Revisiting Buffalo Sabres Forward Cody McCormick’s Career
Buffalo Sabres general manager Tim Murray dropped a bit of a bombshell during his season-end presser, announcing that forward Cody McCormick was retiring.
McCormick’s retirement comes after the 2015-2016 NHL season that saw him miss the entire year with the Buffalo Sabres.
The reasoning? A blood clot in his leg.
That’s also part of the reasoning why McCormick has decided to hang up the skates, per multiple reports from ESPN & other sources.
In the end, although it’s definitely sad to see McCormick go, it’s also a smart move, putting his health over career. Better to retire now rather than try to return, potentially unsafely.
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With the announcement, McCormick’s 11-year NHL playing career has come to a close – and it’s time to reflect back on that.
A quick search through YouTube will tell you one thing right away about McCormick: He liked to fight.
Among his opponents over the years: Milan Lucic, Mike Commodore, Tom Sestito and even, yes, Jarome Iginla.
But that tells only a portion of his story.
McCormick’s NHL career began as a 20-year-old in 2003-2004 with the Colorado Avalanche, a team he’d play with until 2009. He split those seasons between the AHL and NHL before finding a full-time role with the Avs in 2008-09.
On August 1, 2009, McCormick signed a one-year contract with the Buffalo Sabres & was then assigned to the Portland Pirates. That season, he registered 29 points (17-12) in 66 games.
He made his Buffalo Sabres debut on April 21, 2010 and appeared in three playoff games. McCormick registered two assists and 14 penalty minutes.
McCormick then spent all of the 2010-11 season with the Buffalo Sabres in the NHL. He appeared in 81 games, missing only one, and notched 20 points (8-12), an NHL career high.
Of course, there’s also the 142 penalty minutes he notched that season.
He also played in seven playoff games for the Buffalo Sabres that postseason.
McCormick then spent the entirety of the 2011-12 season with Buffalo, notching four points (1-3) in 50 games.
He split part of the next season between Buffalo (8 games) and Rochester (11 points in 25 games) after being put on waivers by the NHL club.
McCormick returned to the NHL team for the 2013-14 season but was traded to the Minnesota Wild on March 5, 2014 shortly after returning from a lengthy injury.
McCormick went to the Wild along with Matt Moulson in exchange for Torrey Mitchell and a pair of draft picks.
In the end, both players would return to Buffalo thanks to free agency later that year.
McCormick played 14 games with the Wild in the regular season, potting two points, and added one goal in 13 playoff games.
He came back to Buffalo for the 2014-15 season and appeared in 33 games, putting up four points and 40 penalty minutes.
McCormick’s blood clot issues began in January 2015 and caused him to miss the rest of that season, as well as the entirety of the 2015-2016 season.
McCormick still has a year left on his contract with the Buffalo Sabres. It’s unclear at this point if he could potentially be offered a position (coaching?) with the team, but that could be a route for him. His decision to come back to the Buffalo Sabres after the trade to Minnesota shows that he likes Buffalo. Why not have him stay here?
In addition – and this is just my personal opinion – I think it’d be great to see McCormick join the folks over at the Academy of Hockey, like fellow former Buffalo Sabres Adam Mair and Martin Biron.
No matter what comes next for McCormick, we extend best wishes to him & his family!
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What are your favorite members of McCormick’s NHL career, or his time with the Buffalo Sabres?