Rochester Americans - Buffalo Hockey Beat

Sabres captain Steve Ott will keep playing fierce style

BUFFALO – Steve Ott, the high-octane, fun-loving and helmet-licking agitator, won’t alter his style now that he’s the Sabres’ captain.

“I want to play a fine line edge of the game,” Ott said Wednesday after the Sabres prepared for tonight’s road tilt against the New York Rangers. “But I also can’t be a deterrent to my teammates, no difference if I was a captain or was not a captain.”

In Monday’s 4-3 loss to Dallas... Read the full article

Kevin Porter clears waivers, assigned to Amerks

BUFFALO – Kevin Porter cleared waivers today and will go to the Rochester Americans, where the center starred last season before the Sabres summoned him in February.

With forward Cody McCormick returning from a two-game absence tonight after blocking a shot last week, the Sabres created room on the 23-man roster by waiving Porter on Thursday.

The 27-year-old was pointless in nine games this season and had been scratched twice.

He captained the Amerks last ... Read the full article

Sabres’ Patrick Kaleta has suspension appeal denied; Kevin Porter waived

BUFFALO – In a strongly worded 19-page document released Thursday, NHL commissioner Gary Bettman rejected Sabres winger Patrick Kaleta’s appeal of his 10-game suspension.

Kaleta, who’s been suspended four times in the last four seasons, including twice in his last 21 games, hit Columbus’ Jack Johnson in the head Oct. 10.

Clearly, Bettman wants to send Kaleta a message.

Kaleta, Bettman wrote, “has demonstrated a total disregard for the safety of other players, and, ... Read the full article

Rookie Mark Pysyk quickly developing into one of Sabres’ top defensemen

BUFFALO – First, as Mark Pysyk was sitting in his stall talking to a reporter Tuesday, Zemgus Girgensons approached the defenseman, extended his hand and smacked his roommate across the cheek.

“What’s that about?” Pysyk said as Girgensons scurried off.

Girgensons, the likable Pysyk said, was “going to get it bad.”

“He might get a tape ball,” he said.

Moments later, a laughing Nikita Zadorov approached Pysyk and slapped him again.

Three Sabres rookies. Two ... Read the full article

Sabres’ Corey Tropp practicing again, not upset with Jamie Devane

BUFFALO – Sabres winger Corey Tropp holds no grudges against Jamie Devane, the 6-foot-5 tough guy who broke his jaw during a Sept. 22 preseason fight in Toronto.

The scrap ignited a huge brawl and became the talk of hockey world. Sabres enforcer John Scott, who immediately went after Maple Leafs star Phil Kessel, has said Devane shouldn’t have punched Tropp a final time and driven his head into the ice.

But the gritty ... Read the full article

Awful first period dooms Sabres in loss to Avalanche

BUFFALO – The buzz began building as Drew Stafford wound up at the left point. A second later, as the winger pumped a slap shot on Colorado goalie Jean-Sebastien Giguere 14:09 into the game, the 18,422 fans inside the First Niagara Center roared, almost like the Sabres had scored.

It was, of course, a Bronx cheer – perhaps the loudest you’ll ever hear. The hapless Sabres finally had their first shot.

“That’s a low moment,” ... Read the full article

Sabres’ lineup against Avalanche unclear; Nikita Zadorov could debut

BUFFALO – Since the Sabres had an optional skate this morning, you’ll have to wait until tonight to see their lineup against the upstart Colorado Avalanche.

This much is known: Cody McCormick, who blocked a shot in Thursday’s 3-0 loss to Vancouver, is out. The forward is day-to-day, Sabres coach Ron Rolston said.

Winger Zemgus Girgensons, who took a shot off his face Tuesday, will return after a one-game absence. The rookie has ditched ... Read the full article

Sabres’ Cody McCormick impressing again after brief AHL stint

BUFFALO – Their paths never crossed last season. Hours before the Sabres promoted Ron Rolston from Rochester on Feb. 20, they waived Cody McCormick. As Rolston was starting his NHL career the next day, the gritty forward was beginning his first AHL stint since 2010.

But McCormick’s 28-game stay in Rochester didn’t signal the end of his Sabres career. In the summer, general manager Darcy Regier said the 30-year-old likely wouldn’t clear waivers again.... Read the full article

Ex-Sabres prospect Zack Kassian trying to establish himself with Canucks

BUFFALO – Twenty months later, there’s no decisive winner in the Cody Hodgson-Zack Kassian deal, the shocker the Sabres and Vancouver Canucks pulled off before the 2012 NHL trade deadline.

Teams rarely swap high first-round picks during their rookie seasons. So the debate might go on for years in the two hockey-mad cities.

“That’s hockey,” Kassian, who will play his first game back in Buffalo tonight at the First Niagara Center, told the Vancouver ... Read the full article

Former Sabres captain Jason Pominville happy about new chapter with Wild

BUFFALO – Once the initial shock of getting traded to the Minnesota Wild in April started wearing off, former Sabres captain Jason Pominville said he “really took a step back” and began examining his new gig.

Pominville was leaving a team beginning a rebuilding process for the upstart Wild, a club constructed to win the Stanley Cup immediately.

The Wild had just signed stars Zach Parise and Ryan Suter to huge twin contracts. Many believed ... Read the full article