WGRZ

'During Erie County's weekly COVID-19 briefing, Erie County Executive Mark Poloncarz discussed a plan to allow full attendance at both Bills and Sabres games. Poloncarz says the county supports returning all fans to Highmark Stadium and the KeyBank Center this fall; however, under the county's plan, all fans and staff would be required to be fully vaccinated for COVID-19.' … [Read more...] about Poloncarz: Vaccination required to attend Buffalo Bills, Sabres games

'"We found some creative ways to lose games, but you look at the way they're playing now, it's pretty exciting. They have a very bright future with all those young guys that are playing the right way right now... you can see that confidence growing."' … [Read more...] about Hall, Lazar: What went wrong in Buffalo

'The Sabres brought in Hall during the 2020 offseason on a one-year deal, but the 29-year-old under-produced in Buffalo, scoring just two goals through 37 games. He has sat out of the Sabres' games since Tuesday, due to trade precautions.' … [Read more...] about Reports: Sabres ship Hall, Lazar to Boston; get Bjork, 2nd-round draft pick

'The 26-year-old would have been an unrestricted free agent at the end of the season, so a trade was likely. Interim coach Don Granato said Montour was a "true pro" throughout the process.' … [Read more...] about Sabres trade defenseman Montour to Florida for third-round pick

'"I know that the medical team here the trainers have been looking at that," Granato said. "I don’t have any news today on it, but they been looking at that for a while, when this will potentially became available for our guys, so I’m sure (they are working on it). Like I said, they have been hopeful for that day to come sooner than later."' … [Read more...] about Sabres open to administering COVID-19 vaccine to team

'The Sabres' plan all along was to bide their time until Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen was ready for the NHL. Luukkonen is 22 years old and playing in his second professional season, while Ullmark is 27 playing in his sixth pro year. The problem with the Sabres' plan is Luukkonen is not ready for the NHL, and Ullmark will be an unrestricted free agent after the season.' … [Read more...] about Hamilton Take2: Sabres should think long, hard about trading Linus Ullmark as deadline approaches

'At the time of the announcement, interim coach Don Granato had already spoken with the media and said, "He might be out... It's part of the business. We all know that. Taylor [Hall] knows that," in reaction to a potential pending trade for the former Hart Trophy winner, ahead of the National Hockey League's April 12 deadline.' … [Read more...] about Taylor Hall out of the Sabres lineup against New Jersey

'"I think he’s probably one of the best goalies in the world. He’s so patient. It’s really hard to kind of go around him," Sabres forward Victor Olofsson said after Saturday's shootout win. "It’s really hard to figure him out. We feel really confident with him in the penalty shots for sure."' … [Read more...] about Ullmark’s return sparking Sabres four-game point streak

'The first thing Granato did was realize the team was out of shape and needed long, harder practices. Everything is done with pace and because of that, drills are sharper and being done right.' … [Read more...] about Hamilton: Could Don Granato lose ‘interim’ tag behind Sabres bench?

'"This has to be a team effort, so we're really pushing that when we speak together as a team that everybody is needed, or this isn't going to work," Granato said. "Within a game, there's a range of who's on any given night, and my belief is you have to read that as a coach... Some guy may be feeling a little better and he's more effective."' … [Read more...] about Could a fresh approach for the Sabres sell more tickets?

'Unfortunately for the fans, the Sabres have struggled at home all season, only winning three games so far at KeyBank.' … [Read more...] about Fans return to KeyBank Center, but Sabres not serving up wins at home

'"We had a lot of anxiety to our game, which was fatigue. I mentioned at that time we’re going to practice longer, practice harder, and it may cost us in the short term but we need to prop up our game conditioning. I feel we’ve done that. What I felt in the last two games was our opponent being great opponents in Boston and Philly took in the first two periods, elevated in the … [Read more...] about Sabres’ Granato after back-to-back blown third periods: ‘I don’t feel it’s a conditioning issue anymore’

'The reason I didn’t even give losing a thought was for the first time all season they played fast and played with confidence. Interim head coach Don Granato told our Julianne Pelusi that when he took over, he realized this team needed to work harder.' … [Read more...] about Take 2: Sabres making progress? Paul Hamilton says yes

'Eighteen is a right of passage age for most of us, and the Buffalo Sabres have reached that milestone without as much pride on Monday night by hitting an 18-game winless streak with a game they should have had in the bag.' … [Read more...] about Winless streak extends to 18, with Sabres blowing 3-0 third period lead

'When asked what went wrong in Buffalo, Staal said, "There were so many hurdles. There were so many things that just didn't line up the way that we had in mind or had envisioned. ... The reality is we started OK. We had an up and down kind of first two weeks or so. We were kind of finding our game and filling our roles, and then we got hit with COVID. ... It went through our … [Read more...] about Staal shares what went wrong with Sabres following trade