WNY and Buffalo NY Hockey Coverage
Stanley Cup Playoffs Edition
The Sabres traded Derek Roy in July 2012. ©2013, Dan Hickling, Olean Times Herald
BUFFALO – Derek Roy had some hard feelings against the Sabres after they traded him to Dallas in July 2012. The sometimes-slick center had just told former general manager Darcy Regier he wanted to stay in town.
The 30-year-old felt he had some unfinished business here.
“I thought we had a great team,” Roy said Tuesday prior to the St. Louis Blues’ 4-1 win against the Sabres, his first game back at the First ... Read the full article
Derek Roy takes a break this morning. ©2013, Dan Hickling, Olean Times Herald
BUFFALO – Derek Roy wasn’t happy after the Sabres dished him to Dallas in July 2012. The sometimes-slick center had just told former general manager Darcy Regier he wanted to stay in town.
The 30-year-old, who signed a one-year, $4 million contract with the St. Louis Blues during free agency, felt he had some unfinished business here.
“I thought we had a great team,” Roy said this morning inside the First Niagara Center prior ... Read the full article
Mikhail Grigorenko has dominated in junior. ©2013, Dan Hickling, Olean Times Herald
BUFFALO – In a not-so-surprising move, the Sabres sent 19-year-old center Mikhail Grigorenko back to the Quebec Remparts late Monday, according to RDS, a Canadian sports network.
Grigorenko has been scratched both games under interim coach Ted Nolan, who has strongly hinted he doesn’t think the Sabres should have four teenagers on the roster.
UPDATE: Grigorenko was just seen leaving the building this morning. Rookie defenseman Nikita Zadorov isn’t on the ice and has ... Read the full article
Drew Stafford scored only six goals last season. ©2013, Dan Hickling, Olean Times Herald
BUFFALO – When the worst season of Drew Stafford’s career mercifully ended five months ago – he describes the six-goal, 18-point campaign as hitting “rock bottom” – the Sabres winger stopped dwelling on it.
“You got to get over it,” Stafford said Thursday inside the First Niagara Center after the Sabres prepared for tonight’s preseason finale in Carolina. “It was an absolute nightmare. It’s one of those things where you can’t change the past, what’s ... Read the full article
Andrey Makarov is beginning his first professional season. ©2013, Dan Hickling, Olean Times Herald
BUFFALO – The Sabres trimmed their training camp roster by 15 players today.
The team sent the following players to AHL Rochester: forwards Colin Jacobs, Eric Locke, Johnny McGuire, Jonathan Parker, Kevin Sunder, Shawn Szydlowski and Frederick Roy; defensemen Nick Crawford (pending waivers), Alex Lepkowski and Matt MacKenzie; goalies Connor Knapp, Nathan Lieuwen and Andrey Makarov.
In addition, the Sabres sent defenseman Brady Austin and forward Peter Trainor back to their junior clubs.... Read the full article
Lindy Ruff’s Dallas Stars visit the Sabres on Oct. 28. ©2013, Dan Hickling, Olean Times Herald
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 43rd season Oct. 2 in ... Read the full article
Former captain Jason Pominville and the Minnesota Wild visit the Sabres on Oct. 14. ©2013, Dan Hickling, Olean Times Herald
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.
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 slate the NHL released this afternoon.
The Sabres open their 43rd season Oct. ... Read the full article
The Sabres recently passed on signing Alex Lepkowski. ©2013, Dan Hickling, Olean Times Herald
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 64th overall in 1999. But his contract paperwork allegedly didn’t go through properly, so the Sabres ... Read the full article
Alexander Sulzer (52) never played regularly before joining the Sabres. ©2013, Dan Hickling, Olean Times Herald
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
Ville Leino struggled last season. ©2013, Dan Hickling, Olean Times Herald
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