Buffalo Sabres

The Buffalo Sabres are a National Hockey League (NHL) team based in Buffalo, New York.

Franchise history

The Buffalo Sabres joined the NHL in 1970 after a successful American Hockey League team enjoyed success in Buffalo as the Bisons for several years. They got off to a good start before they even hit the ice by picking future Hall of Fame centre Gilbert Perreault first overall in the NHL's Entry Draft. Perreault scored 38 goals in his rookie season, and was awarded the Calder Memorial Trophy as rookie of the year, but the Sabres did not make the playoffs that first season.

Related Topics:
1970 - American Hockey League - Hall of Fame - Centre - Gilbert Perreault - Calder Memorial Trophy

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The following season (1972-73), René Robert and rookie Rick Martin joined Perreault to form one of the league's top forward lines in the 1970s, nicknamed "The French Connection," after the movie of the same name and in homage to those players' French-Canadian roots. The Sabres made the playoffs for the first time that season (only the team's second), but lost in the quarter-finals to the eventual Stanley Cup champion Montreal Canadiens.

Related Topics:
1972-73 - René Robert - Rick Martin - 1970s - The French Connection - French-Canadian - Stanley Cup - Montreal Canadiens

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After a sub-par year in 1974 (missing the playoffs), the Sabres finished in a tie for the best record in the NHL in the 1974-75 regular season, and played the Stanley Cup finals in 1975 against the Philadelphia Flyers, a series which included the legendary Fog Game, the third of the series and the first-ever Sabres finals win. (The Fog Game was unique for two reasons: First, due to an unusual May heat in Buffalo that year, portions of the game were played in heavy fog (thus the name) and were invisible to many spectators. Second, during a face-off and through the fog, Sabres center Jim Lorentz spotted a bat flying across the rink, raised his stick, and killed it, thus marking the only time an animal was killed directly by a player during an NHL game.) The Sabres eventually lost the series, four games to two, to the Philadelphia Flyers and their star goaltender, Bernie Parent.

Related Topics:
1974 - 1974-75 - Philadelphia Flyers - Fog Game - Face-off - Jim Lorentz - Bat - Animal - Goaltender - Bernie Parent

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The French Connection, joined by 50-goal scorer Danny Gare, continued to score prolifically for the Sabres in the 1975-76 NHL season, but the team lost in the quarter-finals to the New York Islanders. The Sabres continued to coast through the late 1970s behind those four players, but did not reach the Stanley Cup finals during those years, despite a regular-season conference championship in 1980.

Related Topics:
Danny Gare - 1975-76 NHL season - New York Islanders - 1980

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Robert was traded to the Colorado Rockies in 1980, and Martin to the Los Angeles Kings in 1981. Perreault retired in 1987 after spending 17 years with the Sabres, including several years as the team's captain. Stars for the Sabres in the 1980s included Perreault, the tough and yet skillful Mike Foligno, defenseman Phil Housley, and left-winger Dave Andreychuk. However, only twice in the 1980s did they get past the first round of the playoffs.

Related Topics:
Colorado Rockies - Los Angeles Kings - 1980s - Mike Foligno - Defenseman - Phil Housley - Left-winger - Dave Andreychuk

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In 1989, following the collapse of the Berlin Wall, the top young Soviet player to defect to the NHL was Alexander Mogilny, who signed with the Sabres. Alongside center Pat LaFontaine, Mogilny hit his stride with a league-leading (tied with Teemu Selanne) 76 goals in the 1992-93 NHL season, and the Sabres finally again advanced past the first round of the playoffs before losing to the eventual Stanley Cup champion Canadiens. (The end of the first round, against the Boston Bruins, gained long-time radio announcer Rick Jeanneret league-wide fame, with his famous "MAY DAY!" call on Brad May's game-winning goal in overtime of game 4.)

Related Topics:
1989 - Berlin Wall - Alexander Mogilny - Pat LaFontaine - Teemu Selanne - 1992-93 NHL season - Boston Bruins - Rick Jeanneret - Brad May

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Also during the 1992-93 NHL season, the Sabres executed what probably was the most important trade in team history, and acquired goaltender Dominik Hasek from the Chicago Blackhawks, where he had spent the previous two seasons as a backup goalie. "The Dominator" became the Sabres' starting goaltender the next season, and quickly proved himself as one of the best goaltenders in the history of the game. Hasek swiftly broke many long-standing NHL records for goaltenders and was the game's preeminent defensive player for several years in the NHL and in international competition.

Related Topics:
1992-93 NHL season - Dominik Hasek - Chicago Blackhawks

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The Sabres, behind Hasek and several role-playing journeymen including enforcer Matthew Barnaby, left-winger Miroslav Satan (who led the team in scoring), right-winger Donald Audette, and center Michael Peca, reached the conference finals in 1998, but lost to the Washington Capitals in six games.

Related Topics:
Enforcer - Matthew Barnaby - Miroslav Satan - Donald Audette - Michael Peca - 1998 - Washington Capitals

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In 1999, Satan scored 40 goals, and the Sabres added centres Stu Barnes from the Pittsburgh Penguins and Joe Juneau from the Washington Capitals. Michael Grosek had the best season of his career, and the Sabres again played the Stanley Cup finals, this time against the Dallas Stars. In the sixth game of the seven-game series, Brett Hull's triple-overtime goal - one that remains in dispute as Hull's skate was visibly in the goal crease--ended the series, and the Stars were awarded the Cup. (In 1999, it was illegal to score a goal whilst an offensive player's skate was in the goal crease. At the time, even Dallas Morning News hockey writer Keith Gave questioned the legality of the goal.)

Related Topics:
1999 - Stu Barnes - Pittsburgh Penguins - Joe Juneau - Michael Grosek - Dallas Stars - Brett Hull - Crease - Dallas Morning News - Keith Gave

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The next year, a disappointing season with tired and discouraged players, culminated with a first-round playoff series loss to the Flyers.

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Captain Peca sat out the 2000-01 NHL season in a contract dispute, and eventually was traded to the Islanders. Even so, the Sabres still defeated the Flyers in the first round of playoffs (with a resounding 8-0 victory in the series-winning game), but lost in the second round of the playoffs to the Penguins on a late double-overtime goal scored by Darius Kasparaitus.

Related Topics:
Captain - 2000-01 NHL season - Overtime - Darius Kasparaitus

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After lengthy, and failed, negotiations with their star goaltender, the Sabres traded Hasek to the Detroit Red Wings in the summer of 2001. Without Hasek and Peca, the Sabres missed the 2002 playoffs. The team's misfortunes rose exponentially in the summer of 2002, as the team's owner, Adelphia Communications CEO John Rigas, was arrested for investor fraud for embezelling more than one billion dollars from Adelphia (Rigas eventually was convicted on United States federal securities charges, and presently is appealing a sentence of a fifteen-year prison term.) After the league managed the team for a short period of time, the Sabres were sold in 2003 to Rochester, New York billionaire and former New York gubernatorial candidate Tom Golisano.

Related Topics:
Detroit Red Wings - 2002 - Adelphia Communications - 2003 - Rochester, New York - Tom Golisano

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Still, the team emerged from its struggles, and the Sabres narrowly missed the playoffs the following season, which saw the debuts and/or development of prominent young players such as Daniel Briere, Derek Roy, and Rory Fitzpatrick. The NHL cancelled the 2004-05 NHL season due to a labor dispute.

Related Topics:
Daniel Briere - Derek Roy - Rory Fitzpatrick - 2004-05 NHL season - Labor

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