Eastern Conference - Northeast Division
Buffalo Sabres
| Team's name: Buffalo Sabres Conference: Eastern Division: Northeast  Location: Buffalo, New York Nickname: The Sabres Mascot: Sabretooth Team Colors: Midnight Blue, Maize, Silver and White Joined the Conference: 1970 General Manager: Darcy Regier Hockey Head Coach: Lindy Ruff Hockey Stadium: HSBC Arena Current Capacity: 18,690 First Year of Hockey: 1970 Team Titles: Stanley Cup: Conference Championships:1974-75, 1979-80, 1998-99 Division Championships: 1974-75, 1979-80, 1980-81, 1996-97, 2006-07 |
This New York professional ice hockey team first joined the NHL in the early 1970’s. Located in Buffalo, New York, the Sabres are members of the NHL’s Northeast Division in the Eastern Conference.
The team has been moderately successful, obtaining several division championships during and after a strong first few seasons. Their most recent division championship was in the 2006-07 season, when they also claimed the President’s Trophy.
The Sabres have also claimed three conference championships, but they have yet to take home the silver Stanley Cup.
In the years following the 2004-05 lockout, the Sabres were able to reach the playoffs twice. Things went downhill for the team in 2007-08, when the Sabres finished with a regular season record of 39 wins and 31 losses, placing them at fourth in the Northeast Division.
In June of 2008, the Sabres changed their American Hockey League affiliate from the Rochester Americans to the Portland Pirates. They also managed to pick up goaltender Patrick Lalime and traded Steve Bernier to Vancouver for two draft picks, and shortly thereafter signed Craig Rivet from San Jose and then later Mathieu Darche from Tampa Bay. By the trade deadline, they had given up shooter Ales Kotalik for a second-round pick in the 2009 draft.
In October, defenseman Craig Rivet was named captain.
The Sabres ended the 2008-2009 season at third place in their division, with 91 points total, 41 wins, 32 losses, and 9 overtime losses. They were officially eliminated from the playoffs in early April, after losing to the New York Rangers for the eighth seed in the playoffs.
The team has played its home games at the HSBC arena since 1996.
Buffalo Sabres Current Roster
| Centers | |||||
| No. | Name | Age | HT | WT | Shot |
| 19 | Tim Connolly | 27 | 6-1 | 199 | R |
| 28 | Paul Gaustad | 27 | 6-5 | 222 | L |
| 55 | Jochen Hecht | 31 | 6-1 | 199 | L |
| 22 | Adam Mair | 30 | 6-1 | 208 | R |
| 17 | Dominic Moore | 28 | 6-0 | 194 | L |
| 9 | Derek Roy | 25 | 5-9 | 188 | L |
| Left Wings | |||||
| No. | Name | Age | HT | WT | Shot |
| 37 | Matt Ellis | 27 | 6-1 | 190 | L |
| 41 | Clarke MacArthur | 24 | 6-1 | 191 | L |
| 20 | Daniel Paille | 25 | 6-1 | 195 | L |
| 76 | Andrew Peters | 28 | 6-4 | 230 | L |
| 26 | Thomas Vanek | 25 | 6-2 | 205 | R |
| Right Wings | |||||
| No. | Name | Age | HT | WT | Shot |
| 61 | Maxim Afinogenov | 29 | 6-0 | 187 | L |
| 36 | Patrick Kaleta | 22 | 5-11 | 195 | R |
| 29 | Jason Pominville | 26 | 6-0 | 186 | R |
| 21 | Drew Stafford | 23 | 6-1 | 202 | R |
| Defense | |||||
| No. | Name | Age | HT | WT | Shot |
| 34 | Chris Butler | 22 | 6-1 | 199 | L |
| 5 | Toni Lydman | 31 | 6-1 | 208 | L |
| 27 | Teppo Numminen | 40 | 6-1 | 192 | R |
| 38 | Nathan Paetsch | 26 | 6-0 | 201 | L |
| 52 | Craig Rivet | 34 | 6-2 | 210 | R |
| 44 | Andrej Sekera | 22 | 6-0 | 191 | L |
| 6 | Jaroslav Spacek | 35 | 5-11 | 211 | L |
| 10 | Henrik Tallinder | 30 | 6-4 | 213 | L |
| Goalies | |||||
| No. | Name | Age | HT | WT | Shot |
| 40 | Patrick Lalime | 34 | 6-3 | 189 | L |
| 30 | Ryan Miller | 28 | 6-2 | 176 | L |
| 32 | Mikael Tellqvist | 29 | 5-11 | 185 | L |