45 Facts About Buffalo Sabres

1.

Buffalo Sabres are a professional ice hockey team based in Buffalo, New York.

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2.

The Buffalo Sabres compete in the National Hockey League as a member of the Atlantic Division in the Eastern Conference.

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3.

The Buffalo Sabres are owned by Terry Pegula, who purchased the club in 2011 from Tom Golisano.

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4.

The Buffalo Sabres have the longest active playoff drought in the NHL, at eleven seasons, which stands as an NHL record.

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5.

Buffalo had a history of professional hockey; immediately prior to the Sabres' establishment, the Buffalo Bisons were a pillar of the American Hockey League, having existed since 1940, winning the Calder Cup in their final season.

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6.

At the time of their creation, the Buffalo Sabres exercised their option to create their own AHL farm team, the Cincinnati Swords.

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7.

Year the Sabres debuted was an important year for major league sports in Buffalo.

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8.

The city of Buffalo Sabres went from having no teams in the established major professional sports leagues to three in one off-season, a situation that proved to be unsustainable.

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9.

Perreault was available to the Buffalo Sabres and Canucks as this was the first year the Montreal Canadiens did not have a priority right to draft Quebec-born junior players.

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10.

The Buffalo Sabres won that game thanks to Rene Robert's goal in overtime.

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11.

The Buffalo Sabres had success through the late 1970s behind Gare and the French Connection, but they were unable to return to the Finals despite a Wales Conference championship in 1980 and being the first team to beat the Soviet Olympic Team when they toured the United States.

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12.

Buffalo Sabres drafted Pierre Turgeon with the first pick in the 1987 NHL Entry Draft, and he quickly made an impact with the team.

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13.

Buffalo Sabres was joined in 1989 by Alexander Mogilny, who with the help of Sabres officials became the first Soviet player to defect to the NHL, and cleared the way for all other Russian players to follow.

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14.

The Sabres traded Turgeon to the New York Islanders in 1991 as part of a blockbuster seven-player trade that brought Pat LaFontaine to Buffalo.

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15.

Buffalo Sabres scored 25 goals that season and was second in team scoring to Pat LaFontaine.

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16.

Behind Hasek, left-winger Miroslav Satan, right-winger Donald Audette, center Michael Peca and several role-playing journeymen including Matthew Barnaby, the Buffalo Sabres reached the Eastern Conference Finals that season, but lost to the Washington Capitals in six games.

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17.

The Buffalo Sabres tied the Ottawa Senators and Carolina Hurricanes for the most wins in the Eastern Conference.

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18.

Buffalo Sabres defeated the Philadelphia Flyers in the first round of the 2006 playoffs in six games and top-seeded Ottawa in five games.

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19.

The Buffalo Sabres won the presidents' Trophy for the first time in franchise history, giving them the home-ice advantage for their entire run in the 2007 playoffs.

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20.

The Buffalo Sabres were cited for their player accessibility, low ticket prices and exciting brand of hockey.

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21.

The Buffalo Sabres failed to qualify for the 2008 playoffs and became only the third team in NHL history to go from finishing first overall in the regular season standings to finishing out of the playoffs the following year.

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22.

The Buffalo Sabres entered the 2008 free agency period quietly, but on July 1, signed goaltender Patrick Lalime to a two-year contract.

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23.

Three days later, the Buffalo Sabres acquired Craig Rivet from the San Jose Sharks in exchange for a second-round draft pick in each of the next two drafts.

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24.

The Buffalo Sabres extended the contracts of three players: Paul Gaustad, Ryan Miller and Jason Pominville .

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25.

On October 8, the Buffalo Sabres named defenseman Craig Rivet team captain, the first single full-time captain since Stu Barnes' term from 2001 to 2003.

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26.

Dominic Moore came from the Toronto Maple Leafs for a second-round pick in the 2009 draft, then Buffalo Sabres received a second-round pick in the 2009 draft from the Edmonton Oilers in exchange for Ales Kotalik.

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27.

General manager Darcy Regier announced on the first day of free agency for the following season the Buffalo Sabres had signed unrestricted free agent defenseman Steve Montador to a two-year contract.

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28.

Grier, having played two seasons with the Buffalo Sabres, returned after playing the last three with the San Jose Sharks.

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29.

Many native western New Yorkers live in those four cities; Buffalo Sabres fans have been known to have large contingents in attendance, rivaling those of the home teams when playing in Raleigh and Tampa.

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30.

The Buffalo Sabres clinched the seventh seed and faced Philadelphia in the first round.

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31.

The Buffalo Sabres had a three games to two lead but lost the series in seven games.

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32.

The Buffalo Sabres began the season relatively strong but collapsed after a Boston Bruins game in which Bruins forward Milan Lucic hit and injured goaltender Ryan Miller; the subsequent months saw the Buffalo Sabres collapse to last place in the Eastern Conference.

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33.

On March 30, the Buffalo Sabres traded Jordan Leopold to the St Louis Blues in exchange for a second-round pick and a conditional fifth-round pick in the 2013 draft.

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34.

Buffalo Sabres have had, for the most part, used a primary logo featuring a bison atop two crossed sabres in a blue circle with gold trim.

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35.

Nevertheless, the Buffalo Sabres brought back the classic blue jerseys as a third jersey, but continued to pair the look with the navy helmet and pants.

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36.

The Buffalo Sabres wore the original white uniforms during the 2008 Winter Classic.

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37.

In 2013, the Buffalo Sabres released a new third jersey, featuring a gold front and navy back design.

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38.

Buffalo Sabres kept their uniforms largely intact when Adidas took over as its supplier, save for the removal of silver sections in the armpits.

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39.

The Buffalo Sabres released a "Reverse Retro" alternate uniform, bringing back the "crossed swords" alternate from 2000 to 2006 but recolored to the current royal, gold and white scheme.

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40.

Canadian and U S national anthems are sung before every Sabres home game, regardless if the visiting team is Canadian or American, because Buffalo is adjacent to the Canadian border and many spectators come from Canada.

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41.

In November 2021, the Buffalo Sabres added an official team dog, named Rick, a Newfoundland puppy trained as a service animal.

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42.

Buffalo Sabres are presently affiliated with two minor league teams, the Rochester Americans of the American Hockey League, and the Cincinnati Cyclones of the ECHL.

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43.

The Buffalo Sabres previously owned an AHL affiliate in Cincinnati with the Cincinnati Swords in the 1970s.

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44.

Buffalo Sabres has an affiliation with a number of inductees to the Hockey Hall of Fame.

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45.

Buffalo Sabres inductees include 11 former players and four builders of the sport.

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