Bill Hoppe - Buffalo Hockey Beat

Sabres prospects Dylan Cozens, Jack Quinn earn spots on Team Canada

Buffalo Sabres prospects forward prospects Dylan Cozens and Jack Quinn have earned spots on Team Canada’s 25-man roster for the upcoming World Junior Championship.

Hockey Canada, which paused the team’s camp on Nov. 25 for 14 days following two positive COVID-19 tests, announced the roster today.

Cozens, 19, won a gold medal in last year’s tournament, scoring two goals and nine points in seven games. The center, the seventh overall pick in 2019, is ... Read the full article

Report: Sabres’ value fell 4%, team endured huge losses in 2020

The COVID-19 pandemic contributed to the Buffalo Sabres’ value dropping 4% to $385 million in 2020, according to Forbes estimates.

Only three NHL teams – the Arizona Coyotes, Florida Panthers and Columbus Blue Jackets – are worth less the than Sabres, who lost $10.9 million in 2020, according to Forbes.

Forbes tabbed the New York Rangers as the NHL’s most valuable franchise, worth $1.65 billion. Four other teams – the Toronto Maple Leafs, Montreal ... Read the full article

The Sabres began sending prospects to Cincinnati in 2017-18.

Reports: Cincinnati Cyclones, Sabres’ ECHL affiliate, to sit out season

The Cincinnati Cyclones, the Buffalo Sabres’ ECHL affiliate, will not play in the 2020-21 season, according to Sportsnet’s Jeff Marek and The Buffalo News’ Lance Lysowski.

The Kalamazoo Wings and Idaho Steelheads will also sit out the season, according to Marek.

The COVID-19 pandemic has decimated minor league teams, which rely on gate revenue to operate.

On Nov. 18, the ECHL’s six-team North Division – the Adirondack Thunder, Brampton Beast, Maine Mariners, Newfoundland Growlers and ... Read the full article

Friendship with Colby Cave helped Sabres’ Matt Irwin handle demotion

It was the summer of 2015, and after spending three seasons with the San Jose Sharks, defenseman Matt Irwin felt a strong desire to return to the East Coast.

Having attended UMass for two years and developed three seasons with San Jose’s AHL affiliate, the Worcester Sharks, Irwin felt comfortable in Massachusetts. When an opportunity materialized to the join the Boston Bruins as a free agent, he pounced on it, signing a one-year contract.

Irwin ... Read the full article

Sabres prospect J-J Peterka developing rapidly in Austria

It was just a small gathering at the rink. J-J Peterka’s family, agent and some personnel from EC Red Bull Salzburg gathered in the early-morning hours to watch the first round of the NHL Draft.

In NHL history, only five Germans had been first-round picks. But Germany has started producing elite talent, and this year, three forward prospects – Peterka, Tim Stutzle and Lukas Reichel – possessed the potential to be taken among the first ... Read the full article

Datsyuk-style game earning Sabres prospect Matteo Costantini notice

After completing their work at the rink Oct. 7, Matteo Costantini and four of his Penticton Vees teammates gathered in his billet family’s basement to watch the final rounds of the NHL Draft.

Having starred for the Buffalo Jr. Sabres and developed in the Academy of Hockey at LECOM Harborcenter, Costantini knew the Sabres were interested in him.

Sabres GM Kevyn Adams ran both organizations until last year. Matt Ellis, Buffalo’s new director of ... Read the full article

Sabres sign Jack Quinn to three-year, entry-level contract

The Buffalo Sabres have signed first-round pick Jack Quinn to a three-year, entry-level contract, the team announced today.

Quinn, the eighth overall pick last month, scored 52 goals and 89 points in 62 games last season with the Ontario Hockey League’s Ottawa 67’s.

The winger is one of 46 players Team Canada has invited to its 2021 World Junior Championship training camp, which begins Nov. 26 in Red Deer, Alberta.

If Quinn doesn’t make the ... Read the full article

Sabres’ Reverse Retro brings ‘goat head’ to royal blue and gold jersey

The classic “goat head” and the crossed “butter knives” swords will be seen on a Buffalo Sabres jersey again during the upcoming season.

The Reverse Retro the NHL and Adidas unveiled this morning is a modern royal blue and gold revamp of the red and black third jersey the Sabres wore from 2000-01 to 2005-06.

The new white jersey features “the goat head,” a popular logo the Sabres used on their main jerseys from 1996 ... Read the full article

Sabres’ new white Reverse Retro jersey features ‘goat head’ on shoulders

Get ready to see “the goat head” on a Buffalo Sabres jersey again.

Their new Reverse Retro features the popular logo on the shoulders of the white, royal blue and gold Adidas jersey.

The Sabres tweeted three photos of the sweater today – they also revealed the front and back of the neck – as a teaser before Monday’s full unveiling.... Read the full article

Goalie Dustin Tokarski thrilled to join Sabres: ‘I got that fire in me’

In his 11-year career, Dustin Tokarski has played 361 games in the American Hockey League, more than any active goalie. The Buffalo Sabres newcomer has won Calder Cup championships as a starter and a backup and as a prospect and a graybeard.

When Tokarski tends goal for the Rochester Americans, he will have played for 10 AHL teams. Three of them are no longer in the league.

Tokarski, 31, has experienced virtually everything in the ... Read the full article