‘The ECHL affiliate is also an important place to stash goaltending depth, as the Sabres learned during the abbreviated 2020-21 season when they used their sixth goalie, Michael Houser, who hadn’t appeared in more than six games above the ECHL in any season since 2014-15. The Sabres had to turn to Houser four times in the spring of 2021 and, remarkably, the minor-league journeyman with 283 games of experience between the ECHL and AHL earned two wins with a .901 save percentage. Houser was back in Buffalo in 2021-22 because of injuries in goal, winning each of his two appearances and stopping 73 of 77 shots. He was named the ECHL’s goalie of the year for 2018-19.’