WNY and Buffalo NY Hockey Coverage
November Edition
Eric Comrie played 19 games in his first season in Buffalo. ©2023, Micheline Veluvolu
BUFFALO – Nothing could ruin Eric Comrie’s season. Not the goalie’s first significant injury. Not losing the starting job or falling to fourth on the Sabres’ depth chart.
He played just eight of the final 65 games after going down in mid-November. In one of his appearances, he allowed 10 goals. Following rookie goalie Devon Levi’s arrival, he did not play in the final nine contests.
Comrie, 27, faces an uncertain future. Levi, ... Read the full article
Jeff Skinner recorded a career-high 82 points this season. ©2023, Micheline Veluvolu
BUFFALO – For most of his career, the hockey world labeled Jeff Skinner as a one-dimensional player: the shifty Sabres winger scored goals and that was about it.
Ex-Sabres coach Ralph Krueger, who nearly destroyed Skinner’s career, once famously said the popular veteran “measured his whole career on goals.”
“When I came in, he was known as a 40-goal scorer and now he’s so much more than that to me,” coach Don Granato, who ... Read the full article
Brandon Biro registered 51 points this season. ©2023, Micheline Veluvolu, Rochester Americans
Buffalo Sabres center prospect Brandon Biro underwent season-ending surgery over the weekend to repair a lower-body injury, Americans coach Seth Appert said.
“That’s unfortunate, because what a great season he had,” he told reporters Tuesday in Rochester.
Despite playing just 49 games this season, Biro’s 16 goals ranked fourth on the Amerks and his 51 points trailed only Lukas Rousek’s 56 points.
Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen began the season in Rochester before being recalled to Buffalo. ©2023, Micheline Veluvolu
BUFFALO – In his four-year pro career, Sabres goalie Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen has never played a postseason game.
The COVID-19 pandemic wiped out the AHL Calder Cup Playoffs two straight years. Last year, Luukkonen suffered an injury late in the regular season and missed the Rochester Americans’ 10-game playoff run.
This year, the Sabres did not make Luukkonen, who started the season in Rochester, available to the Amerks, who open the playoffs Friday.
Kevyn Adams has talked to his players about why they struggled in Buffalo. ©2023, Micheline Veluvolu
BUFFALO – General manager Kevyn Adams has a theory on the Sabres’ home woes this season.
“I feel I’ve asked enough questions that I have a handle on this,” he said during Wednesday’s end-of-season news conference.
The Sabres compiled a ghastly 17-20-4 mark at KeyBank Center. Only four NHL teams – the Anaheim Ducks, Chicago Blackhawks, Columbus Blue Jackets and San Jose Sharks – earned fewer home wins. The Montreal Canadiens equaled the Sabres’ meager ... Read the full article
Devon Levi compiled a 5-2-0 record for Buffalo after leaving college. ©2023, Micheline Veluvolu
BUFFALO – In his first days in the NHL, Sabres goalie Devon Levi looked so impressive that coach Don Granato kept riding the neophyte.
Levi, 21, turned heads in his debut March 31, so after starting Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen the next night, Granato utilized the newcomer for five consecutive do-or-die games before the Sabres were eliminated from playoff contention.
The Sabres’ reliance on Levi for a stretch of critical late-season contests raised some eyebrows. The ... Read the full article
Zemgus Girgensons can become an unrestricted free agent this summer. ©2023, Micheline Veluvolu
BUFFALO – General manager Kevyn Adams wants to give captain Kyle Okposo and alternate captain Zemgus Girgensons, the Sabres’ longest-tenured player, time to decompress following a long season.
When the time is right, Adams plans to talk to the veterans, both of whom can become unrestricted free agents this summer, about returning to the Sabres.
“I want them back,” he said during Wednesday’s end-of-season news conference in KeyBank Center.
Okposo, 35, and Girgensons, 29, helped ... Read the full article
Buffalo prospect Filip Cederqvist is learning to utilize his big body in Rochester. ©2023, Micheline Veluvolu, Rochester Americans
ROCHESTER – Earlier in his career, Buffalo Sabres prospect Filip Cederqvist never paid much of a price if he skated to the net.
In his native Sweden, Cederqvist said, you’re not allowed to box out.
“You can just almost stand in front of the net and nothing’s going to happen,” he told the Times Herald on Tuesday following the Americans’ off-ice workout in Blue Cross Arena.
Cederqvist has learned when he tries to park his ... Read the full article
Victor Olofsson sat out seven games as a healthy scratch this season. ©2023, Micheline Veluvolu
BUFFALO – Victor Olofsson understands why it’s easy to focus on the negative.
As the Sabres played their most important games since his arrival four years ago, the winger sat out five straight contests as a healthy scratch. A victim of inconsistency and poor defensive play, he was a spectator during their playoff push.
“I’m still proud of myself what I’ve been doing and accomplished this year,” Olofsson said Sunday as the Sabres held end-of-season ... Read the full article
Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen won 17 games as a rookie. ©2023, Micheline Veluvolu
BUFFALO – As the Sabres fought furiously for their first playoff berth in 12 years, goalie Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen figured he’d be called upon for a critical late-season game.
Luukkonen, after all, led the team in wins as a rookie this season. He played 33 contests, emerging as the starter following his recall in mid-November. He performed so well the Sabres kept three goalies on the roster for nearly three months.
The Finn won huge games ... Read the full article