WNY and Buffalo NY Hockey Coverage
February Edition
Craig Anderson has played 25 games this season. ©2023, Michelline Veluvolu
BUFFALO – In his two-year career with the Sabres, veteran goalie Craig Anderson had never been pulled from a game before Tuesday’s ugly 7-3 loss to the Nashville Predators.
Despite being the NHL’s oldest player, the 41-year-old’s play hasn’t declined much. Sure, he can’t handle a heavy workload anymore. Age has relegated him to backup status. Throughout his 20th season, he has started about once a week.
Anderson has performed so well at times ... Read the full article
Ilya Lyubushkin hadn’t scored a goal since last season. ©2023, Micheline Veluvolu
Ilya Lyubushkin had scored zero goals in his first 41 games with the Buffalo Sabres. In his five-year NHL career, the gritty Russian defenseman had scored just three goals in 252 contests, his last coming 10 months ago.
But when Lyubushkin grabbed the puck from Lightning captain Steven Stamkos in overtime Thursday and set off on a rare short-handed breakaway, Sabres coach Don Granato knew something special was about to happen.
“It was weird in ... Read the full article
Jason Pominville scored 19 goals in just 18 games for Rochester in 2005-06. ©2023, Rochester Americans
ROCHESTER – No one, it seems, except for perhaps Jason Pominville himself, could believe the Buffalo Sabres did it.
Sure, the team was stacked up front in 2005 as the NHL emerged from the lockout. But why would they waive Pominville, one of their top prospects? He was out of options, and if they wanted to assign him to the Americans again, he would have to clear.
Every other team would have a chance to ... Read the full article
Tage Thompson has scored 21 goals this season. ©2022, Micheline Veluvolu
We’re going to break this down a bit because center Tage Thompson’s brilliant five-goal, six-point night ranks as one of the greatest performances in the Buffalo Sabres’ 53-year history.
Thompson, 25, was downright dominant early in Wednesday’s 9-4 annihilation of the hapless Columbus Blue Jackets at Nationwide Arena, scoring four goals and five points in the first period as the Sabres opened up a stunning 6-0 lead.
Incredibly, he recorded his second hat trick ... Read the full article
Kyle Okposo models Buffalo’s new third jersey. ©2022, Buffalo Sabres
Having grown up a rabid Buffalo Sabres fan in the early 2000s, the team’s black and red “Goathead” jersey holds special meaning for winger Alex Tuch.
“Definitely my favorite jersey (of all-time),” a smiling Tuch said Monday after the Sabres unveiled a new black and red jersey modeled after the uniforms they wore from 1996 to 2006.
The Sabres, of course, also recently introduced a blue and gold Reverse Retro alternate white jersey with the ... Read the full article
Ryan Miller sported the “Goathead” jersey early in his career. ©2022, Janet Schultz
The Buffalo Sabres are bringing back the popular black and red “Goathead” jersey for 12 home games this season, the team announced Wednesday.
Fans, of course, feel nostalgic about that logo and color scheme, which the Sabres wore from 1996 until 2006, when they switched back to a blue and gold motif.... Read the full article
Christian Wolanin talks to the media Monday. ©2021, Olean Times Herald
BUFFALO – Barely two years ago, Sabres newcomer Christian Wolanin figured more NHL success would follow his standout rookie season. After morphing into a dominant AHL defenseman, he forced his way up to Ottawa, becoming one of the Senators’ regulars.
Then Wolanin tore his labrum preparing for training camp in 2019 and underwent surgery. The injury sidelined him until early March. Days after he returned, the COVID-19 pandemic ended the Senators’ season.
Last year, the ... Read the full article
Derek Roy spent eight seasons in Buffalo. ©2021, Dan Hickling
Center Derek Roy, the Buffalo Sabres’ leading scorer three consecutive years early in his career, has retired from hockey after 18 seasons, he announced today on Instagram.
Roy, 38, spent the 2020-21 campaign playing with Red Bull Munich, a Deutsche Eishockey Liga.
After the Sabres drafted the diminutive Roy in the second round in 2001, 32nd overall, he quickly morphed into one of their top prospects. He spent just over two years with the ... Read the full article
Ryan Miller is Buffalo’s all-time wins leader. ©2021, Dan Hickling
Ryan Miller felt he owed something to Buffalo. Having arrived as a 22-year-old fresh out of Michigan State, the ex-Sabres goalie experienced a lot of firsts in the city.
“Buffalo is always going to have a big part of my heart,” an emotional Miller said on a Zoom call Thursday to announce his retirement at the conclusion of this season. “I feel like I really grew up there.”
So Miller, the Sabres’ all-time wins leader, ... Read the full article
Chris Taylor played and coached with Rochester. ©2020, Micheline Veluvolu, Rochester Americans
In 2017, former general manager Jason Botterill and his assistant, Randy Sexton, took an unusual first step in rebuilding the Buffalo Sabres’ struggling AHL affiliate, the Rochester Americans.
Barely a year after the Sabres’ previous regime had let Chris Taylor go as an assistant coach from the Amerks, Botterill and Sexton, who also served as Rochester’s GM, rehired him as head coach.
The move made sense. Taylor, who was fired again Tuesday, spent his ... Read the full article