LaFontaine - Buffalo Hockey Beat

Report: Sabres front office could be shaken up

BUFFALO – What’s going on in the front office? Could president of hockey operations Pat LaFontaine be leaving the Sabres after less than four months on the job?

TSN’s Bob McKenzie first reported rumors of a potential shakeup in the executive suite this afternoon, then followed up by naming LaFontaine specifically.

Could it be related to Friday’s blockbuster Ryan Miller trade? Or could it be related to interim coach Ted Nolan, someone LaFontaine brought ... Read the full article

Sabres ready for hectic schedule following Olympic break, know changes are coming

BUFFALO – Trade rumors have dogged Matt Moulson since the Sabres acquired the winger almost four months ago. But with rosters frozen for 16 days during the NHL’s Olympic break, Moulson briefly got away from the noise, rehabbed his rib injury and relaxed a bit.

“It was good to just go home and train and get healthy again and spend some family time,” Moulson said Monday inside the First Niagara Center.

Moulson and the Sabres ... Read the full article

Ted Nolan orders Sabres tough guy John Scott off practice ice

BUFFALO – About halfway through this morning’s practice, Sabres tough guy John Scott broke his stick on the boards, left the First Niagara Center ice and stomped down the hallway to the dressing room.

What happened?

Interim Sabres coach Ted Nolan ordered Scott off the ice.

“He just fumbled the puck a few times in practice and I didn’t like it,” Nolan said. “In order for us to get better here we have to practice ... Read the full article

Latvia job changed Ted Nolan’s career, helped Sabres notice him

BUFFALO – Back in 2011, Ted Nolan had briefly returned to professional hockey as Rochester’s general manager, when one day his friend phoned unexpectedly.

“Ted,” the friend asked, “are you interested in going to Latvia?”

Nolan was stunned. He hadn’t coached since leaving the New York Islanders in 2008. He couldn’t even point out Latvia on a map.

“I said, ‘Where is it?’” the interim Sabres coach recalled last week inside the First Niagara Center.... Read the full article

Sabres’ Christian Ehrhoff piling up points again

BUFFALO – Sabres defenseman Christian Ehrhoff never expected he would experience so much losing after signing his massive 10-year, $40 million contract almost three years ago.

Back then, Ehrhoff thought he was joining a team built to contend for the Stanley Cup. These days, he’s playing for the NHL’s worst outfit.

To some observers, the German has looked uninterested at times this season. To interim coach Ted Nolan, Ehrhoff, one of the Sabres’ few remaining ... Read the full article

Phil Varone, family emotional over NHL debut; Sabres fall to Hurricanes

BUFFALO – The voice on the other end of the phone was excited. For a moment, Tony Varone thought his son, Sabres center Phil Varone, had been in a car accident.

“I said, ‘Is everything OK?’” the elder Varone recalled a day later inside the First Niagara Center.

Phil Varone, who nearly shunned the Sabres to play hockey for the University of New Brunswick in 2011, was calling with good news, though.

“He ... Read the full article

Sabres’ Pat LaFontaine believes Mikhail Grigorenko can thrive in junior

BUFFALO – The old school part of hockey, Pat LaFontaine said, is earning your keep. There has to be a standard. Players must perform consistently once they crack the NHL.

LaFontaine, a Hockey Hall of Famer, skated on the fourth line as a teenage NHL phenom. Legendary New York Islanders coach Al Arbour wouldn’t let him take a defensive-zone faceoff for years.

Former general manager Darcy Regier gave 19-year-old Sabres prospect Mikhail Grigorenko a roster ... Read the full article

Sabres’ Pat LaFontaine believes junior right place for Mikhail Grigorenko

BUFFALO – The old school part of hockey, Pat LaFontaine said, is earning your keep. There has to be a standard. Players must perform consistently once they crack the NHL.

The Sabres didn’t believe 19-year-old prospect Mikhail Grigorenko, who had been awarded a roster spot by the previous regime, was ready to play in the NHL, so they sent him back to junior Saturday.

“We’re doing what we think is best to develop our ... Read the full article

Matt Moulson open to staying with Sabres, not worried about getting traded again

BUFFALO – Thirty games into what could be a very short Sabres career, Matt Moulson said he’s given a lot of thought to a future he can’t control yet.

The winger, quietly one of the NHL’s top goal scorers for years, would be coveted as an unrestricted free agent this summer. But before that, if the Sabres want to deal the 30-year-old, he’d be in high demand as a rental prior to the March 5 ... Read the full article

Sabres prospect Mikhail Grigorenko will accept assignment to junior

BUFFALO – Prospect Mikhail Grigorenko has informed the Sabres he will be reporting to the QMJHL’s Quebec Remparts.

The 19-year-old center initially refused the assignment to junior Saturday.

“He and I had talked about it quite a bit,” Jay Grossman, Grigorenko’s agent, told the Times Herald by phone late Sunday. “I think that it was fair to say there were some real serious concerns about the development process of this player. Going down to Quebec, ... Read the full article