WNY and Buffalo NY Hockey Coverage
Offseason Edition
Dylan Cozens grew up in Yukon. ©2019, Hickling Images
VANCOUVER – The Buffalo Sabres selected center Dylan Cozens, a center from the Western Hockey League’s Lethbridge Hurricanes, seventh overall tonight at the NHL Draft.
Cozens, who was born and raised and Whitehorse, Yukon, would be the fourth player from the Canadian territory to play in the NHL.
The Sabres need to add depth down the middle.
The 6-foot-3, 183-pound Cozens compiled 34 goals and 84 points in 60 games last season.
Sabres general manager ... Read the full article
Jason Botterill will look at options for his first-round picks. ©2019, Hickling Images
VANCOUVER – Jason Botterill, of course, will see if the Buffalo Sabres can move up from the seventh spot in the first round of tonight’s NHL Draft.
“You always put inquiries into possibly moving up and what’s there,” the general manager said this morning inside Trump International Hotel.
Still, the Sabres will likely keep their first pick. The deep first round makes Botterill “very, very comfortable” they can grab a good prospect early.
“When we ... Read the full article
Los Angeles’ Jeff Carter pursues Rasmus Ristolainen last season. ©2019, Hickling Images
VANCOUVER – Rasmus Ristolainen has certainly showcased flashes of brilliance as the Buffalo Sabres’ workhorse defenseman.
Remember when he torched superstar Brent Burns in November to extend the Sabres’ winning streak to 10 games? What about the time he took over a game in 2015-16 against the Calgary Flames, scoring a hat trick in just a 12-minute span?
Three years ago, the Finn appeared to be taking his first steps into stardom. The Sabres, ... Read the full article
Jack Hughes is the presumptive first overall pick. ©2019, Hickling Images
VANCOUVER – The first two picks of tonight’s NHL Draft have been set for months. Unless something wild transpires inside Rogers Arena, the New Jersey Devils will select Jack Hughes first overall and the New York Rangers will grab Kaapo Kakko second.
The 2019 draft really begins with the third pick, when the Chicago Blackhawks go on the clock.
Drafts, of course, are always unpredictable. Youngsters pegged as surefire high picks inevitably fall.
But the ... Read the full article
Dylan Cozens grew up in Whitehorse. ©2019, Hickling Images
BUFFALO – NHL Draft prospect Dylan Cozens always finds himself dispelling myths about his hometown of Whitehorse, Yukon.
“Lots of people don’t know what it’s like up there,” Cozens said June 1 at the NHL Scouting Combine inside Harborcenter. “They think it’s some little, like, community of igloos and stuff. It’s just a normal place, a normal little town – working electricity, houses. It’s just a normal place.”
Whitehorse, the only city in the Yukon, ... Read the full article
Rasmus Dahlin (26) battles St. Louis’ Jaden Schwartz as a rookie. ©2019, Hickling Images
BUFFALO – Rookie seasons like the one Sabres defenseman Rasmus Dahlin just enjoyed don’t come along very often.
At 18, the Swede quickly morphed into one of the Sabres’ most valuable players, taking over games with his dynamic puck-moving skills and producing offense at a historic rate.
Only one defenseman in NHL history – former Sabres star Phil Housley, who recorded 57 points as an 18-year-old in 1982-83 – compiled more points before his ... Read the full article
Linus Ullmark should receive some preseason action. ©2019, Hickling Images
Here it is, the Buffalo Sabres’ 2019 preseason schedule. The six-game slate the team released today includes two home contests.
Sept. 16: Buffalo vs. Pittsburgh, 7 p.m., Pegula Ice Arena (Penn State University)
Sept. 17: Buffalo at Columbus, 7 p.m., Nationwide Arena
Sept. 20: Buffalo at Toronto, 7 p.m., Scotiabank Arena
Sept. 21: Toronto at Buffalo, 7 p.m, KeyBank Center
Sept. 25: Columbus at Buffalo, 7 p.m., KeyBank Center
Sept. 28: Buffalo at Pittsburgh, 3 ... Read the full article
Sabres fans could get a look at defense prospect Oskari Laaksonen later this month. ©2019, Hickling Images
BUFFALO – The Sabres will hold their annual summer development camp for prospects from June 26 to 29 at Harborcenter, the team announced today.
The on-ice sessions for the first three days of camp are free and open to the public on a first-come, first-serve basis.
Camp ends on June 29 with the French Connection Tournament, an intra-squad three-on-three challenge.... Read the full article
Trevor Zegras is an offensive threat. ©2019, Hickling Images
BUFFALO – Jack Hughes possesses so much talent – “Maybe the most electric skater that I’ve seen in these last couple generations,” said his coach, John Wroblewski – the presumptive first overall pick seemingly creates offense effortlessly.
So when Wroblewski says Trevor Zegras, another slick center with the U.S. National Team Development Program, “is the best playmaker in the draft” and “a more creative and dynamic player than Hughes,” he believes he must validate it.... Read the full article
Don Granato has an extensive coaching resume. ©2019, Hickling Images
BUFFALO – The Sabres have hired Don Granato and Mike Bales as assistant coaches on new head coach Ralph Krueger’s staff, the team announced this morning.
The Sabres also officially announced Krueger will retain assistant Steve Smith, a former NHL defenseman he had on his staff with the Edmonton Oilers.
Granato, 51, has coached at all levels – junior, college, pro and NHL – over his 26-year career. He spent the last two seasons ... Read the full article