WNY and Buffalo NY Hockey Coverage
Calder Cup Playoffs Edition
Corey Tropp only played six games last season. ©2013, Dan Hickling, Olean Times Herald
BUFFALO – Seventeen months after Corey Tropp played his last NHL game, the 24-year-old Sabres winger will return to the lineup tonight in Columbus.
Yes, it’s just an exhibition contest. But for Tropp, who suffered ligament damage in his right knee playing for Rochester opening night last season, it’s more than a preseason tilt.
Tropp’s back in the NHL.
“I’d be lying to you if I told you when I finished the season two ... Read the full article
Ryan Miller practices today. ©2013, Dan Hickling, Olean Times Herald
BUFFALO – By Ryan Miller’s count, 20 to 25 members of his family have attended Michigan State University. Ten alone, including Miller, have played hockey for the Spartans.
“It’s been an important part of all of our lives,” the Sabres goalie said about the school this afternoon after practicing inside the First Niagara Center.
That’s why Miller, a legend around his native East Lansing, called his induction into the Spartans’ Hall of Fame on Thursday ... Read the full article
Darcy Regier said every NHL would take back money for the right player. ©2013, Dan Hickling, Olean Times Herald
BUFFALO – On Wednesday, CBC’s Elliotte Friedman tweeted he was hearing the Sabres would be willing to keep some of star winger Thomas Vanek’s $6.4 million salary if they found a trade partner.
A fired-up Regier said today someone recently emailed him – he didn’t say who – asking him if the Sabres would do that.
“My experience is you don’t answer those emails, whether they’re true or not true,” Regier said inside the First ... Read the full article
Ryan Miller sold his Buffalo townhouse earlier this year. ©2013, Dan Hickling, Olean Times Herald
BUFFALO – Of course, Ryan Miller’s renting. Why would the Sabres goalie, the subject of rampant trade speculation and an unrestricted free agent following the season, purchase another home right now?
Miller’s decision to put his Buffalo townhouse on the market during the spring, just when it appeared his long Sabres career would be ending, certainly raised eyebrows. He understood it wouldn’t look good to locals.
But the 33-year-old insists he wasn’t bailing on ... Read the full article
Locals have welcomed Ryan Miller back to Buffalo. ©2013, Dan Hickling, Olean Times Herald
BUFFALO – Playing an 11th season with the rebuilding Sabres isn’t a bad situation, Ryan Miller said. The goalie, the subject of rampant trade speculation for months, is returning to a familiar city he considers a home.
Miller said he’s only received warm greetings from fans, many of whom jeered the 33-year-old and his teammates last season as they missed the playoffs again, since arriving back in town last week.
He understands why locals ... Read the full article
Ron Rolston took over as coach on Feb. 20. ©2013, Dan Hickling, Olean Times Herald
BUFFALO – The Sabres convene for training camp physicals today inside the First Niagara Center, for better or worse, almost the same team that ended a disappointing, 11th-place season 137 days ago.
Other than a busy draft day and reacquiring 34-year-old defenseman Henrik Tallinder, the rebuilding club remained quiet throughout the summer.
Starting goalie Ryan Miller and leading scorer Thomas Vanek, two veteran stars rumored to be on the trading block, ... Read the full article
Thomas Vanek has one year left on his contract. ©2013, Dan Hickling, Olean Times Herald
AMHERST – Thomas Vanek spoke firmly. No, the high-scoring winger said, he hasn’t asked to be traded from the Buffalo Sabres. The widespread belief he wants out of town doesn’t bother him. But it’s simply not true.
“The media and people, they can make up their own assumptions as long as I know where I’m at and stuff and my family’s at. That’s fine,” Vanek said following an off-ice workout Wednesday morning. “At the end ... Read the full article
Ryan Miller believes he can still play at a high level. ©2013, Dan Hickling, Olean Times Herald
BUFFALO – Ryan Miller understands it’s the nature of hockey. As a veteran entering the final season of his contract, it’s only natural the Sabres, a team going through a transitional period, would shop him around the NHL.
“We’ve had a couple tough years,” Miller told reporters today at USA Hockey’s Olympic camp in Arlington, Va. “It goes from a situation where as a goalie it’s about the hope you can bring to I’ve been ... Read the full article
Ryan Miller tries to stop Taylor Pyatt on April 19. ©2013, Dan Hickling, Olean Times Herald
It’s no slam dunk Buffalo Sabres starter Ryan Miller, one of six goalies Team USA placed on its National Team Orientation Camp roster today, will be named to the Olympic team again for the upcoming Sochi Games.
Consider the other netminders the 2010 Vancouver Games hero is competing with for one of three spots in February:
– Ottawa’s Craig Anderson, who led the NHL in goals-against average (1.69) and save percentage (.941) last season.
– ... Read the full article
Matt Hackett could be Rochester’s No. 1 goalie next season. ©2013, Micheline Veluvolu, Rochester Americans
BUFFALO – The Sabres have re-signed restricted free agent goalie Matt Hackett to a one-year, two-way contract, according to RDS’s Renaud Lavoie.
The 23-year-old Hackett, a key piece in April’s Jason Pominville trade with Minnesota, gets $715,000 in the NHL, Lavoie reported.
If the Sabres keep starting goalie Ryan Miller, Hackett’s expected to be Rochester’s No. 1 netminder in 2013-14. The prospect played three regular-season games and one postseason contest with the ... Read the full article
