Gionta - Buffalo Hockey Beat

Ex-Canadiens Brian Gionta, Josh Gorges want to focus on present with Sabres

BUFFALO – Tonight’s not about feeling nostalgic. Sure, respected Sabres veterans Brian Gionta and Josh Gorges enjoyed some specials years with the Montreal Canadiens. Gionta captained the storied franchise. Gorges was their heart and soul.

But these days, despite two wins in their last five games, the rebuilding Sabres are struggling badly. Tonight’s game, the first tilt against the Canadiens this season, can’t be overshadowed by Gionta and Gorges facing their old team.

“At the ... Read the full article

Sabres’ Brian Gionta and Josh Gorges downplay first game against Canadiens

BUFFALO – The Sabres won’t face the Montreal Canadiens on Wednesday night trying to win for former Habs Brian Gionta and Josh Gorges, who will face their old team for the first time.

“As a team right now, we can’t be thinking about winning it for anybody but ourselves,” Sabres coach Ted Nolan said this afternoon inside the First Niagara Center.

Neither player wants the game treated any differently.

“You’re playing your former team for ... Read the full article

Sabres showing lack of accountability on and off ice

PITTSBURGH – When the dressing room door opened following Buffalo Sabres’ dispirited 5-0 loss to the Penguins on Saturday, three players – captain Brian Gionta, forward Cody McCormick and goalie Jhonas Enroth – were still at their stalls.

Three.

Nineteen players participated in the Sabres’ 10^th loss in 12 games.

Given the Sabres’ actions on the bench, coach Ted Nolan’s not surprised players bolted from the room. He said they must be accountable.

“It’s ... Read the full article

Hapless Sabres searching for answers with season unravelling

BUFFALO – The anger was evident throughout the Sabres’ tense 90-minute practice Wednesday inside the First Niagara Center.

At one point, coach Ted Nolan, whose reeling 2-8 team was demolished 4-0 in Toronto hours earlier, yelled, “Wake the (expletive) up!” Players exchanged words and shouted in frustration. Captain Brian Gionta banged his stick on the glass and demolished it on the bench.

Nolan said the “10-game grace period” he gives his team each season ... Read the full article

Sabres’ Cody Hodgson close to being scratched

BUFFALO – Make no mistake, Cody Hodgson, the Sabres’ leading scorer last season, is the new right winger on the fourth line beside center Sam Reinhart and Nick Deslauriers.

“Yeah, he’s on the fourth line,” Sabres coach Ted Nolan said curtly this afternoon.

Hodgson could be moved to the press box next.

“He’s pretty close there, too,” Nolan said.

Hodgson, like just about every Sabres forward, has struggled this season, compiling one goal, two ... Read the full article

Frustrated Ted Nolan puts reeling Sabres through long practice: ‘Taking it easy is over’

BUFFALO – The anger was visible today throughout the Sabres’ tense 90-minute practice inside the First Niagara Center.

At one point, coach Ted Nolan, whose 2-8 team was demolished 4-0 in Toronto on Tuesday, yelled, “Wake the (expletive) up!” Players exchanged words and yelled out in frustration. Captain Brian Gionta banged his stick on the glass and demolished it on the bench.

Nolan said he gives his teams a “10-game grace period” to start to ... Read the full article

Sabres notes: Chris Stewart plays first game in Toronto after long wait

TORONTO – Incredibly, Tuesday’s 4-0 loss to the Maple Leafs, Chris Stewart’s 392^nd NHL game, was his first appearance in his hometown.

Toronto was the only city the 26-year-old Buffalo Sabres winger hadn’t played in.

How did that happen?

Stewart played in the Western Conference with Colorado and St. Louis before the Sabres acquired him in March.

“My first year I got healthy scratched here, and then the lockout year we didn’t play the ... Read the full article

Video: Tommy Wingels hits Sabres captain Brian Gionta

So, umm, there were no penalties called on the play below.

Even Sabres winger Torrey Mitchell, who jumped the San Jose Sharks’ Tommy Wingels after he knocked captain Brian Gionta head-first into the boards early in today’s game, escaped unscathed.

How can that scary hit go unpenalized? Would something have been called if Wingels hit a star player?

Luckily, Gionta got up and returned to the game later in the period.

Check out the video ... Read the full article

Sabres’ offense still struggling to score

BUFFALO – The Sabres, the lowest-scoring team in modern NHL history last season, have picked up where they left off in April.

Yes, it’s still early, but the Sabres have scored just seven goals in six games, a paltry 1.17 average. The only team averaging fewer goals a game, the Florida Panthers, beat the Sabres 1-0 on Friday.

Four Sabres have scored this season. Tyler Ennis, Marcus Foligno and Zemgus Girgensons all have two ... Read the full article

Sabres start fast, still can’t score in loss to Bruins

BUFFALO – Six games looks like a large enough sample size to judge the 2014-15 Sabres. The current edition is terrible, perhaps every bit as bad as last year’s hapless squad that finished dead last in the NHL.

Saturday’s ugly 4-0 loss to the Boston Bruins before 18,685 fans inside the First Niagara Center dropped them to 1-5 this season.

The feeble Florida Panthers beat the Sabres 1-0 on Friday, so they finished a ... Read the full article