Buffalo Sabres History: Who Wore It, Number 81
Alright, Buffalo Sabres fans. We’re reaching the light at the end of the tunnel with our “Who Wore It” series. We last discussed jersey number 80, and have just eight to go! This series began several years ago in an attempt to highlight one player who has worn each jersey number in Buffalo Sabres history.
The disclaimer that goes along with this: this isn’t supposed to designate who is the “best” player to have worn a certain number in team history, but simply to allow fans to learn a little more about Buffalo Sabres history and the players in it.
With that being said, we move ahead to jersey number 81, which has been worn by just two players in Buffalo Sabres history: Miroslav Satan and Brayden McNabb.
Satan, a left-winger, was originally drafted 111th overall by the Edmonton Oilers in the 1993 NHL Entry Draft.
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At the time of the draft, Satan was playing in the Czech league with Dukla Trencin. He made his North American debut in 1994 with the Detroit Falcons of the CoHL, also spending parts of that season with the AHL’s Cape Breton Oilers, as well as the Detroit Vipers and San Diego Gulls, both of the IHL.
Finally, he made his NHL debut with the Oilers in the 1995-96 season. As a rookie, Satan put up a respectable 18 goals and 17 assists for 35 points in 62 games that season.
He went on to play the first 64 games of his sophomore season with Edmonton, putting up 28 points (17-11) in that stretch. That lasted until March 18, 1997, when Satan was traded to the Buffalo Sabres in exchange for Craig Millar and Barrie Moore.
He went on to spend the next seven seasons with the Buffalo Sabres, until 2004.
When all was said and done, he had appeared in 629 games for the Buffalo Sabres (regular season and playoffs), notching 491 points in that time. Satan’s best season was the 2002-2003 season, when he registered nearly a point-per-game with 75 points in just 79 games. He had 26 goals and a career-high 49 assists.
Satan’s next NHL move after leaving Buffalo was spending several seasons with the New York Islanders; he then split a year between Pittsburgh and their AHL club in Wilkes-Barre/Scranton. A final NHL season in 2009-10 with Boston (partial) would be the culmination of his NHL career.
Satan went on to play four seasons overseas with Moscow Dynamo and Bratislava Slovan until 2014. He finished his NHL career with 1,136 games played and 787 points in that time.
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