Stafford - Buffalo Hockey Beat

Sabres insist Pat LaFontaine wasn’t fired; Ted Nolan upset over departure

BUFFALO – A Sabres icon bolted less than four months after returning to the team he loved. The franchise goalie and captain got traded.

The Sabres just endured perhaps the most trying weekend in their 43-year history. That was before the popular coach sounded like he might want to leave.

“It’s a lot for our fans to swallow in a short amount of time,” Sabres president Ted Black said Sunday, a day after Pat LaFontaine ... Read the full article

Sabres’ blockbuster trade rocked dressing room before game

BUFFALO – It was a normal Sabres game night. Players were preparing for their warm-up Friday. Ted Nolan had held pregame his meeting and talked about his plan for the San Jose Sharks.

Then the interim coach saw Joe Battista, the team’s vice president of hockey-related business, coming around the corner.

Battista informed Nolan that goalie Ryan Miller, the scheduled starter, shouldn’t go out for the warm-up.

“I think we got a deal for him,” ... Read the full article

Sabres goalie Ryan Miller focusing on what could be last start in Buffalo

BUFFALO – Ryan Miller knows most NHL cities can’t offer what this one has for 11 seasons. The Sabres goalie hasn’t just played for a team; he’s felt a part of something special in the community.

But right now isn’t the time to reflect, Miller said Thursday. He’s still with the Sabres. The former Vezina Trophy winner wants to focus on his 533^rd start tonight against the San Jose Sharks.

Still, with the NHL ... Read the full article

Sabres waive Linus Omark, send Chad Ruhwedel and Phil Varone to Amerks

BUFFALO – In a move that might signal the end of his NHL career, the Sabres today waived winger Linus Omark, who had zero goals and two assists in 13 games.

They also sent defenseman Chad Ruhwedel and forward Phil Varone to Rochester.

The 27-year-old Omark, acquired from Edmonton for a conditional sixth-round draft pick Dec. 19, never impressed Ted Nolan much. The interim coach scratched the speedy Swede eight times, including Thursday’s ... Read the full article

Reeling Sabres blown out by Penguins, can’t help goalie Ryan Miller

BUFFALO – Wednesday wasn’t an Olympic audition for goalie Ryan Miller, Pittsburgh coach Dan Bylsma said hours before his potent Penguins throttled the hapless Sabres 5-1. He’s judging Miller on his body of work, not one game.

Bylsma, Team USA’s coach for the upcoming Sochi Games, knows what most NHL observers know: Miller’s played splendidly most of the season under the most trying of circumstances.

The Sabres’ third straight loss illustrated that. Once ... Read the full article

Instinctive game allows Sabres’ Tyler Ennis to showcase more offense and grit

BUFFALO – Tyler Ennis said he recently stopped thinking on the ice. That isn’t a bad thing, though. The slick Sabres center has just been playing more instinctively under interim coach Ted Nolan, allowing his natural talents to take over these past few months.

It’s showing on the score sheet. With an assist on Drew Stafford’s first-period goal in Wednesday’s 5-1 loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins, Ennis has four goals and 12 points in the ... Read the full article

Sabres lose game to Oilers, defenseman Tyler Myers to injury

BUFFALO – Fittingly, a tilt between the NHL’s two worst teams started ominously for the bottom-feeding Sabres. Just 32 seconds in, Jeff Petry zoomed past Jamie McBain and beat goalie Jhonas Enroth easily on the Edmonton Oilers’ first shot.

But the Sabres settled down against the hapless Oilers and their porous defense, taking a 2-1 lead before the first period ended.

At times, the “Battle for the Basement” or the “Game of the Weak” – ... Read the full article

Sabres goalie Ryan Miller wanted Team USA Olympic mask to resemble old one

BUFFALO – If Ryan Miller’s new Team USA Olympic mask for the upcoming Sochi Games looks familiar, it’s because the Sabres goalie kept the same theme he used in 2010.

“I thought it was a cool mask last time,” Miller told the Times Herald on Sunday. “I just want to update the colors. I want to do something more traditional red, white and blue. Last time it was like a little off blue-gray kind of ... Read the full article

Sabres’ Ville Leino and Chad Ruhwedel to sit against Oilers

BUFFALO – In Ville Leino’s defense, Ted Nolan said, the Sabres winger “has played in spurts, hit a couple goalposts.”

“He’s just missing here and just missing there,” the interim coach said this morning inside the First Niagara Center. “When those things just keep missing, you look at the overall picture that he’s not playing well at all. But, truth is, he has played in spurts. It just didn’t click in.”

Leino has zero goals ... Read the full article

Sabres’ Linus Omark looking to break out against Oilers

BUFFALO – So far, 11 games into his Sabres career, Linus Omark has been a colossal disappointment, compiling zero goals, two assists and seven healthy scratches for the NHL’s worst team.

But the slick winger will return tonight against the Edmonton Oilers, his old team, after sitting the last three games. The Swede might even skate on the top line.

Clearly, interim Sabres coach Ted Nolan hopes a visit from the Oilers ignites Omark, who ... Read the full article