Archives for January 2013

'Ruff intends to have Cody Hodgson, who opened this season in Rochester, center high-scoring wingers Thomas Vanek and Jason Pominville. Then there's the No. 2 line, in which Tyler Ennis will center Drew Stafford and Marcus Foligno. Over a 13-game late-season stretch, the trio combined for 21 goals and 49 points.' … [Read more...] about Sabres coach Ruff ready for NHL season – at last

'“The challenges really are evaluating where the guys are that haven’t been playing. I know everybody’s been skating, but it’s evaluating the guys that haven’t been in that game compete. The biggest thing is those physical one on one battles, the hitting, the urgency in puck battles to win those types of situations where you don’t really get that in practice. You get a certain … [Read more...] about Sabres Ruff is ready

'The decision to leave him off the camp invite list sends a clear message: The Sabres' organization is finished considering the 22-year-old a legitimate prospect.' … [Read more...] about The Sabres’ Message is Clear: Adam Not Part of the Plan

Syracuse Crunch dominate Rochester Americans (Rochester D&C) Photo gallery (Rochester D&C) Syracuse Crunch enters the unknown with 5-3 win at Rochester (Syracuse Post Standard) Amerks fall to Crunch in first home game of 2013 (Amerks.com) Crunch best Amerks 5-3 (SyracuseCrunch.com) … [Read more...] about Thursday’s Rochester Coverage

'“Not once did I hear somebody say, ‘I don’t care about you or the Sabres anymore,’ ” Black said in First Niagara Center. “It’s funny because sometimes you hear people say, ‘I’m really mad at the owners but I love that Terry Pegula.’ I think the broad-brush statements that I’m mad at the league or I’m mad at hockey, when you drill down a little bit, I don’t know that anyone has … [Read more...] about Black, Sabres ready to get back to business

'“You don’t start out playing minor hockey to be the best defender there is,” Regier said. “You start it out because you want to score goals and I think goal scoring is a real important aspect of our game to the extent that we don’t allow our best players to be productive offensively.”' … [Read more...] about Regier’s goal is to get offenses going again

'“I wanted to be here, make sure I got a good sweat in,” Pominville said of the one-hour workout, during which he wore a black NHLPA sweater. “It’s such a tight turnaround, there was no time for a day off.”' … [Read more...] about Pominville back and ready to go

'It’s quite obvious that the Sabres, like other NHL teams, don’t want to have these players risk injury in the AHL since they must help Buffalo win when the NHL’s abbreviated season begins around Jan. 19.' … [Read more...] about Buffalo Sabres call up Cody Hodgson and Marcus Foligno from Rochester Amerks

'“We really appreciate the patience of our fans. Sometimes, in many ways, fans’ patience can be tested to the limit and sometimes broken, and we hope that hasn’t happened here in Buffalo. The relationship we have with our fans is the most important thing in our business.”' … [Read more...] about Sabres apologize for lockout, thank fans for patience

'Pominville hopes the Sabres re-sign the 35-year-old, who’s currently an NHL free agent, for a 10th season. Sabres general manager Darcy Regier said Hecht “remains a possibility.”' … [Read more...] about Hecht’s return to Sabres ‘remains a possibilty’

'“Certainly the fans are entitled to an apology,” Black said. “And on behalf of the Pegulas and the Sabres, we do apologize to our fans for having to go through this.”' … [Read more...] about Sabres issue a Pegula-sized apology

'Why do fans like me put up with the antics of the NHL? Because the NHL has our beloved Buffalo Sabres, and life without the Sabres would be downright unlivable. When you bail the NHL out of jail at three o’clock in the morning, you make him promise that he will still get up for work in the morning and give us our Sabres. When you get up in the morning and the Sabres aren’t … [Read more...] about He ain’t heavy, he’s my hockey league

'With a deal nearly done, Black vowed it's time the Sabres get to work on delivering a winner. He spoke on Tuesday, two days after a tentative agreement was reached on a 10-year deal.' … [Read more...] about Sabres apologize to Buffalo fans for NHL lockout

'Black said the Sabres did vote in favor of the lockout and it was unanimous throughout the league.' … [Read more...] about Sabres Black apologizes

'“You don’t start off playing minor hockey to be the best defender there is, you start off because you want to score goals and I think that goal scoring is a real important aspect of our game and to the extent that we don’t allow the best players to be productive offensively, I think there’s a lot of things at risk. I personally don’t think it’s as much fun to watch, I don’t … [Read more...] about Sabres Regier, I worry that the youngest players in the game will pick a different sport