WNY and Buffalo NY Hockey Coverage
October Edition
Cody Hodgson is the team’s top center. ©2013, Dan Hickling, Olean Times Herald
BUFFALO – In awarding Cody Hodgson, a youngster with only 77 points in 139 career NHL games, a six-year, $25.5 million contract, the Sabres are betting on more than the center’s abundant talent. The team’s banking that Hodgson will keep dedicating himself to becoming an elite player.
“He wants to be a No. 1 guy from the standpoint he wants to be counted on, and he wants to be recognized in a leadership position,” ... Read the full article
Darcy Regier said every NHL would take back money for the right player. ©2013, Dan Hickling, Olean Times Herald
BUFFALO – On Wednesday, CBC’s Elliotte Friedman tweeted he was hearing the Sabres would be willing to keep some of star winger Thomas Vanek’s $6.4 million salary if they found a trade partner.
A fired-up Regier said today someone recently emailed him – he didn’t say who – asking him if the Sabres would do that.
“My experience is you don’t answer those emails, whether they’re true or not true,” Regier said inside the First ... Read the full article
Cody Hodgson will receive $25.5 million. ©2013, Dan Hickling, Olean Times Herald
BUFFALO – Finally, Cody Hodgson can settle down. The Sabres center had spent his first three professional seasons bouncing around, never staying an entire year in one city.
Now, the 23-year-old, who signed a six-year, $25.5 million deal Wednesday, has some security.
“I’m really happy to have some concrete steps, concrete knowledge of where I’m going to be the next few years,” Hodgson said this morning after the first training camp session inside the ... Read the full article
Ryan Miller sold his Buffalo townhouse earlier this year. ©2013, Dan Hickling, Olean Times Herald
BUFFALO – Of course, Ryan Miller’s renting. Why would the Sabres goalie, the subject of rampant trade speculation and an unrestricted free agent following the season, purchase another home right now?
Miller’s decision to put his Buffalo townhouse on the market during the spring, just when it appeared his long Sabres career would be ending, certainly raised eyebrows. He understood it wouldn’t look good to locals.
But the 33-year-old insists he wasn’t bailing on ... Read the full article
Cody Hodgson earned a huge contract despite only 34 points last season. ©2013, Dan Hickling, Olean Times Herald
BUFFALO – On Wednesday morning, an optimistic-sounding Darcy Regier said the Sabres would “make every attempt” to have unsigned restricted free agent Cody Hodgson on the ice today for the first session of training camp.
“The efforts that are being made by both sides would indicate that we want to get something done as quickly as possible,” the general manager said inside the First Niagara Center as the Sabres reported for camp and underwent their ... Read the full article
Cody Hodgson had 34 points last season. ©2013, Dan Hickling, Olean Times Herald
BUFFALO – This morning, an optimistic-sounding Darcy Regier said the Sabres would “make every attempt” to have unsigned restricted free agent Cody Hodgson on the ice Thursday for the first session of training camp.
“The efforts that are being made by both sides would indicate that we want to get something done as quickly as possible,” the general manager said inside the First Niagara Center as the Sabres reported for camp and took their physicals.... Read the full article
Locals have welcomed Ryan Miller back to Buffalo. ©2013, Dan Hickling, Olean Times Herald
BUFFALO – Playing an 11th season with the rebuilding Sabres isn’t a bad situation, Ryan Miller said. The goalie, the subject of rampant trade speculation for months, is returning to a familiar city he considers a home.
Miller said he’s only received warm greetings from fans, many of whom jeered the 33-year-old and his teammates last season as they missed the playoffs again, since arriving back in town last week.
He understands why locals ... Read the full article
Ron Rolston took over as coach on Feb. 20. ©2013, Dan Hickling, Olean Times Herald
BUFFALO – The Sabres convene for training camp physicals today inside the First Niagara Center, for better or worse, almost the same team that ended a disappointing, 11th-place season 137 days ago.
Other than a busy draft day and reacquiring 34-year-old defenseman Henrik Tallinder, the rebuilding club remained quiet throughout the summer.
Starting goalie Ryan Miller and leading scorer Thomas Vanek, two veteran stars rumored to be on the trading block, ... Read the full article
Cody McCormick fights regularly. ©2013, Dan Hickling, Olean Times Herald
BUFFALO – The cycle repeats nearly every season. Inevitably, gritty Sabres forward Cody McCormick spends each training camp battling and fighting – literally, as he has nine career preseason scraps – for one of the 20 coveted NHL roster spots.
Other than 2011, after McCormick’s career season earned him a new three-year, $3.6 million contract, the versatile 30-year-old has lived the journeyman’s life, never enjoying much comfort prior to a new campaign.
“Every year I’ve ... Read the full article
Mikhail Grigorenko played 25 NHL games last season. ©2013, Dan Hickling, Olean Times Herald
BUFFALO – Prospect Mikhail Grigorenko is ineligible for the 2013 NHL Prospect Tournament “because of the number of NHL games he was on the Sabres’ roster” last season, the team announced this afternoon, a day before play begins in Traverse City, Mich.
Grigorenko, who made 25 NHL appearances as a rookie in 2012-13, was arguably the biggest name on the 24-man roster the Sabres released for the eight-team tournament last month.
Two other youngsters on ... Read the full article