Beat coverage of the Buffalo Sabres from the Olean Times Herald
Training Camp Edition
BUFFALO – Instead of getting a new paint job this year, goalie Chad Johnson simply dusted off the popular blue Sabres mask he sported two years ago throughout his best NHL season.
“It was one of my favorites,” Johnson said Wednesday following practice inside HarborCenter. “I had a lot of good feedback on it. … Some people wanted me to bring it back. I couldn’t come up with anything better, so I stuck with it.”... Read the full article
BUFFALO – Robin Lehner’s agents kept telling him to take a one-year contract. After all, the Sabres goalie could parlay another strong season into a lucrative long-term deal.
But fresh off a campaign in which Lehner established himself as the Sabres’ starter and posted the NHL’s 10th-highest save percentage, he wanted a long contract right away.... Read the full article
BUFFALO – In a two-week span last month, general manager Jason Botterill addressed the Sabres’ most glaring weakness by acquiring defensemen Nathan Beaulieu and Marco Scandella.
Is either player elite? Hardly. Still, as puck-moving defenders, Beaulieu and Scandella offer talents the Sabres sorely lacked last season and add some much-needed depth.... Read the full article
BUFFALO – The Sabres have hired Davis Payne as the associate coach on new head coach Phil Housley’s staff, the team announced today.
In Payne, Housley, who has never been an NHL head coach, has a top assistant with NHL head coaching experience. Payne led the St. Louis Blues over three seasons from 2009 to 2011.
The 46-year-old most recently served as an assistant with the Los Angeles Kings for five seasons, winning a Stanley ... Read the full article
BUFFALO – Some of the faces familiar to Sabres goalie Chad Johnson are gone. Tim Murray, the general manager who originally acquired him, has been fired. So has Dan Bylsma, the coach who played him regularly two seasons ago.
Still, Johnson, who signed a one-year, $2.5 million contract to return after free agency opened today, feels a certain comfort in Buffalo and believes he has “unfinished business” to make the Sabres a playoff team.... Read the full article
BUFFALO – The Sabres brought back an old friend shortly after free agency opened today, signing backup goalie Chad Johnson to a one-year deal worth $2.5 million.
The 31-year-old spent last season with his hometown Calgary Flames, going 18-15-1 with a 2.59 goals-against average and a .910 save percentage in 36 games.... Read the full article
CHICAGO – Forget about former Notre Dame goalie Cal Petersen joining the Buffalo Sabres. The 22-year-old prospect, who left school last month, will elect for free agency, general manager Jason Botterill said Friday morning.
“I don’t believe he’ll be signing with the Buffalo Sabres,” Botterill said hours before the first round of the NHL Draft.... Read the full article
CHICAGO – For now, goalie coach Andrew Allen is still with the Buffalo Sabres. General manager Jason Botterill wants to keep the lone holdover from former coach Dan Bylsma’s staff. That decision, however, will be left up to new coach Phil Housley.
“It’s a situation where we’re very excited about Andrew,” Botterill said this morning prior to the NHL Draft. “My plan has always been to work with Andrew. It’s a scenario where Phil and ... Read the full article
CHICAGO – Two games against the expansion Vegas Golden Knights and a home-and-home series with the Stanley Cup champion Pittsburgh Penguins in early December are among the highlights of the 82-game 2017-18 Buffalo Sabres schedule the NHL released Thursday.
Some other notable dates, stretches and nuggets:
– The Sabres play the Golden Knights first the first time Oct. 17 in Vegas, the close of a four-game road trip that includes dates with the San Jose ... Read the full article
CHICAGO – In the end, the Buffalo Sabres exposed winger William Carrier to the Vegas Golden Knights and sent the new club a sixth-round pick to lay off goalie prospect Linus Ullmark in the NHL Expansion Draft.
That price, of course, will look like a pittance if Ullmark, who was left unprotected, becomes Buffalo’s starter someday.
The Golden Knights officially selected Carrier on Wednesday night, about the same time the Sabres sent them the ... Read the full article
