Buffalo Sabres History: Who Wore It, Number 45
We continue our series about Buffalo Sabres history, with each day’s post highlighting a player to have worn the subsequent jersey number with the Buffalo Sabres. This series is not designed to say that any player is the ‘best’ to have worn that jersey number, but rather to allow fans to get a taste of the team’s history and learn more about some of the players in it.
Donald Audette is one of just three players in Sabres history to ever wear jersey number 45. To this day, Audette is still involved with the NHL, albeit not with the Sabres; he’s an amateur scout for the Montreal Canadiens, who just drafted his son this past June.
The Laval native began his NHL career with the Sabres organization but also played for five other NHL teams during his career.
The right winger had two separate stints with the Sabres organization. Audette was drafted by the Sabres in 1989 and played for the organization (Sabres and Amerks) between 1989 and 1998; he also returned for 12 games with Buffalo during the 2000-2001 season.
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His NHL career also saw him play with the Los Angeles Kings, Atlanta Thrashers, Dallas Stars, Montreal Canadiens (and their AHL affiliate) and the Florida Panthers. It was in Florida that he finished his NHL career in the 2003-04 season.
Audette was originally drafted by the Sabres with the 183rd overall selection in the 1989 NHL Entry Draft, ninth-round. He was coming out of three seasons with the Laval Titan of the QMJHL when he made the jump to Buffalo and Rochester.
When all was said and done, Audette played 421 regular season games with the Sabres. He notched 166 goals and 131 assists for 297 points in that time, also racking up 335 penalty minutes.
Audette also had 38 points in 61 playoff games with the Sabres. He had 104 points and 90 penalty minutes in 81 regular season AHL games and 17 points in 15 playoff games with the Amerks. He won the Dudley (Red) Garrett Memorial Award in the 1989-90 season as a member of the Rochester Americans.
Other players to wear number 45 for the Sabres: Dmitri Kalinin, Scott Nichol