WNY and Buffalo NY Hockey Coverage
Post-Deadline Edition
Dominik Hasek’s 70-save performance will air again. ©2020, Hickling Images
For hockey-deprived fans waiting for the NHL season to resume, five memorable Buffalo Sabres games will be rebroadcast next week on MSG and also be available on the team’s YouTube channel.
So get ready to relive goalie Dominik Hasek’s legendary 70-save performance, the final game at historic Memorial Auditorium and other “Sabres Classics.”
The games, of course, are being aired because the COVID-19 pandemic forced the NHL to suspend its season indefinitely March 12.
The ... Read the full article
Jack Eichel has already scored 24 goals. ©2019, Hickling Images
BUFFALO – A stellar season in which he has scored 24 goals and 52 points in 39 games and generated MVP talk has helped Sabres captain Jack Eichel earn a spot in the NHL All-Star Game for the third straight season, the league announced today.
Eichel, who will play for the Atlantic Division, was one of 37 players selected by the NHL’s Hockey Operations Department. The league previously announced the captains of the four divisions.... Read the full article
Jeff Skinner has scored 28 goals this season. ©2019, Hickling Images
BUFFALO – Sabres captain Jack Eichel’s upper-body injury doesn’t appear to be serious.
Eichel, 22, missed Thursday’s 4-3 win against the Florida Panthers inside KeyBank Center and will also sit out Saturday’s road tilt against the Boston Bruins, Sabres coach Phil Housley said.
The slick center, who earned a spot in the NHL All-Star Game on Wednesday, will be reevaluated early next week, Housley said.
“It’s very encouraging,” Housley said of the news. “Obviously, Jack’s ... Read the full article
Auston Matthews is one of Toronto’s young stars. ©2018, Micheline Veluvolu
BUFFALO – Ask any Sabres player or fan to name the team’s biggest rival, and they would likely peg the Toronto Maple Leafs, tonight’s opponent at KeyBank Center.
Without any recent playoff series – the Sabres haven’t made the postseason since 2011 – or high-stakes regular-season meetings to ramp up intensity and generate hatred, the Sabres don’t exactly have a lot of opponents they detest these days.
The Leafs, their closest opponent at just 100 ... Read the full article
Tage Thompson has one assist this season. ©2018, Micheline Veluvolu
BUFFALO – Having grown up with a father who played pro hockey, Sabres winger Tage Thompson has a unique understanding of the dues-paying process that accompanies developing into an NHL player.
Before Thompson’s father, Brent, began his coaching career, he played 121 NHL games as a defenseman in the 1990s, mostly with the Los Angeles Kings.
Brent, like his son, shuttled between the big leagues and the minors as a youngster and probably sat out ... Read the full article
Sam Reinhart moved to the top line Saturday afternoon. ©2018, Hickling Images
BUFFALO – By now, after 99 games as Sabres coach, Phil Housley knows his group well enough he’s confident making line changes.
Three weeks ago, when Housley put wingers Jeff Skinner and Jason Pominville beside top center Jack Eichel, the Sabres went on a tear. The line quickly morphed into one of the NHL’s best.
“It’s definitely an experience with the group and how they play and … realizing when they are going, to ... Read the full article
Jason Pominville expected a better season for the Sabres. ©2018, Hickling Images
BUFFALO – Jason Pominville looked stunned. Mercifully, the Sabres closed out their home schedule Wednesday, and the finality of the most disappointing season in franchise history hit the veteran winger hard.
“I don’t think anyone really coming in envisioned this,” Pominville said after a 4-2 loss to the hapless Ottawa Senators secured the Sabres 31st place. “Certainly not myself, being on the outside coming in and hoping we’d be headed in the right direction.
“And ... Read the full article
This is Adam Wilcox’s third trip to the NHL. ©2018, Micheline Veluvolu, Rochester Americans
BUFFALO – Early in goalie Adam Wilcox’s childhood, the NHL hadn’t returned to Minnesota yet. So the South St. Paul resident began cheering for legendary goalie Dominik Hasek and, ironically, the Sabres.
“Minnesota didn’t have a team, so I always rooted for Hasek and the Sabres,” the loquacious Wilcox said Friday after the Sabres recalled him from the AHL.
Wilcox, 25, couldn’t stop smiling during his short chat with the media. He said his third ... Read the full article
Adam Wilcox has sported a Sabres mask all season. ©2018, Hickling Images, Olean Times Herald
BUFFALO – Early in goalie Adam Wilcox’s childhood, the NHL hadn’t returned to Minnesota yet. So the South St. Paul resident began cheering for legendary goalie Dominik Hasek and, ironically, his newest team.
“Minnesota didn’t have a team, so I always rooted for Hasek and the Sabres,” the loquacious Wilcox said today after the Sabres recalled him from the AHL.
Wilcox, 25, spent time in the NHL last season, dressing as a backup five times ... Read the full article
Robin Lehner sported an old mask for a few minutes this morning. ©2017, Hickling Images, Olean Times Herald
BUFFALO – For a few moments this morning, Robin Lehner looked, well, a little scary. Instead of sporting his usual head protection at the beginning of practice, the Sabres goalie warmed up wearing a 1970s-style “Jason” mask and a winter hat.
Lehner took a few lights shots from goalie coach Andrew Allen, including one off the primitive mask.
“Old Buffalo mask, tried it on, I have a lot of respect for them,” Lehner said ... Read the full article