WNY and Buffalo NY Hockey Coverage
Offseason Edition
Tage Thompson has often been a healthy scratch this season. ©2021, Micheline Veluvolu
BUFFALO – After morphing from a first-liner into a healthy scratch earlier this season, Tage Thompson could enjoy regular duty under interim coach Don Granato.
Thompson needs consistent action to buoy his development. The 6-foot-7, 219-pound winger has played only 17 NHL games in a more than two-year stretch.
Monday’s 4-3 overtime loss to Philadelphia Flyers at KeyBank Center was the Sabres’ 18th straight defeat. They have nothing to lose by playing him.
“It’s ... Read the full article
Jack Eichel has missed the last 10 games. ©2021, Micheline Veluvolu
BUFFALO – Sabres captain Jack Eichel, who has missed the last 10 games recovering from an upper-body injury, could play again this season, interim coach Don Granato said.
Granato said he spoke to Eichel late last week.
“He said he felt good, he was feeling better,” Granato said on a Zoom call this morning. “I don’t think it would be season-ending. So I know we’re all working to get him back. (I) do not ... Read the full article
Eric Staal spent less than one season in Buffalo. ©2021, Micheline Veluvolu
Eric Staal was hardly interested in revisiting his rough 32-game tenure in Buffalo and explaining the hapless Sabres’ struggles.
Staal, 36, left the NHL’s laughingstock on Friday in the midst of a stunning 17-game winless skid and a personal 23-game goal drought.
So can you blame the veteran center, one of the league’s most decorated players, for wanting to forget about a tumultuous two months and concentrate on his new opportunity with the Montreal Canadiens?... Read the full article
Eric Staal can become an unrestricted free agent following the season. ©2021, Micheline Veluvolu
Winger Kyle Okposo knows center Eric Staal was likely only the first of several veteran teammates who will be leaving the hapless Buffalo Sabres over the next few weeks.
The Sabres, having lost 16 straight entering this afternoon’s road game against the Boston Bruins, are broken and on pace to be historically bad. The NHL’s laughingstock needs a massive overhaul, so anyone could be in play before the April 12 trade deadline.
“I mean, nobody’s ... Read the full article
Taylor Hall signed a one-year, $8 million contract with Buffalo. ©2021, Micheline Veluvolu
Nothing at this point, 32 games into perhaps the most miserable season in the franchise’s 51-year history, would surprise the Buffalo Sabres.
So when they learned interim coach Don Granato and assistant Matt Ellis had entered the NHL’s COVID-19 protocol just hours before Thursday’s game, it wasn’t a big deal.
“In a season of unfortunate and terrible events, we’re just ready for it,” winger Taylor Hall said on a Zoom call following the Sabres’ 4-0 ... Read the full article
Don Granato has coached the Sabres three games. ©2021, Micheline Veluvolu
Ninety minutes before his NHL head coaching debut, Kevyn Adams was more focused on stepping behind the bench than trying to process the chaos that has transpired in his first season as Buffalo Sabres general manager.
“I can’t even really get into all that,” Adams said on a Zoom call prior to the Sabres’ 16th consecutive loss, a 4-0 setback to the Pittsburgh Penguins.
Can you blame Adams? The season from hell refuses to let ... Read the full article
Rasmus Ristolainen doesn’t think the Sabres play smart hockey. ©2021, Micheline Veluvolu
The hapless Buffalo Sabres kept hanging around Wednesday, trailing by one goal late in the second period despite being outshot by nearly a two-to-one margin.
No one, of course, expected the Sabres would win. But right now, they’re so bad a one-goal deficit is noteworthy.
That narrow margin did not last. The Pittsburgh Penguins pulled ahead late in the second period, capitalizing on two miscues from struggling winger Taylor Hall to take a commanding lead ... Read the full article
Victor Olofsson has scored just one goal in the last 14 games. ©2021, Micheline Veluvolu
Interim Sabres coach Don Granato keeps learning how badly struggling winger Victor Olofsson wants to break out of his season-long funk.
Whether it’s the Swede’s behavior as he prepares for practice or his attentiveness during a conversation or a meeting, Granato said he sees a player “searching for the answer, searching for the direction within himself.”
“Which is great,” Granato said on a Zoom call Tuesday. “And he’ll get there, there’s no doubt in my ... Read the full article
Dylan Cozens has missed four games. ©2021, Micheline Veluvolu
BUFFALO – Rookie Dylan Cozens, who has missed the last four games recovering from an upper-body injury, practiced this afternoon and should play in the Sabres’ next game, interim coach Don Granato said.
“I’m feeling 100 percent again,” Cozens said on a Zoom call following his first session back.
The Yukon native returned to his spot on the first line today, centering Taylor Hall and Sam Reinhart.... Read the full article
Taylor Hall knows Sabres players did not do enough to save Ralph Krueger’s job. ©2021, Micheline Veluvolu
BUFFALO – When winger Taylor Hall learned the Sabres had fired coach Ralph Krueger, he said he felt sadness and even a little guilty.
Krueger’s presence helped convince Hall, who knows the coach from their days with the Edmonton Oilers, to sign a one-year, $8 million contract with the Sabres.
But Hall, the 2017-18 NHL MVP, has endured perhaps the worst year of his career, mustering just two goals and 16 points in ... Read the full article
