WNY and Buffalo NY Hockey Coverage
Post-Deadline Edition
BUFFALO – The Sabres added depth to their organization Thursday, signing center Kevin Porter, a former Hobey Baker winner with 163 games of NHL experience.
Following a 35-game season, Porter could be ticketed for AHL Rochester. The 26-year-old was a healthy scratch 43 times in 2011-12 with Colorado. He last appeared in the minors during 2009-10.
In 2010-11, his first full NHL season, Porter had 14 goals, 25 points, 27 penalty minutes and a minus-11 ... Read the full article
BUFFALO – Growing up in nearby St. Catharines, Ont., John Scott loved crossing the border and watching the Sabres play at Memorial Auditorium and HSBC Arena.
His father’s boss had season tickets, so every couple of weeks he’d make the 30-minute trip to the Queen City.
“I grew up a pretty big Sabres fan,” the 6-foot-8, 270-pound tough guy told the Times Herald by phone Sunday night, shortly after inking a one-year, $600,000 contract with ... Read the full article
Ryan Miller slumped badly much of last season. ©2012, Dan Hickling, Olean Times Herald
BUFFALO – OK, so where does Ryan Miller, the 2009-10 Vezina Trophy winner and Team USA Olympic hero, rank among NHL goalies right now?
Consider the following: his goals-against average the last two seasons has ranked 22nd and 22nd; his save percentage has ranked 18th and 19th; last year, he failed to backstop his team to the postseason for the third time in five seasons.
Based on the recent ... Read the full article
Jhonas Enroth played sparingly the second half of the season. ©2012, Dan Hickling, Olean Times Herald
BUFFALO – Jhonas Enroth’s starts quickly became anticipated, must-see events. The Sabres goalie couldn’t lose. Not late last season. Not early this one.
Fans clamored for more appearances from Enroth. They wanted the rookie backup, not established starter Ryan Miller, carrying the load.
Dating back to last season, Enroth had won nine straight decisions by early November, including his first six in 2011-12.
Then, suddenly, the 23-year-old stopped winning – and playing. He started only ... Read the full article
Ryan Miller performed terribly for three months before regaining his old form. ©2012, Dan Hickling, Olean Times Herald
BUFFALO – Ryan Miller couldn’t offer any strong explanations for suddenly transforming back into one of the NHL’s elite goalies following a wretched, career-worst three months.
When the 31-year-old Sabres veteran began feeling better during the winter, everything became easier, he said. The ice opened up and he started reading plays and seeing shots clearly again.
Nothing magical happened. Miller had just experienced enough mediocrity.
“Mainly, it was kind of, ‘Enough is enough. I’m better ... Read the full article
Derek Roy was critical of coach Lindy Ruff as the Sabres cleaned out their lockers. ©2012, Dan Hickling, Olean Times Herald
BUFFALO – Their run together stands at 423 total games over five fruitless seasons. In that time, the Sabres’ homegrown core players have earned two playoff appearances and zero series wins.
That’s it.
Most teams would’ve broken up that group years ago. The Sabres have plodded forward, mostly keeping it intact despite little success.
But a veteran star could finally be jettisoned following a bitterly disappointing ninth-place finish this season. A club constructed to hoist ... Read the full article
A broken ankle ended Tyler Myers’ season March 30. ©2012, Dan Hickling, Olean Times Herald
BUFFALO – Early in the Sabres’ 5-3 loss to Pittsburgh on March 30, Tyler Myers took a shot off his face and fell down on the ice. It looked bad.
The 22-year-old was fine, however, and he got up and kept playing.
In the third period, when Paul’s Martin’s harmless-looking shot hit Myers’ skate, few noticed and the defenseman finished the game.
“It just felt like a little stinger like any other day,” Myers said ... Read the full article
Paul Gaustad’s failure to go after Milan Lucic helped dramatically alter the season. ©2012, Dan Hickling, Olean Times Herald
“The main thing is start talking about it and just put it out there that we want to win a championship. We want to do it the right way, and we just have to hit a few checkpoints along the way and set ourselves up for it.” – Sabres goalie Ryan Miller, September 16, 2011
BUFFALO – Nearly seven months after his upbeat chat as training camp opened, Miller and the Sabres will clean out ... Read the full article
Lindy Ruff has seen other teams eke into the playoffs on the last day. ©2012, Dan Hickling, Olean Times Herald
BUFFALO – Having survived so long and stared down elimination so many times recently, a sense of destiny accompanies the Sabres’ unlikely charge toward the postseason. Six months and 80 games into the season, they’ve refused to die.
Lindy Ruff hopes the Sabres’ story gets to be told like all those other celebrated longshot playoff teams.
“There’s a lot of great stories in sports about teams making it the last day,” the coach said Wednesday ... Read the full article
The Sabres aren’t revealing many details about Tyler Myers’ injured foot. ©2012, Dan Hickling, Olean Times Herald
BUFFALO – Star Sabres defenseman Tyler Myers, who hurt his foot blocking a shot Friday, is wearing a walking boot and out at least the last two regular-season games.
Is the foot broken?
“He’s got a bad foot, yeah,” was all Sabres coach Lindy Ruff said Wednesday after practice inside the First Niagara Center.
Myers didn’t make the trip to Philadelphia for tonight’s contest against the Flyers.
When asked if Myers could return if the ... Read the full article