WNY and Buffalo NY Hockey Coverage
Calder Cup Playoffs Edition
Matt Moulson scored a career-low 13 goals last season. ©2015, Dan Hickling, Olean Times Herald
BUFFALO – After his family, the most important thing in his life, Sabres winger Matt Moulson has two other loves.
“Scoring is my second love after winning,” Moulson said Sunday inside the First Niagara Center.
Moulson, 31, did little of either throughout a brutal 2014-15 season in which the Sabres won only 23 times and he scored a career-low 13 goals.
He struggled from the get-go beside some pedestrian centers, only occasionally showcasing the talents ... Read the full article
Joe Battista joined the Sabres in November 2013. ©2015, Dan Hickling, Olean Times Herald
BUFFALO – Joe Battista, the Sabres’ vice president for hockey-related business, will be leaving the organization in the coming weeks.
The move had been in the works “for a long period of time,” a team spokesman said. Battista will be returning to his family in State College, Pa.
Battista is the second high-profile front office member to leave the team in the last week. The Sabres hired Buffalo Bills president Russ Brandon last Monday when ... Read the full article
Randy Cunneyworth talks Wednesday. ©2015, Micheline Veluvolu, Rochester Americans
ROCHESTER – For three years, wherever Randy Cunneyworth went, he was asked the same question.
“I don’t think there was a person I came across that didn’t mention, ‘Are you going to get back into coaching or not?’” Cunneyworth recalled Wednesday after being introduced as the Rochester Americans’ new coach inside the Blue Cross War Memorial.
Cunneyworth enjoyed his player development job with the Buffalo Sabres – “I’m into whatever I’m doing,” he said – ... Read the full article
Forme Sabres president Ted Black (right) sits at the team’s draft table last month with scout Jerry Forton. ©2015, Dan Hickling, Olean Times Herald
BUFFALO – On Russ Brandon’s drive to the rink to discuss his new role as Sabres president and alternate governor, a job he was awarded Monday in addition to his gig as managing partner and president of the Buffalo Bills, he reflected back to a year ago, when the NFL club’s future here was shaky.
Back then, Brandon was focused on finding a viable owner for the Bills. Terry and Kim Pegula’s interest in the ... Read the full article
Ted Black joined the Sabres in 2011. ©2015, Dan Hickling, Olean Times Herald
BUFFALO – The Sabres today named Russ Brandon team president and announced former president Ted Black and the organization had “mutually agreed to part ways.”
Brandon, the managing partner and president of the Buffalo Bills, a team also owned by Sabres owners Terry and Kim Pegula, will oversee all aspects of the business operations for both teams and report directly to the Pegulas.
“Since we purchased the Buffalo Bills last October, we have been highly ... Read the full article
Carlo Colaiacovo didn’t sign a contract until October last year. ©2015, Dan Hickling, Olean Times Herald
BUFFALO – Two days after signing a one-year contract with the Sabres, Carlo Colaiacovo hadn’t stopped smiling yet, the defenseman said Sunday.
A year ago, Colaiacovo couldn’t find work. As the summer dragged on, the free agent became uneasy. The stress wore on him.
Colaiacovo eventually decided to bolt to a Russian club in the KHL. But the contract took so long to consummate a one-year-deal with Philadelphia materialized in October before he could leave.... Read the full article
Ted Black speaks Thursday inside HarborCenter. ©2015, Margaret Hickling, Olean Times Herald
BUFFALO – As Sabres president Ted Black chatted with the media Thursday inside HarborCenter, the buildings and streets outside the team’s new $170 million multi-rink facility bustled with activity on a sunny spring day.
Team officials and prospects in the city for the NHL Scouting Combine were all over, walking from a new hotel, restaurants and the Canalside developments to the First Niagara Center and HarborCenter.
“I’ve only been here four years,” Black said. “When ... Read the full article
From left, Sabres general manager Tim Murray, coach Dan Bylsma and owner Terry Pegula hold up a No. 15 Bylsma jersey Thursday. ©2015, Margaret Hickling, Olean Times Herald
BUFFALO – There was a time before the Sabres hired Dan Bylsma on Thursday that the coach and general manager Tim Murray both represented the Anaheim Mighty Ducks.
Back in the early 2000s, as Bylsma finished up his journeyman playing career, Murray was the team’s director of player personnel.
“I complained about him a lot,” Murray cracked Thursday during a news conference to introduce Bylsma as the Sabres’ 17th coach in franchise history. “That’s ... Read the full article
Dan Bylsma is the 17th coach in Sabres history. ©2015, Dan Hickling, Olean Times Herald
BUFFALO – The Sabres finally have a new coach. The rebuilding team today named Dan Bylsma, a 2009 Stanley Cup winner, the 17th coach in franchise history.
The 44-year-old Bylsma, who spent Wednesday visiting with the Sabres, will be formally introduced at a 4 p.m. news conference at the First Niagara Center.
Update: Bylsma has a five-year contract, according to TSN’s Darren Dreger.
Sabres owners Terry and Kim Pegula went big again, bringing in ... Read the full article
Tim Murray has been pursuing other coaching candidates.. ©2015, Dan Hickling, Olean Times Herald
New Maple Leafs coach Mike Babcock said today he never agreed to a deal to coach the Buffalo Sabres and didn’t use the team as leverage before signing an eight-year contract worth a reported $50 million with Toronto.
Multiple media outlets have reported the Sabres thought they landed Babcock earlier this week and were livid when he went to Toronto on Wednesday.
“I talked to lots of teams, and when you’re talking to teams, negotiation ... Read the full article
