Ryan Miller’s No. 30 was retired by Buffalo last season. ©2023, Dan Hickling

Sharks hire former Sabres stars Ryan Miller, Thomas Vanek for scouting, development roles

Former Buffalo Sabres stars Ryan Miller and Thomas Vanek are back in the NHL working for an old teammate, San Jose Sharks general manager Mike Grier.

Miller, 43, will scout draft-eligible goalies and assist Evgeni Nabokov in goaltender development, the Sharks announced Friday.

Meanwhile, Vanek, 39, will be an amateur scout in Minnesota.... Read the full article

Jason Pominville scored 19 goals in just 18 games for Rochester in 2005-06. ©2023, Rochester Americans

Amerks Hall of Fame: Before starring role in Buffalo, Sabres could’ve lost Jason Pominville on waivers

ROCHESTER – No one, it seems, except for perhaps Jason Pominville himself, could believe the Buffalo Sabres did it.

Sure, the team was stacked up front in 2005 as the NHL emerged from the lockout. But why would they waive Pominville, one of their top prospects? He was out of options, and if they wanted to assign him to the Americans again, he would have to clear.

Every other team would have a chance to ... Read the full article

Mike Grier played for San Jose in between his stints in Buffalo. ©2022, Dan Hickling

Flashback: Sharks GM Mike Grier played 1,000th NHL game with Sabres

Popular former Sabres winger Mike Grier made history today, becoming the first Black general manager in NHL history when the San Jose Sharks hired him to replace Doug Wilson, who resigned in April.

Grier, 47, spent three full seasons and the end of another with the Sabres, becoming one of their most respected veterans. The Sabres haven’t made the playoffs 2010-11, his last season.

The American played three seasons with the Sharks in between his ... Read the full article

J.P. Dumont enjoyed a terrific series against Philadelphia in 2006. ©2020, Micheline Veluvolu

Four ‘Sabres Classics’ from 2006 series against Flyers to air next week on MSG

Four more “Sabres Classics” – this time Buffalo’s first-round playoff victories over the Philadelphia Flyers in 2006 – will be rebroadcast on MSG next week.

Following a shaky ending to the regular season, the upstart Sabres quickly sent a strong message to the NHL they would be Stanley Cup contenders by disposing of the Flyers in six games.

The games are being aired because the COVID-19 pandemic forced the NHL to suspend its season indefinitely ... Read the full article

Drew Stafford often skates on the fourth line. ©2019, Hickling Images

Sabres notes: Drew Stafford reunited with Mike Grier; Scott Wilson waived

BUFFALO – Former Sabres winger Drew Stafford still remembers the first time he saw Mike Grier.

It was the mid-1990s, more than a decade before they became teammates with the Sabres for two seasons. Stafford would sometimes help his uncle, Barry, the Edmonton Oilers’ equipment manager, as a stick boy. Grier, meanwhile, was just beginning his 14-year NHL career as a winger.

“I was like, ‘This is the largest human being I’ve even seen ... Read the full article

Drew Stafford has received limited action this season. ©2019, Hickling Images

Former Sabres Drew Stafford, Mike Grier meet up again with Devils

BUFFALO – Former Sabres winger Drew Stafford still remembers the first time he saw Mike Grier.

It was the mid-1990s, more than a decade before they became teammates with the Sabres for two seasons. Stafford would sometimes help his uncle, Barry, the Edmonton Oilers’ equipment manager, as a stick boy. Grier, meanwhile, was just beginning his 14-year NHL career as a winger.

“I was like, ‘This is the largest human being I’ve even seen ... Read the full article

Brian Gionta (left) receives a silver stick from Sabres general manager Tim Murray on Monday. ©2017, Dan Hickling, Olean Times Herald

Sabres captain Brian Gionta honored for 1,000th game

BUFFALO – Sabres winger Tyler Ennis said undersized NHL players – a “brotherhood,” he called them – share “an unspoken bond.”

Small players, of course, have the odds stacked against them. Only they can truly understand what they endured to make the league.

Fifteen or 20 years ago, it was even tougher for them to crack the NHL. That’s why Ennis, who’s listed at 5-foot-9, grew up idolizing diminutive stars, including 5-foot-7 Sabres captain Brian ... Read the full article

Brian Gionta (12) isn’t afraid to go to the net. ©2017, Dan Hickling, Olean Times Herald

Sabres captain Brian Gionta ready for 1,000th game

BUFFALO – As another trying season winds down, the Sabres finally have something special to celebrate. Captain Brian Gionta will play his 1,000th NHL game tonight, and his teammates couldn’t be more excited.

“That’s a huge, huge honor in this league, a huge milestone and accomplishment,” Sabres winger Marcus Foligno said. “A thousand games in the NHL is rare.”

Tonight is all about Gionta, the 38-year-old Greece native who has enjoyed a long and unlikely ... Read the full article

Former Sabres goalie Ryan Miller applauds the crowd on Saturday afternoon. ©2015, Dan Hickling, Olean Times Herald

Sabres fans and goalie Ryan Miller salute each other

BUFFALO – Ryan Miller wanted to thank everyone in the building. So when the stirring video tribute honoring the former Sabres goalie ended Saturday afternoon, he skated out from his crease, raised his stick and turned around as he applauded the crowd that was roaring for him.

“I can take a second to turn around and make sure everyone knows it’s everybody and not just raising the stick,” Miller said following the Vancouver Canucks’ 3-2 ... Read the full article

Joe Cecconi was smiling Thursday. ©2014, Dan Hickling, Olean Times Herald

Youngstown’s Joe Cecconi poised to become high NHL draft pick

BUFFALO – About 100 family and friends watched No. 5 in white closely all night. Thirty sported neon green “Cecconi Fan Club” shirts, making them impossible to miss in the crowd. They brought spray-painted signs and three large cutouts of the defenseman’s head.

Forty-two youngsters skated in Thursday’s All-American Prospects Game, a showcase of the top U.S. talent eligible for the 2015 draft. Only one, Youngstown’s Joe Cecconi, who represented Team Olczyk, hailed from Western ... Read the full article