5 most exciting seasons in Buffalo Sabres history
The Buffalo Sabres have not made the playoffs since the 2010-11 season. But they have given fans plenty to cheer for in the past.
The Buffalo Sabres have never won the Stanley Cup, and their last deep playoff run came in 2007. Currently in the midst of their longest playoff drought in franchise history, Sabres fans have had little to cheer for lately.
However, the organization has a budding nucleus of young players like Owen Power in the college ranks, J.J. Peterka in the AHL, and Rasmus Dahlin at the game’s top level. So there is reason for hope in the not-so-distant future.
Yet until the young talent meshes at the NHL level, let’s relive some of the most exciting seasons in Buffalo Sabres history. They have given fans plenty to cheer for over the past 50-plus seasons, but the following seasons stand out more than the others.
Prepare for a healthy dose of nostalgia reliving some of the team’s glory days. Starting with a year in which they won the Presidents’ Trophy.
2006-07
The Sabres led the NHL in points with 113 and took the Northeast Division. In the playoffs, they eliminated the New York Rangers and Islanders before falling to the Ottawa Senators four games to one.
Thomas Vanek led the team in goals with 43, while Daniel Briere followed up with 63 assists and 95 points. Vanek also led the team with a +47 plus/minus rating.
It was the second straight season the Sabres made the trip to the Eastern Conference Finals. And what jumps out about the 2006-07 team is that they made another deep playoff run after suffering through heavy roster turnover. Defenseman Jaroslav Spacek was the only new signee following a veteran exodus that included key contributors like J.P. Dumont and Jay McKee, forcing the team to rely on younger talent.
They did not disappoint. Led by goaltender Ryan Miller, defenseman Brian Campbell, and Briere, the Sabres improved upon their strong showing in 2005-06. To date, this is the last season they won a playoff series.
1979-80
The Sabres positioned themselves to make a deep playoff run after winning the Prince of Wales Trophy, then awarded to the Wales’ Regular Season Conference Champions. Led by team captain and NHL Goals Leader Danny Gare, the Sabres’ accomplishments ranged from team to individual.
Bob Sauve and Don Edwards shared the Vezina Trophy, and they formed a dangerous one-two combo at goaltender. Edwards earned honors as an NHL Second-Team All-Star while Sauve recorded the lowest goals against average.
Jim Schoenfeld shined as a defenseman, earning the NHL Plus/Minus Award and and Second-Team All-Star honors. Gare was also a Second-Team All-Star, but for his offensive efforts.
At the time, the 1979-80 Buffalo Sabres were the best single-season team next to only the 1974-75 team that appeared in the Stanley Cup Finals in a loss to the Philadelphia Flyers. While the Sabres fell to the Islanders in the playoffs that season, they still boasted a strong showing in the postseason, winning 3 games to 1 over the Vancouver Canucks before sweeping the Chicago Black Hawks.
2005-06
Besides the next two seasons in this slideshow, the 2005-06 Buffalo Sabres Season may be the most exciting of the bunch. It was a year they struggled out of the gate, digging themselves into a 7-8 hole. After trailing the Ottawa Senators by 11 points in November, the Sabres found their groove, going 37-8-5 over their next 50 contests and threatening the red-hot Senators.
It was also a season in which injuries and misfortune hit the team, yet they fought through adversity and finished the year with 110 points, the first time they encroached the 100-point barrier since they put up 103 in 1983-84.
The Sabres ultimately took fourth place in the Eastern Conference, 13 points behind the Senators. However, they would defeat the Sens 4 games to 1 in the Eastern Conference Semi-Finals before falling to the Carolina Hurricanes in the following round.
However, the Sabres got some satisfaction off the ice, as head coach Lindy Ruff became the franchise’s second coach to win the Jack Adams Award (Ted Nolan, 1996-97). He narrowly defeated Canes coach Peter Laviolette for the honor.
1974-75
The French Connection (Gilbert Perreault, Rick Martin, Rene Robert) led not just the Sabres in scoring during the team’s first-ever trip to the Stanley Cup Finals; the young trio paced the league in most scoring categories. And in doing so, the Sabres took the Adams Division with a franchise record 113 points, a record that stood untouched until the 2006-07 team tied it.
What makes this season more special is that the Sabres accomplished so much through adversity, as their captain and one of the 100 Greatest Players in NHL History, Tim Horton, was killed in a single-car crash on February 21st.
They responded by scoring 354 goals (second in the NHL), and their 49 wins ranked second only to the Philadelphia Flyers. With 113 points total, they finished in a three-way tie for the league’s highest with the Flyers and Montreal Canadiens.
The Sabres met the Flyers in the Stanley Cup Finals after cruising past the Chicago Black Hawks and Canadiens. However, they lost in six games and would not see another Finals appearance until 1998-99.
1998-99
Perhaps the most exciting season in Buffalo Sabres history. While the teams previously mentioned in this article ranked among the league’s best, the 1998-99 Sabres are the Cinderella Team, having the second-lowest point total among teams who qualified for the playoffs in the Eastern Conference – only the Pittsburgh Penguins had fewer.
And they went to work in the playoffs, sweeping the 103-point Senators, beating the Boston Bruins in six games, and their stunning win on May 23rd set the stage for their upset 4 games to 1 win over the Toronto Maple Leafs. Unfortunately, their run ended in a loss to the Dallas Stars in the Stanley Cup Finals; but not before the Sabres gave the eventual champions all they could handle.
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Down 3 games to 2 in Game 6, it took the Stars three overtime periods to finish off the Sabres. And it gives Buffalo a lot to be proud of, holding the Stars off as long as they could in what was the longest Cup-winning game in league history, and the longest in the Finals since Game 1 of 1990 between the Bruins and the Edmonton Oilers.
(All statistics courtesy of Hockey-Reference)