WNY and Buffalo NY Hockey Coverage
Offseason Edition
Matt Moulson will return tonight after missing two games. ©2015, Dan Hickling, Olean Times Herald
BUFFALO – For weeks, even months, the Sabres have gone all-out most nights, refusing to check out of their lost season.
They’re 2-3-1 in their last six games. On Saturday, they lost 3-0 to the New York Islanders, a game closer than the score indicated. On Friday, they fell 4-3 to the Chicago Blackhawks after blowing a late lead.
The Sabres, who host the Carolina Hurricanes tonight, just took two strong playoff teams to the ... Read the full article
Andrey Makarov played well in his NHL debut Saturday. ©2015, Dan Hickling, Olean Times Herald
BUFFALO – Finally – or perhaps a more appropriate word would be “mercifully” – the end of the Sabres’ long, trying season is in sight.
Three games are left. A regulation loss tonight at home to the Carolina Hurricanes or later this week will cement 30th place, ending probably the oddest campaign in the franchise’s 45-year history.
Hours after the Sabres’ 3-0 loss to the New York Islanders on Saturday, the 29th-place ... Read the full article
Johan Larsson tips the puck past Chicago goalie Scott Darling on Friday. ©2015, Dan Hickling, Olean Times Herald
BUFFALO – In 47 seconds late Friday, the mood inside the First Niagara Center changed dramatically. The Sabres fans worrying their team would pull its most unlikely upset this trying season felt relieved as mighty Chicago Blackhawks quickly roared back.
When Chicago star Jonathan Toews tied it with 1:43 left, the building, which was filled with red Blackhawks jerseys, erupted.
Some hometown fans who had remained quiet as the Sabres erased an early 2-0 deficit ... Read the full article
Bryan Trottier is one of the New York Islanders’ all-time greats. ©2015, Dan Hickling, Olean Times Herald
BUFFALO – New York Islanders legend Bryan Trottier remembers the noise. The roar inside Nassau Coliseum would become deafening, funneling down from the stands to the ice.
“To the point where you’re reading lips,” Trottier, a Sabres assistant coach, said Friday. “Until you actually experience it, it’s just fantastic.”
The Isles are moving to bigger and better digs 24 miles away next season, the shiny Barclays Center in Brooklyn. Trottier, a Hall of Famer who ... Read the full article
Matt Moulson (26) could miss tonight’s game. ©2015, Dan Hickling, Olean Times Herald
BUFFALO – Winger Matt Moulson woke up this morning feeling ill. Meanwhile, defenseman Mike Weber woke up feeling sore.
The Sabres don’t have an extra forward. Rochester is playing tonight in Iowa, so recalling one for tonight’s game against the Chicago Blackhawks won’t be easy.
What will the Sabres do?
“That’s a big question,” Sabres coach Ted Nolan said this morning inside the First Niagara Center.
The Sabres haven’t ruled Moulson out. Defenseman Tyson Strachan ... Read the full article
Brian Gionta was named captain in October. ©2015, Dan Hickling, Olean Times Herald
BUFFALO – Sabres captain Brian Gionta has finally started scoring again. With two more assists Wednesday, the winger has four goals and 11 points in the last nine contests, his hottest stretch in more than a year.
Gionta, after months of offensive struggles, looks like the slick veteran who has averaged 26 goals in his full NHL seasons. The production has helped buoy the Sabres’ late-season goal surge and a two-game winning streak entering tonight’s ... Read the full article
Patrick Kaleta had tears in his eyes when he was presented a jersey with an ‘A’ sewn on. ©2015, Dan Hickling, Olean Times Herald
BUFFALO – It was Wednesday morning, and before the Sabres hit the ice, Ted Nolan had some business to take care of in a team meeting. The coach handed Mike Weber a jersey, which the defenseman then tossed to winger Patrick Kaleta.
The jersey was Kaleta’s No. 36 with an ‘A’ stitched on it, meaning Weber wanted the heart-and-soul player to take over his alternate captaincy.
Emotion overwhelmed Kaleta. The 28-year-old Angola native had ... Read the full article
Patrick Kaleta wore the ‘A’ for the first time Wednesday. ©2015, Dan Hickling, Olean Times Herald
BUFFALO – It was Wednesday morning, and before the Sabres hit the ice, Ted Nolan had some business to take care of in a team meeting. The coach handed Mike Weber a jersey, which the defenseman then tossed to winger Patrick Kaleta.
The jersey was Kaleta’s No. 36 with an ‘A’ stitched on it, meaning Weber wanted the heart-and-soul player to take over his alternate captaincy.
Emotion overwhelmed Kaleta. The 28-year-old Angola native had ... Read the full article
Matt Ellis celebrates his first goal this season Wednesday. ©2015, Dan Hickling, Olean Times Herald
BUFFALO – It was a pretty goal, the type that can bring fans out of their seats before the puck is even in the net. Basically, it was the kind of goal Sabres center Matt Ellis never scores.
In 351 NHL games, Ellis has only 21 goals. The likable veteran hadn’t scored in 33 appearances this season prior to his nifty highlight-reel winner Wednesday in the Sabres’ 4-3 come-from-behind victory against the hapless Toronto Maple ... Read the full article
T.J. Brennan played 21 games with the Sabres. ©2015, Dan Hickling, Olean Times Herald
BUFFALO – In the beginning, former Sabres prospect T.J. Brennan followed a normal path to the NHL. The high-scoring defenseman developed four seasons in the AHL before briefly cracking the Sabres two years ago.
Back then, Brennan, who grew up in New Jersey playing lacrosse, didn’t fully understand what it took to make the NHL.
“I’ve always been kind of learn as I go,” Brennan said Wednesday prior to the Sabres’ 4-3 win against the ... Read the full article
