The 2006–07

Buffalo Sabres The Buffalo Sabres are a professional ice hockey team based in Buffalo, New York. The Sabres compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Division in the Eastern Conference. The team was established in 1970, along w ...

season A season is a division of the year based on changes in weather, ecology, and the number of daylight hours in a given region. On Earth, seasons are the result of the axial parallelism of Earth's tilted orbit around the Sun. In temperate and pol ...

was the 37th season of operation, 36th season of play, for the

National Hockey League The National Hockey League (NHL; french: Ligue nationale de hockey—LNH, ) is a professional ice hockey league in North America comprising 32 teams—25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. It is considered to be the top ranked professional ...

franchise that was established on May 22, 1970. The Season began with the team attempting to rebound from a disappointing end to the 2005–06 season, in which the Sabres advanced to the Eastern Conference Finals before losing in seven games to the eventual

Stanley Cup The Stanley Cup (french: La Coupe Stanley) is the championship trophy awarded annually to the National Hockey League (NHL) playoff champion. It is the oldest existing trophy to be awarded to a professional sports franchise in North America, an ...

champion

Carolina Hurricanes The Carolina Hurricanes (colloquially known as the Canes) are a professional ice hockey team based in Raleigh, North Carolina. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference, ...

. With the best regular-season record in the NHL, the Sabres were awarded the

Presidents' Trophy The Presidents' Trophy (french: Trophée des présidents) is an award presented by the National Hockey League (NHL) to the team that finishes with the most points (i.e. best record) during the NHL regular season. If two teams are tied for the mo ...

for the first time in their history, and they also earned the top seed in the Eastern Conference playoffs. They defeated the

New York Islanders The New York Islanders (colloquially known as the Isles) are a professional ice hockey team based in Elmont, New York. The Islanders compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference ( ...

the

New York Rangers The New York Rangers are a professional ice hockey team based in the New York City borough of Manhattan. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference. The team plays its home ...

and Ottawa Senators in the first 3 rounds of the playoffs. In the Eastern Conference Finals, however, the Sabres' season came to an end when they were defeated by the Carolina Hurricanes in game 7 of the Conference finals. As of 2022, this remains the last time the Sabres won a playoff series.

Offseason

The team lost several veterans to free agency, including J. P. Dumont,

Jay McKee Jay McKee (born September 8, 1977) is a Canadian coach and former professional ice hockey defenceman. He last played for the Pittsburgh Penguins of the National Hockey League, and was previously with the Buffalo Sabres and the St. Louis Blues. Th ...

Mike Grier Michael James Grier (born January 5, 1975) is an American former professional ice hockey winger and current general manager of the San Jose Sharks in the National Hockey League (NHL). He played for the Edmonton Oilers, Washington Capitals, Buf ...

, and

Rory Fitzpatrick Rory Brian Fitzpatrick (born January 11, 1975) is an American politician and former professional ice hockey defenseman who played ten seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL) for the Montreal Canadiens, St. Louis Blues, Nashville Predators, ...

. Conversely, the team signed only one new player to the roster:

defenseman Defence or defense (in American English) in ice hockey is a player position that is primarily responsible for preventing the opposing team from Goal (ice hockey), scoring. They are often referred to as defencemen, D, D-men or blueliners (the la ...

Jaroslav Spacek Jaroslav (also written as Yaroslav or Jarosław in other Slavic languages) is a Czech and Slovak first name, pagan in origin. There are several possible origins of the name Jaroslav. It is very likely that originally the two elements of the nam ...

. The team planned to rely on young players from their own organization – Jiri Novotny,

Paul Gaustad Paul Michael Gaustad (born February 3, 1982) is an American former professional ice hockey centerman who played for the Nashville Predators and Buffalo Sabres of the National Hockey League (NHL). He is nicknamed "Goose." Playing career Junior Ga ...

and

Nathan Paetsch Nathan Paetsch (born March 30, 1983) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey defenceman who played in the National Hockey League (NHL) with the Buffalo Sabres and Columbus Blue Jackets. Playing career Paetsch was originally drafted in the 2 ...

, to name a few—to fill the holes left by the departing players. Controversy swirled around the team's logo and jersey, meanwhile, as the look was changed. The team's colors were reverted to blue and gold, which they had worn from their addition to the league as an expansion team until 1996–97, when the colors were changed to black and red. The new logo, though, was said to resemble to many a slug or a wig. There were strong efforts to prevent the team from wearing this new jersey, although none were successful. The team's new third jersey, meanwhile, featured the team's original logo. Despite the controversy, the NHL reported that sales of Sabres merchandise were up approximately 1170% from the 2005–2006 season.

Regular season

The Sabres were very successful early in the season, tying an NHL record by winning their first ten games, before finally suffering a shootout loss to the

Atlanta Thrashers The Atlanta Thrashers were a professional ice hockey team based in Atlanta. Atlanta was granted a franchise in the National Hockey League (NHL) on June 25, 1997, and became the League's 28th franchise when it began play in the 1999–2000 seaso ...

. They did not lose a game in regulation until exactly one month into the season, in their thirteenth game, when they lost to

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...

. The Sabres also set an NHL record by winning their first ten road games of the season, not losing outside of

HSBC Arena Jeunesse Arena is an indoor multi-purpose arena, located in the region of Barra da Tijuca, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. It is named for the American cosmetics company Jeunesse Global through a naming rights deal closed in 2017. Before, the spons ...

until November 18 in

Ottawa Ottawa (, ; Canadian French: ) is the capital city of Canada. It is located at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River in the southern portion of the province of Ontario. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the core ...

. On January 9, it was announced that three members of the Sabres had been voted to start the

All-Star Game An all-star game is an exhibition game that purports to showcase the best players (the "stars") of a sports league. The exhibition is between two teams organized solely for the event, usually representing the league's teams based on region or div ...

for the Eastern Conference: forward Daniel Briere, defenseman

Brian Campbell Brian Wesley Campbell (born May 23, 1979) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey defenceman. He played for the Buffalo Sabres, San Jose Sharks, Chicago Blackhawks and Florida Panthers of the National Hockey League (NHL). He won the Stanl ...

, and goaltender

Ryan Miller Ryan Dean Miller (born July 17, 1980) is an American former ice hockey goaltender who played 18 seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL) mostly for the Buffalo Sabres. Miller was drafted 138th overall by the Buffalo Sabres in the 1999 NHL E ...

. It was the first All-Star appearance for each. In addition, as the Sabres had the best record in the Eastern Conference as of the end of All-Star voting, head coach

Lindy Ruff Lindy Cameron Ruff (born February 17, 1960) is a Canadian professional ice hockey coach who is the head coach for the New Jersey Devils of the National Hockey League (NHL). Ruff was previously the head coach of the Dallas Stars of the NHL, and al ...

was assigned to coach the Eastern Conference team. Briere recorded a goal and four assists in the game, and was named Most Valuable Player of the game.

Thomas Vanek Thomas Vanek (born 19 January 1984) is an Austrian former professional ice hockey left winger. He played fourteen years in the National Hockey League (NHL) for the Buffalo Sabres, New York Islanders, Montreal Canadiens, Minnesota Wild, Detroit R ...

was also invited to All-Star Weekend to play in the YoungStars game. On January 13,

Jason Pominville Jason John Pominville (born November 30, 1982) is a Canadian-American former professional ice hockey right winger. He played for the Buffalo Sabres and the Minnesota Wild of the National Hockey League (NHL). Playing career Amateur As a youth, Po ...

recorded his 20th goal of the season, becoming the fourth Sabre (after

Chris Drury Christopher Ellis Drury (born August 20, 1976) is an American professional ice hockey executive and former player. He has served as the president and general manager for the New York Rangers since May 5, 2021. He previously served as the genera ...

and

Maxim Afinogenov Maxim Sergeyevich Afinogenov (, ; born September 4, 1979) is a Russian former professional ice hockey player. Known for his skating speed, he was drafted by the National Hockey League (NHL)'s Buffalo Sabres in the third round, 69th overall, in ...

) to record 20 goals before the All-Star break. At the time of Pominville's 20th goal, no other team in the NHL had more than two players with 20 goals. Daniel Briere became the fifth Sabre to record 20 goals as he scored a

hat-trick A hat-trick or hat trick is the achievement of a generally positive feat three times in a match, or another achievement based on the number three. Origin The term first appeared in 1858 in cricket, to describe H. H. Stephenson taking three wic ...

on January 30 against the

Boston Bruins The Boston Bruins are a professional ice hockey team based in Boston. The Bruins compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Division in the Eastern Conference. The team has been in existence since 1924, making t ...

. With the feat, the Sabres became the first team since the 1995–96 Pittsburgh Penguins to have five 20–goal scorers before February. Four Sabres would go on to reach the 30-goal plateau. For the first time in 12 years, Buffalo was not shut-out in any of their 82 regular season games. Moreover, the Sabres led the NHL in goals scored and became the first team to score at least 200 even-strength goals during the regular season since the

New Jersey Devils The New Jersey Devils are a professional sports, professional ice hockey team based in Newark, New Jersey. The Devils compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference (NHL), Eastern ...

in 2000–01. In February, the Sabres found themselves battling injury problems. Forward

Tim Connolly Timothy L. Connolly (born May 7, 1981) is an American former professional ice hockey player who played eleven seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL) for the New York Islanders, Buffalo Sabres, and Toronto Maple Leafs. Playing career As a yo ...

had been on the long-term injury list all season, and he was joined by

when a tendon in his leg was sliced on February 7 against the

Ottawa Senators The Ottawa Senators (french: Sénateurs d'Ottawa), officially the Ottawa Senators Hockey Club and colloquially known as the Sens, are a professional ice hockey team based in Ottawa. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a membe ...

broke his left hand soon thereafter, and the Sabres lost

, who broke his left wrist, and Jiri Novotny with a high ankle sprain. Ales Kotalik was next to go down, with a knee sprain, and forward

Daniel Paille Daniel Joseph Paille (born April 15, 1984) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey left winger. He was originally drafted 20th overall by the Buffalo Sabres in the 2002 NHL Entry Draft and also played in the National Hockey League with the ...

broke his finger. Against the

on February 22, captain

was injured by a blow to the head by

Chris Neil Chris Neil (born June 18, 1979) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey right winger. Neil was originally drafted in the sixth round, 161st overall, in the 1998 NHL Entry Draft by the Ottawa Senators, and played his entire NHL career with ...

, sparking a wild brawl which saw a fight between

Martin Biron Martin Gaston Biron (; born August 15, 1977) is a Canadian American former professional ice hockey goaltender. Drafted by the Buffalo Sabres in the first round (16th overall) of the 1995 NHL Entry Draft, he spent the first half of his 16-year ...

and Senators goaltender

Ray Emery Raymond Robert Emery (''né'' Nichols; September 28, 1982 – July 15, 2018) was a Canadian professional ice hockey goaltender who played in the National Hockey League (NHL) for eleven seasons, between 2003 and 2015. Emery was chosen 99th over ...

, and later between Emery and Sabres enforcer

Andrew Peters Andrew Peters (born May 5, 1980) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey left winger. Peters played in the National Hockey League for the Buffalo Sabres, and the New Jersey Devils. Throughout his playing career, Peters was best known for h ...

. The Sabres were the last team to be involved in a trade in the 2006–07 season. On the day of the

NHL trade deadline In professional sports within the United States and Canada, a trade is a sports league transaction between sports clubs involving the exchange of player rights from one team to another. Though player rights are the primary trading assets, draft p ...

, though, they made four trades. Goaltender

, who had been the longest-tenured Sabre, was sent to

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

for Philadelphia's second-round pick in the

2007 NHL Entry Draft The 2007 NHL Entry Draft was the 45th NHL Entry Draft. It was hosted at Nationwide Arena in the city of Columbus, Ohio, on June 22, 2007. The draft consisted of seven rounds with rounds two through seven taking place on June 23, 2007. The draft ...

. Buffalo's fifth-round pick in that draft was sent to

Columbus Columbus is a Latinized version of the Italian surname "''Colombo''". It most commonly refers to: * Christopher Columbus (1451-1506), the Italian explorer * Columbus, Ohio, capital of the U.S. state of Ohio Columbus may also refer to: Places ...

in exchange for another backup goalie,

Ty Conklin Ty Curtis Conklin (born March 30, 1976) is an American former professional ice hockey goaltender. Throughout his National Hockey League (NHL) career, he played for the Edmonton Oilers, Columbus Blue Jackets, Buffalo Sabres, Pittsburgh Penguins, S ...

. Jiri Novotny was sent along with Buffalo's 2007 first-round pick to

Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered on ...

in exchange for

Dainius Zubrus Dainius Gintas Zubrus (born June 16, 1978) is a Lithuanian former professional ice hockey right winger and centre who played in the National Hockey League (NHL), the first Lithuanian to have played 1,000 games in the NHL. Drafted 15th overall i ...

and

Timo Helbling Timo Helbling (born July 21, 1981) is a Swiss former professional ice hockey defenceman who played in the National League (NL) for HC Davos, Kloten Flyers, HC Lugano, HC Fribourg-Gottéron, SC Bern, EV Zug, SC Rapperswil-Jona Lakers, Oulun Kärp ...

. Finally, the Sabres sent their fourth-round pick in 2007 to

Nashville Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the seat of Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the most populous city in the state, 21st most-populous city in the U.S., and the ...

for Mikko Lehtonen, a minor league defenseman. Due to injuries, many Sabres prospects were called up from the team's

American Hockey League The American Hockey League (AHL) is a professional ice hockey league based in the United States and Canada that serves as the primary Minor league#Ice hockey, developmental league for the National Hockey League (NHL). Since the 2010–11 AHL se ...

affiliate, the

Rochester Americans The Rochester Americans (colloquially known as the Amerks) are a professional ice hockey team in the American Hockey League; the team is an owned and operated affiliate of the Buffalo Sabres. The team plays its home games in Rochester, New York, a ...

, and made their NHL debuts during the season;

Mike Card Mike Card (born February 18, 1986 in Kitchener, Ontario) is a professional ice hockey defenceman who currently plays for Löwen Frankfurt. He played Junior A hockey in the BCHL at the age of 15 before 4 seasons with the Kelowna Rockets of the ...

Michael Funk Michael "Mike" Funk (born August 15, 1986 in Abbotsford, British Columbia) is a retired professional ice hockey defenceman who played in the National Hockey League (NHL) with the Buffalo Sabres. He was drafted by the Sabres in the second round, ...

Patrick Kaleta Patrick Kaleta (born June 8, 1986) is an American former professional ice hockey right winger who played in the National Hockey League (NHL) for the Buffalo Sabres from 2006 until 2015. He was drafted by the Sabres in the sixth round, 176th overal ...

Clarke MacArthur Clarke MacArthur (born April 6, 1985) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey left winger. MacArthur played in the National Hockey League (NHL) with the Ottawa Senators, Buffalo Sabres, Atlanta Thrashers and Toronto Maple Leafs. He was orig ...

Mark Mancari Mark Mancari (born July 11, 1985) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey right winger. Mancari was drafted by the Buffalo Sabres in the seventh round (207th overall) of the 2004 NHL Entry Draft. Playing career After playing four seasons i ...

, Michael Ryan,

Andrej Sekera Andrej Sekera (born 8 June 1986) is a Slovak former professional ice hockey defenceman. He played for the Buffalo Sabres, Carolina Hurricanes, Los Angeles Kings, Edmonton Oilers and Dallas Stars of the National Hockey League (NHL). Born and rai ...

and

Drew Stafford Drew Stafford (born October 30, 1985) is a former American professional ice hockey winger (ice hockey), right winger. Stafford was drafted in the first round, 13th overall by the Buffalo Sabres in the 2004 NHL Entry Draft, and has played for the S ...

all played their first career NHL game during the 2006–07 season. The Sabres finished with 298 goals scored (excluding 10 shootout-winning goals), the most in the League.

Season standings

Schedule and results

October

Record for month 10–0–1 (Home 4–0–1 Away 6–0–0)

November

Record for Month 9–3–1 (Home 4–2–1 Away 5–1–0)

December

Record for Month 9–4–1 (Home 5–2–0 Away 4–2–1)

January

Record for Month 6–7–1 (Home 4–3–0 Away 2–4–1)

February

Record for Month 8–2–1 (Home 5–0–1 Away 3–2–0)

March

Record for Month 8–5–2 (Home 5–3–0 Away 3–2–2)

April

Record for Month 3–1–0 (Home 1–0–0 Away 2–1–0) * Green background indicates win. * Red background indicates regulation loss. * White background indicates overtime/shootout loss.

Playoffs

The Sabres earned the #1 seed in the Eastern Conference by virtue of finishing with the highest point total in the conference.

Eastern Conference Quarter-finals: vs. (8)
New York Islanders The New York Islanders (colloquially known as the Isles) are a professional ice hockey team based in Elmont, New York. The Islanders compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference ( ...

The Sabres faced the New York Islanders in the first round of the playoffs.

Eastern Conference Semi-finals: vs. (6)
New York Rangers The New York Rangers are a professional ice hockey team based in the New York City borough of Manhattan. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference. The team plays its home ...

The Sabres faced the New York Rangers in the second round of the playoffs. The Rangers advanced by sweeping the

, the number three seed, in the first round.

Eastern Conference Finals: vs. (4)
Ottawa Senators The Ottawa Senators (french: Sénateurs d'Ottawa), officially the Ottawa Senators Hockey Club and colloquially known as the Sens, are a professional ice hockey team based in Ottawa. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a membe ...

The Sabres faced their division rivals, the Ottawa Senators, in the Eastern Conference Finals. The Senators advanced by defeating the

Pittsburgh Penguins The Pittsburgh Penguins (colloquially known as the Pens) are a professional ice hockey team based in Pittsburgh. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division of the Eastern Conference, and have playe ...

in the first round and the

in the second. The Sabres lost the series, 4 games to 1.

Player stats

Scoring leaders

''Note: GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; +/- = Plus/minus; PIM = Penalty minutes'' *Stats reflect games played with Buffalo only. * Note: Goaltenders are not assessed plus/minus ratings.

Thomas Vanek

finished the season with the best plus/minus rating in the entire NHL with a +47.

Goaltending

''Note: GP = Games played; Min = Minutes played; W = Wins; L = Losses; OTL = OvertimelLosses; GA = Goals against; SO = Shutouts; SV% = Save percentage; GAA = Goals against average'' *Stats reflect games played with Buffalo only.

Coaching staff

– Head Coach * Brian McCutcheon – Associate Head Coach * James Patrick – Assistant Coach * Jim Corsi – Goaltender Coach * Doug McKenney – Strength and Conditioning Coach

Transactions

Trades

Free agents acquired

Free agents lost

Lost to waivers

Draft picks

Buffalo's picks at the

2006 NHL Entry Draft The 2006 NHL Entry Draft was the 44th NHL Entry Draft. It was held at General Motors Place in Vancouver, British Columbia, on June 24, 2006. The draft order for the first 14 picks was decided during a lottery held on April 20, 2006. The draft was ...

Vancouver Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the ...

British Columbia British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, ...

.2006 NHL Entry Draft Result
nhl.com
– accessed December 9, 2006. The Sabres had the 24th overall draft pick for their success in the

2005–06 NHL season The 2005–06 NHL season was the 89th season of operation (88th season of play) of the National Hockey League (NHL). This season succeeded the 2004–05 season which had all of its scheduled games canceled due to a labor dispute with the Nation ...

Farm teams

The

were the Buffalo Sabres' farm team during the 2006–07 season.

References

* Game log:''
Buffalo Sabres game log
on espn.com * Team standings:''
NHL standings
on espn.com

External links

Official website of the Buffalo Sabres
{{DEFAULTSORT:2006-07 Buffalo Sabres season Presidents' Trophy seasons

Buff Buff or BUFF may refer to: People * Buff (surname), a list of people * Buff (nickname), a list of people * Johnny Buff, ring name of American world champion boxer John Lisky (1888–1955) * Buff Bagwell, a ring name of American professional ...

Buffalo Sabres seasons Buffalo Buffalo