In honor on 12-12-12, the Sabres’ all-time No. 12 roster
In honor of December 12, 2012 – 12-12-12 as everyone’s calling it today – we present the Buffalo Sabres’ No. 12 list, the 18 distinguished men who have worn the number in franchise history.
Who do you think is the greatest?
Here’s a note on each:
Skip Krake, 1970-71: First No. 12 scored four goals for the inaugural Sabres.
Mike Byers, 1971-72: Second No. 12 tallied nine goals during the team’s second season.
Larry Mickey, 1971-75: Played parts of four seasons with the club, including 23 during the 1974-75 Stanley Cup final season. Also wore No. 21.
Gary McAdam, 1975-79, 1982-83: Played for eight NHL teams, including two Sabres stints. He also wore Nos. 15 and 32.
Andre Savard, 1976-83: Arguably the Sabres’ greatest No. 12, ranking first in games (467), goals (130) and points (305).
Sean McKenna, 1981-86: Quietly had consecutive 20-goal seasons. Also wore Nos. 19 and 23.
Jody Gage, 1985-86, 1987-88, 1991-92: AHL legend who earned sporadic recalls. Also wore Nos. 14 and 33.
Ken Priestlay, 1986-90: Played 117 games while tearing up the AHL. Also wore No. 56.
Rick Vaive, 1988-92: Scoring star wore No. 12 briefly before switching to No. 22 when the Sabres traded captain Lindy Ruff.
Scott Metcalfe, 1987-90: Edmonton first-round bust played 17 games. Also wore Nos. 32 and 34.
Greg Paslawski, 1990-91: Played 12 (coincidence?) of his 650 NHL games with the Sabres.
Peter Ciavaglia, 1991-93: Buffalo native and AHL/IHL star played five games.
Bob Errey, 1992-93: Played 12 total (eight regular season, four playoff). Fresh off two straight Cup wins, Pittsburgh dished him for Mike Ramsey.
Peter Ambroziak, 1994-95: Played all 12 of his NHL games (again, coincidence?) during lockout-shortened season.
Randy Burridge, 1995-98: Fort Erie, Ont., native scored 25 goals in 1995-96 following training camp tryout.
Domenic Pittis, 1998-00, 2003-04: AHL star played 14 games during two stints. Also wore Nos. 28, 38 and 83.
Ales Kotalik, 2001-09: With 114 goals and 240 points in 426 games, probably ranks second behind Savard on the list. Also wore No. 20.
Mark Mancari, 2006-07, 2008-11: Another AHL star with some frequent recalls. Switched from No. 25 when Mike Grier returned.
UPDATE: Our very informal poll found that Ales Kotalik, despite having 16 fewer goals and 65 fewer points than Andre Savard, is the “greatest” No. 12 in Sabres history.