WNY and Buffalo NY Hockey Coverage
Calder Cup Playoffs Edition
Zach Benson celebrates his game-winning power-play goal Saturday afternoon. ©2023, Micheline Veluvolu
BUFFALO – Barely a week ago, it felt like Zach Benson might receive a long look during training camp before the Sabres returned him to junior hockey. But four games, two goals and four points later, the prospect is fighting to earn an NHL roster spot.
Benson, 18, enjoyed another terrific outing in Saturday afternoon’s entertaining 4-3 preseason victory over the Columbus Blue Jackets in KeyBank Center, scoring the late power-play winner after the Sabres ... Read the full article
Zach Benson played in Buffalo’s first two preseason games. ©2023, Micheline Veluvolu
BUFFALO – In the beginning of training camp, coach Don Granato said the Sabres penciled prospect Zach Benson in for three preseason games, a number he will hit tonight against the Pittsburgh Penguins.
But Benson, the 13th overall pick this year, has looked so impressive in his early action he might earn more games. The Sabres have three more after tonight’s in Pittsburgh.
“Now, based on how he’s playing, there’s intrigue that he may get ... Read the full article
Victor Olofsson scored 28 goals last season. ©2023, Micheline Veluvolu
BUFFALO – In the same spot five months earlier, as winger Victor Olofsson talked about his late-season benching, it felt like he had played his last game for the Sabres.
But a trade never materialized, and as he sat at his locker in the dressing room following Monday’s session of training camp, Olofsson, 28, spoke optimistically of the upcoming season.
“I’m super happy to be back,” said Olofsson, whose Sabres host the Boston Bruins tonight ... Read the full article
Matt Savoie was injured Monday. ©2023, Micheline Veluvolu
BUFFALO – Sabres center Matt Savoie is week to week after suffering an upper-body injury in Monday’s Prospects Challenge finale, general manager Kevyn Adams said.
“We’re also going to be really patient and make sure that he’s full go before we let him out there,” Adams said this morning in KeyBank Center, where training camp opens today. “But good news overall.”
Savoie, the ninth overall pick in 2022, is expected to compete for an NHL ... Read the full article
(From left) Devon Levi, Lukas Rousek and Victor Olofsson are three intriguing participants in training camp. ©2023, Micheline Veluvolu
BUFFALO – The deepest and most talented Sabres team since the rollicking post-lockout days of the mid-2000s will hit the ice today shouldering the expectation it can end the franchise’s embarrassing 12-year playoff drought.
Coming off a season in which they fell one win short of the postseason, the Sabres begin training camp with three sessions at KeyBank Center.
They have a whopping 64 players on their camp roster: seven goalies, 21 defensemen and 36 ... Read the full article
Nikita Novikov signed his entry-level contract in May. ©2023, Micheline Veluvolu, Rochester Americans
BUFFALO – The Sabres’ leading scorer in the Prospects Challenge wasn’t Zach Benson, Jiri Kulich, Isak Rosen, Matt Savoie or another talented young forward.
No, try defenseman Nikita Novikov, who registered five assists, including three in Friday’s 6-3 win over the Montreal Canadiens in LECOM Harborcenter.
The Russian, 20, compiled three assists and five points in 62 games with the Kontinental Hockey League’s Moscow Dynamo all of last season.
The 6-foot-4, ... Read the full article
Matt Savoie is expected to compete for an NHL job in training camp. ©2023, Micheline Veluvolu, Rochester Americans
BUFFALO – For Monday’s Prospects Challenge finale, the Sabres gave some of their more established young players a well-deserved afternoon off.
However, center Matt Savoie, arguably the Sabres’ biggest prospect, dressed for his third consecutive game. Twenty-seven seconds after taking the opening faceoff, he skated into a Pittsburgh Penguins winger Jagger Joshua and left the game.
Savoie, who’s competing for an NHL job this season, suffered an upper-body injury and is expected to miss ... Read the full article
Isak Rosen (wearing the ‘A’) and his teammates celebrate his second-period goal Saturday. ©2023, Micheline Veluvolu, Rochester Americans
BUFFALO – Sabres winger Viktor Neuchev scored in front early, converting center Tyson Kozak’s nifty backhand pass from behind the net. Winger Zach Benson followed minutes later, releasing a wicked shot from the left circle.
After the New Jersey Devils scored in the second period, winger Isak Rosen zoomed to the net unfettered, recording his second goal in as many nights.
The early goals in Saturday’s 4-2 win at the Prospects Challenge in LECOM Harborcenter ... Read the full article
Jiri Kulich warms up before Friday’s Prospects Challenge game. ©2023, Micheline Veluvolu
BUFFALO – When Vaclav “Vinny” Prospal learned Sabres prospect Jiri Kulich trains in his hometown in Czechia during the summer, he headed to the local rink in Ceske Budejovice to introduce himself.
Prospal, one of the Rochester Americans’ new assistant coaches, ran into some of his former teammates, so he invited Kulich to his house for lunch to chat.
Having coached against Kulich and followed hockey closely, Prospal knew about the youngster’s lethal shot – ... Read the full article
Matt Savoie played two games with Rochester during the Calder Cup Playoffs. ©2023, Micheline Veluvolu
BUFFALO – Sabres prospect Matt Savoie paused for a moment and collected his thoughts before he answered the question.
Savoie, 19, has established himself as a dominant junior star over the past two seasons, scoring 92 goals and a whopping 226 points in 156 total games, including the playoffs.
Clearly, the center’s ready for pro hockey. But the Canadian Hockey League’s agreement with the NHL prohibits him from playing in the AHL this season. He ... Read the full article
