32 NHL Cities in 32 Days: Buffalo Sabres

Alexis Bazydola
May 4, 2020
7 min read

Updated: May 15, 2020

The Location: Buffalo, NY

The Buffalo Sabres currently call KeyBank Center in Buffalo, New York home. Previously known as the Marine Midland Arena, HSBC Arena and First Niagara Center, this is the largest indoor arena in the Western New York area. This has been the Sabres primary arena since 1996 after moving out of Memorial Auditorium. KeyBank Center is also home to the Buffalo Bandits of the National Lacrosse League. They have also been known to host college basketball games and concerts such as Justin Bieber, Bruce Springsteen and Janet Jackson. It can hold just over 19,000 fans for a hockey game.

Team History

In 1970, the NHL expanded and with that the Buffalo Sabres were born. Buffalo was no stranger to hockey as they were home to the Buffalo Bisons of the American Hockey League since 1940. As the owners wanted a different name than the Bisons, they created a contest to name the team. Sabres was chosen as Seymour Knox, the owner at the time, felt that this was an effective tool on both offense and defense. Not only did the Sabres join the NHL in 1970, but this was also the debut of the NFL’s Buffalo Bills and the NBA’s Buffalo Braves who also shared Memorial Auditorium with the Sabres.

The Sabres were dealt the first draft pick of the 1970 Amateur Draft and received Gilbert Perreault. He would go on to score 38 goals his first season which, at the time, was the most for an NHL rookie. He also received the Calder Memorial Trophy as the league’s rookie of the year. The next season, the Sabres acquired Rick Martin by draft selection and Rene Robert by a late season trade acquisition. Combined with Perreault, this would become the top forward line for the Sabres for much of the 70s. They were fondly nicknamed the “French Connection.” In just their third season in the league, the Sabres made the playoffs, but were quickly eliminated by the Montreal Canadians in the first round.

In the 1974-75 season, the Sabres would go on to play in their first Stanley Cup Final. They faced the Philadelphia Flyers. This series included the infamous “Fog Game” in which the heat in Buffalo and the lack of air conditioning in Buffalo Memorial Auditorium caused a heavy fog throughout the game making the puck, players, and officials invisible at times. Although the Sabres won this game, they would not win the Cup as Philadelphia took the series in six games.

While the 80s were tumultuous for the Sabres, in 1987, they drafted Pierre Turgeon. During his rookie season, he helped the Sabres advance to the playoffs for the first time in three years. In 1989, Alexander Mogilny joined the team and was the first Soviet player to defect to the NHL. 1991 saw Turgeon to the New York Islanders as part of a seven-player trade in which Buffalo received Pat LaFontaine in return. The 1992-93 season saw Dominik Hasek to the Sabres from the Chicago Blackhawks. With these new personnel, the Sabres were able to make it past the first round of the playoffs for the first time in ten years by sweeping the Boston Bruins.

1995 brought head coach Ted Nolan to the Sabres. During this time, Buffalo was referred to as “the hardest working team in hockey.” Randy Burridge also joined the team this year as a training camp try-out and would go on to score 25 goals and be voted the team’s MVP. This season also ended the Sabres’ tenure at Buffalo Memorial Auditorium.

Set to play at the new Marine Midland Arena, the Sabres won their first division title in 16 years. They also were awarded many other trophies this season: Nolan was awarded the Jack Adams award as the NHL’s top coach, Hasek was awarded the Hart and Vezina trophies, Michael Peca took home the Frank J. Selke Trophy, and general manager John Muckler took home Executive of the Year. Although the regular season was full of success, the Sabres could not convert this to playoff wins and lost to the Philadelphia Flyers in five games.

After Muckler was fired in the offseason, new GM Darcy Regier offered Nolan a one-year contract at $500,000. He refused this offer and he too left the Sabres. Lindy Ruff was brought in as head coach in July 1997.

The 1997-98 season brought up financial hardship for the Sabres who almost did not make payroll in December 1997. This brought new ownership to the table. Although finances were struggling, the team was not. They were able to make it to the Eastern Conference finals that year, however they were eliminated by the Washington Capitals in six games. The next season saw the return of the Sabres to the Stanley Cup Finals. They would face the Presidents’ Trophy winning Dallas Stars. While they took the series to six games, they eventually fell in triple overtime to the Stars. The 99-00 season brought competitive hardship to the team as Hasek suffered multiple injuries. Although they made it to the playoffs, they were eliminated by the Flyers once again in the first round. With their captain Michael Peca sitting out the 00-01 season due to contract disputes and Hasek being traded in the summer of 2001, the Sabres would not find playoff success for the next few years.

May 2002 saw the Sabres owners, John Rigas and his sons, be indicted for bank fraud. The NHL took over the team while the Rigas still remained owners on paper. With new ownership in Tom Golisano in March 2003, the Sabres took to making moves at the trade deadline to clear out veterans. While the next few seasons were met with an NHL lockout and rebuilding the team, 2005-06 saw the Sabres finish the season with their best record in 20 years and clinching a playoff spot for the first time since 2001. While they made it past the first two rounds of the playoffs, they were struck with injuries in the Eastern Conference finals. Four of their top defensemen, Teppo Numminen, Dmitri Kalinin, Jay McKee and Henrik Tallinder, and their top powerplay scorer, Tim Connolly, were out for much of the series. Despite these injuries, they were able to take the series to seven before falling to the Carolina Hurricanes. Head Coach Lindy Ruff still was awarded the Jack Adams Trophy this season for top coach.

The 2006-07 season saw the Sabres win their first Presidents’ Trophy in franchise history. While they were able to once again reach the Eastern Conference Finals, they were eliminated in five games by the Ottawa Senators. In April 2007, the Sabres were awarded ESPN the Magazine’s top sports franchise out of 122 professional sports franchises. During the offseason, however, they would lose both of their co-captains, Daniel Briere and Chris Drury. After almost losing Thomas Vanek to an offer sheet made by the Edmonton Oilers, the Sabres matched the offer on July 6. The 07-08 season saw the Sabres miss the playoffs becoming the league’s third team to finish first overall and then not make the playoffs the next season. Although management made many acquisitions during the offseason and regular season, the Sabres would go on to miss the playoffs during the 08-09 season as well.

2009-2010 saw Buffalo clinch their first playoff spot since the 06-07 season and the Northeast Division title. They were eliminated by the Boston Bruins in the first round, however. In 2011, the Sabres were purchased by Terry Pegula. The Sabres clinched a playoff berth this year again, but fell to the Flyers in seven games in the first round.

After the 2012-13 season was shortened due to a lockout, head coach Lindy Ruff’s contract was terminated by GM Darcy Regier. He was replaced by Ron Rolston. The next season, Regier and Rolston would both be dismissed as well. Former coach Ted Nolan returned on an interim basis and Pat LaFontaine was named President of Hockey Operations (who would go on to resign just three months later). Tim Murray was named GM shortly after. Murray traded Ryan Miller and Steve Ott to the St. Louis Blues in exchange for Jaroslav Halak, Chris Stewart and William Carrier. They finished the 13-14 season last in the NHL and again missed the playoffs.

After finishing last in the league yet again in 14-15, the Sabres were able to select Jack Eichel in the 2015 draft. Nolan was fired at the end of this season as well and Murray brought in Dan Bylsma as his replacement, the 17th head coach in the franchise’s history. Ryan O’Reilly was also acquired in the offseason. Although the next season they were unable to make the playoffs again, the team improved overall and began to rebuild. This was not the case with the 2016-17 season as the team did not progress and both Murray and Bylsma were fired.

The 2017 offseason saw Jason Botterill hired as general manager and Phil Housley as head coach. Jason Pominville and Marco Scandella were traded to the team from the Minnesota Wild in exchange for Tyler Ennis and Marcus Foligno. For the third time in five seasons, Buffalo finished last in the NHL in 2018. They drafted Rasmus Dahlin first overall that year. While they started the 2018-19 season off strong leading the league in points, they ultimately collapsed, missing the playoffs and seeing Housley fired as head coach. Ralph Kreuger was named head coach in May 2019. At the season’s pause, the Sabres currently sit at 25th in the league with 68 points.

Fanbase

One tradition that Buffalo fans enjoy is their national anthem singer, Doug Allen who is accompanied by organist Curtis Cook. Both the American and Canadian anthems are sung at the beginning of all home games regardless of where the teams call home. Currently, “Let me Clear my Throat” by DJ Kool is their goal song.

The Sabres are also cheered on by their mascot Sabretooth. He repels down from the ceiling during each home game and plays chants on a drum.