WNY and Buffalo NY Hockey Coverage
Offseason Edition
Rochester coach Seth Appert filled spent two games with Buffalo this season. ©2024, Micheline Veluvolu, Rochester Americans
BUFFALO – General manager Kevyn Adams wants his new head coach to have already run an NHL bench, so the Sabres likely won’t consider Rochester Americans coach Seth Appert for their open job.
“Previous NHL head coaching experience, pedigree, is important,” Adams said Tuesday in KeyBank Center after firing Don Granato.
Appert, 49, is a hockey lifer, having coached since his days as a college goalie ended in 1996. He has enjoyed success at ... Read the full article
Mattias Samuelsson played just 41 games this season. ©2024, Micheline Veluvolu
BUFFALO – The days and weeks after Sabres defenseman Mattias Samuelsson underwent season-ending right shoulder surgery took a mental toll on him.
He wore a sling for six weeks, forcing him to use just his left arm. When the team traveled for road games, he stayed in Buffalo.
It made for a frustrating and lonely time.
“It was some hard days there, for sure,” Samuelsson said Thursday as the Sabres held end-of-season meetings in KeyBank ... Read the full article
Tage Thompson knows the Sabres must change. ©2024, Micheline Veluvolu
BUFFALO – Well, now we know. As expected, Sabres players praised Don Granato, their former coach, crediting him for boosting their careers and acknowledging they could’ve done more to help him.
Still, they clearly wanted a different type of leader.
In discussing Granato’s dismissal, Sabres general manager Kevyn Adams said his players “are craving accountability, structure,” a sentiment they echoed Wednesday as they held exit meetings in KeyBank Center following a disappointing 84-point finish.
While ... Read the full article
Noah Ostlund also joined Rochester last season. ©2022, Micheline Veluvolu
BUFFALO – The Sabres on Wednesday assigned forward prospect Noah Ostlund, the 16th overall pick in 2022, to the Rochester Americans.
Ostlund, 20, recently completed his first season in the Swedish Hockey League, scoring 12 goals and 23 points in 38 games for Vaxjo HC.
The 5-foot-11, 163-pound Ostlund joined the Amerks last season during the Calder Cup Playoffs but did not play.
The Amerks have two games left before the postseason.
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Sabres ... Read the full article
Don Granato lasted three full season as Buffalo’s coach. ©2024, Micheline Veluvolu
BUFFALO – In firing coach Don Granato following a disappointing season in which the Sabres missed the playoffs for an NHL-record 13th consecutive year, general manager Kevyn Adams has shifted the onus to himself.
Adams has always accepted blame for the Sabres’ troubles, and in discussing Tuesday’s dismissal of Granato and the state of his team for 45 minutes in KeyBank Center, he again shouldered his share of the responsibility for an 84-point campaign.
But ... Read the full article
Don Granato lasted three full seasons as coach. ©2024, Micheline Veluvolu
The Buffalo Sabres this morning fired coach Don Granato, less than a day after they completed a disappointing 84-point season in which they missed the playoffs for an NHL-record 13th consecutive year.
No replacement was named.
The Sabres also let go of assistant coach Jason Christie and video coordinator Matt Smith.
General manager Kevyn Adams will address the media at 3 p.m. in KeyBank Center. The Sabres are looking for their seventh coach since 2013-14, ... Read the full article
Devon Levi has played 23 games for Rochester. ©2024, Micheline Veluvolu, Rochester Americans
ROCHESTER – Prior to goalie Devon Levi’s uncharacteristically weak outing, coach Seth Appert said the Americans had the rookie tentatively scheduled to play again less than a day later.
Then after Levi allowed four goals in Friday’s 6-3 home loss to the Belleville Senators, Appert informed the Buffalo Sabres prospect he would be starting Saturday so he could “snap from what happened to prepare for what’s coming.”
“He didn’t perform to his standards on Friday, ... Read the full article
Zach Benson has played 69 games as a rookie. ©2024, Micheline Veluvolu
BUFFALO – Seven months ago, rookie Zach Benson arrived here having just scored a hat trick for the Wenatchee Wild, the junior team seemingly everyone, including the Sabres, expected he would be returned to following training camp.
Benson’s preseason exploits in Washington illustrated that at just 18, he had possibly outgrown the Western Hockey League. But the diminutive winger’s limited options – as a teenager, he can only play in junior or the NHL – ... Read the full article
Alex Tuch has been on a tear. ©2024, Micheline Veluvolu
BUFFALO – In a season filled with disappointment, the Sabres improved in at least one critical area down the stretch, becoming a tough team to beat at home.
To wit: Thursday’s 4-2 win over the Washington Capitals in the home finale was their third straight victory at KeyBank Center and boosted their record to 9-3-0 in their last 12 outings.
Overall, the Sabres finished 21-19-1 in their building this season, the first time they finished ... Read the full article
Rasmus Dahlin thinks Buffalo has learned lessons this season. ©2024, Micheline Veluvolu
BUFFALO – While the cold reality of missing the playoffs again has smacked the Sabres – “It sucks, honestly,” defenseman Rasmus Dahlin said – they haven’t lost belief they can end an NHL-record 13-year drought.
“I want the Buffalo Sabres in the playoffs, and I’m never going to give up, and I think we’re close,” Dahlin said prior to Thursday’s 4-2 win over the Washington Capitals in the home finale at KeyBank Center. “I think ... Read the full article
