WNY and Buffalo NY Hockey Coverage
Calder Cup Playoffs Edition
Tyler Myers will stand in front of the net tonight. ©2015, Dan Hickling, Olean Times Herald
BUFFALO – Right now, Sabres defenseman Tyler Myers said, the plan is “to disrupt as much as I can” in front of the net during power plays.
“I guess I’m used to being in that area defensively, but it’ll be different,” Myers said this morning inside the First Niagara Center. “Usually I’m trying to carry out the puck, and now I’ll be trying score. So it’s a different look.”
The Sabres’ NHL-worst power play can’t ... Read the full article
Matt Moulson (26) couldn’t score on his breakaway Tuesday. ©2015, Dan Hickling, Olean Times Herald
BUFFALO – The joke all season has been the Sabres have one first line and three fourth lines. Right now, even that’s a stretch. No one can score.
The Sabres have only scored nine goals during their eight-game losing streak. They have 76 goals all season entering tonight’s game against the Minnesota Wild, a stunning 1.7 a game.
At that anemic pace, the Sabres would score 141 goals in 82 games, nine fewer than they ... Read the full article
Jason Pomiville knows the Wild must start winning soon. ©2015, Dan Hickling, Olean Times Herald
BUFFALO – A year ago, a meeting with the Sabres changed the Minnesota Wild’s season.
The Wild had lost six straight games before beating the hapless club 4-1 on Jan. 2 in Minnesota. The team then ran off three more victories, saving its season and perhaps coach Mike Yeo’s job. The Wild later advanced to the second round of the playoffs, giving Chicago a tough series.
Fast forward to today, and Minnesota, having lost six ... Read the full article
Tyler Myers is 6-foot-8. ©2015, Dan Hickling, Olean Times Herald
BUFFALO – When your power play is operating at an NHL-worst 9 percent and has 11 goals all season, you better try something different.
So the Sabres tried something very different toward the end of today’s 90-minute practice, putting 6-foot-8 defenseman Tyler Myers in front of the net on the power play.
Why not, right? Boston often puts hulking defenseman Zdeno Chara in front.
“You put a big man there, you can draw a ... Read the full article
Sabres goalie Michal Neuvirth makes a stick save Tuesday. ©2015, Dan Hickling, Olean Times Herald
BUFFALO – Not even watching legendary goalie Dominik Hasek, one of hockey’s all-time greats, have his No. 39 raised to the rafters could jumpstart the hapless Sabres, who have now lost a franchise-record eight consecutive games in regulation.
Right now, having dropped 12 of the last 13 contests, the Sabres are mired in perhaps the worst rut in their 44-year history.
The Sabres showcased more ugliness in Tuesday’s 3-1 defeat to Detroit Red Wings, getting ... Read the full article
Dominik Hasek (right) is greeted by Rene Robert (14) and Danny Gare (18) prior to having his number retired Tuesday. ©2015, Dan Hickling, Olean Times Herald
BUFFALO – Goalie Dominik Hasek had never picked his own number before the Sabres acquired him in 1992.
Back home in the Czech Republic, he was given No. 9 as a 16-year-old when a player got sick. When he came to North America in 1990, the Chicago Blackhawks gave him Nos. 31 and 34.
So shortly after he arrived, Hasek was shocked when equipment manager Rip Simonick approached him at a late-summer workout at Sabreland ... Read the full article
Dominik Hasek can joke about “No Goal” now. ©2015, Dan Hickling, Olean Times Herald
BUFFALO – For an entire season, legendary Sabres goalie Dominik Hasek and Brett Hull refused to discuss “No Goal,” Hull’s controversial overtime winner that clinched the Dallas Stars’ Stanley Cup triumph here in 1999.
“Brett Hull, I spent a year with him in Detroit, and in the whole season, we didn’t say one thing about that goal,” Hasek, whose No. 39 will be retired by the Sabres tonight, said this morning inside the First Niagara ... Read the full article
Dominik Hasek speaks to the media this morning. ©2015, Dan Hickling, Olean Times Herald
BUFFALO – Legendary Sabres goalie Dominik Hasek had never chosen his own number.
Back home in the Czech Republic, he was given No. 9 as a 16-year-old when a player got sick. When he came to North America in 1990, the Chicago Blackhawks gave him Nos. 31 and 34.
So shortly after the Sabres acquired him in 1992, Hasek was shocked when equipment manager Rip Simonick approached him at a late-summer workout at Sabreland in ... Read the full article
Dominik Hasek will have his No. 39 retired tonight. ©2015, Dan Hickling, Olean Times Herald
BUFFALO – One story about Dominik Hasek’s famously intense practice habits has become part of hockey folklore.
“I heard about it,” said Red Wings star Henrik Zetterberg, the Hall of Fame goalie’s teammate after the Sabres traded him to Detroit in 2001. “I’m not sure if it’s true.”
Legend has it Hasek was once so upset following a particularly bad practice, he spent the night in the training room. Never went home. Just stayed at ... Read the full article
Cody McCormick had a blood clot. ©2015, Dan Hickling, Olean Times Herald
BUFFALO – Sabres forward Cody McCormick was released from the hospital Monday after being treated for a blood clot in his calf muscle, coach Ted Nolan said.
“Cross our fingers everything continues to go well,” Nolan said following an 80-minute practice inside the First Niagara Center. “No timeframe on his return whatsoever. Our No. 1 concern is making sure he’s OK.”
With McCormick sidelined, the Sabres recalled centers Zac Dalpe and Phil Varone from ... Read the full article
