Who Wore It: Sabres History – #15
Dixon Ward was not the first, nor the last, player to wear #15 for the Buffalo Sabres. But he spent a good portion of his NHL career with the Sabres organization, from 1995 until 2000. Of all the NHL teams he played with in his career, he spent the most time with the Sabres.
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Dixon Ward
Right Wing, b. 1968
Signed by the Sabres as a free agent, 1995
Ward, a native of Leduc, Alberta, began his NHL career with the Vancouver Canucks. The Canucks drafted Ward in 1988 with the 128th overall selection in the draft. He spent parts of two seasons with the Canucks before being traded to the Los Angeles Kings in January 1994.
He spent the rest of that season with the Kings, then split the 1994-95 season between the AHL’s St. John’s Maple Leafs, the NHL’s Toronto Maple Leafs and the IHL’s Detroit Vipers.
Ward then signed with the Buffalo Sabres in September of 1995. He spent most of the next season with the AHL’s Rochester Americans, putting up 94 points and 74 penalty minutes in 71 games. He also played eight games with the Sabres that season and would spend all of the next four seasons with the team in Buffalo.
His tenure with the Sabres from 1995 until 2000 saw his play in 307 regular season games with Buffalo. He scored 56 goals and added 80 assists. He also appeared in 53 playoff games for Buffalo, scoring 12 goals and adding 17 assists.
Ward would eventually leave the Sabres, signing with the Boston Bruins in 2000. He spent one season there before playing overseas with Langnau of the Swiss-A league in 2001-02. He returned to the NHL briefly in 2002-03, playing eight games with the New York Rangers and 67 games with their AHL affiliate, the Hartford Wolf Pack. His final playing season was 2003-04 with Rapperswil-Jona of the Swiss-A league.
Other players to wear #15 for the Sabres: Colin Stuart, Dainius Zubrus, Milan Bartovic, Sergei Petrenko, Greg Brown, Randy Wood, Lou Franceschetti, Kevin Haller, Doug Smith, Chris Langevin, Adam Creighton, Geordie Robertson, Yvon Lambert, Rob McClanahan, Mike Boland, Gary McAdam, Michel Deziel, Bryan McSheffrey, Gerry Meehan.