Housley - Buffalo Hockey Beat

Sabres to face loaded Penguins lineup

BUFFALO – It’s no secret NHL teams field stronger preseason lineups at home, especially toward the end. So Sabres coach Phil Housley knew the Pittsburgh Penguins would dress better players tonight than the first time the teams met eight days ago.

“It’s getting toward the end, right?” Housley said this morning after the Sabres skated inside HarborCenter. “They’re trying to get their guys geared up. But at the same time, it puts us in a ... Read the full article

Sabres goalie Linus Ullmark using head to make saves

BUFFALO – The drill, Sabres netminder Linus Ullmark explained, is “very easy.” Someone – on Tuesday it was goalie coach Andrew Allen – shoots pucks at him “top shelf.”

“I just try to get my head up there and actually try to get the puck to where I want it to go,” Ullmark said following practice inside HarborCenter.

Yes, the 6-foot-4, 221-pound Swede really tries to redirect the puck with his head.... Read the full article

Phil Housley in no hurry to name new Sabres captain

BUFFALO – Instead of using a temporary captain this preseason, Sabres coach Phil Housley has named three alternate captains each game.

A slew of players, including perhaps the top three candidates for the vacant captaincy – Jack Eichel, Kyle Okposo and Ryan O’Reilly – have worn an ‘A.’

Housley is in no rush to name a captain.... Read the full article

Depth defensemen fighting to stay with Sabres out of training camp

BUFFALO – Shortly after enjoying the longest stint of his NHL career, defenseman Taylor Fedun re-signed with the Sabres early in the summer, inking a two-year deal.

What made the contract significant wasn’t just the length – many depth players don’t earn multi-year deals – but the fact a new regime offered it.

Fedun, 29, provided valuable depth last season, playing 27 NHL games, 12 more than the previous three seasons combined. In the AHL, ... Read the full article

Sabres’ Evan Rodrigues, Jake McCabe out with injuries

BUFFALO – The Sabres could start the regular season without two regulars, center Evan Rodrigues and defenseman Jake McCabe.

Rodrigues suffered a hand injury in Friday’s 3-0 loss in Toronto when Maple Leafs forward Andreas Borgman crunched him into boards, Sabres coach Phil Housley said. He had no timetable for a return.

“That’s as much as I know right now,” Housley said of the injury today following practice inside HarborCenter.... Read the full article

Matt Moulson upbeat about Sabres’ future, new regime

BUFFALO – In his 11 NHL seasons, winger Matt Moulson has played for nine coaches, including four with the Sabres.

There have been Stanley Cup winners (Marc Crawford and Dan Bylsma), rookies (Scott Gordon, Ron Rolston and others) and old school veterans (Terry Murray and Ted Nolan).

Moulson, 33, has experienced the NHL coaching gamut. So when the three-time 30-goal scorer says new Sabres coach Phil Housley’s sessions “are some of the best practices I’ve ... Read the full article

Sabres get another opportunity to impress against Leafs

BUFFALO – The Rochester Americans open their training camp Monday, so a for a slew of Sabres, tonight’s preseason tilt against the Toronto Maple Leafs inside KeyBank Center is a final chance to impress coach Phil Housley and the team’s brass.

The Sabres will almost certainly assign some players to their AHL affiliate in the near future.

“If you want to separate yourself from other people on the team or the totem pole, you got ... Read the full article

Sabres’ Jacob Josefson shootout star

TORONTO – Try figuring this out. In 276 NHL games, Buffalo Sabres center Jacob Josefson has scored only 18 goals. In three of his seven seasons, the Swede has recorded just a single goal.

Offensively, Josefson, 26, ranks among the league’s least productive forwards.

But Josefson, having scored 11 goals in 21 attempts, is a shootout stud. His 52.4 shooting percentage ranks fourth among active players, according to sportingcharts.com, trailing only Brandon Pirri, T.J. ... Read the full article

Sabres won’t see Leafs for months after weekend set

BUFFALO – How’s this for a scheduling quirk? After this weekend’s home-and-home preseason set with the Maple Leafs – the Sabres play tonight in Toronto – the fierce rivals don’t meet again until March 5.

“It’s crazy,” Sabres coach Phil Housley said this morning inside KeyBank Center. “When I looked at the schedule, here’s one of the rivals in our division, we’re not going to see them until March. Hopefully, they’re going to be real ... Read the full article

Goalie Chad Johnson happy with Sabres

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