WNY and Buffalo NY Hockey Coverage
Stanley Cup Playoffs Edition
Rasmus Ristolainen put his stick in his face Monday. ©2014, Dan Hickling, Olean Times Herald
BUFFALO – As players trickled off the ice Monday following practice, Sabres defenseman Rasmus Ristolainen suddenly bolted down the hallway holding his nose and went to the trainer’s room.
What happened?
Ristolainen apparently got caught in a rut on the ice, and his stick hit him in the face as he fell backward. The youngster will be OK, Sabres coach Ted Nolan said.
It’s a good thing, because the Sabres are running low on defensemen. ... Read the full article
Tyson Strachan could return Tuesday. ©2014, Dan Hickling, Olean Times Herald
BUFFALO – As players trickled off the ice today following practice, Sabres defenseman Rasmus Ristolainen suddenly bolted down the hallway holding his nose and went to the trainer’s room.
What happened?
Ristolainen apparently got caught in a rut on the ice, and his stick hit him in the face as he fell backward. The youngster will be OK, Sabres coach Ted Nolan said.
It’s a good thing, because the Sabres are running low on defensemen. ... Read the full article
Patrick Kaleta recently ditched his jaw protection. ©2014, Dan Hickling, Olean Times Herald
BUFFALO – Five games into his return from a broken face, little has changed for Sabres agitator Patrick Kaleta.
“It seems like I keep getting hit in the face,” joked Kaleta, who was rammed face-first into the boards by Winnipeg’s Adam Lowry eight days ago.
Kaleta escaped that scary hit with just a few cuts. The winger was wearing a jaw guard then, something he shed Tuesday because it kept cutting him. He ... Read the full article
Tyler Myers leads the Sabres in ice time. ©2014, Dan Hickling, Olean Times Herald
BUFFALO – A little more than two minutes into overtime Tuesday, Tyler Myers grabbed the puck in his own zone and freewheeled through the neutral zone. The Sabres defenseman then slickly undressed Radko Gudas above the left circle and roared to the net before goalie Evgeni Nabokov thwarted him.
Minutes later, Myers raced back and stymied Lightning sniper Steven Stamkos’ scoring chance as overtime expired in the Sabres’ 2-1 shootout win.
Sequences like Tuesday’s have ... Read the full article
Josh Gorges wears No. 4 because of Jean Beliveau. ©2014, Dan Hickling, Olean Times Herald
BUFFALO – Josh Gorges considers himself old school. He believes defensemen should wear single-digit numbers. So after sporting No. 26 with the Montreal Canadiens for years, the veteran wanted a low number when the Sabres acquired him.
Gorges had a couple of choices. He settled on No. 4, partly because iconic Canadiens legend Jean Beliveau, who died Tuesday at age 83, wore it during his illustrious Hall of Fame career.
Beliveau is hockey royalty.
“What ... Read the full article
Josh Gorges played for Montreal before the Sabres acquired him. ©2014, Dan Hickling, Olean Times Herald
BUFFALO – Josh Gorges considers himself old school. He believes defensemen should wear single-digit numbers. So after sporting No. 26 with the Montreal Canadiens for years, the veteran wanted a low number when the Sabres acquired him.
Gorges had a couple of choices. He settled on No. 4, partly because iconic Canadiens legend Jean Beliveau, who died Tuesday at age 83, wore it during his illustrious Hall of Fame career.
Beliveau is hockey royalty.
“What ... Read the full article
Cody Hodgson scores the shootout-winning goal against Tampa Bay goalie Evgeni Nabokov on Tuesday. ©2014, Dan Hickling, Olean Times Herald
BUFFALO – At this rate, Sabres center Zemgus Girgensons, the NHL’s 119th-leading scorer, will be an All-Star later this season.
Latvians have seemingly been voting non-stop for their favorite player online, helping the 20-year-old open up a stunning 158,994-vote lead. Montreal’s P.K. Subban is a distant second with 240,362 votes. Girgensons has a whopping 399,356 votes!
But if the tenacious Girgensons, who has only 16 goals in 95 NHL games, can’t get ... Read the full article
Tim Schaller was recalled Tuesday afternoon. ©2014, Dan Hickling, Olean Times Herald
BUFFALO – Tim Schaller had just eaten lunch and gotten comfortable on the couch Tuesday afternoon in Rochester when Americans coach Chadd Cassidy phoned the center.
“Get yourself to Buffalo tonight,” Cassidy told Schaller, who had been sent down following his NHL debut Saturday.
Schaller hopped in his car and arrived at the First Niagara Center around 4 p.m.
The Sabres summoned Schaller for their 2-1 shootout win against the Tampa Bay Lightning because forward ... Read the full article
Cody McCormick skates this morning. ©2014, Dan Hickling, Olean Times Herald
BUFFALO – Cody McCormick escaped without even a cut when Eric Fehr’s skate hit the Sabres forward on the chin Nov. 22 in Washington.
“Watching the replay, it was pretty close,” McCormick said this morning inside the First Niagara Center. “I consider myself lucky coming out of that without a cut on my face.”
Fehr’s skate still injured McCormick. The 31-year-old has been undergoing concussion protocol.
McCormick, the Sabres’ top fighter, has a history of ... Read the full article
Tim Schaller made his NHL debut Saturday. ©2014, Dan Hickling, Olean Times Herald
BUFFALO – With forwards Cody McCormick and Drew Stafford injured, the Sabres recalled center Tim Schaller from Rochester this afternoon.
Schaller made his NHL debut in Saturday’s 4-3 shootout win in Montreal. To create room for Schaller, the Sabres placed McCormick on injured reserved.
The 24-year-old Schaller has six goals and 15 points in 20 games with the AHL Americans this season.
McCormick is still undergoing concussion protocol. Stafford has a lower-body injury.... Read the full article