Nashville Predators - Buffalo Hockey Beat

Sabres captain Brian Gionta: ‘I want to see this thing through’

BUFFALO – Brian Gionta said it again this morning, that despite an expiring contract, he wants to stay with the Sabres, the team he has captained three seasons.

“I’ve made my position pretty clear,” Gionta said after the Sabres prepared for tonight’s tilt against the Nashville Predators inside KeyBank Center. “I’d like to stay here. I’d like to be here going on in the future. I want to see this thing through.”

Of course, the ... Read the full article

Goalie Linus Ullmark returns to Sabres’ net

BUFFALO – This campaign, Linus Ullmark’s second in North America, has turned into what the loquacious Sabres goalie thought his rookie season would be like.

“Maybe some call-ups, whatever,” said Ullmark, who will likely start tonight against the Nashville Predators inside KeyBank Center, his first NHL nod since April 9.

Update: Robin Lehner is healthy and will apparently start tonight. Ullmark isn’t dressed.

Early in 2015-16, after only a few AHL appearances following surgery on ... Read the full article

Slumping Sabres have assets to trade

BUFFALO – So what should the Sabres sell off before Wednesday’s trade deadline? After their most wrenching weekend in years, they can’t possibly be buyers, right?

Brutal road losses to the hapless Colorado Avalanche and Arizona Coyotes kicked them down the standings, effectively eliminating them from contention with 20 games left.

Desperate for wins, the Sabres couldn’t handle the NHL’s two worst teams. Think about that. Against the Coyotes, they frittered away a 2-0 third-period ... Read the full article

Sabres claim Derek Grant off waivers

BUFFALO – The Sabres reclaimed center Derek Grant off waivers from the Nashville Predators today and sent him to the Rochester Americans.

Grant started the season with the Sabres, playing 35 games. But Nashville grabbed the 26-year-old on waivers Jan. 11, and he played six games with the Predators, who waived him Sunday.

Grant offers the Sabres, who struggled to replace him, a fourth-line center. They have been using winger Nick Deslauriers for a ... Read the full article

Depleted Sabres defense thrives

BUFFALO – In 25 years as a professional coach and player, coach Dan Bylsma said he had never seen it before. In Saturday’s 3-2 overtime win in Montreal, the Sabres dressed five right-handed defensemen.

“Kind of an odd situation,” Bylsma said Monday inside HarborCenter after the Sabres prepared for tonight’s road tilt against the Nashville Predators.

Unlike other sports, lefties are more plentiful in hockey. According to the New York Daily News, a whopping 62 ... Read the full article

Predators claim Derek Grant from Sabres

BUFFALO – As noon, the end of the 24-hour waiver period, approached, Derek Grant was told to stop practicing with the Sabres and leave the ice.

Why?

The Nashville Predators claimed the center on waivers today, robbing the Sabres of some valuable depth they wanted to send to the AHL Rochester Americans.

“It’s a new experience for me,” Grant, who was still wearing his Sabres jersey and equipment, told the Times Herald. “Obviously, I’m excited ... Read the full article

Sabres acquire Jimmy Vesey’s rights from Predators

BUFFALO – The Sabres today acquired the rights to Hobey Baker Award winner Jimmy Vesey from the Nashville Predators in exchange for a third-round draft pick, 76^th overall, in this weekend’s NHL Draft.

The Sabres have until Aug. 15 to sign him.

Vesey, 23, refused to sign with the Predators, who drafted the forward in the third round, 66^th overall, in 2012, following a 24-goal, 46-point senior season at Harvard University in which ... Read the full article

Sabres start fast against Predators, lose sixth straight

BUFFALO – On Wednesday, against a reeling team that hadn’t scored a goal in more than three games, the Sabres pounced on the Nashville Predators early.

The Sabres held an 11-4 shot advantage after one period and widened it to 25-11 after two inside the First Niagara Center.

Still, it didn’t matter.

The Sabres trailed 1-0 after 20 minutes and 3-1 after 40 in their 3-2 loss to the Predators. After winning three consecutive ... Read the full article

Hall of Famer Phil Housley grateful for early days with Sabres

BUFFALO – It was September 1982, and before the Sabres headed to Montreal for their first exhibition game, the team bus stopped at a hotel to pick up some players.

Phil Housley, an 18-year-old just months removed from high school, thought the bus was going to another hotel. So the green rookie, who was with his girlfriend, Karin, decided to bring his future wife on the bus, a big no-no.

“Everybody was on the ... Read the full article

Former Sabres disappointment Cody Hodgson won’t discuss past

BUFFALO – When the Nashville Predators’ dressing room opened this afternoon, some reporters walked over to former Sabres enigma Cody Hodgson, exchanged pleasantries and started talking to the 25-year-old.

After spouting a few clichés about his new team and city, Hodgson, who had a buyout exercised on the final four seasons of his six-year, $25.5 million contract in June following an awful 2014-15 campaign, became prickly.

Clearly, the end of his four-year run ... Read the full article