January Edition
Sean Malone has recorded 22 points in 23 games this season for Rochester.
Rochester Americans center Sean Malone has undergone surgery to repair a lower-body injury and will be sidelined six weeks, coach Seth Appert said.
Malone, having scored nine goals and 22 points in 23 games, is enjoying a career-best season.
“You feel for him,” Appert said on a Zoom call this morning. “I mean, it hurts us because he was a go-to guy, he was a real leader not only in his attitude and his character, ... Read the full article
Tage Thompson has scored 12 goals this season. ©2022, Micheline Veluvolu
BUFFALO – Coach Don Granato knew it would happen again. COVID-19 has been clobbering the NHL, forcing hundreds of players into protocol over the past several weeks, including 11 Sabres.
“When’s it going to happen to the next guy the way it’s going around the league and around the world?” Granato said following Monday’s practice. “It happens today.”
On Monday, shortly after prospect Jack Quinn joined the Sabres, top center Tage Thompson, the team’s leading ... Read the full article
Anders Bjork is one of six Buffalo players in protocol. ©2022, Micheline Veluvolu
BUFFALO – Coach Don Granato said dealing with COVID-19 and the chaos it creates has become “almost a new normal.” For two weeks, the virus has been ravaging the Sabres, forcing players and staff members into the NHL’s protocol and five games to be postponed.
On Tuesday, three more players – forward Anders Bjork, Peyton Krebs and Alex Tuch – went into protocol. Granato said the Sabres also held defenseman Henri Jokiharju out of practice ... Read the full article
Matt Ellis (pictured) played for Lindy Ruff before coaching against him. ©2021, Micheline Veluvolu
BUFFALO – Of all the coaches the Sabres’ Matt Ellis could’ve faced in his first game filling in for Don Granato, it turned out to be the one he knows best, Lindy Ruff.
These days, Ruff, 61, coaches the New Jersey Devils, the Sabres’ opponent Wednesday at KeyBank Center.
Ellis, 40, played under Ruff for parts of five seasons, growing from a forward the Sabres plucked off waivers into an NHL regular. ... Read the full article
Matt Ellis is in his first full season as an assistant coach. ©2021, Micheline Veluvolu
BUFFALO – Following the Sabres’ first practice in eight days, winger Kyle Okposo acknowledged that, yes, at times he recently wondered if they would ever skate together again.
On Sunday, Okposo arrived at the KeyBank Center excited the NHL’s Christmas/COVID-19 break had ended. But after coach Don Granato and forwards Dylan Cozens and Mark Jankowski tested positive for the virus, the Sabres canceled their scheduled afternoon practice.
“I was ready to go yesterday,” Okposo said ... Read the full article
Peyton Krebs has recorded seven points in the last three games. ©2021, Micheline Veluvolu
ROCHESTER – At the end, after adding two more assists, Buffalo Sabres prospect Peyton Krebs showcased his underutilized shot, one-timing Sean Malone’s pass to secure the Americans’ fourth consecutive victory.
Wednesday’s overtime goal was just Krebs’ third shot on goal in the last four games. The winger, however, had recorded a whopping seven points in the last three contests entering Friday, six of them assists.
Amerks assistant coach Michael Peca, who subbed for coach ... Read the full article
Jack Quinn (left) and Sean Malone celebrate a goal Oct. 22. ©2021, Micheline Veluvolu, Rochester Americans
ROCHESTER – It took four years for this opportunity to materialize. During his first stint in the Buffalo Sabres organization, the Americans utilized Sean Malone as a checker, often giving him short minutes as their third- or fourth-line center.
Malone, 26, scored with some consistency despite playing down the lineup, hitting the 12-goal mark twice. Still, the West Seneca native craved a larger role.
“I’ve always wanted to show my offensive side,” Malone said after ... Read the full article
Buffalo prospect Jack Quinn has emerged as one of the AHL’s top talents. ©2021, Micheline Veluvolu, Rochester Americans
Buffalo Sabres prospect Jack Quinn has been recognized for his dynamic start with the Rochester Americans.
The AHL on Monday named Quinn, who recorded five goals and a whopping 10 points in his first six games this season, the Rookie of the Month for October.
Quinn, a winger the Sabres drafted eighth overall in 2020, has registered at least one goal or two points in four of the six contests. He surpassed last year’s point ... Read the full article
Buffalo prospect Jack Quinn has scored in all three games this season. ©2021, Micheline Veluvolu, Rochester Americans
There’s a theme in the four goals Buffalo Sabres prospect Jack Quinn has quickly scored for the Rochester Americans this season.
In his first three outings, Quinn, 20, consistently possessed an attacking mindset, driving to the so-called “dirty areas” around the net.
“He’s trying to get to hard ice,” Amerks coach Seth Appert told the Times Herald by phone Monday. “When you get the hard ice with the talent he has, usually good things follow.”... Read the full article
Don Granato knows the value of an early goal. ©2021, Micheline Veluvolu
BUFFALO – Historically, NHL teams that score first or hold the lead at the end of the first period go on to win the game.
The Sabres won only 15 of their 56 games last season, finishing dead last. Still, when they opened the scoring, they compiled a strong 8-6-5 record. When they led after 20 minutes, they went 4-3-4.
Sabres coach Don Granato brought up the value of an early goal or lead Wednesday ... Read the full article
