WNY and Buffalo NY Hockey Coverage
October Edition
Phil Housley talks this afternoon. ©2017, Hickling Images, Olean Times Herald
BUFFALO – Today, Phil Housley’s 32nd wedding anniversary, he forgot to get his wife, Karin, a card. Sure enough, when the legendary Sabres defenseman returned to his room after meeting with general manager Jason Botterill this morning, he noticed a card from her on the table.
Housley, however, had something better for their special day.
“I said, ‘I’m the new head coach of the Buffalo Sabres,” Housley said this afternoon during his introductory news conference ... Read the full article
Phil Housley is the 18th coach in Sabres history. ©2017, Hickling Images, Olean Times Herald
BUFFALO – The Sabres today hired Hall of Fame defenseman Phil Housley as the 18th head coach in team history.
Housley, 53, will be formally introduced at a 4 p.m. news conference inside KeyBank Center. He replaces Dan Bylsma, who was fired with general manager Tim Murray on April 20.... Read the full article
Phil Housley began his playing career with the Sabres. ©2017, Hickling Images, Olean Times Herald
BUFFALO – The Sabres are close to hiring Hall of Fame defenseman Phil Housley as their next head coach, according to multiple reports.
Update: The Sabres have officially hired Housley. He will be introduced at 4 p.m.
Housley, an assistant with the Predators, met with the Sabres on Monday in Nashville and could be in Buffalo today, according to TSN’s Darren Dreger. He tweeted the team wants to have a new coach by next Monday.... Read the full article
Bob Boughner reportedly interviewed with the Sabres. ©2017, Hickling Images, Olean Times Herald
Scratch one coaching candidate off the list for the Buffalo Sabres.
The Florida Panthers are close to hiring San Jose Sharks assistant coach and former Sabres defenseman Bob Boughner, according to TSN’s Bob McKenzie. That would leave the Sabres, who reportedly interviewed Boughner, as the only NHL team without a head coach.
The Sabres want to interview Nashville Predators assistant coach Phil Housley and Pittsburgh Penguins assistants Rick Tocchet and Jacques Martin following the ... Read the full article
Dan Lambert coached in the Western Hockey League before joining the Sabres. ©2017, Hickling Images, Olean Times Herald
Former Rochester Americans coach and Buffalo Sabres assistant Dan Lambert is heading back to the junior hockey to lead the Spokane Chiefs.
The Western Hockey League club hired Lambert, 47, as head coach today. He previously spent four years with the Kelowna Rockets, including a championship season in 2014-15, his only as head coach.... Read the full article
Bob Boughner is an assistant coach with San Jose. ©2017, Hickling Images, Olean Times Herald
Buffalo Sabres general manager Jason Botterill interviewed San Jose Sharks assistant Bob Boughner for the team’s vacant head coaching job Tuesday, according to TSN’s Pierre LeBrun.
The Sabres haven’t had a coach since firing Dan Bylsma with GM Tim Murray on April 20.
Boughner, 46, has spent the last two seasons as an assistant in San Jose. He previously spent eight seasons coaching the Ontario Hockey League’s Windsor Spitfires, winning two championships. He was also ... Read the full article
Dam Lambert spent one season in Rochester. ©2017, Hickling Images, Olean Times Herald
The Buffalo Sabres fired Rochester Americans coach Dan Lambert today, ending his one-year run with the AHL affiliate.
Given Lambert, 47, was hired by former general manager Tim Murray and coach Dan Bylsma, who were fired April 20, new Sabres GM Jason Botterill was almost expected to make the move.
“I would like to thank Dan for his hard work and contributions to our organization during the last two seasons and I wish him the ... Read the full article
Mike Sullivan worked in player development and coached in the AHL before being promoted to Pittsburgh. ©2017, Hickling Images, Olean Times Herald
BUFFALO – When Sabres general manager Jason Botterill interviewed Mike Sullivan for Pittsburgh’s AHL coaching vacancy two years ago, thoughts of the candidate’s unsuccessful run as an assistant in Vancouver were fresh in his mind.
“I had an impression,” Botterill said Thursday of Sullivan, who spent a tumultuous season with the Canucks in 2013-14 beside embattled coach John Tortorella.
But Sullivan changed that impression. The former Boston Bruins coach had just spent a year as ... Read the full article
Alexander Nylander is the Sabres’ top prospect in Rochester. ©2017, Hickling Images, Olean Times Herald
BUFFALO – Very quietly, general manager Jason Botterill played a key role in the development of the talent that once made the Sabres a legitimate Stanley Cup contender.
Botterill played three seasons with the Rochester Americans, piling up goals while helping prospects like Paul Gaustad, Ryan Miller, Jason Pominville, Derek Roy and Thomas Vanek acclimate to the AHL and eventually graduate to the Sabres.... Read the full article
Sabres owner Terry Pegula (left) and new general manager Jason Botteril talk Thursday. ©2017, Hickling Images, Olean Times Herald
BUFFALO – New general manager Jason Botterill left a darn good gig as the Pittsburgh Penguins’ associate GM to return here and run the Sabres, a reeling team that hasn’t made the playoffs in six years.
On Wednesday, just hours before he was named the eighth GM in Sabres history, Botterill was in Washington watching Pittsburgh beat the Capitals in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference semifinal. The Penguins could be weeks away from earning ... Read the full article