WNY and Buffalo NY Hockey Coverage
Stanley Cup Playoffs Edition
Brett Murray has played 16 games for Buffalo this season. ©2022, Micheline Veluvolu, Rochester Americans
BUFFALO – The Sabres on Friday assigned forwards Brett Murray and Ryan MacInnis and defenseman Ethan Prow to the Rochester Americans.
The Sabres don’t play again until Tuesday, while the Amerks hosted the Hartford Wolf Pack on Friday and play a road game against the Syracuse Crunch tonight.
All three played for the Amerks on Friday.
Murray, 23, had made 15 straight appearances with the Sabres. Overall this season, he has played 16 NHL games, ... Read the full article
Anders Bjork is one of six Buffalo players in protocol. ©2022, Micheline Veluvolu
BUFFALO – Coach Don Granato said dealing with COVID-19 and the chaos it creates has become “almost a new normal.” For two weeks, the virus has been ravaging the Sabres, forcing players and staff members into the NHL’s protocol and five games to be postponed.
On Tuesday, three more players – forward Anders Bjork, Peyton Krebs and Alex Tuch – went into protocol. Granato said the Sabres also held defenseman Henri Jokiharju out of practice ... Read the full article
Ethan Prow played in Germany last season before joining Buffalo’s organization. ©2021, Micheline Veluvolu
BUFFALO – Sabres defenseman Ethan Prow spent much of his 20s toiling in the AHL, posting gaudy numbers and never earning even a cup of coffee in the NHL.
In 2018-19, Prow morphed into one of the league’s elite offensive defensemen, registering 18 goals and 50 points. The next year, after changing organizations, he recorded nine goals and 32 points during a shortened campaign.
A call to the big leagues never materialized, and last season, ... Read the full article
Jack Quinn has missed the last seven games. ©2021, Micheline Veluvolu, Rochester Americans
Buffalo Sabres prospect Jack Quinn, who recently contracted mono, will likely return to practice in a non-contact role Friday and could play again next weekend, Rochester Americans coach Seth Appert said.
“If everything goes well physically in his reacclimatization to more exercise this weekend and contact at some point next week, I think there’s a chance that maybe next weekend he’s in the lineup,” Appert told the Times Herald.
Appert said Quinn, 20, ... Read the full article
Matt Ellis (pictured) played for Lindy Ruff before coaching against him. ©2021, Micheline Veluvolu
BUFFALO – Of all the coaches the Sabres’ Matt Ellis could’ve faced in his first game filling in for Don Granato, it turned out to be the one he knows best, Lindy Ruff.
These days, Ruff, 61, coaches the New Jersey Devils, the Sabres’ opponent Wednesday at KeyBank Center.
Ellis, 40, played under Ruff for parts of five seasons, growing from a forward the Sabres plucked off waivers into an NHL regular. ... Read the full article
Ethan Prow has spent most of his career in the AHL. ©2021, Micheline Veluvolu
BUFFALO – Make that four. In addition to forwards Peyton Krebs, JJ Peterka and Alex Tuch, it appears another player, defenseman Ethan Prow, will be making his Sabres debut tonight.
Like Peterka, Prow, 29, has never played in the NHL. Ironically, Peterka and Prow were teammates last season with Red Bull Munich, a Deutsche Eishockey Liga team.
The Sabres this morning recalled Prow to the taxi squad and Casey Fitzgerald to the active roster because ... Read the full article
JJ Peterka is one of Buffalo’s top prospects. ©2021, Micheline Veluvolu
BUFFALO – In the Sabres’ recent history, games as significant as tonight’s can be counted on one hand. How often have three highly regarded young players – in this case, forwards Peyton Krebs, JJ Peterka and Alex Tuch – all made their debuts together?
Their presence illustrates that after a decade of futility, maybe – just maybe – a franchise known for dysfunction is starting to get things rights.
In less than a year, the ... Read the full article
JJ Peterka learned he was recalled in the grocery store. ©2021, Micheline Veluvolu
BUFFALO – Sabres prospect JJ Peterka was grocery shopping with Linus Weissbach on Monday in Rochester when his teammate’s phone rang.
Peterka’s phone wasn’t working, so to relay some special news, Rochester Americans coach Seth Appert called Weissbach, one of the German’s roommates.
“That was kind of weird but then I got the phone and Appert told me I got called up, so it was amazing,” said a smiling Peterka, who was officially recalled this ... Read the full article
Jeff Skinner on Tuesday tested positive for COVID-19. ©2021, Micheline Veluvolu
After having three games postponed and one player enter the NHL’s COVID-19 protocol, the Sabres wanted to practice one final time before beginning a four-day break.
“Really get the guys going before we lead into the break,” Sabres general manager Kevyn Adams said on a Zoom call Tuesday.
Adams said doctors approved the plan. If the Sabres didn’t have any additional positive cases, they would skate Tuesday morning at LECOM Harborcenter.
But on Tuesday, two ... Read the full article
Rochester’s Jack Quinn (22), show here in front of Hershey’s Matt Moulson, is off to a torrid start this season. ©2021, Micheline Veluvolu
BUFFALO – Sabres prospect Jack Quinn, who’s off to a torrid start in the AHL, has tested positive for mono and will be sidelined until after Christmas, Rochester Americans coach Seth Appert said.
“It’s certainly unfortunate knowing how well he was playing, but knowing Jack, he’ll come back strong from this,” Appert told the team’s website.
When Quinn, 20, missed two games last week, the Amerks said he had the flu.