Buffalo Sabres 2012-13 Media Guide - NHL.com

History of the Team
Buffalo Sabres Est. 1970
his purchase of the team at a press conference at HSBC Arena. Pegula’s arrival invigorated both the fans and the team, who
welcomed their new owner with a seven-game unbeaten streak and finished the season on a 16-4-4 run to snatch the final
Eastern Conference playoff spot.
Thomas Vanek led the Sabres in goal scoring for the fifth straight year, and also led the team in points for the first time in his
career with 73 (32+41). Vanek is the only player in Sabres history to lead the team in goals for more than three consecutive
seasons. Tyler Ennis had a strong debut season, ranking fourth among all NHL rookies with 49 points (20+29), the most by a
Buffalo rookie since Derek Plante had 56 in 1993-94. The Sabres were eliminated in the first round of the playoffs after a Game
7 loss to Philadelphia.
The 2011-12 season began on a high note as Buffalo traveled to Europe to take part in the NHL Premiere Series and came away
with two wins in Helsinki and Berlin. The team returned home to the newly-named First Niagara Center, which had recently
undergone a multi-million dollar facelift, and continued its success on the ice by winning five of its first six games of the year.
A midseason slump put Buffalo near the bottom of the conference in February as the trade deadline approached and the team
hoped for a change when it traded Zack Kassian and Marc-Andre Gragnani to Vancouver for center Cody Hodgson and defenseman
Alexander Sulzer. Another shakeup of the roster came at the deadline when eight-year veteran Paul Gaustad was traded
to Nashville for first and fourth-round draft picks.
The roster changes, along with the return of a multitude of injured players, seemed to provide a spark for the team and Buffalo
quickly started its climb up the conference standings in the second half of the season. March was the franchise’s best month
since December 2005 with the team recording a 10-4-2 record and snatching up 22 points. It was only the sixth time in club
history that a Sabres team was able to earn at least 22 points in a month’s time.
The team’s success in late February and March pushed Buffalo back into the playoff picture when Buffalo captured eighth place
in the Eastern Conference on March 27. However, the team dropped four of its next five games to finish the season without a
playoff berth.
A key factor in the team’s success during the second half of the season was the strong play of its goaltender, Ryan Miller, who
posted 31 wins and a career-high six shutouts during the season despite suffering a concussion earlier in the year. With the 31
wins, Miller became only the sixth goaltender in NHL history to record six consecutive seasons with at least 30 wins. Miller also
forever etched a place in Sabres history by passing Dominik Hasek’s franchise record of 234 wins – he finished the season with
252 career wins for the club.
Leading the Sabres’ offensive attack for the year was NHL All-Star and team captain Jason Pominville and Thomas Vanek. Tyler
Ennis made the switch from winger to center during the second-half surge and anchored one of the team’s more productive offensive
lines with Drew Stafford and rookie Marcus Foligno. Foligno, the son of Sabres Hall-of-Famer Mike Foligno, established
himself as one of the team’s more promising rookies after becoming just the third active NHL player to record at least five goals
in his first six career games –joining the likes of Evgeni Malkin and Teemu Selanne – and was named NHL Rookie of the Month
for March.
Defensively, the Sabres were bolstered by offseason acquisitions Christian Ehrhoff and Robyn Regehr, both of whom were acquired
by Buffalo in trades prior to the opening of free agency in June 2011. The veterans joined 2009 Calder Trophy winner Tyler
Myers on the blueline after Myers signed a new, long-term contract with the Sabres in August 2011.
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