WNY and Buffalo NY Hockey Coverage
Calder Cup Playoffs Edition
Tyler Ennis became a top scorer after switching to center last season. ©2012, Dan Hickling, Olean Times Herald
BUFFALO – The eight goals and 19 points Tyler Ennis generated over a rollicking 12-game stretch late last season could just be a harbinger, he believes. The center’s March exploits might’ve signaled the first signs of his impending superstardom.
“I think I’m ready to explode,” Ennis said Sunday, a day after signing a two-year, $5.625 million contract hours before the NHL lockout started.
Of course, Ennis and the Sabres can’t even play right now.
Instead ... Read the full article
Cody Hodgson will return to the Sabres after the lockout ends. ©2012, Janet Schultz, Olean Times Herald
BUFFALO – With an NHL lockout likely hitting at midnight tonight, the Sabres loaned 20 AHL-eligible players, including forwards Marcus Foligno and Cody Hodgson, to the Rochester Americans on Friday.
Also assigned were: forwards Luke Adam, Riley Boychuk, Brian Flynn, Zemgus Girgensons, Jacob Lagace, Jonathan Parker, Kevin Sundher, Shawn Szydlowski, Corey Tropp, Phil Varone; defensemen Alex Biega, Nick Crawford, Jerome Gauthier-Leduc, Matt MacKenzie, Brayden McNabb, Mark Pysyk; goalies Connor Knapp and Nathan Lieuwen. The Sabres ... Read the full article
BUFFALO – Last month, Steve Ott and Mike Weber heard a rumor Ott could be joining his close friend with the Sabres. The two laughed, and then resumed working out together at the gym.
The mere thought of Ott coming to Buffalo resonated, however. The gritty forward was cognizant the Dallas Stars might be looking to deal him.
“Could you imagine?” the friends asked each other.
On July 2, about two weeks later, Ott missed ... Read the full article
Mikhail Grigorenko will compete for an NHL spot during training camp. ©2012, Dan Hickling, Olean Times Herald
BUFFALO – On Wednesday, the day the Sabres signed slick Russian center Mikhail Grigorenko to a three-year, entry-level contract, general manager Darcy Regier encountered a slew of prospects while visiting the players’ lounge inside the First Niagara Center.
Luke Adam, Marcus Foligno and Brayden McNabb, who all impressed during NHL stints last season, are in town working out. So is Grigorenko, the 12th overall pick last month, and 14th pick Zemgus Girgensons, who inked his ... Read the full article
BUFFALO – The wake-up call came at 4:30 a.m., 15 minutes before sunrise Monday. Right away, United States Navy Seals instructors told 39 Sabres prospects to make their beds.
“That was the first time I’ve done that in a while,” winger Marcus Foligno joked.
The youngsters then got in a “proper line format,” going from tallest to shortest. By 5 a.m., they had reached a local beach, where they spent the next two hours swimming ... Read the full article
Thomas Vanek last hit the 40-goal mark in 2008-09. ©2012, Dan Hickling, Olean Times Herald
BUFFALO – Five years after the Sabres matched the astonishing seven-year, $50 million offer sheet Edmonton awarded winger Thomas Vanek, the star expected to score 40 goals annually and flirt with 50 has averaged just 32 a season.
At times, Vanek still utterly dominates the game like few players can these days. See the beginning of 2008-09, the end of 2009-10 and the start of his past one season for proof.
For long stretches, however, ... Read the full article
The Sabres selected Tyler Myers 12th overall in 2008, the last time they had two first-round picks. ©2012, Dan Hickling, Olean Times Herald
PITTSBURGH – A year and zero playoff games later, Darcy Regier still has the keys, full reign to aggressively pursue elite talent and make the Buffalo Sabres a contender again.
If you believe the general manager, then he’s in the mix and will be active on the Consol Energy Center floor this weekend during the NHL Entry Draft, which starts tonight when the Sabres pick twice – 12th and 21st, compliments of ... Read the full article
Luke Adam has struggled since getting demoted to Rochester. ©2012, Craig Foltz/Ben Hall, Lake Erie Monsters
ROCHESTER – Luke Adam, the same Buffalo Sabres prospect whose NHL exploits early this season – three goals in his first four games and 10 tallies before Christmas – made him a Calder Trophy candidate, can’t even score much in the AHL, a league he dominated last year.
Since being demoted to the Rochester Americans on Feb. 11 in the midst of an epic slump, Adam, the AHL’s top rookie a year ago, has only ... Read the full article
Marcus Foligno had six goals and 13 points during his latest recall. ©2012, Micheline Veluvolu, Rochester Americans
BUFFALO – The Rochester Americans’ playoff push got a big boost Friday, as the Sabres assigned rookie wingers Marcus Foligno and Corey Tropp to their 11th-place AHL affiliate.
Foligno and Tropp had secured regular NHL roles recently, impressing during the Sabres’ run at the postseason, which ended with Thursday’s 2-1 loss in Philadelphia.
The Amerks, two points behind eighth-place Houston for the final Western Conference playoff spot, have five games remaining. They play tonight in ... Read the full article
Lindy Ruff has seen other teams eke into the playoffs on the last day. ©2012, Dan Hickling, Olean Times Herald
BUFFALO – Having survived so long and stared down elimination so many times recently, a sense of destiny accompanies the Sabres’ unlikely charge toward the postseason. Six months and 80 games into the season, they’ve refused to die.
Lindy Ruff hopes the Sabres’ story gets to be told like all those other celebrated longshot playoff teams.
“There’s a lot of great stories in sports about teams making it the last day,” the coach said Wednesday ... Read the full article
