Bill Hoppe - Buffalo Hockey Beat

Prolific season earns Sabres star Tage Thompson spot in NHL All-Star Game

BUFFALO – Tage Thompson’s development into an NHL All-Star ranks as one of hockey’s most remarkable stories.

Less than two years ago, Thompson, 25, was a struggling winger on the NHL’s worst team. The Sabres even demoted him to the taxi squad. Today, he’s their No. 1 center and the centerpiece of the league’s most prolific offense.

The 6-foot-6, 220-pound Thompson has scored 30 goals and 55 points in 36 outings this season, gaudy numbers ... Read the full article

Dynamic December earns Sabres’ Tage Thompson NHL Third Star honors

A career-best month in which he scored a whopping 13 goals and 22 points in 11 games has earned Buffalo Sabres center Tage Thompson NHL Third Star honors for December.

Thompson, 25, scored a goal in eight games during the month, including a five-goal, six-point outing on Dec. 7 in Columbus, and registered a point in nine contests.

In that 9-4 road win against the Blue Jackets, Thompson became just the second Sabres player to ... Read the full article

Sabres send Eric Comrie to Rochester on AHL conditioning assignment

The Buffalo Sabres on Saturday sent goalie Eric Comrie, who suffered a lower-body injury on Nov. 16, to the Rochester Americans on a conditioning assignment.

Comrie, who has missed the last 17 games, started practicing again in mid-December. He can stay with the Amerks for a maximum of 14 days, according to the collective bargaining agreement.

The Amerks play a road game on Saturday afternoon against the Toronto Marlies.

Update: Comrie started and made ... Read the full article

Sabres’ Peyton Krebs developing with Zemgus Girgensons, Kyle Okposo

BUFFALO – In the second period of Thursday’s 6-3 win, Sabres center Peyton Krebs zoomed into the Detroit zone to chase down a loose puck and drove Red Wings defenseman Moritz Seider into the boards behind the net.

Krebs, who’s four inches shorter and 17 pounds lighter than Seider, gained possession. A split-second later, linemate Zemgus Girgensons fed captain Kyle Okposo in front for the first of his three goals in the Sabres’ fifth ... Read the full article

Lawrence Pilut clears waivers, assigned to Amerks by Sabres

BUFFALO – Defenseman Lawrence Pilut this afternoon cleared waivers and was assigned by the Sabres to the Rochester Americans.

Pilut, who turns 27 today, compiled one goal and three points in 17 games during his recall to Buffalo.

“It’s good that we have tough decisions,” Sabres coach Don Granato said following today’s practice. “He’s filled in very admirably and showed to get better. So the message to him is simple, we don’t want to lose ... Read the full article

Sabres’ Kyle Okposo scores hat trick in emotional win following blizzard

BUFFALO – The symbolism wasn’t lost on coach Don Granato. In Thursday’s emotional 6-3 victory over the Detroit Red Wings, the Sabres’ first game since a devastating blizzard ravaged the region, captain Kyle Okposo led the way, scoring a hat trick.

Okposo, the Sabres’ heart and soul, has embedded himself and his family in the community, Granato said, making his year-round home here.

“This is life and lots of people in life and death situations, ... Read the full article

Casey Mittelstadt’s odd trip to Buffalo to rejoin Sabres: ‘Planes, trains and automobiles’

BUFFALO – Casey Mittelstadt said he panicked a little bit. Having returned home to Minnesota to celebrate Christmas as a blizzard began walloping Buffalo last week, the Sabres winger needed to find a way back.

The ferocious storm forced the Buffalo/Niagara International Airport to close, and the Sabres had a game scheduled for Tuesday in Columbus against the Blue Jackets.

Of course, Mittelstadt, 24, wasn’t alone. The inclement weather had a few Sabres scrambling to ... Read the full article

After blizzard ravages Buffalo, Sabres return to work with heavy hearts

BUFFALO – Kevyn Adams’ mother-in-law lives about a half mile from him in Clarence, so on Christmas Eve, as a devastating blizzard ravaged the region, he decided to brave the elements and check on her.

“Wrapped up and got out there,” the general manager said prior to Thursday’s 6-3 win over the Detroit Red Wings at KeyBank Center, the Sabres’ first game since Dec.

The short walk ended up taking Adams two hours there and ... Read the full article

Sabres prospects Jiri Kulich, Isak Rosen turning heads at World Juniors

Before Buffalo Sabres prospects Jiri Kulich and Isak Rosen left Rochester to join their respective countries at the World Junior Championship, Americans coach Seth Appert challenged the youngsters to rely on more than their skill during the tournament.

He said the AHL rookies have evolved over the past three months, displaying a willingness to play on the inside and attack the net. Without the puck, they’ve learned how to forecheck and about the physicality needed ... Read the full article

Sabres captain Kyle Okposo trying to find groove in ‘up and down’ season

BUFFALO – Twenty-five games into his season, Kyle Okposo has beaten a goalie just once. While the Sabres captain has scored three goals, two have gone into empty nets.

The veteran winger started slowly after getting injured at the end of training camp. He has also left the lineup twice because of injuries, missing seven total games.

A year after scoring 21 times, his highest output since 2015-16, Okposo said his 16th NHL season has ... Read the full article