Buffalo Hockey Beat - WNY and Buffalo NY Hockey Coverage

Players taking wait-and-see approach to new NHL labor talks

AMHERST – Don’t get too giddy yet, players cautioned. A new collective bargaining agreement between the NHL and its locked-out talent doesn’t appear imminent.

Nonetheless, for one of the few times during the 52-day work stoppage, there’s some encouraging news. The NHL and the Players’ Association will formally meet today in New York, the first face-to-face bargaining session since mid-October.

A long, productive meeting between NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly and NHLPA special counsel ... Read the full article

Austrian adventure almost over for Sabres’ Thomas Vanek

BUFFALO – Nine games later, the novelty hasn’t worn off. Wherever Thomas Vanek plays in his native Austria, arenas are still packed. The locked-out Sabres star, after all, is a national hero, having just finished fifth in a poll of the country’s top athletes.

Vanek’s first professional appearances at home have been special, once-in-a-lifetime opportunities for Austrian hockey fans. That’s why a “melancholic atmosphere” will accompany Vanek’s final two games this weekend with the Erste ... Read the full article

NHL’s month of game cancellations frustrates Sabres

AMHERST – Now the NHL has canceled all of its games through November, including 11 more Buffalo Sabres contests. Twenty Sabres tilts – 24.4 percent of the 82-game slate – have been axed 42 days into the lockout.

All together, the NHL’s second lockout since 2004-05 has claimed 326 games, a whopping 26.5 percent of the league’s schedule.

It’s almost impossible to argue any other way: Friday was a dark day for hockey. An ... Read the full article

Your European Sabres update

BUFFALO – Here are some quick updates on the Sabres currently biding their time playing in various European leagues during the NHL lockout. Expect more to trickle overseas as the work stoppage drags on and more games get canceled.

Defenseman Christian Ehrhoff, Krefeld Penguins, DEL, Germany

The German, who played for Krefeld prior to his North American career, has six goals, 10 points, 16 penalty minutes and a plus-5 rating in 11 games.

Center ... Read the full article

Amerks’ Mark Mancari hoping second stint with Sabres more successful

BUFFALO – You can’t turn down a one-way contract, Mark Mancari said. No way. Not when you’ve been making around $50,000 most of your career in the minors.

So when the Vancouver Canucks guaranteed him $525,000 as free agency opened in 2011, the high-scoring winger left the Sabres organization after six seasons.

“You go. You don’t think too much about it,” Mancari said Tuesday inside the First Niagara Center prior to the Rochester Americans’ 3-1 ... Read the full article

Amerks’ Kevin Porter making best of new AHL stint

ROCHESTER – Kevin Porter, the former NCAA superstar, had finally established himself as an NHL regular after shuttling between the big leagues and minors for two years. In 2010-11, the 26-year-old played 74 games with the Colorado Avalanche, scoring 14 goals.

By last October, however, the Rochester Americans’ new captain had already become a spare part.

Incredibly, the Avs scratched Porter 43 times last season.

The forward played poorly defensively, never showcased enough physicality and ... Read the full article

Sabres’ Regehr disappointed CBA talks quickly fizzled

AMHERST – On Thursday in Toronto, the NHL Players’ Association submitted three counter proposals it believed could help end a lockout now in its 35^thday. The union claimed each hit the 50-50 hockey-related revenue split the NHL has demanded, a possible breakthrough in the contentious negotiations.

The NHL examined the offers for 10 minutes, and then rejected them. The sides spoke for a few more minutes before departing.

Any cautious optimism ignited by ... Read the full article

Sabres hope NHL’s offer leads to serious CBA talks

AMHERST – Like other players, Buffalo Sabres captain Jason Pominville heard some positive vibes when he learned the NHL had submitted a new, revamped collective bargaining agreement proposal to the NHL Players’ Association on Tuesday.

The 50-50 split of hockey-related revenue, down from 57 percent for the players under the old CBA, seemed fair and logical to some outside observers. The NBA and NFL both allocated money similarly following lockouts last year. The NHL’s ... Read the full article

Sabres prospect Tropp likely done for season

BUFFALO – Corey Tropp, a ferocious third-year winger who became a Sabres regular late last season, will likely miss the rest of the 2012-13 campaign after suffering ligament damage in his right knee.

Tropp told the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle he damaged the medial collateral ligament and anterior cruciate ligament Friday late in the Rochester Americans’ 6-5 season-opening AHL win over the Syracuse Crunch.

The MCL can heal through rehabilitation. He’ll eventually need ACL surgery, ... Read the full article

Sabres’ Myers signs deal to play in Austria

BUFFALO – Sabres defenseman Tyler Myers has signed a contract to play with Klagenfurter AC in Austria’s Erste Bank Eishockey Liga during the NHL lockout.

Myers expressed an interest in playing overseas before the work stoppage began Sept. 15. He’ll be playing in the same league Sabres winger Thomas Vanek recently joined.

Myers is the fifth Sabre to sign with a European club. Defenseman Christian Ehrhoff (Germany), center Tyler Ennis (Switzerland) and defenseman Andrej Sekera ... Read the full article