WNY and Buffalo NY Hockey Coverage
Offseason Edition
Sam Reinhart has played five NHL games. ©2014, Dan Hickling, Olean Times Herald
BUFFALO – The Sabres will scratch top prospect Sam Reinhart for the first time tonight against the Boston Bruins.
It wasn’t hard to see this move coming. The slick center, the No. 2 pick in June, has been skating limited minutes on the fourth line. Reinhart played only seven minutes, nine seconds in Friday’s 1-0 loss to Florida.
The 18-year-old has zero goals, two shots and a minus-1 rating in his first five NHL games.... Read the full article
Florida’s Dmitry Kulikov (7) chases the Sabres’ Zemgus Girsgensons on Friday. ©2014, Dan Hickling, Olean Times Herald
BUFFALO – Fresh off their first win this season, against the winless Florida Panthers, the hapless Sabres imploded again early Friday, allowing a team with three goals all season to dominate them.
The Panthers outshot the Sabres 16-3 during a wretched first period. The Sabres finally put their first even-strength shot on goalie Roberto Luongo at about the 16-minute mark.
The Sabres, thanks to Jhonas Enroth’s strong goaltending, escaped the opening 20 minutes tied. ... Read the full article
Torrey Mitchell skates Friday. ©2014, Dan Hickling, Olean Times Herald
BUFFALO – Despite having some of the best wheels on the Sabres, speedy winger Torrey Mitchell showcases a simple, straightforward style as a third- or fourth-liner.
The 29-year-old is a no-frills checker.
“I try not to do too much,” Mitchell said Friday prior to the Sabres’ 1-0 loss to the Florida Panthers inside the First Niagara Center.
Mitchell, of course, was talking about knowing his limitations. While the Quebec native moves quickly, he’s not a ... Read the full article
Randy Moller played 126 games with the Sabres from 1992-94. ©2014, Dan Hickling, Olean Times Herald
With play-by-play man Randy Moller and the Florida Panthers in town, I thought I’d flashback to one of my favorite stories of the last five years, Moller talking about his, shall we say unique, style of calling a goal. This story ran April 1, 2010. Give it a read. I’ve posted plenty of audio below.
BUFFALO – One minute, 51 seconds into the Sabres’ 6-2 win Wednesday, Florida Panthers winger Jeff Taffe grabbed a pass ... Read the full article
Sam Reinhart was selected No. 2 in June. ©2014, Dan Hickling, Olean Times Herald
BUFFALO – Naturally, Sabres center Sam Reinhart, the No. 2 pick in June, wants to play against Florida Panthers defenseman Aaron Ekblad, the No. 1 pick, tonight.
The prospects don’t have much of a rivalry, though.
“Not the fact the fact that we’re one and two, it’s the fact that I know him very well,” Reinhart said this morning inside the First Niagara Center. “We’re pretty good friends.”
The two once roomed together at ... Read the full article
Bryan Trottier has won seven Stanley Cups. ©2014, Dan Hickling, Olean Times Herald
BUFFALO – Two men who had spent their entire lives in hockey never met until a chance encounter almost 19 years ago outside Memorial Auditorium.
It was 1995-96, Ted Nolan’s first year as Sabres coach. Hall of Famer Bryan Trottier, an assistant coach with the Pittsburgh Penguins, was walking outside the Aud in a snowstorm when Nolan spotted him.
Nolan pulled over and offered a lift.
“We had a five-minute chat,” Trottier, one of ... Read the full article
Patrick Kaleta practiced Thursday. ©2014, Dan Hickling, Olean Times Herald
BUFFALO – Patrick Kaleta’s face was mangled.
“Broke a bunch of things in there,” the oft-injured Sabres winger said Thursday following practice inside the First Niagara Center.
Kaleta said doctors inserted three plates and 14 screws after a shot hit him in the face during a Sept. 28 preseason game in Toronto. The 28-year-old has experienced blurred vision and migraines.
Still, less than three weeks after the scary incident, the Angola native is on the ... Read the full article
Sam Reinhart (23) has been skating on the fourth line. ©2014, Dan Hickling, Olean Times Herald
BUFFALO – In his fourth NHL appearance, top prospect Sam Reinhart skated only six minutes, 39 seconds on the fourth line between Nick Deslauriers and Cody McCormick in the Sabres’ 4-3 shootout win against Carolina on Tuesday.
Why did Sabres coach Ted Nolan slash the 18-year-old’s minutes?
For three regular-season games and the entire preseason, Nolan threw Reinhart “right into the fire” to see how he would react. So the slick center, the No. 2 ... Read the full article
Patrick Kaleta was injured Sept. 28. ©2014, Dan Hickling, Olean Times Herald
BUFFALO – Patrick Kaleta’s face was mangled.
“Broke a bunch of things in there,” the oft-injured Sabres winger said this afternoon following practice inside the First Niagara Center.
Kaleta said doctors inserted three plates and 14 screws after a shot hit him in the face during a Sept. 28 preseason game in Toronto. The 28-year-old has experienced blurred vision and migraines.
Still, less than three weeks after the scary incident, the Angola native is on ... Read the full article
Zemgus Girgensons was a captain in junior. ©2014, Dan Hickling, Olean Times Herald
BUFFALO – The joke started during Zemgus Girgensons’ draft season three years ago.
Coach Jim Montgomery and his Dubuque Fighting Saints told stories – well, more like tall tales – about Girgensons, their hard-nosed Latvian captain, and dubbed them “The Legend of Zemgus.”
The stories, Montgomery said, “would just grow.”
“Because of the way he plays,” Montgomery said by phone Wednesday, “some of them are believable, like Zemgus means ‘one who eats lions’ in ... Read the full article
