WNY and Buffalo NY Hockey Coverage
September Edition
Joe Sacco lasted one season with the Sabres. ©2014, Dan Hickling, Olean Times Herald
BUFFALO – So much for Joe Sacco scouting for the Sabres. The Boston Bruins have hired the 45-year-old as an assistant coach, a job he had here last season.
The Sabres fired Sacco after finishing 30th overall last season, but quickly named him a pro scout. Sacco was inside the First Niagara Center last week during development camp.
Sacco coached the Colorado Avalanche from 2009-13, earning a Jack Adams Award nomination in 2009-10. ... Read the full article
Tim Murray discussed the Sabres at length Thursday. ©2014, Dan Hickling, Olean Times Herald
BUFFALO – In one week, general manager Tim Murray, like just about everyone else associated with hockey, expects stud defenseman Aaron Ekblad will be drafted No. 1 overall. Then the rebuilding Sabres have a franchise-altering decision.
Which slick prospect will they grab at No. 2?
“We’re taking the best player available,” Murray said Thursday inside the First Niagara Center.
Murray acknowledged the obvious, saying there’s a “very good chance” the Sabres will pick one of ... Read the full article
Tim Murray talks to the media this morning. ©2014, Dan Hickling, Olean Times Herald
BUFFALO – In eight days, Sabres general manager Tim Murray fully expects Florida – or whoever the Panthers trade the No. 1 overall pick to – will grab defenseman Aaron Ekblad.
So what will the rebuilding Sabres do with the next selection at the NHL Entry Draft?
“We’re taking the best player available,” Murray said this morning inside the First Niagara Center.
Murray acknowledged the obvious, that, yes, the Sabres will likely select one of ... Read the full article
Jim Corsi joined the Sabres in 1998. ©2014, Dan Hickling, Olean Times Herald
BUFFALO – The Sabres have fired or reassigned all of the assistant coaches Ted Nolan inherited from the previous regime.
Jim Corsi, the team’s popular goalie coach since 1998, is gone, the club announced today. So is Teppo Numminen, whose contract wasn’t renewed after three seasons. Joe Sacco and Jerry Forton have been offered new jobs within the organization’s hockey department after just one season with the team.
Nolan replaced Ron Rolston on an interim ... Read the full article
The Sabres could draft Sam Reinhart this June. ©2014, Dan Hickling, Olean Times Herald
BUFFALO – Chalk up one more loss for the Sabres this season.
The rebuilding club couldn’t retain the No. 1 overall pick during Tuesday’s NHL Draft Lottery in Toronto. Instead, the Florida Panthers moved up one spot to the top selection.
The Sabres will pick second in June. Thanks to their 30th ranking this season, the Sabres had a 25 percent chance of keeping the top pick, more than any other team. The ... Read the full article
Steve Ott buries his second-period goal past Toronto goalie Jonathan Bernier on Friday. ©2013, Dan Hickling, Olean Times Herald
BUFFALO – It might as well have been opening night again inside the First Niagara Center. Twenty-one games into the season, the Sabres started over Friday, performing like a new, refreshed team in their first game under interim coach Ted Nolan, an exciting 3-1 triumph against the hated Toronto Maple Leafs.
Nolan told the Sabres he was wiping the slate clean and didn’t care about their awful start under Ron Rolston, who was fired ... Read the full article
Joe Sacco coached Colorado four seasons. ©2013, Dan Hickling, Olean Times Herald
BUFFALO – Joe Sacco wasn’t sure what he would feel watching the Colorado Avalanche, his old team, play the rebuilding Sabres on Saturday inside the First Niagara Center.
Ron Rolston’s top assistant coach spent eight seasons coaching in the Colorado organization, the last four as the Avs’ head coach.
“That’s a long time with one organization,” Sacco said prior to the Sabres’ 4-2 loss. “I have a lot of friends that are still there and ... Read the full article
Jamie McBain had only one goal and eight points last season. ©2013, Dan Hickling, Olean Times Herald
BUFFALO – Jamie McBain disputes his former general manager’s belief he reported to training camp out of shape last season.
The new Sabres defenseman acknowledged Tuesday that workouts “kind of slipped away from me a little bit” during the lockout. But McBain had played briefly in Finland and felt ready for an abbreviated season with the Carolina Hurricanes following the work stoppage.
“My on-ice conditioning was just fine,” said McBain, who could face the Hurricanes ... Read the full article
Ron Rolston spent about two months searching for an assistant. ©2013, Dan Hickling, Olean Times Herald
BUFFALO – Nearly two months had passed since the rebuilding Sabres fired assistant coaches Kevyn Adams and James Patrick. The replacement process, coach Ron Rolston acknowledged, “dragged on.” Two men he offered a job to turned it down.
“We wanted to make sure that we did the right thing,” Rolston said Tuesday inside the First Niagara Center while discussing Joe Sacco’s hiring as an assistant coach. “We wanted to make sure we were patient ... Read the full article
Ron Rolston has been looking for a new assistant coach. ©2013, Dan Hickling, Olean Times Herald
BUFFALO – The Sabres have hired former Colorado Avalanche coach Joe Sacco an assistant, the team announced this afternoon.
General manager Darcy Regier said earlier today Sabres coach Ron Rolston had “zeroed in on a candidate.”
When some outlets began reporting Sacco had been hired, the Sabres officially announced the move.
Sacco coached the Avs for four seasons, going 130-134-30 before getting fired after a 16-25-7 finish in 2012-13. The 44-year-old, a veteran of 738 ... Read the full article