Bill Hoppe - Buffalo Hockey Beat

Assistant coach Dave Barr leaves Sabres for Panthers

BUFFALO – The Sabres now have two assistant coaching vacancies, as Dave Barr has left the team to join former teammate Gerard Gallant’s staff with the Florida Panthers, according to multiple reports.

Sabres coach Dan Bylsma’s first staff – one that appeared to mesh quickly and work well together – has only assistant Terry Murray and goalie coach Andrew Allen left. The team shifted assistant Dan Lambert to Rochester last month to coach the AHL ... Read the full article

Sabres sign prospect Vaclav Karabacek to 3-year, entry-level contract

BUFFALO – The Sabres have signed wing prospect Vaclav Karabacek to a three-year, entry-level contract, the team announced this morning.

The Sabres drafted the 6-foot, 198-pound Karabacek in the second round, 49^th overall, in 2014.

Karabacek, 20, split 2015-16 between the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League’s Baie-Comeau Drakkar and Moncton Wildcats, compiling 18 goals and 30 points in 47 games.

The Czech finished his three-year junior career with 56 goals and 117 points in ... Read the full article

Sabres sign prospect Brycen Martin to three-year, entry-level contract

BUFFALO – The Sabres have signed defense prospect Brycen Martin to a three-year, entry-level contract, the team announced today.

The Sabres drafted the 6-foot-2, 199-pound Martin in the third round, 74^th overall, in 2014.

Martin, 20, split 2015-16 between the Western Hockey League’s Saskatoon Blades and Everett Silvertips, tying his career highs with six goals, 31 assists and 37 points.

The Calgary native finished his four-year junior career with 21 goals, 131 points and ... Read the full article

Season in Russia became ‘nightmare’ for South Buffalo’s Tim Kennedy

Former Buffalo Sabres forward Tim Kennedy thought he knew what he was getting into when he signed to play for Nizhnekamsk Neftekhimik, a Russian team located in a closed town – seriously, you need permission to visit – and led by a Soviet-era coach.

“I knew that going in that it was the worst city and I heard that the coach was really tough, but you figure how bad can it be and how ... Read the full article

Reconnecting with Dan Bylsma helped lead Dan Lambert to Amerks

ROCHESTER – Dan Lambert’s relationship with Buffalo Sabres coach Dan Bylsma started in the mid-1990s, during their playing days with the Long Beach Ice Dogs, a team in the now-defunct International Hockey League.

Lambert was a high-scoring defenseman and the Ice Dogs’ captain. Bylsma, meanwhile, would occasionally be sent down from the parent Los Angeles Kings.

While the two weren’t close, Lambert said they shared “a mutual respect for one another.”

“Were we best friends? ... Read the full article

Sabres name Dan Lambert Amerks coach; Randy Cunneyworth reassigned

Randy Cunneyworth’s return to the Rochester Americans’ bench lasted only one season, as the parent Buffalo Sabres have reassigned the veteran coach to a player development position and named Dan Lambert his replacement, the team announced today.

Lambert, 46, is the 31^st coach in the AHL club’s history. The former NHL defenseman spent last season as an assistant coach on Dan Bylsma’s staff in Buffalo.

“We had a plan in place going into last ... Read the full article

Williamsville’s David Leggio rebounds with championship season

Williamsville native David Leggio can laugh and smile now reflecting on a crazy seven months. A season that began with the veteran goalie sitting at home looking for work ended with him celebrating a championship wearing lederhosen following a dynamic 14-game playoff run starring for Munich WHC, a team in the German DEL.

“This was the way I hoped it would go,” Leggio said Wednesday. “It doesn’t happen often. It doesn’t always happen how you ... Read the full article

Leafs win draft lottery; Sabres will select 8th

The “Shanaplan” worked.

The Toronto Maple Leafs, who stripped down their roster this season under the direction of president Brendan Shanahan and finished dead last, won tonight’s NHL Draft Lottery.

The Leafs, who had 20 percent odds for the No. 1 overall pick, will almost certainly use it to select Arizona-raised center Auston Matthews, the prize of this year’s NHL Draft.

The Buffalo Sabres stayed put in the lottery, meaning they’ll select eighth when they ... Read the full article

Lottery should bring Sabres strong draft position

BUFFALO – Given the Sabres’ slim odds for the No. 1 overall pick in tonight’s NHL Draft Lottery in Toronto – just 6 percent, thanks to their 23^rd-place finish – they likely won’t win.

Heck, the Sabres owned the greatest odds to nab the No. 1 choice the last two years and lost both lotteries. Instead, they “settled” for the No. 2 selection, drafting young stars Jack Eichel and Sam Reinhart.

So ... Read the full article

Sabres re-sign Johan Larsson to 1-year contract

BUFFALO – The Sabres have re-signed center Johan Larsson to a one-year contract, the club announced today.

The deal is worth $950,000, according to TSN’s Bob McKenzie. Larsson, 23, was set to become a restricted free agent this summer.

The Swede just finished his most productive NHL season, compiling 10 goals and 17 points in 74 games, all career highs. His five game-winning goals tied Jack Eichel for the team lead.

After months of so-so ... Read the full article