WNY and Buffalo NY Hockey Coverage
Stanley Cup Playoffs Edition
Malcolm Subban focuses on the action in Sunday afternoon’s game. ©2023, Rochester Americans
ROCHESTER – Americans goalie Malcolm Subban chose to talk more about the team than himself.
Subban performed splendidly in Sunday afternoon’s 4-0 win over the Syracuse Crunch, making 31 saves in the Amerks’ first shutout in the Calder Cup Playoffs in 19 years. At 29, he has enjoyed a terrific comeback season, playing a career-high 43 games, including all four playoff contests, for the Buffalo Sabres’ AHL affiliate.
Following a subpar outing in Friday’s 8-5 ... Read the full article
Jiri Kulich (left) celebrates his goal Sunday with Ethan Prow. ©2023, Rochester Americans
ROCHESTER – Before the Americans began the Calder Cup Playoffs, coach Seth Appert told rookie Jiri Kulich to prepare for his first taste of postseason hockey as a pro.
So Appert had Kulich, 19, watch a Stanley Cup Playoffs game between the Toronto Maple Leafs and Tampa Bay Lightning. Then Appert challenged the Buffalo Sabres prospect to study the action as he sat out the Amerks’ first two games recovering from a lower-body injury.
“You ... Read the full article
Sean Malone celebrates his second-period goal Friday. ©2023, Rochester Americans
ROCHESTER – Three goals from captain Michael Mersch, more than the Americans had in their first two playoff games. An early score from rookie Isak Rosen, whose play, coach Seth Appert acknowledged, wasn’t good enough early in the series. The late go-ahead goal from rookie Jiri Kulich, who missed the first two contests.
After falling in a 2-0 hole in their best-of-five AHL North Division semifinal series, the Buffalo Sabres’ affiliate sorely needed its best ... Read the full article
Rochester’s Tyson Kozak (left) fights Utica’s Tyce Thompson on April 1. ©2023, Micheline Veluvolu, Rochester Americans
ROCHESTER – In the moment, Buffalo Sabres prospect Tyson Kozak had no idea he was fighting Tage Thompson’s brother.
“I just stood up and then we just went,” Kozak, a rookie forward with the Americans, said of his scrap with Utica Comets forward Tyce Thompson.
Kozak, 20, pummeled Thompson after getting knocked to the ice April 1, landing several uppercuts. Not surprisingly, the bout went viral because he trounced the brother of the Sabres’ ... Read the full article
Eric Comrie played 19 games in his first season in Buffalo. ©2023, Micheline Veluvolu
BUFFALO – Nothing could ruin Eric Comrie’s season. Not the goalie’s first significant injury. Not losing the starting job or falling to fourth on the Sabres’ depth chart.
He played just eight of the final 65 games after going down in mid-November. In one of his appearances, he allowed 10 goals. Following rookie goalie Devon Levi’s arrival, he did not play in the final nine contests.
Comrie, 27, faces an uncertain future. Levi, ... Read the full article
Brandon Biro registered 51 points this season. ©2023, Micheline Veluvolu, Rochester Americans
Buffalo Sabres center prospect Brandon Biro underwent season-ending surgery over the weekend to repair a lower-body injury, Americans coach Seth Appert said.
“That’s unfortunate, because what a great season he had,” he told reporters Tuesday in Rochester.
Despite playing just 49 games this season, Biro’s 16 goals ranked fourth on the Amerks and his 51 points trailed only Lukas Rousek’s 56 points.
Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen began the season in Rochester before being recalled to Buffalo. ©2023, Micheline Veluvolu
BUFFALO – In his four-year pro career, Sabres goalie Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen has never played a postseason game.
The COVID-19 pandemic wiped out the AHL Calder Cup Playoffs two straight years. Last year, Luukkonen suffered an injury late in the regular season and missed the Rochester Americans’ 10-game playoff run.
This year, the Sabres did not make Luukkonen, who started the season in Rochester, available to the Amerks, who open the playoffs Friday.
Kevyn Adams has talked to his players about why they struggled in Buffalo. ©2023, Micheline Veluvolu
BUFFALO – General manager Kevyn Adams has a theory on the Sabres’ home woes this season.
“I feel I’ve asked enough questions that I have a handle on this,” he said during Wednesday’s end-of-season news conference.
The Sabres compiled a ghastly 17-20-4 mark at KeyBank Center. Only four NHL teams – the Anaheim Ducks, Chicago Blackhawks, Columbus Blue Jackets and San Jose Sharks – earned fewer home wins. The Montreal Canadiens equaled the Sabres’ meager ... Read the full article
Devon Levi compiled a 5-2-0 record for Buffalo after leaving college. ©2023, Micheline Veluvolu
BUFFALO – In his first days in the NHL, Sabres goalie Devon Levi looked so impressive that coach Don Granato kept riding the neophyte.
Levi, 21, turned heads in his debut March 31, so after starting Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen the next night, Granato utilized the newcomer for five consecutive do-or-die games before the Sabres were eliminated from playoff contention.
The Sabres’ reliance on Levi for a stretch of critical late-season contests raised some eyebrows. The ... Read the full article
Zemgus Girgensons can become an unrestricted free agent this summer. ©2023, Micheline Veluvolu
BUFFALO – General manager Kevyn Adams wants to give captain Kyle Okposo and alternate captain Zemgus Girgensons, the Sabres’ longest-tenured player, time to decompress following a long season.
When the time is right, Adams plans to talk to the veterans, both of whom can become unrestricted free agents this summer, about returning to the Sabres.
“I want them back,” he said during Wednesday’s end-of-season news conference in KeyBank Center.
Okposo, 35, and Girgensons, 29, helped ... Read the full article