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[AWarren]

Buffalo Sabres Dynasty

Buffalo, New York - Buffalo is one of the most passionate, scrutinized, and championship deprived sports markets in all of the country. Bringing the Stanley Cup to Buffalo, New York and raising a championship banner inside Key Bank Center is the only thing that is on General Manager Tim Murray's mind since he was hired in 2014. Since Murray has been at the helm, the Sabres have sold off valuable assets to the team in return for draft picks and young prospects to start the rebuilding process. The 2014 & 2015 NHL Draft's were huge in taking steps of developing a core group of young talent with Sam Reinhart and the new star of Buffalo sports, Jack Eichel.

In 2015 the Sabres struggled early to get things right under coach Dan Bylsma's new system, but ended the season with 81 points, 12 points away from 3rd in the Atlantic Division on a slight of a hot streak. 2016 has arrived and the hopes are for the Sabres to make a run for the playoffs. The tank is no more and the fans are ready to break the "Buffalo Curse" that has been haunting the city since the 1970's.


With plenty of developing young talent on the roster, look for general manager Tim Murray to make more moves to improve his 2016 roster to help lead his team into the playoffs and just maybe bring "Lord Stanley" back to the "BUF" in the years to come.

[AWarren]

PRESEASON RECAP & ROSTER MOVES TO COME

[Nickflyers]

WOOO More dynasties!

[AWarren]

2016 Preseason Recap

Buffalo, NY - The 2016 preseason has came and gone for the Buffalo Sabres. With the team full of prospects and the starters watching from the suites, Buffalo finished the preseason with a record of 2-3-2. Leading the preseason in points was Marcus Foligno playing 1st line center with 8 points. (2 Goals & 6 Assists) Followed by Justin Bailey the right winger out of Williamsville, New York with 7 points. (2 Goals & 5 Assists) With the solid play of Bailey it has earned him a spot on the Buffalo Sabres roster for opening night.

The Sabres made few trades made during the preseason.

Rumblings of Tim Murray wanting to move on from a veteran Defenseman and did just that.

Buffalo Receives:
Brandon Montour (D)
Josh Mahura (D)

Anaheim Receives:
Cody Franson (D)
Jean Dupuy (C)

When asked about the trade Murray had this to say. " Moving on from Cody is going to be tough for our room. He was a good leader and had alot of experience to help out the younger guys when needed however, we needed to free up some cap room. Expect Brandon (Montour) to start out the season in Rochester and look for Brendan Guhle to be called up from WHL to take Franson's place on the 3rd pair."

Buffalo Receives:
Scott Darling (G)
2017 4th Round Pick

Chicago Receives:
Jonas Johansson (G)

"Darling is a guy I have watched for a while now" said Murray. "He's big 6'6 230 lb guy, which i like and he fits our goaltender mold." "Chicago wanted to have a young guy like Jonas (Johansson) to develop and we wanted to bring in some competition to see who will grab the "bull by the horns" so to say, and win the backup goaltender job between Darling, Ullmark, and Nillson."

Buffalo Receives:
Jonathan Diaby (D)
2017 4th Round Draft Pick

Nashville Receives:
Matt Moulson (NO SALARY RETAINED BY BUF)

"Matt was disgruntled with us. Hate to see him go but, he felt like he deserved a top 6 spot and we pretty much have our top 6 set. Nashville was interested in the veteran leadership Matt would bring to them and I wanted to send him to a team that had a legitimate shot at making a run, so it was mutual respect sort of deal."

As the regular season opener approaches, the Sabres now have some breathing room on the salary cap side by shedding Cody Franson and Matt Moulson's contracts.

[AWarren]

MONTREAL DOMINATES ON OPENING NIGHT

The Sabres fall to Montreal 8-1 at home on opening night. There was plenty of hype inside the Key Bank Center to start off the re-building Sabres season. Unfortunately, things didn't go as planned as Buffalo was ousted by the Canadiens. Scoring the lone Sabres goal in the opening period was Sam Reinhart, shorty after he would leave the game after taking a Shea Weber slap shot to the leg and would not return. Early prognosis on Sam has him missing the next 2 games. Alex Galchenyuk opened the scoring and never looked back as he recorded 2 more to get the hat trick in the 3rd period. Robin Lehner stayed in goal for the Sabres through the whole game. Coach Dan Bylsma stated this following the game. "It was a tough decision to keep Robin in net the whole game but I made the decision to keep him out there because I did not want to bring Nillson into the game during a time when our defense was playing unacceptable." Buffalo looks to right the ship and play a smarter and more precise defensive game as they hit the road to the Rogers Place for the Eichel VS McDavid showdown.

Montreal Canadiens at Buffalo Sabres
Jan 1, 1 2 3 F MON (1-0-0) 3 3 2 8 BUF (0-1-0) 0 0 1 1 Three Stars Alex Galchenyuk 3 Goals 1 Assist Max Pacioretty 1 Goal 1 Assist 1 Hit Carey Price 1.00 GAA 24 Saves .960 Save %	Team Stats Comparison MON BUF Shots on Goal 33 25 Hits 23 23 Faceoffs Won-Lost 21-13 13-21 Penalty Minutes 5 9 Power Plays Converted 0/2 0/0 Power Play Opportunities 2 0 Time on Attack 7:13 4:56
Scoring Summary

[AWarren]

BUFFALO TOPS EDMONTON IN PART ONE OF EICHEL VS MCDAVID

Buffalo traveled to the freshly opened Rogers Place in Edmonton to play the 2nd ever regular season game inside the new arena. The bigger story however, was obviously Connor McDavid vs Jack Eichel. To some this is now called the "McEichel Bowl". The 2 young leaders are the bright future stars of the NHL and they both down play any rivalry at all. Deep down inside, the fire inside both of these young guys burns to win against each other every time they meet. Buffalo coming of a dismal home opener loss against Montreal was hungry for a win.

The game started out fast for Buffalo netting 3 goals in the 1st period to the Oilers 1. A one goal 2nd period would bring Edmonton back into striking distance down 3-2 going into the 3rd period. A back and fourth 3rd would put Edmonton up 5-4 with less than 30 seconds remaining. Evander Kane would then pull through to tie the game up at 5-5 and send it to overtime. As the overtime period started Sabres coach Dan Bylsma put Jack Eichel, Jake McCabe, and Rasmus Ristolainen on the ice against Connor McDavid, Oscar Klefbom and Adam Larrson. Eichel won the draw and started going to work in the offensive zone. On a quick give and go from Ristolainen, Eichel went short side on Cam Talbot and netted the overtime game winner for his 1st goal of the year. As the Sabres top the Oilers for the 1st win on the year.

Buffalo Sabres at Edmonton Oilers
Oct 18, 2016 1 2 3 F BUF (1-1-0) 3 0 2 6 EDM (1-1-0) 1 1 3 5 Three Stars Kyle Okposo 2 Goals 1 Assist 1 Hit Ryan O'Reilly 1 Goal 1 Assist 4 Hits Patrick Maroon 1 Goal 1 Assist	Team Stats Comparison BUF EDM Shots on Goal 31 16 Hits 15 17 Faceoffs Won-Lost 18-17 17-18 Penalty Minutes 7 7 Power Plays Converted 0/1 0/1 Power Play Opportunities 1 1 Time on Attack 9:09 5:19

More Results:

Buffalo: 5
Calgary: 4


Buffalo: 5
Vancouver: 3

Buffalo's Ryan O'Reilly looking for a shot on Fylers goalie Steve Mason

Buffalo: 7
Philadelphia: 3

Marcus Foligno records his first career hat trick in an offensive showcase put on by the Sabres. Midway through the 2nd period Radko Gudas spotted Jack Eichel bringing the puck up the center of the ice and delivered a massive hit on Jack. Marcus Foligno came to his aid and dropped the gloves with Gudas as Eichel lay on the ice in pain. Eichel was helped to the room and would not rejoin the game the rest of the night only to be diagnosed with a concussion and will miss the next 8 games. Robin Lehner has started to get things back on track the past few games and get some solid win's under his belt. The Sabres defense is starting to turn things around and play a smarter game.


Minnesota: 4
Buffalo: 2


Florida: 1
Buffalo: 5


Buffalo: 4
Winnipeg: 5


Buffalo: 6
Minnesota: 3


Toronto: 3
Buffalo: 6


Buffalo: 5
Ottawa: 6


Buffalo Sabres record through 11 games has them at 7-4-0 sitting 2nd in the Atlantic Division 2 points behind the Tampa Bay Lightning.