Buffalo Sabres

The Buffalo Sabres are a professional ice hockey team based in Buffalo, New York. They play in the National Hockey League (NHL).

Facts

Founded: 1970

Arena: HSBC Arena, Formerly Marine Midland Arena (capacity 18,690)

Former Home Arena: Buffalo Memorial Auditorium ("The Aud"), 1970-1996

Uniform colors: Black, red, silver, white

Logo design: The head of a charging Buffalo is used as the crest on home and away uniforms. Home and away uniforms also feature a Sabre spiked through the bottom half of the letter "B" on the shoulders.

Alternate Uniform: Red with black stripes on the forearm. The crest consists of two silver Sabres crossed over a black circle. The shoulders feature a small version of the Buffalo head logo. The word "BUFFALO" is within a black stripe across the bottom rim of the jersey.

Division Championships: 4 (1974-75, 1979-80, 1980-81, 1996-97)

Conference Championships: 3 (1974-75, 1979-80, 1998-99)

Playoffs appearances: 26 (1972-73, 1974-75, 1975-76, 1976-77, 1977-78, 1978-79, 1979-80, 1980-81, 1981-82, 1982-83, 1983-84, 1984-85, 1987-88, 1988-89, 1989-90, 1990-91, 1991-92, 1992-93, 1993-94, 1994-95, 1996-97, 1997-98, 1998-99, 1999-00, 2000-01, 2005-06)

Stanley Cup Finals appearances: 2 (1974-75; lost to Philadelphia, 2-4), (1998-99; lost to Dallas, 2-4)

Rivals: Toronto Maple Leafs, Boston Bruins, Montreal Canadiens, Philadelphia Flyers, Ottawa Senators

Mascot: Sabretooth

Local Television: MSG Network (Western and Central New York only): Empire Sports Network and WUTV 49 were the broadcast stations that carried Sabres games. WUTV carried road games while Empire carried home games until 1995 when Empire carried all games

Local Radio: NOW: WGR 550 AM, THEN: WBEN 930 AM, WHTT 104.1 FM

Play-by-play Men: NOW: Rick Jeanneret, Jim Lorentz Then: John Grutler, Mike Robitalle, and the late Ted Darling

Franchise History

The Blue and Gold Era

Expansion Pains

The Buffalo Sabres joined the NHL in the 1970-71 season, owned by Seymour and Northrop Knox, scions of a family long prominent in Western New York. They picked the nickname because a sabre had long been considered a weapon carried by a leader. The Knoxes had tried twice before to get an NHL team; first in the 1967 round of expansion, then unsuccessfully attempting to buy the Oakland Seals with the intent of moving them to Buffalo. Buffalo had been a hotbed for minor-league hockey, and the Buffalo Bisons had been one of the pillars of the American Hockey League, winning the Calder Cup in their final year before yielding to the Sabres.

The French Connection

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, at the time a record for most goals scored by a rookie, and was awarded the Calder Memorial Trophy as rookie of the year, but the Sabres did not make the playoffs that first season.

In the team's second season (1971-72), rookie Rick Martin via the draft and Rene Robert via a trade late in the season joined Perreault and would become one of the league's top forward lines in the 1970s. They were 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 in 1972-73, just the team's third in the league, but lost in the quarter-finals in six games to the eventual Stanley Cup champion Montréal 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. The chant would be heard again several more times in team history.

Fog and the Finals

After a subpar 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 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 won that game thanks a game-winning goal in overtime by Rene Robert. The Sabres eventually lost the series, four games to two, to the Philadelphia Flyers and their star goaltender, Bernie Parent.

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 and when the Russian Olypmic team toured the United States, the Sabres were the first team to beat them.

Hard Times at The Aud

Robert was traded to the Colorado Rockies in 1980, and Martin to the Los Angeles Kings in 1981. Perreault retired in November 1986 after spending 16 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, 1983-84 Vezina and Calder Trophy winner Tom Barrasso and left-winger Dave Andreychuk. The Sabres of the 1980s missed the playoffs only twice, in 1986 and 1987, however only twice in the decade did they get past the first round of the playoffs. The 1986-87 season saw a new low as Buffalo finished an NHL worst 28-44-8. This finish gave them the first overall pick in the 1987 draft which they used to select Pierre Turgeon of the QMJHL's Granby Bisons. Turgeon would have a solid rookie season finishing 6th in the team in scoring with 42 points, and would later be the key to the package sent by the Sabres to the New York Islanders to acquire Pat Lafontaine. Buffalo closed out the decade of the 80s on June 16, 1990 when they traded one of that decade's stars, Phil Housley, along with Darrin Shannon and 1990 1st round pick (Keith Tkachuk) to the Winnipeg Jets for Dale Hawerchuk and a 1990 1st round pick (Brad May). Hawerchuk and May would help form the core of the Sabres through the early 1990s.

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 Selänne) 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.)

Also during the 1992-93 NHL season, the Sabres executed what probably was the most important trade in team history, and acquired goaltender Dominik Hašek from the Chicago Blackhawks for Stephane Beauregard and a 1993 4th round draft pick (Eric Daze). Hasek had spent the previous two seasons as a backup goalie in Chicago, however "The Dominator" became the Sabres' starting goaltender the next season, and blossomed into one of the best goaltenders in the history of the game. Hašek 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.

Fare Thee Well, Aud

The 1995-96 NHL season was the first season for Coach Ted Nolan and the last for the Sabres at Memorial Auditorium, or the Aud. Ted Nolan brought an exciting brand of hockey to Buffalo. During his coaching tenure Ted's team was 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 this team. Brad May, Rob Ray, and Matt Barnaby, became the 1990's 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. Randy attended training camp on a try out basis and earned a spot on the roster. He scored 25 goals that season, and was second in team scoring to NHL Hall Of Famer Pat LaFontaine. Randy earned the Tim Horton Award for being the "unsung hero" and was voted team MVP.

Black and Red Era

New Arena, New Attitude

Nolan and the Sabres rebounded in the 1996-97 NHL season their first at Marine Midland Arena, by winning the Northeast Division (their first division title in 16 years), with Nolan winning the Jack Adams Award as the NHL's top coach, Dominik Hašek winning both the Hart and Vezina trophies, Michael Peca taking home the Frank J. Selke trophy, and GM John Muckler honored as Executive of the Year. This was all overshadowed by what took place during the playoffs. Tensions between Nolan and Dominik Hašek had been high for most of the season, however after being scored upon in Game 3 of the first round against the Ottawa Senators, Hašek left the game, forcing backup Steve Shields to step in. Hašek claimed he felt his knee pop, and the team doctor pronounced him day-to-day. Buffalo columnist Jim Kelley wrote a column that night for the next day's newspaper that detailed the day's events, which irked Hašek. After the Senators won game 5, Hašek came out of the Sabres' training room and physically attacked the newspaper writer, 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 Hašek had been suspended for three games - with the Sabres informing the league that Hašek was healthy (Hašek most likely would not have been suspended had he not been cleared to play). Set to return in Game 4 with the team down by three games in the series, Hašek 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 elimination with a win. Again before Game 5, Hašek declared himself unfit to play and Buffalo finally lost 6-3, losing the series in five games.

New Owners, Clean House

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 Adelphia Communications.

New owner John Rigas' first act was to fire general manager John Muckler, who had a noted feud with Nolan. All-Star goaltender Hašek 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 didn't 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 of 2006 when he was named coach of the New York Islanders. After Nolan, former Sabres captain Lindy Ruff 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) in what must be considered one of the most bizarre off-seasons ever for a professional sports franchise.

The Sabres, behind Hašek and several role-playing journeymen including enforcer Matthew Barnaby, left-winger Miroslav Šatan (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.

"NO GOAL!"

In 1999, Satan scored 40 goals, and the Sabres added centres Stu Barnes from the Pittsburgh Penguins and Joe Juneau from the Washington Capitals. Michal 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 controversial 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 if an offensive player's skate entered the goal crease ahead of the puck. At the time, even Dallas Morning News hockey writer Keith Gave questioned the legality of the goal. The NHL officials, however, maintained that Hull's shots in the goal mouth constituted a single possession of the puck since the puck deflected off Hasek, and their ruling stood. ESPN's "Page 2" staff has ranked the call as the 5th worst officiating call in sports history. Conversely, Al Strachan of the Toronto Daily Sun wrote "There should have been no controversy whatsoever. When Hull first kicked the rebound on to his stick, he had neither foot in the crease. At the instant he kicked the puck, he became in control of it. It was only in the follow-through of that kick that his left foot moved into the crease" [http://www.canoe.ca/HockeyNHLPlayoffsBUFDAL/jun21_strachan.html. Buffalo sports fans, who have suffered through some of biggest misfortunes in sports history ("Wide Right", "Music City Miracle"), refer to the game as "No Goal", a phrase still used in Buffalo to this day.

The next year, a disappointing season with tired and discouraged players, culminated with a first-round playoff series loss to the Flyers. Like the previous season, there would be another officiating controversy as in Game 2 Flyers forward John LeClair scored a controversial goal to tie the game at 1 through a hole in the mesh at the side of the net which was inexplicitly allowed to stand. Philadelphia would win the game 2-1 and go on to win the series four games to one.

Captain Peca sat out the 2000-01 NHL season in a contract dispute, and eventually was traded to the Islanders (in June 2001 for Tim Connolly and Taylor Pyatt). Even so, the Sabres still defeated the Flyers in six games in the first round of the playoffs (with a resounding 8-0 victory in the series-winning game), but lost in the second round to the Penguins on a seventh-game overtime goal scored by Darius Kasparaitis.

After lengthy, and failed, negotiations with their star goaltender, the Sabres traded Hašek to the Detroit Red Wings in the summer of 2001. Without Hašek and Peca, the Sabres missed the 2002 playoffs.

In the summer of 2002, Rigas and his sons were 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). The league took control of the team, though Rigas remained the owner on paper. The affair came as something of an embarrassment to the NHL. Only five years earlier, it had tightened its standards for vetting prospective owners after seeing John Spano buy the New York Islanders only to discover he'd grossly inflated his net worth and committed massive bank and wire fraud.

For awhile, there were no interested buyers, and it looked like the Sabres would either move or fold. For the longest time the leading candidate was Arena Football League owner Mark Hamister who was the personal choice of NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman, however over time it became obvious that Hamister's financial assets were highly suspect and that his bid was heavily dependent upon government financing. It also became known that Hamister had applied for an expansion AFL² team in Dayton, got all the concessions from local government he wanted, was awarded the franchise and proceeded to move them immediately to Cincinnati before they had ever played their first game in Dayton. This knowledge effectively killed Hamister's bid for the Sabres as fans and the media believed that he would do the same if given control of the Sabres franchise.

Golisano To The Rescue

Finally, the Sabres were sold in 2003 to Rochester, New York billionaire and former New York gubernatorial candidate Tom Golisano, whose bid was not reliant upon any government funding. Golisano became a hero among fans as he lowered ticket prices upon the purchase of the teams.

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 Brière and Derek Roy. The NHL cancelled the 2004-05 NHL season due to a labor dispute; however, the league and the NHL Player's Association was able to devise a new collective bargaining agreement in the summer of 2005, thus enabling NHL hockey to return for the 2005-2006 season.

On March 7, 2005, the Sabres lost their main television broadcaster, as the Empire Sports Network (which had been on the air from 1991 to 2005) ceased operations due to the Adelphia scandal (Empire, like the Sabres, had been owned by Adelphia). Hence, for the 2005-06 campaign, the Madison Square Garden Network (MSG), a New York City-based channel which mostly broadcasts New York Rangers games, agreed to broadcast Sabres games to television viewers in western New York.

In the 2005-2006 season, the Sabres raced to a hot start and stayed near the top of the standings all season long. On April 3, they clinched their first Eastern Conference playoff spot since the 2000-2001 season. On April 15, they set a new team record for wins in a season with their 50th. The team finished the regular season with 52 wins, a new franchise record. This tied the Ottawa Senators and the Carolina Hurricanes for the most wins in the Eastern Conference; the Sabres ranked 4th overall as they dropped their division to the Senators. The Sabres also finshed with 25 road wins, another franchise record.

The Sabres defeated the Philadelphia Flyers in the first round of the 2006 Playoffs in six games. Buffalo scored 7 or more goals twice in the series, including a 8-2 victory in Game 2 and a 7-1 series-clinching win in Game 6. In the second round of the playoffs, the Sabres defeated the top seeded Ottawa Senators in five games. Three of the victories came in overtime, including series-clinching Game 5, which was won on a shorthanded goal by Jason Pominville to send Buffalo to the Eastern Conference Finals.

The Sabres' surprising ride ended in the Eastern Conference Finals at the hands of the Carolina Hurricanes. Despite being without their 4 top defensemen during much of the series, the Sabres fought valiantly, coming back from a 3 games to 2 deficit to force a seventh game by way of a 2-1 OT win in game 6. In the deciding game 7 the Sabres led the Hurricanes 2-1 going into the final period, but blew the lead early in the third period and gave up 2 more goals late in the third period for a 4-2 final. The game winning goal was scored on the power play by Hurricanes captain Rod Brind'Amour after Brian Campbell was penalized for shooting the puck into the crowd.

The Sabres exceptional season was recognized on June 22, 2006 at the NHL Awards ceremony, when Lindy Ruff edged Hurricanes coach Peter Laviolette 155 votes to 154, to win the Jack Adams Award as coach of the year. It was the closest vote in the award's history. Ruff is the second Sabres coach to win the award.

Third Jersey

The Third Jersey of the Buffalo Sabres was created in the year 2000. It is a red (the Sabres' red) jersey with black and grey stripes on the sleeves. It also has the word "Buffalo" written in a black strip outlined by grey. The logo is a circle and has two sabres crossing each other with their hilts at each of the bottom sides of the circle (a sort of third logo). The sabres cross through the border of the circle.

The Return to Blue and Gold? A Mix of Old and New

On June 30, an article in The Buffalo News reported that the Sabres are to sport a new logo starting in the 2006-07 season. The new logo, which the paper found posted on internet message boards and authenticated with apparel manufacturers, is a mix of the first and second logos in a form of a charging buffalo. The secondary logo is a modification of the current sabre spiked through the letter "B" with the new color scheme. The team has confirmed that new jerseys will be unveiled in September, but has not confirmed colors or logos.

Season-by-season record

Note: GP = Games played, W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, OTL = Overtime Losses Pts = Points, GF = Goals for, GA = Goals against, PIM = Penalties in minutes

Records as of July 13, 2006 Hockeydb.com, Buffalo Sabres season statistics and records.

Season	GP	W	L	T	OTL	Pts	GF	GA	PIM	Finish	Playoffs
1970-71	78	24	39	15	—	63	217	291	1188	5th in Eastern	Out of Playoffs
1971-72	78	16	43	19	—	51	203	289	831	6th in Eastern	Out of Playoffs
1972-73	78	37	27	14	—	88	257	219	940	4th in Eastern	Lost Quarterfinal (MTL)
1973-74	78	32	34	12	—	76	242	250	787	5th in Eastern	Out of Playoffs
1974-75	80	49	16	15	—	113	354	240	1229	1st in Adams	Lost Stanley Cup Final (PHI)
1975-76	80	46	21	13	—	105	339	240	943	2nd in Adams	Lost Quarterfinal (NYI)
1976-77	80	48	24	8	—	104	301	220	848	2nd in Adams	Lost Quarterfinal (NYI)
1977-78	80	44	19	17	—	105	288	215	800	2nd in Adams	Lost Quarterfinal (PHI)
1978-79	80	36	28	16	—	88	280	263	1026	2nd in Adams	Lost Preliminary (PIT)
1979-80	80	47	17	16	—	110	318	201	967	1st in Adams	Lost Semifinal (NYI)
1980-81	80	39	20	21	—	99	327	250	1194	1st in Adams	Lost Quarterfinal (MIN)
1981-82	80	39	26	15	—	93	307	273	1425	3rd in Adams	Lost Division Semifinal (BOS)
1982-83	80	38	29	13	—	89	318	285	1031	3rd in Adams	Lost Division Final (BOS)
1983-84	80	48	25	7	—	103	315	257	1190	2nd in Adams	Lost Division Semifinal (QBC)
1984-85	80	38	28	14	—	90	290	237	1221	3rd in Adams	Lost Division Semifinal (QBC)
1985-86	80	37	37	6	—	80	296	291	1608	5th in Adams	Out of Playoffs
1986-87	80	28	44	8	—	64	280	308	1810	5th in Adams	Out of Playoffs
1987-88	80	37	32	11	—	85	283	305	2277	3rd in Adams	Lost Division Semifinal (BOS)
1988-89	80	38	35	7	—	83	291	299	2034	3rd in Adams	Lost Division Semifinal (BOS)
1989-90	80	45	27	8	—	98	286	248	1449	2nd in Adams	Lost Division Semifinal (MTL)
1990-91	80	31	30	19	—	81	292	278	1733	3rd in Adams	Lost Division Semifinal (MTL)
1991-92	80	31	37	12	—	74	289	299	2713	3rd in Adams	Lost Division Semifinal (BOS)
1992-93	84	38	36	10	—	86	335	297	1873	4th in Adams	Lost Division Final (MTL)
1993-94	84	43	32	9	—	95	282	218	1760	4th in Northeast	Lost Conference Quarterfinal (NJ)
1994-95¹	48	22	19	7	—	51	130	119	1022	4th in Northeast	Lost Conference Quarterfinal (PHI)
1995-96	82	33	42	7	—	73	247	262	2195	5th in Northeast	Out of Playoffs
1996-97	82	40	30	12	—	92	237	208	1840	1st in Northeast	Lost Conference Semifinal (PHI)
1997-98	82	36	29	17	—	89	211	187	1768	3rd in Northeast	Lost Conference Final (WSH)
1998-99	82	37	28	17	—	91	207	175	1561	4th in Northeast	Lost Stanley Cup Final (DAL)
1999-00	82	35	32	11	4	85	213	204	1173	3rd in Northeast	Lost Conference Quarterfinal (PHI)
2000-01	82	46	30	5	1	98	218	184	1249	2nd in Northeast	Lost Conference Semifinal (PIT)
2001-02	82	35	35	11	1	82	213	200	1217	5th in Northeast	Out of Playoffs
2002-03	82	27	37	10	8	72	190	219	1276	5th in Northeast	Out of Playoffs
2003-04	82	37	34	7	4	85	220	221	1289	5th in Northeast	Out of Playoffs
2004-05²	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
2005-06³	82	52	24	—	6	110	281	239	1144	2nd in Northeast	Lost Conference Final (CAR)
Total	2788	1309	1046	409	24	3051	9357	8491	48611	—	—

¹ Season was shortened due to the 1994-95 NHL lockout.
² Season was cancelled due to the 2004-05 NHL lockout.
³ As of the 2005-06 NHL Season, all games will have a winner and OTL includes SOL (Shootout losses).

Current Roster

As of July 14, 2006 ^*

Goaltenders
Number	Player	Catches	Acquired	Place of Birth
30	Ryan Miller	L	1999	East Lansing, Michigan
43	Martin Biron	L	1995	Lac-Saint-Charles, Quebec

Defensemen
Number	Player	Shoots	Acquired	Place of Birth
5	Toni Lydman	L	2005	Lahti, Finland
8	Rory Fitzpatrick	R	2001	Rochester, New York
10	Henrik Tallinder	R	2001	Stockholm, Sweden
27	Teppo Numminen	R	2005	Tampere, Finland
34	Jeff Jillson	R	2004	North Smithfield, Rhode Island
38	Nathan Paetsch	L	2003	LeRoy, Saskatchewan
45	Dmitri Kalinin	L	1998	Cheljabinsk, U.S.S.R.
51	Brian Campbell	L	1997	Strathroy, Ontario
6	Jaroslav Špaček	L	2006	Rokycany, Czechoslovakia

Forwards
Number	Player	Shoots	Position	Acquired	Place of Birth
9	Derek Roy	L	C	2001	Ottawa, Ontario
12	Ales Kotalik	R	RW/LW	1998	Jindrichuv Hradec, Czechoslovakia
13	Jiri Novotny	R	C	2001	Pelhrimov, Czechoslovakia
17	J.P. Dumont	L	LW/RW	2000	Montreal, Quebec
19	Tim Connolly	R	C	2001	Syracuse, New York
20	Daniel Paille	L	RW	2002	Welland, Ontario
22	Adam Mair	R	C/RW	2002	Hamilton, Ontario
23	Chris Drury - C	R	C/W	2003	Trumbull, Connecticut
26	Thomas Vanek	R	LW/RW	2003	Graz, Austria
28	Paul Gaustad	L	C	2000	Fargo, North Dakota
29	Jason Pominville	R	RW	2001	Repentigny, Quebec
47	Chris Thorburn	R	RW	2001	Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario
48	Daniel Briere - C	R	C	2003	Gatineau, Quebec
55	Jochen Hecht	L	LW/RW	2003	Mannheim, West Germany
61	Maxim Afinogenov	L	RW	1997	Moscow, U.S.S.R.
76	Andrew Peters	L	LW	1998	St. Catharines, Ontario

Team Captains

Floyd Smith, 1970-71
Gerry Meehan, 1971-74
Jim Schoenfeld, 1974-77
Danny Gare, 1977-82
Gilbert Perreault, 1982-86
Lindy Ruff, 1986-89
Mike Foligno, 1989-90
Mike Ramsey, 1991-92
Pat LaFontaine, 1992-97
Alexander Mogilny, 1993-94 (interim)
Michael Peca, 1997-2000

Donald Audette, 1997-98 (interim)
no captain, 2000-01
Stu Barnes, 2001-03
Miroslav Satan, October, 2003
Chris Drury, November, 2003
James Patrick, December, 2003
J.P. Dumont, January, 2004
Daniel Brière, February, 2004
Chris Drury, March-April, 2004
no captain, 2004-05 (lockout)
Daniel Brière & Chris Drury, 2005- present

Hall of Famers

Retired Numbers

2 Tim Horton, D, 1972-74 (retired January 15, 1996)
7 Rick Martin, LW, 1971-81 (retired October 17, 1990)*
11 Gilbert Perreault, C, 1970-86 (retired November 15, 1995)*
14 Rene Robert, RW, 1972-79 (retired November 15, 1995)*
16 Pat LaFontaine, C, 1991-97 (retired March 3, 2006)
18 Danny Gare, RW, 1974-81 (retired November 22, 2005)
99 Wayne Gretzky (retired league-wide by the NHL)

SHK III and NRK, (stands for team founders Seymour H. Knox III and Northrup R. Knox. Two banners bearing their initials and the Sabres blue and gold reside in HSBC Arena's rafters.)

* When Rene Robert & Rick Martin were retired, Gilbert Perreault was present, as the entire "French Connection" line was given retirement together. Today, each linemate's banner is next to one another at HSBC Arena, with a banner above indicating their line's nickname.

First round draft picks

1970: Gilbert Perreault (1st overall)
1971: Rick Martin (5th overall)
1972: Jim Schoenfeld (5th overall)
1973: Morris Titanic (12th overall)
1974: Lee Fogolin (11th overall)
1975: Bob Sauve (17th overall)
1976: none
1977: Ric Seiling (14th overall)
1978: Larry Playfair (13th overall)
1979: Mike Ramsey (11th overall)
1980: Steve Patrick (20th overall)
1981: Jiri Dudacek (17th overall)
1982: Phil Housley (6th overall), Paul Cyr (9th overall) & Dave Andreychuk 16th overall)
1983: Tom Barrasso (5th overall), Normand Lacombe (10th overall) & Adam Creighton (11th overall)
1984: Mikael Andersson (18th overall)
1985: Calle Johansson (14th overall)
1986: Shawn Anderson (5th overall)
1987: Pierre Turgeon (1st overall)
1988: Joel Savage (13th overall)
1989: Kevin Haller (14th overall)
1990: Brad May (14th overall)
1991: Philippe Boucher (13th overall)
1992: David Cooper (11th overall)
1993: none
1994: Wayne Primeau (17th overall)
1995: Jay McKee (14th overall) & Martin Biron (16th overall)
1996: Erik Rasmussen (7th overall)
1997: Mika Noronen (21st overall)
1998: Dmitri Kalinin (18th overall)
1999: Barrett Heisten (20th overall)
2000: Artem Kriukov (15th overall)
2001: Jiri Novotny (22nd overall)
2002: Keith Ballard (11th overall) & Daniel Paille (20th overall)
2003: Thomas Vanek (5th overall)
2004: Drew Stafford (13th overall)
2005: Marek Zagrapan (13th overall)
2006: Dennis Persson (24th overall)

Franchise scoring leaders

These are the top-ten point-scorers in the history of the Sabres. Figures are updated after each completed NHL regular season.

Note: GP = Games Played, G = Goals, A = Assists, Pts = Points

Player	POS	GP	G	A	Pts
Gilbert Perreault	C	1191	512	814	1326
Dave Andreychuk	LW	837	368	436	804
Rick Martin	LW	681	382	313	695
Craig Ramsay	LW	1070	252	420	672
Phil Housley	D	608	178	380	558
Rene Robert	RW	524	222	330	552
Don Luce	C	766	216	311	527
Mike Foligno	RW	664	247	264	511
Danny Gare	RW	503	267	233	500
Alexander Mogilny	RW	381	211	233	444