WNY and Buffalo NY Hockey Coverage
October Edition
Mikhail Grigorenko’s has played 13 NHL games this season. ©2015, Dan Hickling, Olean Times Herald
BUFFALO – Don’t count on seeing Mikhail Grigorenko with the Sabres again this season. Heck, the enigmatic Russian center could be finished here less than three years after getting drafted 12th overall.
Grigorenko’s latest recall lasted one game, Friday’s 3-2 loss in Ottawa. The 20-year-old skated a couple of shifts on the second line before getting demoted to the fourth line. He was sent back down the next morning.
“I didn’t like his play,” ... Read the full article
Mikhail Grigorenko’s recall lasted one game. ©2015, Dan Hickling, Olean Times Herald
BUFFALO – Don’t count on seeing Mikhail Grigorenko with the Sabres again this season. Heck, the enigmatic Russian center could be finished here less than three years after getting drafted 12th overall.
Grigorenko’s latest recall lasted one game, Friday’s 3-2 loss in Ottawa. The 20-year-old skated a couple of shifts on the second line before getting demoted to the fourth line. He was sent back down the next morning.
“I didn’t like his play,” ... Read the full article
Mikhail Grigorenko has spent most of this season in Rochester. ©2015, Dan Hickling, Olean Times Herald
BUFFALO – For once, center Mikhail Grigorenko can relax a little bit. Eighteen games are left in the Sabres’ trying season. The NHL’s weakest lineup needs reinforcements.
Sabres coach Ted Nolan wouldn’t commit to Grigorenko staying for the rest of the year. But the Russian should get a long look after getting recalled from Rochester again Thursday.
This could be Grigorenko’s best opportunity since his rookie season two years ago.
Grigorenko, the 12th pick ... Read the full article
Mikhail Grigorenko recently returned from a knee injury. ©2015, Dan Hickling, Olean Times Herald
BUFFALO – For once, center Mikhail Grigorenko can relax a little bit. Eighteen games are left in the Sabres’ trying season. The NHL’s weakest lineup needs reinforcements.
Grigorenko, the 12th pick in 2012, should get a long look after getting recalled from Rochester again this morning.
The Russian was excited when he saw a white practice jersey hanging in his locker today. That meant he would be centering the second line beside Marcus Foligno ... Read the full article
The Sabres’ Torrey Mitchell splits the Vancouver defense Thursday. ©2015, Dan Hickling, Olean Times Herald
BUFFALO – Of course, the Sabres’ best stretch in two months could end soon. The trade deadline is three days away. The rebuilding club will almost certainly deal some of its top assets.
If Thursday’s 6-3 win against the Vancouver Canucks was the final game for a few players, they gave the Sabres one heck of a goodbye before a capacity crowd of 19,070 fans inside the First Niagara Center.
Consider the exploits of these ... Read the full article
Chris Stewart has struggled all season. ©2014, Dan Hickling, Olean Times Herald
BUFFALO – The question made Chris Stewart pause for a moment.
“I’m searching for the right answer here,” the struggling winger said Wednesday prior to the Sabres’ game against the Winnipeg Jets inside the First Niagara Center.
Stewart, a two-time 28-goal scorer, has arguably been the Sabres’ biggest disappointment this season, compiling just one goal and two points in 21 games.
So much for that breakout season.
“It’s not where I want it to be, ... Read the full article
Zemgus Girgensons blocked a shot Tuesday. ©2015, Dan Hickling, Olean Times Herald
BUFFALO – Top Sabres center Zemgus Girgensons, who blocked a shot with his right ankle Tuesday, will play again this season, coach Ted Nolan said this morning.
Nolan hinted Girgensons could be finished after James Wisniewski’s shot hit the Latvian halfway through the 4-2 win in Columbus.
“It’s bad but not as bad as we thought,” Nolan said inside the First Niagara Center.
Nolan wouldn’t say if Girgensons’ ankle was broken.
“It could be, ... Read the full article
Sabres goalie Michal Neuvirth watches the puck Sunday with Nashville’s Michael Santorello close by. ©2015, Dan Hickling, Olean Times Herald
BUFFALO – If the Sabres tab Michal Neuvirth as their No. 1 goalie and re-sign the 26-year-old Czech in the coming months, remember his 37-save performance in Sunday’s 2-1 shootout loss to the Nashville Predators.
In his fifth straight start, Neuvirth dazzled again, keeping the Sabres in a contest in which they only five mustered five shots through 30 minutes and 17 in 65 minutes.
Neuvirth helped the NHL’s worst team nearly upset the league-leading ... Read the full article
Matt Moulson beats New York Rangers goalie Mackenzie Skapski early Friday. ©2015, Dan Hickling, Olean Times Herald
BUFFALO – It was a gift the Sabres couldn’t exploit. Instead of starting backup goalie Cam Talbot, the New York Rangers used little-known rookie Mackenzie Skapski on Friday.
Who?
Skapski, 20, has been dressing for games as superstar goalie Henrik Lundqvist recovers from a neck injury. The 2013 sixth-round pick spent most of his first professional season playing in the AHL before getting recalled earlier this month. He even made one start in the ECHL.... Read the full article
The Sabres recalled Matt Ellis last month. ©2015, Dan Hickling, Olean Times Herald
BUFFALO – Matt Ellis considers himself a realist. At 33 years old, the center understands the Sabres have younger and more talented players they need to examine.
That’s why the veteran of 330 NHL games spent four months this season mentoring the organization’s AHL prospects in Rochester.
“To be perfectly honest, I enjoyed the role that I played in Rochester,” Ellis said Monday inside the First Niagara Center.
The role was fulfilling. Ellis felt proud ... Read the full article