WNY and Buffalo NY Hockey Coverage
November Edition
Jack Quinn has played 33 games this season. ©2023, Micheline Veluvolu
BUFFALO – For a day or two, rookie Jack Quinn is technically a member of the Rochester Americans again. In a paper move on Thursday morning, the Sabres loaned the winger to their AHL affiliate to create room to recall goalie Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen.
Quinn, 21, isn’t going anywhere. The Sabres needed a roster spot and he can be assigned to the minors without waivers.
General manager Kevyn Adams said on Monday the Sabres would ... Read the full article
Jack Quinn has scored six goals this season. ©2023, Micheline Veluvolu
BUFFALO – For a day or two, Sabres rookie Jack Quinn is technically a member of the Rochester Americans again. In a paper move on Thursday morning, they loaned the winger to their AHL affiliate to create room to recall goalie Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen.
Quinn, 21, isn’t going anywhere. The Sabres needed a roster spot and he can be assigned to the minors without waivers.
General manager Kevyn Adams said on Monday the Sabres would have ... Read the full article
Kyle Okposo knows the Sabres need to start better than they did on Monday. ©2023, Micheline Veluvolu
BUFFALO – In a span of two days, the Sabres won a thrilling come-from-behind overtime contest before a raucous capacity crowd and got shut out in front of about 9,000 empty seats.
The ebb and flow of a grueling six-month season can create some real clunkers, and the Sabres clearly experienced a letdown on Monday in losing 4-0 to the Philadelphia Flyers at KeyBank Center.
Fresh off Saturday’s exciting 6-5 triumph against the Minnesota Wild, ... Read the full article
Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen has played 13 games with Buffalo this season. ©2023, Micheline Veluvolu
BUFFALO – By loaning goalie Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen to the Rochester Americans to create a roster spot for Eric Comrie, the Sabres bought themselves some time.
Right now, the Sabres have a full 23-man roster. If they wanted to activate Comrie from injured reserve and keep Luukkonen, they might’ve had to waive a young defenseman and risk losing him.
The Sabres can send Luukkonen, 23, to the AHL without waivers, so his assignment on Monday ... Read the full article
Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen has played 13 games with Buffalo this season. ©2023, Micheline Veluvolu
BUFFALO – The Sabres late this afternoon assigned goalie Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen to the Rochester Americans, a move that allows them activate Eric Comrie from injured reserve.
Comrie, 27, has missed the last 20 games recovering from a lower-body injury he suffered on Nov. 16. He will likely dress as Craig Anderson’s backup tonight against the Philadelphia Flyers at KeyBank Center.
Given Luukkonen’s hot streak – he has won six straight starts and eight of his ... Read the full article
Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen has become Buffalo’s No. 1 goalie. ©2023, Micheline Veluvolu
BUFFALO – Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen’s emergence as the Sabres’ No. 1 goalie has created a good problem the team will likely have to address in the coming days.
Luukkonen, having won five straight starts and seven of his last eight entering tonight’s home game against the Minnesota Wild, has possibly entrenched himself in the NHL. The Finn, 23, has developed into the Sabres’ backbone and one of their biggest difference-makers over the past month.
His splendid ... Read the full article
Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen has earned two consecutive wins. ©2022, Micheline Veluvolu
BUFFALO – Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen needed time to adjust. In his first outings after the Sabres recalled him, the goalie occasionally looked a little wonky.
The Finn wasn’t much of a difference-maker.
Luukkonen, 23, had played just 13 NHL games, the last coming more than 10 months earlier, before Eric Comrie’s lower-body injury thrust into the starting role in late November. Having been labeled as the Sabres’ goalie of the future, when he’s summoned to Buffalo, ... Read the full article
Eric Comrie was injured on Nov. 16. ©2022, Micheline Veluvolu
BUFFALO – When Sabres defenseman Rasmus Dahlin checked Senators forward Mathieu Joseph into Eric Comrie five weeks ago, the goalie said he felt “a little bit of a pop in my knee.”
“It didn’t feel very good,” Comrie said following Wednesday’s practice, his second full session since getting injured midway through the Sabres’ 4-1 loss Nov. 16 in Ottawa.
Right away, Comrie, 27, knew something wasn’t right. Still, he tried to gut out the ... Read the full article
Craig Anderson has played 12 games this season. ©2022, Micheline Veluvolu
BUFFALO – Among goalies who have played at least 10 games this season, Sabres veteran Craig Anderson’s .921 save percentage ranks seventh in the NHL.
That’s 55 points higher than Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen, the rookie who has been receiving the majority of starts with Eric Comrie sidelined. Before Comrie suffered a lower-body injury, he compiled an .887 save percentage.
Anderson, 41, has performed a lot better than the Sabres’ other goalies this season. Overall, he ... Read the full article
Craig Anderson made 40 saves Tuesday. ©2022, Micheline Veluvolu
BUFFALO – At 41, Sabres goalie Craig Anderson hasn’t shown many signs of graying. In fact, the NHL’s oldest player can even make hockey’s toughest position look easy.
Take, for example, the 20-year veteran’s splendid 40-save performance in Tuesday’s 6-0 shellacking of the Los Angeles Kings, the 43rd shutout of his decorated career.
Anderson was the Sabres’ backbone as they struggled to generate offense early, making 16-first period stops and 30 saves through 40 minutes ... Read the full article