The Buffalo Sabres are a professional ice hockey team based in Buffalo, New York. They are members of the Northeast Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League (NHL).
History
Founding
The Sabres, along with the Vancouver Canucks, joined the NHL in the 1970–71 season. Their first owners were Seymour Knox III and Northrup Knox, scions of a family long prominent in Western New York. Buffalo had long been a hotbed for hockey. The Buffalo Bisons had been one of the pillars of the American Hockey League (AHL), winning the Calder Cup in their final season.
Wanting a different name other than "bison" that was so common among Buffalo sports teams, the Knoxes immediately commissioned a name-the-team contest. The winning choice, "Sabres", was chosen because Seymour Knox felt a sabre was a weapon carried by a leader. He also noted that a sabre is swift and strong on offense as well as defense. The Knoxes had tried twice before to get an NHL team, first when the NHL expanded in 1967, and then unsuccessfully attempting to buy the Oakland Seals with the intent of moving them to Buffalo. At the time of their creation, the Sabres exercised their option to create their own AHL farm team, the Cincinnati Swords.
French Connection
Main article: The French Connection (hockey)The Sabres, playing their first of many seasons at the Buffalo Memorial Auditorium, got off to a good start before they even hit the ice when they, despite being disputed by the Vancouver Canucks, and by spinning a roulette wheel, won the NHL draft lottery, and picked future Hockey Hall of Fame center Gilbert Perreault first overall in the 1970 NHL Amateur Draft. Perreault was available to the Sabres, as this was the first year that the Montreal Canadiens did not have a priority right to draft Québécois junior players. Perreault scored 38 goals in his rookie season of 1970–71, at the time a record for most goals scored by a rookie in the NHL, and was awarded the Calder Memorial Trophy as Rookie of the Year. Despite Perreault's star play, the Sabres did not make the playoffs.
In the team's second season, 1971–72, rookie Rick Martin, drafted fifth overall by Buffalo in 1971, and Rene Robert, acquired in a late-season trade from the Pittsburgh Penguins, joined Perreault and would become one of the league's top forward lines in the 1970s. Martin broke Perreault's record at once with 44 rookie goals. They were nicknamed "The French Connection" after the movie of the same name and in homage to their French-Canadian roots. The Sabres made the playoffs for the first time in 1972–73, just the team's third year in the league, but lost in the quarterfinals in six games to the eventual Stanley Cup champion Montreal Canadiens. Game 6 at the Aud ended with the fans serenading their team in a chant of "Thank you Sabres! Thank you Sabres!", a moment many consider to be the greatest in team history.
Fog and the Bat
After a subpar year in 1974 that saw them miss the playoffs, the Sabres finished in a tie for the best record in the NHL in the 1974–75 regular season. Buffalo would advance to the Stanley Cup Final for the first time in team history to play against the rough Philadelphia Flyers (who had been recently nicknamed the "Broad Street Bullies"), a series which included the legendary Fog Game (game three of the series). Due to unusual heat in Buffalo in May 1975, portions of the game were played in heavy fog. Players, officials, and the puck were invisible to many spectators. 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. Many superstitious Buffalo fans considered this to be an "Evil Omen", pertaining to the result of the series. It was the only time that any player killed an animal during an NHL game. The Sabres won that game thanks to Rene Robert's goal in overtime. However, Philadelphia would wind up taking the Cup Final to six games, winning the series 4 games to 2.
The French Connection, joined by 50–goal scorer Danny Gare, continued to score prolifically for the Sabres in 1975–76, but the team lost in the quarterfinals to the New York Islanders. The Sabres continued to coast through the late 1970s behind the French Connection of Perreault, Martin, Robert and Gare, but they were unable to return to the Final despite a regular season Conference championship in 1980 and being the first team to beat the Soviet Olympic team when they toured the United States.
Leaving the Aud
The 1995–96 season was the first season under coach Ted Nolan and the last for the Sabres at Buffalo Memorial Auditorium, or the Aud. Nolan brought an exciting brand of hockey to Buffalo. During his coaching tenure, his Sabres were referred to as the "hardest-working team in hockey". Even though the Sabres failed to have success in the win column and played before an average of only a little over 13,000 fans, fourth-fewest in the history of the team at the Aud, the fans had a special love affair with the team. Brad May, Rob Ray and Matthew Barnaby became the 1990s version of the characters from the movie Slap Shot, "The Hanson Brothers." This season also featured the debut of "walk-on" veteran player Randy Burridge. After attending training camp on a try-out basis, Burridge earned a spot on the roster. He scored 25 goals that season and was second in team scoring to Pat LaFontaine. Burridge also earned the Tim Horton Award for being the unsung hero and was voted team Most Valuable Player.
1996–97—2005–06: Black and red era
New arena and new attitude
Nolan and the Sabres rebounded in 96–97, their first at Marine Midland Arena, by winning the Northeast Division (their first division title in sixteen years), with Nolan winning the Jack Adams Award as the NHL's top coach, Dominik Hasek winning both the Hart and Vezina Trophies (the first goaltender to do so since Montreal's Jacques Plante in 1962), Michael Peca taking home the Frank J. Selke Trophy as the best defensive forward in the NHL, and general manager John Muckler honored as Executive of the Year.
However, the regular season success was all overshadowed by what had taken place during the playoffs. Tensions between Nolan and Hasek had been high for most of the season, however, after being scored upon in game three of the first-round against the Ottawa Senators, Hasek left the game, forcing backup Steve Shields to step in. Hasek claimed he felt his knee pop, and the team doctor pronounced him day-to-day. Buffalo News columnist Jim Kelley wrote a column that night for the next day's newspaper that detailed the day's events, which irked Hasek. After the Senators won game five, Hasek came out of the Sabres' training room and physically attacked Kelley, tearing his shirt. Despite issuing an apology, things went downhill afterwards. Shields starred as the Sabres rallied to win the series against Ottawa. But before the next series against the Philadelphia Flyers, the NHL announced that Hasek had been suspended for three games — with the Sabres informing the league that Hasek was healthy (Hasek most likely would not have been suspended had he not been cleared to play). Set to return in game four with the team down by three games in the series, Hasek told the Sabres' coaching staff he felt a twinge in his knee and left the ice after the pregame skate. Shields turned in another season-saving performance as Buffalo staved off the almost inevitable sweeping elimination with a win. Again before the fifth game, Hasek declared himself unfit to play and Buffalo lost 6–3, losing the series in five games.
New owners
Despite the infighting, the season was a fitting tribute to Seymour Knox, who died on May 22, 1996. During the season, his brother Northrop sold the team to John Rigas, owner of Adelphia Communications.
The first act under the new management was made by outgoing President Larry Quinn to fire general manager John Muckler, who had a noted feud with Nolan. All-Star goaltender Hasek, who supported Muckler, openly told reporters at the NHL Awards Ceremony that he did not respect Nolan, placing new GM Darcy Regier in a tough position. He offered Nolan just a one-year contract for a reported $500,000. Nolan refused on the grounds that his previous contract was for two years, before he was Coach of the Year. Regier then pulled the contract off the table and did not offer another one, ending Nolan's tenure as Sabres coach. Nolan was offered several jobs from the Tampa Bay Lightning and New York Islanders, which he turned down, and was out of the NHL until June 2006 when he was named coach of the Islanders. After Nolan, former Sabres captain Lindy Ruff, Buffalo's current bench boss, was hired as head coach on July 21, 1997, agreeing to a three-year deal.
Seemingly in the blink of an eye, the Sabres organization, after having their most successful season in nearly two decades, had now rid itself of both the reigning NHL Executive (Muckler) and Coach of the Year (Nolan). Shortly thereafter, Quinn was dismissed and replaced by John Rigas's son, Timothy Rigas.
Behind Hasek, left-winger Miroslav Satan (who led the team in scoring), right-winger Donald Audette, center Michael Peca, and several role-playing journeymen in
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The Buffalo Sabres Alumni Association is made up of former Buffalo Sabre alumni players that want to make a different in the Western New York community.
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The Buffalo Sabres Alumni Association is made up of former Buffalo Sabre alumni players that want to make a different in the Western New York community.
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Short but cool Sabres video history. I did not make or edit this video in any way. All the audio and visual images belong to the NHL and/or the Buffalo Sabres.