November Edition
Earlier this week, word began spreading among Dale Hawerchuk’s friends that the Hockey Hall of Famer, whose stomach cancer returned in July, wasn’t doing well.
So around 8:30 a.m. Tuesday, Pat LaFontaine said he texted his former Buffalo Sabres teammate to say he was thinking about him and praying for him. About a minute later, Hawerchuk messaged LaFontaine, thanking him.
LaFontaine took Hawerchuk’s quick reply as positive news.
But later in the day, as LaFontaine ... Read the full article
Eleven players Pat LaFontaine called teammates over his 15-year career have been inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame.
The former Buffalo Sabres superstar joined the New York Islanders at the end of their dynasty, so he played with Mike Bossy and Bryan Trottier, who combined to score nearly 1,100 goals. In Buffalo, LaFontaine watched Dominik Hasek morph into perhaps the greatest goalie in history. In LaFontaine’s final NHL season with the New York ... Read the full article
BUFFALO – The gaudy numbers former Sabres star Pierre Turgeon racked up during his prolific NHL career could land him in the Hockey Hall of Fame someday.
A strong argument can be made Turgeon, who retired in 2007, ranks among the best candidates still waiting for the call.
“I hear about it, a lot of people are talking,” Turgeon said of the Hall of Fame.
In 1,294 games over 19 seasons, Turgeon scored a whopping ... Read the full article
BUFFALO – Their relationship started in 1986. Uwe Krupp was a teenager who had just joined the West Germans for the World Championship in Moscow. Ralph Krueger was the team’s veteran star.
“I was a really young player on a very experienced German team,” said Krupp, a 6-foot-6 defenseman who played 327 games with the Sabres in the late 1980s and early 1990s. “Ralph was one of the older players. There wasn’t so much talking ... Read the full article
BUFFALO – If you ask Sabres captain Jack Eichel about his recent scoring exploits, he usually starts talking about his linemates or the rest of the team.
Eichel, 23, doesn’t want his success to overshadow the Sabres, so the ultra-talented center will heap praise on his wingers, Victor Olofsson and Sam Reinhart, and others.
“It’s tough to pinpoint one thing,” Eichel responded when asked how he has elevated his game over the last month. “The ... Read the full article
BUFFALO – More than 43 years later, Sabres legend Danny Gare still sounds surprised he hit the prestigious 50-goal mark in the grandest of fashions.
That night, after all, was supposed to be about Rick Martin’s pursuit of the milestone. The sniper needed to score just once to reach 50 goals for the third consecutive season.
Gare, meanwhile, had scored 47 times entering the season finale on April 4, 1976 against the Toronto Maple Leafs ... Read the full article
BUFFALO – Former Sabres captain Mike Ramsey usually offers the same answer when someone asks him what he’s up to these days.
“I tell people I’m writing a book, because everybody wants to know what I’m doing,” Ramsey said during Saturday’s Sabres Fan Fest at KeyBank Center, an event that celebrated the team’s 50th anniversary season. “‘What do you do with your time? I’m writing a book.’ And it stops them right away.”
So, what’s ... Read the full article
BUFFALO – Three-quarters into the season, Jeff Skinner hasn’t shown many signs of cooling off. Having scored a team-high 36 goals through 60 games, the slick winger could become the first Sabre to hit the prestigious 50-goal mark in 26 years.
Entering this afternoon’s home game against the Stanley Cup champion Washington Capitals, Skinner is scoring at a torrid 49-goal pace over his first season with the Sabres.
While Skinner, 26, hasn’t scored in the ... Read the full article
BUFFALO – Over the last week or two, Sabres winger Kyle Okposo has finally started showcasing signs of his old self, playing a heavier, straight-line game.
“He’s going to the net a lot better,” Sabres coach Phil Housley said prior to Saturday’s 5-3 loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning inside KeyBank Center. “I think he’s attacking off the wing and he’s shooting a lot more.”
Not surprisingly, Okposo has started scoring a bit. After enduring ... Read the full article
BUFFALO – Sabres winger Jeff Skinner knows returning to Carolina, where he became the face of the Hurricanes over eight seasons, will have special meaning.
Skinner, 26, was a star from the get-go in Raleigh, scoring 31 goals and winning the Calder Trophy as a rookie in 2010-11. He surpassed the 30-goal mark two other times.
During some lean seasons, Skinner, who has already scored 29 goals in 43 games, was usually the Hurricanes’ most ... Read the full article
