Because all of us aren’t already in love with the awesomeness that is Marcus Foligno, the Rochester Americans treated us to this little gem during the 3rd period of tonights game…

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5YSOesouK6U&feature=relmfu

Also lets just take a minute appreciate how much Mark Pysyk, Matt MacKenzie and Kevin Sundher appear to be enjoying themselves. What better way to make people love you than to make fools of yourselves! Well done Amerks, this video made my night and now I will never be able to listen to this song without laughing hysterically!!

With the lockout all but inevitable the Buffalo Sabres loaned 22 players to the Rochester Americans of the American Hockey League. Luke Adam, Brian Flynn, Marcus Foligno, Zemgus Grigensons, Cody Hodgson, Jacob Legace, Jon Parker, Kevin Sundher, Corey Tropp, Phil Varone, Alex Beiga, Jerome Gauthier-Leduc, Brayden Mcnabb, Mark Pysyk, Connor Knapp, Riley Boychuk, Shawn Szydlowski, Nick Crawford, Matt MacKenzie and Nathan Lieuwen will all start the season with Rochester.

Forward Kevin Porter and defenseman Nick Tarnasky have also been lent to Rochester, but they must clear waivers. In addition 4 players have been returned to their respective junior teams. 2012 first round selection Mikhail Grigorenko was returned to Quebec of the QMJHL, Joel Armia was returned to Assat of the Finnish elite league, SM-Liiga, and Daniel Catenacci was returned to the Owen Sound Attack of the OHL. The team also announced the signing of goaltender Andrey Makarov to a 3 year entry level deal. Marakov was immediately returned to the Saskatoon Blades of the WHL.

- Mikhail Grigorenko agreed to terms on his entry level contract yesterday (yippeeee!). As is standard, at least for now, the contract is for three years and according to , the average cap hit will be $1,755,000 including bonuses and assuming he plays in the NHL. Head over to to check out the press conference announcing the signing.

Grigorenko was the 12th overall selection, the 1st by the Sabres, in this years Entry Draft. He was ranked by NHL Central Scouting as the 3rd best North American skater available in the 2012 draft class. He was also ranked as the #1 available center, a position lacking organizational depth. Grigorenko played in the QMJHL last season for the Quebec Remparts under Patrick Roy. Darcy Regier has come out and said on a few occasions that Grogorenko will have every opportunity to make this team. In other words, it’s his to lose.

» Continue reading “Sabres News and Notes 7/18 – 7/19″

Twitter is abuzz that the Buffalo Sabres have signed former University of Maine forward Brian Flynn to an entry level contract on Wednesday. Flynn is 6’1″ and weighs in at 185 pounds. It is expected he will report to the Rochester Americans.

During his collegiate career, Flynn accumulated 156 points in 153 games at Maine, serving as the captain for his senior season. This season he finished 3rd in team scoring with 18 goals and 30 assists in 40 games, which was also good for 3rd in Hockey East. He was named to the Hockey East First Team at the conclusion of the season and was a finalist for the Walter Brown Award, an award given to the top US born player in New England.

» Continue reading “Sabres Sign Brian Flynn From Maine”

According to Sabres.com the Buffalo Sabres signed a purchase agreement with the Rochester Americans of the American Hockey League (the transaction was unanimously approved by the AHL Board of Governors). The team also announced that with this purchase, their agreement with the Portland Pirates has ended.  This means that the Sabres will reunite with their old farm club and have their prospects closer to Buffalo.  For fans, this is awesome news, it means we can make the hour trek to Blue Cross Arena to check out the baby Sabres without paying a small fortune (woot!).

Now comes the decision of who will coach the baby Sabres? Kevin Dineen coached the Pirates from 2005 (when they were affiliated with the Ducks) to the end of last season, he was recently named the new coach of the Florida Panthers.  He coached prospects such as Mike Weber, Tyler Ennis, Nathan Gerbe, Luke Adam and Marc-Andre Gragnani.  Under his leadership Gerbe, Ennis and Adam have all won AHL Rookie of the Year and Gragnani won Defenseman of the Year this season.  Many suspect ex-Sabres Associate Coach Brian McCutcheon to be named coach (he coached the Amerks for 3 season before joining the Sabres).

Stay tuned for more!

Today has been like Christmas in June for Sabres fans.

Lets start with the Sabres being rated the third best franchise in the NHL by The Hockey News. Wait, did you say third, really??   I first heard this news while listening to WGR550 on my way to work and I swear I almost drove my car into a ditch.  The 30 NHL franchises were rated in 9 categories: Front Office, Regular Season, Future Watch, Playoffs, Draft Success, Franchise Value, Ownership, 2010-2011 Standings, and Attendance.  High scores in four out of these categories make sense, the other five, not so much.

Draft Success:

The Sabres have drafted very well for the last 10 years, drafting 20 players just between 2001-2005 drafts that have played in the NHL, 10 of which currently play for the Sabres.  Recently, we have picked up players like Nathan Gerbe, Tyler Myers, Tyler Ennis, Luke Adam, Braydon McNabb, Marcus Foligno, Mark Pysyk, just to name a few.

Future Watch:

See above…

Ownership:

Two words, Terry Pegula.  He took over as owner near the end of February and changed the entire vibe of HSBC Arena.  He, along with Ted Black and the rest of the management team have redesigned the locker room and have already implemented changes in the arena and during games through a fan suggestion box.  To say I love him would be an understatement, he is the best thing to happen to the Buffalo Sabres in a very long time.

Attendance:

This is a category the Sabres have not lacked in since the lockout.  In the 2 seasons following the lockout, tickets were a difficult thing to come by, but attendance lagged a bit the years the Sabres failed to make it to the postseason.  Sabres tickets became a hot commodity when Pegula took over the team with all remaining home games selling out (12 regular season games and 3 playoff games).

So what else happened you ask, well….

- Former Portland Pirates head coach, Kevin Dineen, was introduced as the new head coach of the Florida Panthers (sadface) on Wednesday.

- The Sabres signed 2010 1st round draft pick Mark Pysyk, a defenseman currently playing for the Edmonton Oil Kings in the     Western Hockey League.

- The Sabres announced they would not renew the contract of Associate Coach Brian McCutcheon.  If the sale of the Rochester Americans to Terry Pegula goes through, McCutcheon is expected to be introduced as the head coach.  If the sale falls through he would simply be released.

- The Sabres also announced plans for a draft party which will take place during the first round of the 2011 NHL Entry Draft.

- WGR550 also started discussing who would replace McCutcheon.  Some names that were thrown around were current Sabres Player Development Coach Kevyn Adams and current Anaheim Ducks assistant coach Mike Foligno (YES!!!).  Both would be excellent choices and both have ties to the city already.  Adams grew up in Clarence and Foligno played for the Sabres from the 1981-1982 season until the 1990-1991 season.

- Locker room renovations are underway.  Follow this link to the Sabres website to take a looksie at what Mr. Pegula and Mr. Black have in mind when they talk about turning Buffalo into Hockey Heaven.

Looks like Terry Pegula is interested in bringing the kids closer to home.  Pegula has reportedly signed a letter of intent to purchase the Rochester Americans of the AHL (woot!).  The Amerks were the primary farm club for the Sabres until the 2007-2008 season, when the teams parted ways.  Since then the Sabres primary affiliate has been the Portland Pirates, which is not close to Buffalo (sadface).  For years, we jumped in the car and went to Amerks games, hell we watched Ryan Miller, Jason Pominville, Derek Roy and so many others come up through the ranks, now its just impossible unless you are willing to shell out a small fortune for gas or a plane ticket.
Hopefully this deal works out, because then there will be lots of one hour drives and Dinosaur BBQ in many Sabres fans futures!!!!

Stay tuned for an update!