WNY and Buffalo NY Hockey Coverage
Calder Cup Playoffs Edition
Evander Kane has never played in a playoff game. ©2018, Hickling Images, Olean Times Herald
BUFFALO – Throughout a miserable season, winger Evander Kane was often the Sabres’ best asset, scoring goals on a hapless team starved for offense. To general manager Jason Botterill, the nine-year veteran is a “premium” player.
So why did Botterill trade Kane to the San Jose Sharks shortly before Monday’s 3 p.m. deadline for two conditional draft picks – one could become a first-rounder, although that seems unlikely – and a marginal prospect?... Read the full article
Danny O’Regan played at Boston University. ©2018, Hickling Images, Olean Times Herald
BUFFALO – As a junior at Boston University in 2014-15, forward Danny O’Regan enjoyed a monster season, scoring 23 goals and 50 points in 41 games as the Terriers came within a whisker of a national title.
You might’ve heard of his linemates that year: Jack Eichel and Evan Rodrigues, two current Sabres. With O’Regan at left wing, they formed perhaps the NCAA’s most lethal trio.... Read the full article
The Sabres only received one legitimate offer for Evander Kane. ©2018, Hickling Images, Olean Times Herald
BUFFALO – Throughout a miserable season, winger Evander Kane was often the Sabres’ best asset, scoring goals on a hapless team starved for offense. To general manager Jason Botterill, the nine-year veteran is a “premium” player.
So why did Botterill trade Kane to the San Jose Sharks shortly before today’s 3 p.m. deadline for two conditional draft picks – one could become a first-rounder, although that seems unlikely – and a marginal prospect?... Read the full article
Evander Kane has scored 20 goals this season. ©2018, Hickling Images, Olean Times Herald
BUFFALO – The Sabres this afternoon traded winger Evander Kane to the San Jose Sharks, according to multiple reports.
The Sharks sent the Sabres a conditional first-round pick, a conditional fourth-rounder and center prospect Danny O’Regan, according to Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman.
Stay tuned for more details. Sabres general manager Jason Botterill swung the deal about 45 minutes before the 3 p.m. trade deadline. O’Regan, 24, is a Boston University product with 22 games of ... Read the full article
Benoit Pouliot scores his first-period goal aganst Boston goalie Anton Khudobin on Sunday afternoon. ©2018, Hickling Images, Olean Times Herald
BUFFALO – Kyle Okposo is a self-proclaimed “hockey nerd,” so the Sabres winger plans to follow today’s trade activity closely until the 3 p.m. deadline.
“I’ll be probably looking at stuff most of the day,” Okposo said following Sunday afternoon’s 4-1 win against the Boston Bruins before 18,522 fans inside KeyBank Center. “It’s an exciting day for the league.”
While deadline day is always highly anticipated by fans, most players dread it. The hours leading ... Read the full article
Rick Nash skates in his Bruins debut Sunday afternoon. ©2018, Hickling Images, Olean Times Herald
BUFFALO – Shortly before 3 p.m. Sunday, Rick Nash walked into KeyBank Center to meet his new teammates. Several minutes later, the veteran winger emerged from the dressing room clad in Boston Bruins apparel to chat with the media.
“I’ve only been here for five minutes and I can kind of sense that buzz, sense that excitement, the energy that a winning team has,” an excited Nash said prior to Sunday afternoon’s 4-1 loss to ... Read the full article
Evander Kane also sat out Saturday’s game. ©2018, Hickling Images, Olean Times Herald
BUFFALO – As expected, Sabres winger Evander Kane, who will almost certainly be traded before Monday’s 3 pm deadline, will sit out this afternoon’s tilt against the Boston Bruins.
The Sabres, of course, don’t want to risk injury to their most valuable trade asset. Kane also was scratched for Saturday’s 5-1 loss in Washington.
Goalie Chad Johnson will start, so does that mean the Sabres have something brewing with starting netminder Robin Lehner, ... Read the full article
Briian Gionta (12) skates between Anaheim’s Hampus Lindholm (47) and Brandon Montour (71) last season. ©2018, Hickling Images, Olean Times Herald
BUFFALO – The Boston Bruins today signed former Sabres captain Brian Gionta to a one-year contact worth a prorated $700,000.
Gionta, 39, passed on NHL opportunities before the season so he could represent Team USA at the Pyeongchang Games, his second Olympics. The Greece native captained the Americans to a seventh-place finish.... Read the full article
Evander Kane will almost certainly be traded. ©2018, Hickling Images, Olean Times Herald
BUFFALO – Jason Botterill has never experienced a trade deadline like this one. Prior to joining the Sabres, the rookie general manager spent 10 seasons in the Pittsburgh Penguins’ front office, winning three Stanley Cups.
The Penguins contended for the Cup every season of Botterill’s tenure, meaning they loaded up for a long playoff run, dealing prospects and draft picks for talent that could help them immediately.... Read the full article
Alexander Nylander recently had a two-goal, four-point game. ©2018, Hickling Images, Olean Times Herald
BUFFALO – Chris Taylor prefaced his comments with a reminder Sabres prospect Alexander Nylander is still a teenager, one of the AHL’s youngest players, and coming off a lower-body injury that cost him all of training camp and six weeks of the season.
“We always forget how young he is and he went through a major injury this year, too,” the Rochester Americans coach said prior to Wednesday’s 2-1 loss to the Syracuse Crunch inside ... Read the full article
