Buffalo Hockey Beat - WNY and Buffalo NY Hockey Coverage

Ted Nolan moving Sabres rookie Zemgus Girgensons back to wing

BUFFALO – Long-term, interim coach Ted Nolan said, the Sabres project rookie Zemgus Girgensons as a winger. So despite three impressive games at center, the 19-year-old Latvian switched back to the side today.

“If we’re going to ask him to be a winger, we better play him in that position,” Nolan said this afternoon following practice inside the First Niagara Center. “If he’s going to be a center ice man, we better put him ... Read the full article

Sabres going ‘back to the drawing board’ after NHL rejects Mikhail Grigorenko’s conditioning assignment

BUFFALO – Mikhail Grigorenko figured he’d be starting a two-week AHL conditioning assignment today. The 19-year-old Sabres prospect had already dropped his equipment off at the rink and checked into a Rochester hotel when a team front office member contacted him at 10 p.m. Tuesday.

The NHL had rejected the assignment.

Grigorenko drove back to Buffalo and practiced with the Sabres today.

What happened?

“You read the rules and see how they work,” interim Sabres ... Read the full article

Mikhail Grigorenko with Sabres after NHL rejects conditioning assignment

BUFFALO – The NHL has rejected Mikhail Grigorenko’s AHL conditioning assignment, so the 19-year-old center’s back practicing with the Sabres this morning inside the First Niagara Center.

The Sabres sent the Russian, a healthy scratch recently, to Rochester on Tuesday. Stay tuned for more details. The Sabres said they respect the decision.

Meanwhile, winger Luke Adam and defenseman Brayden McNabb have been recalled from the Americans and are on the ice.

Tyler Ennis isn’t practicing. ... Read the full article

Sabres’ reassignment of youngsters represents culture change

BUFFALO – Development time used to be mandatory. Before Mikhail Grigorenko cracked the lineup last season, the Sabres hadn’t played an 18-year-old regularly since Pierre Turgeon in 1987-88. Most of their top prospects spent at least one full season in the minors.

But former general manager Darcy Regier, who was fired with coach Ron Rolston last week, dramatically switched philosophies earlier this year as the Sabres started rebuilding.

The struggling Sabres recently became the first ... Read the full article

Ex-Sabres star Derek Roy feels at home with Blues, wanted to stay in Buffalo

BUFFALO – Derek Roy had some hard feelings against the Sabres after they traded him to Dallas in July 2012. The sometimes-slick center had just told former general manager Darcy Regier he wanted to stay in town.

The 30-year-old felt he had some unfinished business here.

“I thought we had a great team,” Roy said Tuesday prior to the St. Louis Blues’ 4-1 win against the Sabres, his first game back at the First ... Read the full article

Sabres start fast against Blues, can’t hold on

BUFFALO – This was going to be a fun one, right? Tyler Ennis scored 10 seconds into Tuesday’s tilt against the St. Louis Blues. The Sabres, so vile most of the season, have finally started competing and generating some excitement under interim coach Ted Nolan.

Ennis’ goal wound up being the Sabres’ lone highlight in a boring 4-1 loss before 17,710 fans inside the First Niagara Center.

“It’s kind of another learning curve, right?” ... Read the full article

Report: Sabres receive permission to interview Bruins’ Jim Benning

BUFFALO – The Sabres have received permission from the Boston Bruins to interview assistant general manager Jim Benning, according to TSN’s Bob McKenzie.

Pat LaFontaine, the Sabres’ new president of hockey operations, said Friday he would start interviewing GM candidates this week.

The Sabres fired Darcy Regier last week.

Benning worked 12 years with the Sabres, eight as the director of amateur scouting. The 50-year-old played 610 NHL games as a defenseman with Toronto ... Read the full article

Derek Roy wanted to stay with Sabres, happy with Blues

BUFFALO – Derek Roy wasn’t happy after the Sabres dished him to Dallas in July 2012. The sometimes-slick center had just told former general manager Darcy Regier he wanted to stay in town.

The 30-year-old, who signed a one-year, $4 million contract with the St. Louis Blues during free agency, felt he had some unfinished business here.

“I thought we had a great team,” Roy said this morning inside the First Niagara Center prior ... Read the full article

Veterans happy to see Sabres reassign youngsters: ‘It’s about earning the spot’

BUFFALO – In veteran defenseman Henrik Tallinder’s mind, the Sabres’ old regime handed out too many roster spots to undeserving youngsters. Interim coach Ted Nolan and his boss, Pat LaFontaine, know that. They’re working to correct those past mistakes.

“It’s not about getting the spot; it’s about earning the spot,” Tallinder said this morning inside the First Niagara Center after the Sabres reassigned four rookies, three of them teenagers. “It used to be like that ... Read the full article

Sabres tough guy John Scott ready to seize opportunities from Ted Nolan

BUFFALO – The “meathead” hockey player, someone John Scott describes as a goon who plays three minutes, fights and calls it a day, well, the 6-foot-8 winger doesn’t care for him too much.

“I don’t want to do that,” Scott said Monday after the Sabres prepared for tonight’s tilt against the St. Louis Blues inside the First Niagara Center. “I want to help my team. I don’t think just going out there playing two minutes ... Read the full article