The Buffalo Sabres today announced their 2011 preseason schedule. The team will play seven games, including two at HSBC Arena. Ticket information for each home game will be announced at a later date.
The Sabres will begin their preseason slate at home on Monday, September 19 when the Carolina Hurricanes visit HSBC Arena. The Sabres will then travel to Montreal to play the Canadiens on Wednesday, September 21. The team will participate in a home and home series with the Toronto Maple Leafs starting at the Air Canada Centre on Friday, September 23 and then at HSBC Arena on Saturday, September 24. After a game on the road in Columbus the following day (Sunday, September 25), the team will travel to Washington on Friday, September 30 to face the Capitals.
The Buffalo Sabres will also play an exhibition game against Adler Mannheim at SAP Arena in Mannheim, Germany, on Tuesday, Oct. 4, as part of the 2011 Compuware NHL Premiere Challenge to complete the 2011 preseason schedule.
Rumors ran wild over the past few weeks that the New York Rangers would buy out the final year of Chris Drury’s five-year contract, making him a free agent and opening the door for a possible return to the Buffalo Sabres. That’s now out the window.
The New York Post is reporting that the Rangers will be unable to buy Drury out– because he’s injured. The 34-year old has a degenerative knee condition that will keep him out for next season and in all probability will end his successful 12-year NHL career.
Sabres fans associate Drury as one of the most clutch performers in team history. He scored a career-high 37 goals for Buffalo in 2006-07 and added three game-winning goals and a last second game-tying tally in the postseason as the Sabres advanced to the Eastern Conference finals.
The Buffalo Sabres held their first-ever Blogger Summit Thursday evening and to be perfectly honest, I didn’t know what to expect. This type of setting was foreign to me and certainly the same for the organization. The Sabres decided to host the experience; which featured team president Ted Black speaking as well as broadcaster Kevin Sylvester as master of ceremonies.
Ten of the area’s more regarded Sabres bloggers were invited to participate and fortunately for me, I was among them.
Still, I remained skeptical entering the cozy suite conference room. Countless emails and Twitter comments accusing this as nothing more than a Sabres schmooze move/publicity stunt to get bloggers to view the team with rose colored glasses had infiltrated my train of thought.
Tonight is a first for the Buffalo Sabres. They are holding their first-ever Sabres Blogger Summit this evening at the HSBC Arena. Featured will be team president Ted Black along with a dozen invited bloggers who cover the Sabres regularly. I’m happy to say I’ll be among those in the panel.
A variety of topics will be discussed by the group, including the role of the social media and how the organization is covered online.
Kevin Sylvester will be the host, and a portion of event will be streamed live right here via Sabres.com. It starts at 6:30pm so make sure you tune in—it should be interesting if not certainly different. You can also follow the event with live updates via our Buffalo Sports Daily Twitter.
For my money, there’s no better place on the web for coverage of Buffalo Sabres’ prospects than the work Kris Baker does for SabresProspects.com. Monday morning their Sabres 2011 draft preview was published and sure enough, Baker didn’t disappoint.
Holding the 16th pick of the NHL draft on June 24, Baker breaks down five candidates for the Sabres selection, all of which are forwards. He also has a specific dark horse in mind should general manager Darcy Regier decide to move down from their original spot (the Sabres don’t currently own a second-rounder.)
If that wasn’t enough, Baker examines potential Buffalo selections in rounds three through seven, and all are covered in-depth.
Four years after the fact, there’s plenty of Buffalo Sabres fans incensed the organization let former team captain Chris Drury bolt for the New York Rangers. The way things are looking, however, a path may be cleared for a return engagement to Western New York.
Jesse Spector of the New York Daily News reports that Rangers general manager Glen Sather will buy out Drury’s final season of his five-year, $35.25 million contract, thus making him a free agent this summer. Spector writes while the buyout would cost the Rangers $1.6 million in dead cap space for 2012-13, it would save the club $3.3 million for next season as they target a big ticket like Brad Richards.
Drury has spent the past four seasons with the Rangers, but has been unable to duplicate the success he had in Buffalo. His goal output declined each season with New York from 25, 22, 14 and down to just one goal last year in 24 games while bothered with a left knee injury that required surgery.
Buffalo Sabres GM Darcy Regier announced the Sabres have agreed to terms on a multi-year deal with forward Drew Stafford, who was set to become a Restricted Free Agent on July 1.
“It was important for us to get Drew locked up,” said Regier. “What we saw from Drew this season is exactly what we envisioned when we drafted him. Drew will continue to be an important part of our team in the coming years.”
Stafford (10/30/1985, 6’2”, 214 lbs.) is coming off a 2010-11 season that saw him finish second on the team with a career-high 31 goals in 62 games, including a league-best four hat tricks. The 25-year-old also posted career-highs in both points (52) and power play goals (11). In five seasons with Buffalo, Stafford has 196 points (94+102) in 317 career games.
Folks of Western New York who enjoy ice skating, particularly those who play ice hockey, will consider this good news. In a report by Adam Benigni of WGRZ-TV, Buffalo Mayor Byron Brown announced new management agreements for rinks owned by the city; which consist of Lafayette, Cazenovia and Riverside ice rinks.
Brown said in a press conference that the North Buffalo Bison Hockey Association and Hasek’s Heroes, with the support of the Buffalo Sabres, have been awarded the managerial rights. Bisons Hockey will manage Lafayette while Hasek’s Heroes will manage Riverside and Cazenovia. It was also announced that the Sabres Foundation will donate $100,000 for infrastructure upgrades at the Cazenovia and Riverside sites.
Benigni also reports that Mayor Brown said there will be an increase in public skating hours at each rink.
Here is the video of the announcement, courtesy of WGRZ-TV.
Paul Hamilton of WGR Radio is reporting first that Buffalo Sabres head coach Lindy Ruff has released associate coach Brian McCutcheon from his staff.
According to sources Hamilton has reported on, McCutcheon “is in limbo now.” Hamilton writes that if Terry Pegula ends up purchasing the Rochester Amerks, McCutcheon may have a role there but if that doesn’t happen he may just be released.
McCutcheon has been a part of Ruff’s staff in Buffalo since 2000 after he spent three seasons as the head coach of the Amerks. During that time he compiled a 128-89-9 record.
Good morning, everyone and welcome back following a pleasant Memorial Day weekend. After enjoying a long weekend of relaxing (and a bit too much celebrating), I find myself this early Tuesday struggling to find items noteworthy directly pertaining to Buffalo sports.
Thanks to Scott Michalak of SabresNation.com, I found something pretty cool— or at the least a note I hadn’t thought of.
The Boston Bruins and Vancouver Canucks are set to square off for the Stanley Cup and the series involves a pair of ex-Buffalo Sabres that have a chance to take a victory lap should they come out on the winning end. Boston forward Daniel Paille and Vancouver winger Raffi Torres are the lone pair of former Sabres still playing NHL hockey this late in the season.
Buffalo Sabres GM Darcy Regier announced today that forward Marcus Foligno has agreed to terms on a three-year entry level contract. Foligno was selected by Buffalo in the fourth-round (104th overall) of the 2009 Entry Draft.
“Marcus is a proven leader and someone that we believe will fit in very well within our organization,” said Regier. “As Buffalo fans will remember from his play in the World Juniors, Marcus is a great mix of size and skill.”
A native of Buffalo, NY, Foligno (6’3”, 222 lbs., 8/10/1991, shoots left) played four seasons of junior hockey with the Sudbury Wolves of the Ontario Hockey League and was the team’s captain in 2010-11. Despite playing in just 47 games this season, Foligno posted career highs in goals (23), assists (36) and points (59), and was named to the OHL’s Second All-Star Team at left wing. Foligno’s 92 PIMs led all Wolves forwards, and he contributed 11 power play goals. In the OHL’s annual coaches poll, Foligno was selected as the Eastern Conference’s Best Body Checker, and finished third in voting for Hardest Shot.
Buffalo Sabres GM Darcy Regier announced the Sabres have signed defenseman Brayden McNabb to a three-year entry level contract. McNabb was a third-round selection (66th overall) by the Sabres in the 2009 Entry Draft.
“Brayden is a big kid with great offensive abilities, and he’s continued to improve every year in Kootenay,” said Regier. “His outstanding performance in the WHL Playoffs was just another positive sign in his development, and we are thrilled to now have him under contract for the next three years.”
McNabb (6’5”, 216 lbs., 1/21/1991, shoots left) just finished his fourth full season with the Kootenay Ice of the Western Hockey League, and is headed to the Memorial Cup Championship that begins this weekend in Mississauga, Ont. McNabb’s 27 points led all Canadian Hockey League defenseman in the postseason, and his 24 assists were more than any other CHL defenseman’s total points.
They say when building a championship team in sports, continuity is the single-biggest key to success. You develop your team mainly through the draft and maintain it by re-signing your own free agents when it comes time to deal with contracts.
That certainly won’t be the case this summer when it comes to the Buffalo Sabres.
After coming from the depths of disparity early in the regular season to emerge with a playoff berth before losing an epic seven game series with the Philadelphia Flyers, Buffalo and general manager Darcy Regier in particular are faced with some tough decisions. The Sabres have a plethora of veterans, nine in all set to hit the unrestricted free agent market when shopping season commences on July 1. New owner Terry Pegula has already stated the team will increase its on-ice spending by about 15%, giving Regier more flexibility when it comes to deciding on his current guys before focusing on any potential incoming talent.
For six grueling games, the Buffalo Sabres gave the favored Philadelphia Flyers all they can handle and more in their thrilling Eastern Conference quarterfinal series. In gave seven however, with everything on the line, the Flyers flat-out overwhelmed their seventh seeded opponent.
Philadelphia basically did what they wanted through the game’s first 42 minutes; building an insurmountable four goal lead as they chased Buffalo starter Ryan Miller after seeing their own goaltender fail to finish a game three times in six games.
When the game was over, it was the Flyers advancing to the second round with a 5-2 victory.
Coming into the series Buffalo had not lost consecutive games since Terry Pegula took over as team owner in late February. Against the Flyers in the playoffs, it happened twice as the Sabres failed to take advantage of 2-1 and 3-2 series leads.
Is there anything in all of sports more compelling than a game seven? Unlike other do or die single elimination games in the NFL and college basketball, there’s up to six games played back and forth on other sports that foster animosity between the players and respective cities, and allow a series of gripping storylines to unfold.
The six-game war between the Philadelphia Flyers and Buffalo Sabres is no different and not only is the acrimony at its boiling point, the series itself has been painstakingly close. Through six epic games, all but one have been decided by one goal with the one exception being an empty net goal in game three’s waning seconds. Regulation wasn’t enough time the past two games, one in each building, to decide a winner as the road team has won the last pair in overtime.
Looking ahead to tonight, game seven will provide an electric atmosphere at the Wells Fargo Center where the Flyers clearly have the home crowd advantage. Don’t think for a second, however, that the Sabres’ players don’t realize their fans will be hanging on every spoken Rick Jeanerette word via their television sets.
The Buffalo Sabres could be getting a much needed boost heading into their game seven showdown Tuesday night in Philadelphia. Paul Hamilton of WGR reported first that Derek Roy, Jochen Hecht and Andrej Sekera were all on the ice skating Monday morning at practice, and all could join the lineup tomorrow evening.
Buffalo will need all the help, especially offensively that they can get. Tim Connolly has already been ruled out of tomorrow night’s elimination game with an upper body injury suffered at the hands of a cheap shot by Flyers’ captain Mike Richards
Roy has been out of the Sabres lineup since December 23. He was leading the team in scoring with 35 points through 35 games at the time of his quad injury. Assuming he can play, he’ll likely center the top line featuring Thomas Vanek and Drew Stafford.
As we prepare to work on a Buffalo Sabres game seven preview, someone tell us how Mike Richards will not only escape a suspension, but only received a two minute minor for this vicious cheap shot on Tim Connolly. If there’s any doubt about Richards’ intention on this play, focus in on the 10-14 second portion of this clip, when it’s clear as day his arms are fully extending Connolly head first into the boards.
Connolly has already been ruled out of Tuesday’s deciding game because of this hit.
This was Richards’ second cheap shot of the series. He was already issued a five minute major for elbowing Patrick Kaleta in the face during game four. Speaking of… If this was Kaleta doing the hitting he’d be gone for at least five games. Take a stand against a player regardless of his status in the league for once, Mr. Bettman.
The Buffalo Sabres blew an opportunity in Game six to clinch their series with the Philadelphia Flyers in front of an excited HSBC Arena crowd. The Sabres lost, 5-4 in overtime on Ville Leino’s winner after Chris Butler failed to clear him out. The Sabres also lost another important forward in the mix and while they’ll at least one back Tuesday, they now head into the deciding battle in a hostile Philadelphia atmosphere.
While I’m looking forward to Tuesday as it’s always great to enjoy a seventh game, It’s also admittedly heart wrenching at the same time. Here’s some thoughts of the game:
♦ First, to get this out of the way—- the Mike Richards hit on Tim Connolly is going to have to be looked at hard by the league. This is his second infraction of the series and has taken Connolly off the ice for at least game seven if not longer should Buffalo advance. The league has made a concerted effort to state they’re trying to make hockey a much safer sport. Hits from behind, especially ones that drive players into the boards are as dangerous as they come. This is a chance for the league to send a message by holding a player, in this case a team captain, out of a do-or-die situation.
The Buffalo Sabres had every opportunity to knock the Philadelphia Flyers out of the playoffs Sunday afternoon. For the second straight game the Sabres roughed up a Philly starting goaltender and sent him to the bench before the second period started. Unfortunately for Buffalo fans, the team failed to hold three separate leads and if they are to advance to the Eastern Conference semifinals against Washington, they’ll have to do so in enemy territory.
Ville Leino knocked in a loose puck in front of Ryan Miller on a play Buffalo defensemen Chris Butler got caught flat footed on 4:43 into overtime. The Flyers 49th shot on Miller gave them a 5-4 victory in front of a stunned HSBC Arena crowd and knotted the series at three games apiece.
The series between the Philadelphia Flyers and Buffalo Sabres has become a best of three heading back to Philadelphia. The 1-0 victory on Wednesday night once again was evidence of how closely matched these teams are. The sellout HSBC Arena crowd was treated to a spectacular performance given by Ryan Miller, who posted his second shutout of the series. The roller coaster that is the NHL playoffs seems poised for at least a couple more turns.
Here’s my take on the game.
♦ Miller may not have had to be great in his Game 1 shutout, but he earned every accolade and piece of praise given after his game four performance. Despite a relatively shaky opening period, he kept Philadelphia off the score board and elevated his game from there. Miller played with an edge to his game all night that included a jab to the face of the Flyers Daniel Carcillo. This is the Ryan Miller that fans have asked to see on a regular basis. Someone that is capable of bailing the team out for their mistakes as he did on the third period stop of Danny Briere. Briere received the puck in front of the net all alone and despite his patient moves Miller stonewalled him with his glove hand in a moment that should live on in Sabres playoff history. The crowd erupted in its appreciation of the play and Miller continued to carry the team to the victory.
Former Buffalo Sabres legend Rick Martin may have recently passed away, but at least one prominent sports bar in Western New York continues to remember him.
In Martin’s honor, Holiday’s is offering a chicken wing special that can’t be matched anywhere. During Sabres playoff games and in homage to No. 7, the bar is offering a mind-blowing deal of chicken wings for just seven cents apiece.
All you have do to be able to take advantage of the chicken wing special is comply with a group three-drink minimum, an easy task for thirsty Buffalonians. The bar also has a bucket special— 5 cans of beer for just $12.
Holiday’s is located at 935 Harlem Road in West Seneca, not far from Clinton Street. The phone number is 824-8812.
When I forecasted this Buffalo Sabres vs. Philadelphia Flyers series, I believed it was going to be imperative for the Sabres best players to in fact, play like their best players. Through the first three games you could argue that one “star” player was the best skater on the ice in each game. Ryan Miller was great in game one, Thomas Vanek scored two goals early in game two before a penalty filled second period minimized his ice time, and Drew Stafford played his best game of the series on Monday.
The biggest difference so far between the teams has been the Flyers are having multiple players play well in the same game. Claude Giroux has displayed deft puck handling and an ability to create for himself and teammates. Danny Briere has two goals in the series and Jeff Carter’s one goal and one assist performance in game three showed the depth the Flyers have throughout their talented lineup. The Flyers have also enjoyed positive play from Kimmo Timmonen and James van Riemsdyk among others to complement their star players. Brian Boucher has been a revelation in goal since taking over for Sergei Bobrovsky.
In a pivotal game three, the Sabres appeared to be a team content coming home with a split in Philadelphia over the first two games while the Flyers possessed determination and desperation to take back control of the series.
Now with the Flyers gaining back the series and home ice advantage, game four Wednesday will present an opportunity to nearly put Buffalo away while the Sabres need to regain their composure and not let their chances slip away heading back to Philadelphia.
Long and short, here are some thoughts about the game:
The Sabres fore check didn’t create nearly enough pressure on the Flyers, who seemed to be able to take the puck out of their zone with a lot of ease.
To use a an analogy fitting for tennis star Jesse Pegula, daughter of Buffalo Sabres owner Terry, the Sabres flat-out committed too many unforced errors. Buffalo perpetrated a handful of unwarranted mistakes throughout the course of their Eastern Conference game three quarterfinal matchup with the Philadelphia Flyers and as a result, paid a substantial price.
Philadelphia arrived in enemy territory at the HSBC Arena and skated off with a 4-2 victory to take control back of the series, two games to one and re-earn the home ice advantage they squandered last Thursday in Philadelphia.
Buffalo committed a senseless penalty, had a defensemen over skate a puck behind his own net and had another defensemen caught completely out of position. The missteps directly resulted in all three Philadelphia goals, not counting an empty netter, and the Sabres weren’t able to overcome their mistakes on this night.
After feeling like the most hated villains on earth through two games at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia, the Buffalo Sabres return home tonight to the HSBC Arena for a clash against the Flyers in game three of the Eastern Conference quarterfinals. While the arena is sure to be a frenzied state colored in blue and gold, it won’t mean much if the Sabres don’t find a way to stay out the penalty box.
Through the first two games in Philadelphia which the teams split, the Sabres have given the Flyers a mind blowing 15 power plays, including 10 on Saturday alone. While Buffalo has killed off all but one of the Philadelphia man advantages, the power play tally by Villie Leino turned out to be a critical go ahead goal.
“We talked about it coming into the series and we haven’t done a good enough job and put ourselves in penalty trouble,” Sabres winger Jason Pominville told reporters following game two. ”Definitely not the way we want to play. I thought our penalty killers did a good job, but if we give that team that many looks, they’re going to make you pay eventually.”
The Buffalo Sabres today announced their 2011 preseason schedule. The team will play seven games, including two at HSBC Arena. Ticket information for each home game will be announced at a later date.
Rumors ran wild over the past few weeks that the New York Rangers would buy out the final year of Chris Drury’s five-year contract, making him a free agent and 
The Buffalo Sabres held their first-ever Blogger Summit Thursday evening and to be perfectly honest, I didn’t know what to expect. This type of setting was foreign to me and certainly the same for the organization. The Sabres decided to host the experience; which featured team president Ted Black speaking as well as broadcaster Kevin Sylvester as master of ceremonies.
For my money, there’s no better place on the web for coverage of Buffalo Sabres’ prospects than the work Kris Baker does for SabresProspects.com. Monday morning their Sabres 2011 draft preview was published and sure enough, Baker didn’t disappoint.
Four years after the fact, there’s plenty of Buffalo Sabres fans incensed the organization let former team captain Chris Drury bolt for the New York Rangers. The way things are looking, however, a path may be cleared for a return engagement to Western New York.
Buffalo Sabres GM Darcy Regier announced the Sabres have agreed to terms on a multi-year deal with forward Drew Stafford, who was set to become a Restricted Free Agent on July 1.
Paul Hamilton of WGR Radio is reporting first that Buffalo Sabres head coach 
Good morning, everyone and welcome back following a pleasant Memorial Day weekend. After enjoying a long weekend of relaxing (and a bit too much celebrating), I find myself this early Tuesday struggling to find items noteworthy directly pertaining to Buffalo sports.
Buffalo Sabres GM Darcy Regier announced today that forward Marcus Foligno has agreed to terms on a three-year entry level contract. Foligno was selected by Buffalo in the fourth-round (104th overall) of the 2009 Entry Draft.
Buffalo Sabres GM Darcy Regier announced the Sabres have signed defenseman Brayden McNabb to a three-year entry level contract. McNabb was a third-round selection (66th overall) by the Sabres in the 2009 Entry Draft.
They say when building a championship team in sports, continuity is the single-biggest key to success. You develop your team mainly through the draft and maintain it by re-signing your own free agents when it comes time to deal with contracts.
For six grueling games, the Buffalo Sabres gave the favored Philadelphia Flyers all they can handle and more in their thrilling Eastern Conference quarterfinal series. In gave seven however, with everything on the line, the Flyers flat-out overwhelmed their seventh seeded opponent.
Is there anything in all of sports more compelling than a game seven? Unlike other do or die single elimination games in the NFL and college basketball, there’s up to six games played back and forth on other sports that foster animosity between the players and respective cities, and allow a series of gripping storylines to unfold.
The Buffalo Sabres could be getting a much needed boost heading into their game seven showdown Tuesday night in Philadelphia. Paul Hamilton of WGR reported first that Derek Roy, Jochen Hecht and Andrej Sekera were all on the ice skating Monday morning at practice, and all could join the lineup tomorrow evening.
The Buffalo Sabres blew an opportunity in Game six to clinch their series with the Philadelphia Flyers in front of an excited HSBC Arena crowd. The Sabres lost, 5-4 in overtime on Ville Leino’s winner after Chris Butler failed to clear him out. The Sabres also lost another important forward in the mix and while they’ll at least one back Tuesday, they now head into the deciding battle in a hostile Philadelphia atmosphere.
The Buffalo Sabres had every opportunity to knock the Philadelphia Flyers out of the playoffs Sunday afternoon. For the second straight game the Sabres roughed up a Philly starting goaltender and sent him to the bench before the second period started. Unfortunately for Buffalo fans, the team failed to hold three separate leads and if they are to advance to the Eastern Conference semifinals against Washington, they’ll have to do so in enemy territory.
The series between the Philadelphia Flyers and Buffalo Sabres has become a best of three heading back to Philadelphia. The 1-0 victory on Wednesday night once again was evidence of how closely matched these teams are. The sellout HSBC Arena crowd was treated to a spectacular performance given by Ryan Miller, who posted his second shutout of the series. The roller coaster that is the NHL playoffs seems poised for at least a couple more turns.
Former Buffalo Sabres legend Rick Martin may have recently passed away, but at least one prominent sports bar in Western New York continues to remember him.
When I forecasted this Buffalo Sabres vs. Philadelphia Flyers series, I believed it was going to be imperative for the Sabres best players to in fact, play like their best players. Through the first three games you could argue that one “star” player was the best skater on the ice in each game. Ryan Miller was great in game one, Thomas Vanek scored two goals early in game two before a penalty filled second period minimized his ice time, and Drew Stafford played his best game of the series on Monday.
In a pivotal game three, the Sabres appeared to be a team content coming home with a split in Philadelphia over the first two games while the Flyers possessed determination and desperation to take back control of the series.
To use a an analogy fitting for tennis star Jesse Pegula, daughter of Buffalo Sabres owner Terry, the Sabres flat-out committed too many unforced errors. Buffalo perpetrated a handful of unwarranted mistakes throughout the course of their Eastern Conference game three quarterfinal matchup with the Philadelphia Flyers and as a result, paid a substantial price.
After feeling like the most hated villains on earth through two games at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia, the Buffalo Sabres return home tonight to the HSBC Arena for a clash against the Flyers in game three of the Eastern Conference quarterfinals. While the arena is sure to be a frenzied state colored in blue and gold, it won’t mean much if the Sabres don’t find a way to stay out the penalty box.
