WNY and Buffalo NY Hockey Coverage
October Edition
Jordan Leopold insists the locked-out players have hope. ©2012, Dan Hickling, Olean Times Herald
AMHERST – Now they’re officially on their own, locked out and barred from any contact with the organization. About 12 Buffalo Sabres regulars skated with some prospects Monday morning inside the Northtown Center, the first of possibly dozens of practices without a regular coaching staff.
The team employees who had recently assisted with informal skates have left. Other than the Sabres logo on their jerseys, something the players could soon ditch, the symbol has almost ... Read the full article
Jason Pominville can’t believe another NHL lockout is imminent. ©2012, Dan Hickling, Olean Times Herald
AMHERST – It’s looming. Barring a major negotiating breakthrough, the NHL plans to lock out its players at midnight Saturday, a sad and stunning end to a collective bargaining agreement under which the league generated record revenues.
Beginning today in Manhattan, at least 10 Buffalo Sabres will be among the 250 or so players attending the NHL Players’ Association meetings. The two sides also reportedly plan to meet again today, a bit of good news.... Read the full article
Zemgus Girgensons’ junior teammates unanimously voted him captain. ©2012, Dan Hickling, Olean Times Herald
BUFFALO – Jim Montgomery put it up for a vote, so after his Dubuque Fighting Saints won the United States Hockey League championship in 2011, he asked his returning players to pick a new captain.
In addition to three 20-year-olds, the coach had a 19-year-old who played prominent minutes back for another season of junior hockey.
Incredibly, Montgomery’s players passed on the veterans, instead picking a 17-year-old Latvian to captain them.
His name was Zemgus ... Read the full article
Thomas Vanek last hit the 40-goal mark in 2008-09. ©2012, Dan Hickling, Olean Times Herald
BUFFALO – Five years after the Sabres matched the astonishing seven-year, $50 million offer sheet Edmonton awarded winger Thomas Vanek, the star expected to score 40 goals annually and flirt with 50 has averaged just 32 a season.
At times, Vanek still utterly dominates the game like few players can these days. See the beginning of 2008-09, the end of 2009-10 and the start of his past one season for proof.
For long stretches, however, ... Read the full article
Luke Adam has struggled since getting demoted to Rochester. ©2012, Craig Foltz/Ben Hall, Lake Erie Monsters
ROCHESTER – Luke Adam, the same Buffalo Sabres prospect whose NHL exploits early this season – three goals in his first four games and 10 tallies before Christmas – made him a Calder Trophy candidate, can’t even score much in the AHL, a league he dominated last year.
Since being demoted to the Rochester Americans on Feb. 11 in the midst of an epic slump, Adam, the AHL’s top rookie a year ago, has 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
TORONTO – This embarrassing Buffalo Sabres’ loss feels like a killer, one that could ultimately extinguish the playoffs hopes that seemed so promising less than two days ago.
Against the reeling, 14th-place Maple Leafs – a team that had dropped 11 consecutive games inside the Air Canada Centre and began Saturday on an awful 5-17-3 run – the Sabres fell 4-3 in their arch rival’s first home win since Feb. 6.
Ouch. If ... Read the full article