Roy - Buffalo Hockey Beat

Sabres’ 2013-14 schedule features familiar faces, fewer back-to-backs

BUFFALO – Sabres fans won’t have to wait long to see some familiar faces back at the First Niagara Center in different colors next season.

An Oct. 14 game against former Sabres captain Jason Pominville and the Minnesota Wild and an Oct. 28 contest versus ex-coach Lindy Ruff and the Dallas Stars are among the highlights of the 82-game schedule the NHL released Friday.

The Sabres open their 43^rd season Oct. 2 in ... Read the full article

Sabres’ 2013-14 schedule features new opponents and old friends

BUFFALO – Sabres fans won’t have to wait long to see some familiar faces back at the First Niagara Center for the first time next season.

The Sabres open their 43^rd season Oct. ... Read the full article

Amerks sign Mike Zigomanis, Alex Lepkowski and Frederick Roy

BUFFALO – Twelve years after a botched fax notoriously sent Mike Zigomanis back into the draft, the Sabres organization reacquired the center, signing him to an AHL contract today.

The Rochester Americans also inked defenseman Alex Lepkowski, a West Seneca native the Sabres drafted but never signed, and winger Frederick Roy.

The Sabres originally drafted Zigomanis 64^th overall in 1999. But his contract paperwork allegedly didn’t go through properly, so the Sabres ... Read the full article

Sabres re-sign Alexander Sulzer, lose Adam Pardy

BUFFALO – When free agency opened Friday, Alexander Sulzer shopped around, drawing interest from a “number of teams,” his agent said.

Ultimately, though, the defenseman couldn’t leave the Sabres, who helped him become an NHL regular for the first time.

The 29-year-old German signed a one-year, $725,000 contract today.

“He really enjoyed playing there,” Scott Greenspun, Sulzer’s agent, told the Times Herald. “Buffalo was a place that gave him an opportunity to prove he was ... Read the full article

Leino looking for chance to show his worth to Sabres

BUFFALO – Last season, in the first year of a six-year, $27 million contract, Ville Leino bombed. For a cool $6 million, the Sabres received eight goals and 25 points in 71 games, paying out $240,000 a point.

The Sabres initially tried converting Leino into a center again, an experiment that failed miserably. Leino was back on the wing after just a few weeks, generating little as a third- or fourth-liner.

Before the season ended, ... Read the full article

Sabres’ Pominville, Vanek proving to be dynamic wing combination

BUFFALO – Early in the second period of the Sabres’ 2-1 win Monday, Thomas Vanek knocked Nikolai Kulemin down in his own zone, grabbed the loose puck and zoomed down the left wing into Toronto territory on a three-on-two break.

Vanek then laid a perfect pass over to Jason Pominville, almost without looking, as he stopped at the top of the left circle. Cody Hodgson, meanwhile, was roaring to the crease with a ... Read the full article

Sabres banking on Tyle Ennis, Cody Hodgson becoming top centers

BUFFALO – The inexperience is their greatest asset and most glaring weakness. It excites and worries Sabres coach Lindy Ruff in the same breath.

His top two centers, Tyler Ennis and Cody Hodgson, are true neophytes, veterans of just a combined 235 NHL games.

Ennis only began playing center regularly late last year, his second full season. The 23-year-old was dynamic, though, compiling eight goals and 19 points over a 12-game stretch.

Hodgson, meanwhile, ... Read the full article

Mikhail Grigorenko, Steve Ott impress in Sabres debuts

BUFFALO – Ten minutes after the Sabres’ 5-2 opening-day win over the Philadelphia Flyers had ended, Steve Ott was still thinking about that nifty chance beside the net slick rookie center Mikhail Grigorenko had created for him.

Sure, Ott was excited about his power-play goal that opened the scoring just 11:07 into his Sabres debut. But the opportunity that had gotten away was still playing inside his head at bit.

“I kind of feel bad. ... Read the full article

Roster battles promise to make Sabres camp interesting

BUFFALO – Thanks to the agonizingly long NHL lockout, 281 days have passed since the Sabres last played a game. Thankfully, the team will finally start an abbreviated training camp today. The season opens in just a week.

So what’s changed in the last nine months? How’s this group different from the high-priced, ninth-place team that was built to win the Stanley Cup in 2011-12?

The Sabres got tougher, acquiring Steve Ott to be the ... Read the full article

Whenever lockout ends, Sabres’ Ennis ready for explosive season

BUFFALO – The eight goals and 19 points Tyler Ennis generated over a rollicking 12-game stretch late last season could just be a harbinger, he believes. The center’s March exploits might’ve signaled the first signs of his impending superstardom.

“I think I’m ready to explode,” Ennis said Sunday, a day after signing a two-year, $5.625 million contract hours before the NHL lockout started.

Of course, Ennis and the Sabres can’t even play right now.

Instead ... Read the full article