Cozens - Buffalo Hockey Beat

Sabres release training camp roster, schedule; 37 players to participate

On Friday, the Buffalo Sabres will touch the KeyBank Center ice for the first time in 296 days and begin preparing for the most unusual of seasons.

The NHL will be attempting to play during the COVID-19 pandemic, and it will likely experience problems – positive tests, postponements or even cancellations – as the schedule unfolds.

But those potential roadblocks can be examined another day. The Sabres’ 10-month break is nearly over. Training camp officially ... Read the full article

Sabres prospect Dylan Cozens to fill in as Team Canada’s captain

Buffalo Sabres prospect Dylan Cozens will be taking turns with Bowen Byram filling in as Team Canada’s captain during the World Junior Championship in Edmonton.

Canada captain Kirby Dach fractured his wrist during an exhibition game Wednesday. Dach, a regular with the Chicago Blackhawks last season, will miss the entire tournament.

The Canadians open their schedule tonight against Team Germany, which boasts another Sabres prospect, forward J-J Peterka.

Cozens, a center the Sabres drafted ... Read the full article

After 14 years, Nathan Paetsch finally revisited Sabres’ Game 7 loss in 2006

In April, when MSG replayed the Buffalo Sabres’ gut-wrenching Game 7 loss from 2006, Nathan Paetsch decided it was time to relive the craziest night of his NHL career.

For almost 14 years, the defeat stung so badly that Paetsch, who retired Friday, avoided watching the final game of the classic Eastern Conference final series against the Carolina Hurricanes.

“I never looked back on it,” Paetsch said of the memorable 4-2 loss during a Zoom ... Read the full article

Sabres prospect Ryan Johnson named to Team USA’s World Junior squad

Buffalo Sabres defense prospect Ryan Johnson has earned a spot on Team USA’s 25-man roster for the upcoming World Junior Championship.

USA Hockey announced the roster today.

Johnson, 19, has compiled zero goals and four assists in six games this season as a sophomore at Minnesota. The Sabres drafted Johnson 31st overall in 2019.

The American is the son of former NHL forward Craig Johnson.... Read the full article

Sabres prospects Dylan Cozens, Jack Quinn earn spots on Team Canada

Buffalo Sabres prospects forward prospects Dylan Cozens and Jack Quinn have earned spots on Team Canada’s 25-man roster for the upcoming World Junior Championship.

Hockey Canada, which paused the team’s camp on Nov. 25 for 14 days following two positive COVID-19 tests, announced the roster today.

Cozens, 19, won a gold medal in last year’s tournament, scoring two goals and nine points in seven games. The center, the seventh overall pick in 2019, is ... Read the full article

Top Sabres pick Jack Quinn developed rapidly during 52-goal draft season

Growing up, Jack Quinn liked to think of himself as a multi-sport athlete. The high-scoring winger the Buffalo Sabres drafted eighth overall Tuesday did not simply focus on hockey. He also enjoyed playing baseball and golf.

“I didn’t really train for hockey, really, I just played it,” said Quinn, who scored 52 goals in 62 games last season for the Ontario Hockey League’s Ottawa 67’s.

Not surprisingly, Quinn struggled to make any progress in hockey. ... Read the full article

Sabres draft high-scoring winger Jack Quinn with No. 8 pick

The Buffalo Sabres have selected winger Jack Quinn, who scored 52 goals with the Ottawa 67’s last season, eighth overall at the NHL tonight.

The 6-foot, 167-pound Quinn is the first pick under new Sabres general manager Kevyn Adams.

Quinn, who often draws comparisons to Boston Bruins sniper David Pastrnak, ranked seventh among draft-eligible North American skaters by NHL Central Scouting.

Quinn, 19, is a bit of a late bloomer. He scored only ... Read the full article

Eric Staal shocked by trade to Sabres, excited to play for GM Kevyn Adams

The friendship between Buffalo Sabres newcomer Eric Staal and general manager Kevyn Adams dates back 17 years, to their days as teammates on the Carolina Hurricanes.

Back then, Adams, a veteran, often invited the budding superstar to his family’s house for dinner.

“He was very good to me as a young player in Carolina,” Staal said on a Zoom call Friday “I was at his house numerous times as a young guy. We just got ... Read the full article

Sabres trade Marcus Johansson to Wild for Eric Staal

Kevyn Adams made his first trade as Buffalo Sabres general manager today, sending forward Marcus Johansson to the Minnesota Wild in exchange for center Eric Staal.

Staal will likely be utilized as the No. 2 center, a position the Sabres have struggled to fill since dealing Ryan O’Reilly to the St. Louis Blues in 2018.

Johansson, a winger most of his NHL career, centered the second line much of the 2019-20 season, his first in ... Read the full article

Playing career prepared Matt Ellis for new development role with Sabres

During his playing days, former Buffalo Sabres forward Matt Ellis embraced what he calls the “art of preparation.”

Ellis, the Sabres’ new director of player development, kept a training notebook he still consults. He constantly searched for ways to evolve and maximize his potential.

“I was always a chronic explorer,” Ellis said by phone Wednesday.

In the 2009 offseason, for example, Ellis, then 27, overhauled his shot, changing it so he could create more ... Read the full article