WNY and Buffalo NY Hockey Coverage
November Edition
Locals have welcomed Ryan Miller back to Buffalo. ©2013, Dan Hickling, Olean Times Herald
BUFFALO – Playing an 11th season with the rebuilding Sabres isn’t a bad situation, Ryan Miller said. The goalie, the subject of rampant trade speculation for months, is returning to a familiar city he considers a home.
Miller said he’s only received warm greetings from fans, many of whom jeered the 33-year-old and his teammates last season as they missed the playoffs again, since arriving back in town last week.
He understands why locals ... Read the full article
Ron Rolston took over as coach on Feb. 20. ©2013, Dan Hickling, Olean Times Herald
BUFFALO – The Sabres convene for training camp physicals today inside the First Niagara Center, for better or worse, almost the same team that ended a disappointing, 11th-place season 137 days ago.
Other than a busy draft day and reacquiring 34-year-old defenseman Henrik Tallinder, the rebuilding club remained quiet throughout the summer.
Starting goalie Ryan Miller and leading scorer Thomas Vanek, two veteran stars rumored to be on the trading block, ... Read the full article
Ville Leino played only eight games last year. ©2013, Dan Hickling, Olean Times Herald
BUFFALO – Having had hip surgery before in 2010, Sabres winger Ville Leino wasn’t worried about undergoing a second procedure, this time on his right side, early in the offseason.
Leino played through some pain last season but knew the injury had to be addressed. Hip issues had dogged the Finn since his days in Detroit four years ago.
“Now they’re both fixed up,” Leino said last week after skating with some teammates inside the ... Read the full article
Cody McCormick fights regularly. ©2013, Dan Hickling, Olean Times Herald
BUFFALO – The cycle repeats nearly every season. Inevitably, gritty Sabres forward Cody McCormick spends each training camp battling and fighting – literally, as he has nine career preseason scraps – for one of the 20 coveted NHL roster spots.
Other than 2011, after McCormick’s career season earned him a new three-year, $3.6 million contract, the versatile 30-year-old has lived the journeyman’s life, never enjoying much comfort prior to a new campaign.
“Every year I’ve ... Read the full article
Mikhail Grigorenko played 25 NHL games last season. ©2013, Dan Hickling, Olean Times Herald
BUFFALO – Prospect Mikhail Grigorenko is ineligible for the 2013 NHL Prospect Tournament “because of the number of NHL games he was on the Sabres’ roster” last season, the team announced this afternoon, a day before play begins in Traverse City, Mich.
Grigorenko, who made 25 NHL appearances as a rookie in 2012-13, was arguably the biggest name on the 24-man roster the Sabres released for the eight-team tournament last month.
Two other youngsters on ... Read the full article
Steve Ott had some fun on Twitter today. ©2013, Dan Hickling, Olean Times Herald
*Breaking News… Times up! @BuffaloSabres 3rd Jersey Leaked #MiseryIsOver Can't wait for the season to start!! pic.twitter.com/7diRxEhDBJ
— Steve Ott (@otterN9NE) September 4, 2013
So, how badly do you want those ugly slug jerseys back, Buffalo Sabres fans?
Yes, the Sabres will apparently wear that during games in the upcoming season.
After months of teasing fans by tweeting small photos of the team’s new third jersey, the Sabres’ “unveiling” hit its crescendo today.
How did ... Read the full article
Thomas Vanek has one year left on his contract. ©2013, Dan Hickling, Olean Times Herald
AMHERST – Thomas Vanek spoke firmly. No, the high-scoring winger said, he hasn’t asked to be traded from the Buffalo Sabres. The widespread belief he wants out of town doesn’t bother him. But it’s simply not true.
“The media and people, they can make up their own assumptions as long as I know where I’m at and stuff and my family’s at. That’s fine,” Vanek said following an off-ice workout Wednesday morning. “At the end ... Read the full article
Ryan Miller believes he can still play at a high level. ©2013, Dan Hickling, Olean Times Herald
BUFFALO – Ryan Miller understands it’s the nature of hockey. As a veteran entering the final season of his contract, it’s only natural the Sabres, a team going through a transitional period, would shop him around the NHL.
“We’ve had a couple tough years,” Miller told reporters today at USA Hockey’s Olympic camp in Arlington, Va. “It goes from a situation where as a goalie it’s about the hope you can bring to I’ve been ... Read the full article
Thomas Vanek and the Sabres will have 70 games aired on MSG next season. ©2013, Dan Hickling, Olean Times Herald
BUFFALO – MSG will televise 70 Sabres games in 2013-14, while NBC or NBC Sports Network will broadcast the other 12, the team announced today.
Ten games will air on NBC Sports Network. The other two will air on NBC or NBC Sports Network as part of the flex schedule.
The scheduled NBC games:
Rick Jeanneret is beloved in Buffalo. ©2013, Dan Hickling, Olean Times Herald
BUFFALO – Rick Jeanneret, the iconic play-by-play voice of the Sabres since 1971, has agreed to a new three-year contract and will call an increasingly reduced number of games over the deal before retiring, the club announced today.
Dan Dunleavy, a veteran Toronto-area broadcaster, will be Jeanneret’s substitute before assuming the primary play-by-play job in 2016-17.
Today’s news will almost certainly delight and sadden Sabres fans. In the end, they have three more seasons of ... Read the full article