associated Press reported rumors linking Kane to the Buffalo Sabres. After years of rebuilding, they're a team on the rise with a solid core of young talent that could benefit from a player with his Stanley Cup experience.

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from Heather Engel at the NHL website.

The times are changing for the Buffalo Sabres and with them are greater expectations.

After finishing one point behind the Florida Panthers for the second wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs last season, the Sabres appear poised to take the next step and potentially end the longest active NHL playoff drought at 12 seasons.

"Last year, there was no expectations," Buffalo captain Kyle Okposo said May 25. "Everybody's writing rosy articles and this group is a good team, it's becoming a good team. And that's great, but how do you do that with expectations? There's guys that are starting to get bigger contracts, there's guys that are starting to get noticed nationally. There's going to be lofty expectations next year and I think that we can't run from that.

"The time is now. Our window, I think it's opening, and we have to be prepared for that."

General manager Kevyn Adams and the front office has allowed one of the youngest rosters in the NHL to grow together, even with some Atlantic Division rivals opting for more of a splash in the offseason.

read on

Eichel got too much too soon in Buffalo because it was the only card Pegula and then-GMs Tim Murray and Jason Botterill could play. He got the big-money contract and the captaincy before he had done a whole lot to deserve it. We’ll never know the course of franchise history if the Sabres had made O’Reilly the captain instead of Eichel, like they probably should have. Eichel could have grown into his career and played without that burden, like he can now in Vegas.

-Mike Harrington of the Buffalo News where you can read more on this and other hockey topics too.

from Mike Harrington of the Buffalo News,

Rye. Sourdough. Wheat. French. Buttered. Avocado.

Or maybe just plain burnt.

Any way you slice it, it sure feels like the Buffalo Sabres are toast. And that's a shame because this is a season that has already been filled with more good moments than most of the last five years combined.

Saturday's 2-1 overtime loss to the New York Rangers made it 0-3-1 in the last four games and 1-5-1 in the last seven. You just can't stay close in the wild-card race when the Islanders, Penguins, Panthers and Senators keep winning and you're doing that.

Yes, there are still 17 games left. And the Sabres still have games in hand on the Islanders and Panthers. But the deficit is up to seven points, they're chasing multiple teams and it's going to take a long winning streak to get them back in the hunt.

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The highlights from the game can be watched below.

from Lance Lysowski of the Buffalo News,

Two Buffalo Sabres stood in front of their net as Dallas Stars defenseman Miro Heiskanen carried the puck through the left circle, then sent a quick pass in front.

No one was in position and ready to prevent Jamie Benn, the Stars’ captain, from firing a quick shot past Sabres goalie Eric Comrie for Dallas’ second goal in 18 seconds during the first period Thursday night in KeyBank Center.

The Sabres entered the game only five points out of a playoff spot, yet you’d never know by watching their careless decisions with the puck and leisure coverage in the defensive zone against one of the top teams in the Western Conference.

There were a few bright spots sprinkled in between the myriad of mistakes. Jordan Greenway, the Sabres’ newest forward, scored shortly after Benn to cut the deficit to two, and Kyle Okposo delivered a similar response after another Dallas goal later in the game.

Somehow, it got worse for the Sabres.

They were booed on home ice again after allowing five goals in seven minutes during the third period of a 10-4 loss to the Stars.

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Watch the game highlights below.

from Mike Harrington of the Buffalo News,

We apparently have Weeknight Flu in this town. I just watched the Sabres play last week on a Monday night in Dallas in front of a roaring crowd of more than 18,000. And that's a city that's far pricier, has much worse traffic and was charging $35 for its garage parking. ...

Folks here just want Friday nights or weekend afternoons. As someone who travels, I can tell you that's a Buffalo thing. The buildings are full in most cities on most nights.

The Sabres are 29th out of 32 teams in total attendance and dead last in attendance percentage. They went into Wednesday's game playing in front of just 76.4% of capacity. There are 17 teams at 96% and up, and 22 teams at 93% or higher.

The Sabres aren't revealing their season ticket base but judging by their lowest numbers of the season, you can interpolate it's grown from about 6,500 last year to somewhere around 9,000 this year. Obviously, they have to work to get that higher, whether it's through new purchasers of the full package of lots of folks combing from packs of various sizes.

Winning helps that. Entertaining hockey helps that. You'll have to wait for next season, based largely on the result of this one, to see what kind of bump they get.

You do wish people would be more interested in seeing the Sabres now, and not so focused on the opponent. But people have been burned so much the last 11 years, and even some nights this season, that a big buy-in is simply not going to be automatic.

There is a lot of crabbing about individual game pricing and it's justified. The dynamic pricing model, which makes the price of a hockey ticket play hopscotch over the course of a day, is becoming an industry standard in sports and it's a scourge.

The Sabres should be above it. It comes off as a scam. If I want to see Carolina on Feb. 1, the price of a ticket should be the same on Nov 1, Dec. 1 or Jan. 1. It's not. There shouldn't be upwards of 30 prices for tickets for a game based on location, row number. That's too many.

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"I guess the fans want to see forwards. It is what it is," Dahlin told The Buffalo News after Monday's morning skate in American Airlines Center. "I'm going on vacation and I'm going to have a good time but obviously, I want to be there. That's just how it goes."...

"The rest is well needed for sure," Dahlin said. "A few of us are going to have a good time. Mental break and also a physical break. So I'm excited for that too. Some days you've got to take your day off if you have to, but I think the body gets used to it.

"And I'm better now with taking care of my body off the ice and I'm eating better. I'm sleeping better. Every minute feels like you have to take care of when you're not playing. So it's fun. I can't complain. I like to play."

-Rasmus Dahlin of the Buffalo Sabres on not being selected to the All-Star weekend. Mike Harrington of the Buffalo News has more.

via the YouTube page of the NHL,

Ryan Miller saw his #30 raised to the rafters Thursday night in Buffalo, joining Sabres icons as well as becoming just the second goalie to be enshrined.

from Ryan Miller at The Players' Tribune,

This past summer, I was standing in the crease again at KeyBank Center. No ice, just cement all around. My son, Bodhi, was by my side. We were looking up together at the big screen — like I had done so many times as a Sabre — and Rick Jeanneret was up there, talking to me.

It was surreal to see him up there, to hear him speaking directly to me like that. I’d known Rick since I first got to Buffalo in 2002. He’s an icon and one of the great members of the Buffalo community. Hearing his voice, I remembered nights when I was injured and not in the lineup, and I’d head up to the play-by-play booth and just sit behind him. I couldn’t see the ice that well, but I didn’t need to. Rick painted the picture better than my eyes ever could. He is a huge part of the fabric of the Sabres organization.

So when he said that I’d be having my number 30 jersey put up into the rafters … it was hard not to be emotional. I remember whenever I was playing in net and there was a long TV timeout, I used to look up at the banners of all the greats — the guys who had given everything for Buffalo — Perreault, LaFontaine, Hasek. And to think that my name would be up there, too? It fills me with a lot of pride and appreciation for Buffalo.

And I just wanted to thank you all before I see you this week.

You know, at the end of Rick’s kind and generous speech, he said something really simple that stuck with me.

“Welcome home.”

If you play in the NHL as long as I did, you rent houses in a lot of different places. But there’s a difference between a house and a home. Buffalo, for me, no matter where I live, will always be one of my homes.

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NEW YORK (Dec. 10, 2022) – Buffalo Sabres forward Jeff Skinner has been suspended for three games, without pay, for cross-checking Pittsburgh Penguins forward Jake Guentzel during NHL Game No. 426 in Buffalo on Friday, Dec. 9, the National Hockey League’s Department of Player Safety announced today.

The incident occurred at 19:38 of the third period. Skinner was assessed a match penalty.

Under the terms of the Collective Bargaining Agreement and, based on his average annual salary, Skinner will forfeit $145,945.95. The money goes to the Players’ Emergency Assistance Fund.

Watch below.

Tage Thompson had 5 goals, 4 in the first alone. He had an assist too.

Watch them all in the game highlights.

from Mike Harrington of the Buffalo News,

This can't be happening again.

The way last season ended, you wanted to believe General Manager Kevyn Adams and coach Don Granato were different. You wanted to believe that, finally, someone had an actual plan to lift the Buffalo Sabres out of their decade-long stay in the abyss of the NHL. The way this season started, your faith was reaffirmed.

Remember on Nov. 2 how old Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin & Co. looked trying to chase the Sabres around the ice in the third period at KeyBank Center?

But is that all we're going to get this year? One month of hope?

In a season that has badly boomeranged the wrong way, the Sabres are 7-11 and have dropped eight consecutive games – seven by multiple goals. They would have the longest losing streak in the NHL this season if they don't beat Montreal on Tuesday night in Bell Centre.

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from Mike Harrington of the Buffalo News,

The snickering started more than eight hours before faceoff as the Vegas Golden Knights were waiting for the Zamboni to finish its rounds so they could take their morning skate at KeyBank Center.

A group of Knights were huddled in front of the boards laughing and you could hear a voice of one chuckle while saying, "We should boo him when he comes out here."

They thought better of it but it was clear everyone in the visitors' locker room knew what to expect Thursday night. Jack Eichel was back in Buffalo and that was going to spark rage in the crowd. The fans were at full-throated hostility for 40 minutes as Eichel – who got booed unmercifully every time he touched the puck – had no points and his team was clinging to a 3-2 lead.

Then they had no choice but to zip it.

Eichel came close to cracking the scoresheet in the first two periods but Eric Comrie stuffed him three times, twice on breakaways. In the third period, Eichel assisted on Alex Pietrangelo's goal at 3:52, banged home a Pietrangelo rebound at 6:13, sizzled a wrister past Comrie at 14:37 and then lofted an empty netter 190 feet to cap a hat trick with 7.6 seconds to go.

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Game highlights are below.

from Tony Ferrari of The Hockey News,

Going back to last season, Dahlin’s return to form has been a pleasure to watch. He regained confidence as a puck carrier and worries much less about what he has to do to make up for a mistake. Dahlin is comfortable understanding there will be far more highs than lows if he pushes the pace and attacks every play as if the next goal is the only one that matters.

Dahlin began to use his skating and physical tools in a more cohesive nature. He pairs his mobility and on-ice vision on the breakout to move the puck up ice. The Sabres' top defender cuts through traffic in the neutral zone with his puck skills and identifies skating lanes in transition to gain clean entries into the offensive zone. Once there, he becomes a rover, manipulating defenders high in the zone and making plays with his feet, hands, and offensive mind.

His defensive play has improved by proxy as well. With the confidence to make plays and use his tools, he’s more effective at preventing goals because he has the puck more often. The best defense in the modern NHL is a good offense. You can’t be scored on if the puck is on your stick.

Playing confidently has also helped his ability to actually defend in-zone as well. Using his speed as well as his 6-foot-3 frame has allowed him to cut off cycles effectively and wrestle the puck off opponents along the wall. He’s become a bit more consistent at clearing the net front and he has continued to excel at staying in front of opposing attackers in space.

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from Mike Harrington of the Buffalo News,

As all the numbers are suddenly piling up, let's not forget what a bargain Tage Thompson looks to be.

Thompson scored 38 goals last season – more than Jack Eichel ever did, just for the record – while playing with a measly cap hit of $1.4 million. He's got six goals and 12 points in nine games this year while on the last year of that contract.

The way the 6-foot-7 tower of power is heating up, that seven-year, $50 million extension Kevyn Adams signed him to on Aug. 30 is going to turn out to be a bargain, too. No. 1 centers in the NHL with 40-goal, 90-point potential generally take up a lot more than $7,142,857 on their team's cap but that's what Thompson is signed at through 2030.

On a Halloween night we won't soon forget, Thompson flat-out spooked the Detroit Red Wings with the signature performance of his career Monday. A hat trick, three assists. Six points. That was one shy of the franchise record of seven set by Gilbert Perreault. Starting in the third period Saturday, he either scored or assisted on eight straight Sabres goals, something only done by a Buffalo player by Pat LaFontaine during his iconic 148-point season in 1992-93.

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Below, watch Tage Thompson post game.

from the Buffalo Sabres,

The Buffalo Sabres have signed coach Don Granato to a multi-year contract extension, the team announced Wednesday.

"Don's passion for the game and leadership skills have been on display since the moment we met," Sabres general manager Kevyn Adams said. "He is someone who the players have a tremendous amount of respect for, and he dedicates himself to bettering each individual on the team.

"Don's mentality of 'earning it' resonates throughout the team - it is more than just a mindset, it is a driving force for our players and staff. I appreciate his thoughtfulness when it comes to developing our players and the open communication we are able to have about the team. I am happy to extend Don's contract, keeping him in Western New York for many years to come."

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