WNY and Buffalo NY Hockey Coverage
November Edition
Devon Levi has played five games this season. ©2023, Micheline Veluvolu
BUFFALO – After starting four games in eight days to kick off his rookie season, Sabres goalie Devon Levi took a backseat, playing just one of the next nine contests.
Levi, 21, spent 12 days recovering from a lower-body injury and when he returned, goalie Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen, 24, had found a groove.
So Sabres coach Don Granato recently began rotating the young netminders. If he holds to it, Levi will play tonight’s game ... Read the full article
Craig Anderson played two seasons in Buffalo. ©2023, Micheline Veluvolu
BUFFALO – In the first season following his retirement, former Sabres goalie Craig Anderson has occasionally dropped in and visited his old teammates.
It turns out he wasn’t just saying hello.
The Sabres on Thursday announced they’ve hired Anderson, 42, for a part-time position as a “hockey liaison.”
In his role, he will “continue to serve as a trusted voice in the Sabres’ locker room, providing insight, guidance, and support to the players and coaching ... Read the full article
Victor Olofsson scored 28 goals last season. ©2023, Micheline Veluvolu
BUFFALO – In training camp, Sabres coach Don Granato said he believed winger Victor Olofsson would grow this year after having the summer to process his late-season struggles.
Over the years, Olofsson, 28, has shown he’s cognizant of his deficiencies and willing to evolve. Last season, despite losing his spot in the lineup late, he scored 21 even-strength goals, two more than he had in the previous two years combined.
But three games into the ... Read the full article
Eric Comrie played 19 games last season. ©2023, Micheline Veluvolu
BUFFALO – Eric Comrie had always battled for an opportunity, yo-yoing between the NHL and minors. So when the Sabres signed the goalie to his first big contract last year, guaranteeing him a spot, the expectations felt unusual.
Comrie, 28, said he put so much pressure on himself “it’s kind of like I hammered myself down.”
“I came here and I had a job, I’m like, ‘Holy smokes, I’m in a whole different spot,’” Comrie ... Read the full article
The Joe Thornton Community Centre is ready for the Sabres. ©2023
ST. THOMAS, Ont. – When the Buffalo Sabres arrived via a police escort at Joe Thornton Community Centre to prepare for tonight’s Kraft Hockeyville game, defenseman Jacob Bryson, who grew up in nearby London, left the bus first to greet excited fans.
“I would say I was ordered,” joked Bryson, who will play in tonight’s preseason game against the Toronto Maple Leafs.
Of course, Bryson gladly, as he said, “led the charge.” He occasionally practiced ... Read the full article
(From left) Devon Levi, Lukas Rousek and Victor Olofsson are three intriguing participants in training camp. ©2023, Micheline Veluvolu
BUFFALO – The deepest and most talented Sabres team since the rollicking post-lockout days of the mid-2000s will hit the ice today shouldering the expectation it can end the franchise’s embarrassing 12-year playoff drought.
Coming off a season in which they fell one win short of the postseason, the Sabres begin training camp with three sessions at KeyBank Center.
They have a whopping 64 players on their camp roster: seven goalies, 21 defensemen and 36 ... Read the full article
Vinnie Hinostroza played sparingly last season. ©2023, Micheline Veluvolu
The Buffalo Sabres have enjoyed remarkable roster stability this offseason. Right now, every regular from last year’s team is still with them.
If the Sabres keep winger Victor Olofsson – Jack Quinn’s Achilles injury makes a trade seem less likely – every healthy player who played at least 50 games in 2022-23 could be on their opening night roster Oct. 12.
Still, some players have left. So far this summer, three who spent time in ... Read the full article
Rasmus Dahlin (left) and Owen Power are two of Buffalo’s cornerstones. ©2023, Micheline Veluvolu
BUFFALO – Following the season, some of the Sabres’ decision makers sat down with defensemen Rasmus Dahlin and Owen Power and told them how much they believe in them and what they mean to the franchise.
“There was an excitement from both of them and a clear message to me that they both want to be here long-term,” Sabres general manager Kevyn Adams said Wednesday during a news conference in KeyBank Center to discuss the ... Read the full article
Malcolm Subban focuses on the action in Sunday afternoon’s game. ©2023, Rochester Americans
ROCHESTER – Americans goalie Malcolm Subban chose to talk more about the team than himself.
Subban performed splendidly in Sunday afternoon’s 4-0 win over the Syracuse Crunch, making 31 saves in the Amerks’ first shutout in the Calder Cup Playoffs in 19 years. At 29, he has enjoyed a terrific comeback season, playing a career-high 43 games, including all four playoff contests, for the Buffalo Sabres’ AHL affiliate.
Following a subpar outing in Friday’s 8-5 ... Read the full article
Eric Comrie played 19 games in his first season in Buffalo. ©2023, Micheline Veluvolu
BUFFALO – Nothing could ruin Eric Comrie’s season. Not the goalie’s first significant injury. Not losing the starting job or falling to fourth on the Sabres’ depth chart.
He played just eight of the final 65 games after going down in mid-November. In one of his appearances, he allowed 10 goals. Following rookie goalie Devon Levi’s arrival, he did not play in the final nine contests.
Comrie, 27, faces an uncertain future. Levi, ... Read the full article
