Housley - Buffalo Hockey Beat

Sabres notes: Kyle Okposo ‘looking great,’ will be ready for training camp

BUFFALO – Sabres winger Kyle Okposo, who was reportedly hospitalized late last season in the neuro surgical intensive care unit at Buffalo General Hospital, will be ready for training camp, general manager Jason Botterill said.

“Everything’s looking great for Kyle,” Botterill said Thursday during an introductory news conference for coach Phil Housley inside KeyBank Center. “Physically he looks great, mentally he looks great.”... Read the full article

Phil Housley thrilled to be Sabres coach: ‘I don’t think it’s really sunk in’

BUFFALO – Today, Phil Housley’s 32nd wedding anniversary, he forgot to get his wife, Karin, a card. Sure enough, when the legendary Sabres defenseman returned to his room after meeting with general manager Jason Botterill this morning, he noticed a card from her on the table.

Housley, however, had something better for their special day.

“I said, ‘I’m the new head coach of the Buffalo Sabres,” Housley said this afternoon during his introductory news conference ... Read the full article

Sabres hire Phil Housley as coach

BUFFALO – The Sabres today hired Hall of Fame defenseman Phil Housley as the 18th head coach in team history.

Housley, 53, will be formally introduced at a 4 p.m. news conference inside KeyBank Center. He replaces Dan Bylsma, who was fired with general manager Tim Murray on April 20.... Read the full article

Reports: Sabres close to hiring Phil Housley as coach; Update: Housley officially hired

BUFFALO – The Sabres are close to hiring Hall of Fame defenseman Phil Housley as their next head coach, according to multiple reports.

Update: The Sabres have officially hired Housley. He will be introduced at 4 p.m.

Housley, an assistant with the Predators, met with the Sabres on Monday in Nashville and could be in Buffalo today, according to TSN’s Darren Dreger. He tweeted the team wants to have a new coach by next Monday.... Read the full article

Report: Sabres did not contact Rick Tocchet about coaching vacancy

For weeks, Rick Tocchet and Phil Housley have been considered the leading candidates for the Buffalo Sabres’ head coaching job. But the Sabres did not contact Tocchet, who just won his second straight Stanley Cup with the Pittsburgh Penguins, according to TSN’s Darren Dreger.

It was widely assumed Sabres general manager Jason Botterill, an assistant GM with Pittsburgh until last month, would speak with Tocchet after the Penguins clinched Sunday.... Read the full article

Report: Panthers set to hire former Sabre Bob Boughner

Scratch one coaching candidate off the list for the Buffalo Sabres.

The Florida Panthers are close to hiring San Jose Sharks assistant coach and former Sabres defenseman Bob Boughner, according to TSN’s Bob McKenzie. That would leave the Sabres, who reportedly interviewed Boughner, as the only NHL team without a head coach.

The Sabres want to interview Nashville Predators assistant coach Phil Housley and Pittsburgh Penguins assistants Rick Tocchet and Jacques Martin following the ... Read the full article

Sabres GM Jason Botterill wants coach with Mike Sullivan’s traits

BUFFALO – When Sabres general manager Jason Botterill interviewed Mike Sullivan for Pittsburgh’s AHL coaching vacancy two years ago, thoughts of the candidate’s unsuccessful run as an assistant in Vancouver were fresh in his mind.

“I had an impression,” Botterill said Thursday of Sullivan, who spent a tumultuous season with the Canucks in 2013-14 beside embattled coach John Tortorella.

But Sullivan changed that impression. The former Boston Bruins coach had just spent a year as ... Read the full article

Sabres need to find new GM soon

BUFFALO – Given the speed at which the offseason moves, the Sabres must find a new general manager soon, perhaps in the next month, to replace Tim Murray, who was fired with coach Dan Bylsma on Thursday.

Of course, given owner Terry Pegula’s track record, would the Sabres even hire a GM first?

Remember, Pegula hired Pat LaFontaine as the team’s president of hockey operations in November 2013. LaFontaine lasted less than four months ... Read the full article

Zach Werenski fond of time beside Youngstown’s Joe Cecconi

BUFFALO – Before Zach Werenski joined the upstart Columbus Blue Jackets, before the slick teenager began one of the greatest campaigns by a rookie defenseman in NHL history, he spent the second half of his last season at the University of Michigan playing beside Youngstown’s Joe Cecconi.

“I loved it,” Werenski said Saturday prior to the Blue Jackets’ 5-3 loss to the Sabres inside KeyBank Center.

Werenski, 19, has quickly morphed into a star, ... Read the full article

Torrid stretch puts Sabres’ Rasmus Ristolainen in elite company

BUFFALO – The significance of defenseman Rasmus Ristolainen’s recent exploits shouldn’t be overshadowed by the Sabres’ disappointing season.

In the near future, if Ristolainen becomes an NHL All-Star or garners serious Norris Trophy consideration, remember the torrid run he is enjoying entering tonight’s tilt against the Carolina Hurricanes at KeyBank Center.

Ristolainen has three goals, two overtime winners and 14 points while averaging a whopping 27 minutes, 41 seconds of ice time over the last ... Read the full article