WNY and Buffalo NY Hockey Coverage
Happy Holidays
Vegas’ Jack Eichel celebrates Thursday with goalie Logan Thompson. ©2022, Micheline Veluvolu
BUFFALO – Sabres fans didn’t even wait for Vegas Golden Knights center Jack Eichel to touch the puck Thursday. As soon as his skates hit the ice, they began booing loudly. When he gained possession, the jeering intensified.
The season-high crowd of 15,757 fans at KeyBank Center booed when the ex-Sabres captain lost a faceoff and again when goalie Eric Comrie stymied him on two breakaways. When the video boards showed replays of the saves, ... Read the full article
Jack Eichel heard boos during his first visit March 10. ©2022, Micheline Veluvolu
BUFFALO – For most of his six-minute pregame media availability, ex-Sabres captain Jack Eichel spoke blandly, offering cliché answers about facing his old team as a member of the Vegas Golden Knights.
But when the topic turned to the booing he endured March 10 throughout his return to KeyBank Center, Eichel, the face of the Sabres for six seasons, briefly opened up.
He felt the jeers and vitriol from the raucous crowd.
“It was ... Read the full article
Buffalo’s Casey Fitzgerald (right) fights Vegas’ Keegan Kolesar on March 10. ©2022, Micheline Veluvolu
BUFFALO – Instead of blocking out the noise and trying to treat it like any of the other 82 games this season, captain Kyle Okposo wants the Sabres to embrace the stiff challenge facing Jack Eichel and the Vegas Golden Knights presents.
Games as anticipated as tonight’s haven’t materialized often over the last decade.
Right now, having won eight straight contests, the Golden Knights rank first overall. Their leading scorer, Eichel, the ex-Sabres captain, has ... Read the full article
Henri Jokijarju has missed the last nine games. ©2022, Micheline Veluvolu
BUFFALO – Shortly before Wednesday’s practice, Sabres defenseman Henri Jokiharju was on the KeyBank Center ice skating in a gold jersey and tinted visor. When the session began, he stayed out, participating in a non-contact role.
Jokiharju’s first practice since suffering an upper-body injury Oct. 20 is simply a first step, Sabres coach Don Granato said. Right now, there’s no timetable for his return.
The Finn, 23, hasn’t played since a puck hit him in ... Read the full article
Buffalo goalie Eric Comrie tries to stop Arizona’s Jack McBain on Tuesday. ©2022, Micheine Veluvolu
BUFFALO – Barely 20 seconds into Tuesday’s 4-1 loss to the Arizona Coyotes, Sabres defenseman Owen Power left the puck behind the net, and his partner, Kale Clague, overskated it, creating an easy goal for Lawson Crouse.
The gaffe turned out to be a harbinger for the Sabres, who looked disjointed and sluggish throughout the night, often drawing the ire of the announced crowd of 10,296 fans at KeyBank Center.
The Sabres’ third straight loss ... Read the full article
Kale Clague joined Buffalo in the summer. ©2022, Micheline Veluvolu
BUFFALO – In his previous stops, Sabres defenseman Kale Clague couldn’t always play aggressively. That often neutralized his skating, his greatest strength.
The Sabres, however, want to attack and push the pace. If players make mistakes, coach Don Granato and his staff can live with them.
“The system (here) allows me to be aggressive, whereas maybe some teams prior I’ve been a little bit more on my heels a little bit, based on that,” Clague ... Read the full article
Rasmus Dahlin missed one game. ©2022, Micheline Veluvolu
BUFFALO – Rasmus Dahlin’s absence last game wasn’t just related to getting sucker punched in the face by the Carolina Hurricanes’ Jesperi Kotkaniemi.
“It was an accident after,” the Sabres defenseman said this morning of the upper-body injury that sidelined him Saturday. “I was hit kind of late. My neck was a little bit off. I don’t know, it was a mix of everything. So it wasn’t that situation.”
Dahlin, 22, will return for tonight’s ... Read the full article
Owen Power has been playing big minutes as a rookie. ©2022, Micheline Veluvolu
BUFFALO – Sooner than later, Sabres rookie Owen Power was expected to play mega minutes and emerge as a workhorse on the blue line.
But just 20 games into his NHL career? Well, Power skated a personal-high 28 minutes, 14 seconds in Saturday’s 5-3 road loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning.
Through 12 outings this season entering tonight’s contest against the Arizona Coyotes at KeyBank Center, he has averaged 23 minutes, 9 seconds of ice ... Read the full article
Kyle Okposo models Buffalo’s new third jersey. ©2022, Buffalo Sabres
Having grown up a rabid Buffalo Sabres fan in the early 2000s, the team’s black and red “Goathead” jersey holds special meaning for winger Alex Tuch.
“Definitely my favorite jersey (of all-time),” a smiling Tuch said Monday after the Sabres unveiled a new black and red jersey modeled after the uniforms they wore from 1996 to 2006.
The Sabres, of course, also recently introduced a blue and gold Reverse Retro alternate white jersey with the ... Read the full article
Rasmus Dahlin has missed one game. ©2022, Micheline Veluvolu
BUFFALO – Sabres deefenseman Rasmus Dahlin, who suffered an upper-body injury in Friday’s 5-3 loss to the Carolina Hurricanes, could play Tuesday, coach Don Granato said.
“There is a chance,” Granato said following this afternoon’s practice at KeyBank Center.
Dahlin, the Sabres’ top defenseman, did not practice today. Late in the session, he walked out in the tunnel and watched his teammates for several minutes.... Read the full article