WNY and Buffalo NY Hockey Coverage
September Edition
Tage Thompson has scored 37 goals this season. ©2022, Micheline Veluvolu
BUFFALO – After Sabres center Tage Thompson hit the 30-goal mark for the first time April 1, coach Don Granato told the burgeoning star that, hey, while that’s a nice number, there’s a heck of a lot more you can do.
“I know you’re going to score more, you know you’re going to score more, so we can celebrate this, but onward and upward, let’s go,” Granato said he told Thompson.
Granato’s words served as ... Read the full article
Alex Tuch joined Buffalo on Thursday. ©2021, Micheline Veluvolu
BUFFALO – Sabres winger Alex Tuch couldn’t stop smiling as he recalled those dynamic post-lockout teams of 2006 and 2007. He kept rattling off players, seemingly trying to name the entire roster.
As a child growing up in Baldwinsville, Tuch, who was acquired from the Vegas Golden Knights in Thursday’s blockbuster Jack Eichel trade, loved the Sabres.
“I grew up next to Tim Connolly, who played here for years,” Tuch said prior to Saturday’s ... Read the full article
Derek Roy spent eight seasons in Buffalo. ©2021, Dan Hickling
Center Derek Roy, the Buffalo Sabres’ leading scorer three consecutive years early in his career, has retired from hockey after 18 seasons, he announced today on Instagram.
Roy, 38, spent the 2020-21 campaign playing with Red Bull Munich, a Deutsche Eishockey Liga.
After the Sabres drafted the diminutive Roy in the second round in 2001, 32nd overall, he quickly morphed into one of their top prospects. He spent just over two years with the ... Read the full article
Ryan Miller is Buffalo’s all-time wins leader. ©2021, Dan Hickling
Ryan Miller felt he owed something to Buffalo. Having arrived as a 22-year-old fresh out of Michigan State, the ex-Sabres goalie experienced a lot of firsts in the city.
“Buffalo is always going to have a big part of my heart,” an emotional Miller said on a Zoom call Thursday to announce his retirement at the conclusion of this season. “I feel like I really grew up there.”
So Miller, the Sabres’ all-time wins leader, ... Read the full article
Steven Fogarty has an opportunity to stick in Buffalo. ©2021, Micheline Veluvolu
BUFFALO – There was no wild celebration. Not even a fist pump.
When Sabres winger Steven Fogarty scored his first NHL goal on Wednesday, he reacted as if he had done it 100 times. A smiling Fogarty simply raised his stick, pointed to defenseman Rasmus Ristolainen and shared a few fist bumps with his teammates.
By the time he started skating back to the bench, his grin had disappeared.
“It just happened so quick and ... Read the full article
Chris Taylor played and coached with Rochester. ©2020, Micheline Veluvolu, Rochester Americans
In 2017, former general manager Jason Botterill and his assistant, Randy Sexton, took an unusual first step in rebuilding the Buffalo Sabres’ struggling AHL affiliate, the Rochester Americans.
Barely a year after the Sabres’ previous regime had let Chris Taylor go as an assistant coach from the Amerks, Botterill and Sexton, who also served as Rochester’s GM, rehired him as head coach.
The move made sense. Taylor, who was fired again Tuesday, spent his ... Read the full article
Daniel Briere enjoyed a breakout season in 2005-06. ©2020, Janet Schultz
Five more “Sabres Classics” – this time regular-season games from 2005-06, one of the most memorable campaigns in franchise history – will be rebroadcast on MSG next week.
That season, of course, the Sabres morphed into a powerhouse after the NHL lockout ended, roaring to the Eastern Conference final. Co-captains Daniel Briere and Chris Drury led what was arguably the league’s deepest and most exciting lineup.
The games are being aired because the COVID-19 pandemic ... Read the full article
Rasmus Dahlin (26) battles Minnesota’s Zach Parise on Tuesday with teammate Brandon Montour nearby. ©2019, Hickling Images
BUFFALO – A week before Thanksgiving, the same team that started the season 8-1-1 has already fallen apart. Right now, having lost eight of their last nine games, the Sabres are reeling.
The Sabres can deny it all they want, but it feels eerily similar to last season, when they won 10 straight games in November before imploding and missing the playoffs.
“Listen, we’re not talking about last year,” captain Jack Eichel said following the ... Read the full article
Jason Botterill’s team has struggled this month. ©2019, Hickling Images
BUFFALO – General manager Jason Botterill said before tonight’s game he’s “actively looking” to find a forward to help the injury-depleted Sabres.
“But we also are very happy with how our players have come up from Rochester and played so far,” said Botterill, whose team played without five forwards against the Minnesota Wild.
The Sabres had lost a forward to injury in five straight games entering Tuesday. The organization is so depleted – three Rochester ... Read the full article
Jack Eichel celebrates Saturday. ©2019, Micheline Veluvolu
BUFFALO – Jack Eichel, of course, had scored four goals in a game before his dynamic, career-best performance in Saturday’s 4-2 win over the Ottawa Senators. The Sabres captain just can’t remember the last time he did it.
“I don’t honestly know,” Eichel said after the Sabres ended their six game-losing streak.
Eichel, 23, said he never scored four goals with Boston University or the U.S. National Team Development Program, his stops before the NHL.... Read the full article