Buffalo Sabres: Top 10 best seasons in team history
The Buffalo Sabres have seen some lean seasons in the 2010s and early 2020s. But this franchise also has its fair share of glory days.
In 2021-22, the Buffalo Sabres posted one of the most memorable final two months of any regular season in a long time. They finished 16-9-3 in March and April 2022, totaling 35 points and giving their long-suffering fan base a reason for hope when October 2022 rolled around.
The 2021-22 season was far from being one of the Sabres best. But their run in March and April may have brought some flashbacks to the team’s glory days, which started shortly after the franchise’s founding in 1970.
Today’s list details those 10 most memorable seasons, from the 1974-75 season in which the Buffalo Sabres earned their first trip to the Stanley Cup Final to their first Presidents’ Trophy in 2006-07.
Are you ready to count down the top 10 seasons in Buffalo Sabres franchise history? Let’s get started, beginning with the least recent.
Top 10 best seasons in Buffalo Sabres franchise history: Season #1 – 1974-75 (Lost Stanley Cup Final)
The season did not end the way the Buffalo Sabres wanted. But they did end up making their first Stanley Cup Final after earning their first Adams Division, Prince of Wales Trophy, and Wales Conference Championship.
Led by head coach Floyd Smith, the Sabres finished 49-16-15, posting an incredible 28-6-6 record at home. It was a renaissance for the Sabres, since in 1973-74, they failed to build on their successful 1972-73 season that saw them make a playoff run.
During the regular season, fans will also remember the 1974-75 team as one that received plenty of honors. The famed French Connection (Gilbert Perreault, Rene Robert, and Rick Martin) once again finished near the top of the league in many statistical categories while Martin, Robert, Jerry Korab, and Don Luce earned spots in the 1975 NHL All-Star Game.
Luce also won the Bill Masterton Trophy, which recognizes the player who best shows traits that include perseverance and sportsmanship during the season. Peter McNab paced the league in shooting percentage, at 24.4 percent, and both Martin and Robert earned spots on the NHL All-Star Team at left winger and right winger, respectively.
And while the 1975 Stanley Cup Final did not go the way the Buffalo Sabres planned, losing four games to two to the Philadelphia Flyers, it was one of the most distinguished of the era. Between 1965 and 1979, the Final included either the Montreal Canadiens or the Boston Bruins. All except for 1975.
1975-76 (Lost in Quarterfinals)
The Buffalo Sabres were not as hot in 1975-76 as they were the previous season. And unfortunately, they did not advance beyond the Quarterfinals, losing to the New York Islanders four games to two.
Once again, the French Connection paced the team, with Gilbert Perrault sinking 113 points, 44 goals, and 69 assists in 80 games. Rene Robert and Rick Martin both put up 87 and 86 points, respectively. However, Danny Gare led the team in goals scored, finding twine 50 times.
This time, it was Perrault receiving recognition on the NHL All-Star Team, taking a spot on the Second Team. Martin also joined Perreault on the Second Team, while Jerry Korab, Martin, and Craig Ramsay each played in the 1976 All-Star Game. Floyd Smith also served as the coach in that contest.
The Sabres would maintain their success from the 1975-76 season as the decade waned. The next season, they logged 104 points before again losing in the Quarterfinals. When 1977-78 rolled around, the Sabres notched 105 points, but saw yet another exit in the Quarterfinals. 1978-79 finished with the franchise logging just 88 points and a loss in the Preliminary Round.
Then came the 1979-80 season, in which a 110-point outburst gave the Buffalo Sabres a new hope. Let’s check it out.
1979-80 (Lost in Semifinals)
Between 1974 and 1981, the Prince of Wales Trophy went to the team in the conference that posted the best record points-wise in the regular season. That year, it was the Buffalo Sabres. And besides the Prince of Wales Trophy, numerous players won individual awards.
Bob Sauve and Don Edwards shared the Vezina Trophy, while Jim Schoenfeld won the NHL Plus/Minus Award. Once again, Gilbert Perreault led the Sabres in scoring with 106 points, but it was Danny Gare who won the honor of co-leading the league in goals, with 56. Gare also earned Second Team NHL All-Star honors and he also played in the 1980 All-Star Game.
Edwards and Schoenfeld joined Gare as Second Team All-Stars, The duo, along with Perreault, earned a spot in the 1980 NHL All-Star Game. The Buffalo Sabres put up 110 points that season, posting a 47-17-16 record. They continued to dominate at home, finishing 27-5-8.
Their 318 goals for averaged out to an astounding 3.975 per game, and they allowed just 201 goals, good for a GAA of 2.5. Bob Sauve would allow just 2.36 goals per game, the lowest in the NHL that season.
1980-81 (Lost in Quarterfinal)
The 1980-81 Buffalo Sabres did not see the same level of success in the regular season that they saw in 1979-80. However, they finished with a record of 39-20-21, good for 99 points. Danny Gare paced the team with 85 points and 46 goals while Gilbert Perreault played in just 56 contests, but still managed 59 points and 20 goals.
Individually, the Sabres were rather modest, with no player winning a major award or enjoying NHL All-Star honors. However, they did have two players earn a trip to the 1981 All-Star Game. Gare and Bill Hajt saw their names called, but only Gare played. Scotty Bowman served as coach of the Wales Conference.
Despite putting up just 99 points that season, the Buffalo Sabres ended up winning the Adams Division. They went on to sweep the Vancouver Canucks in the Preliminary Round of the 1981 Stanley Cup Playoffs before losing four games to one to the Minnesota North Stars.
Overall, it was not the best season on this top ten list. But with a division title and a win over their expansion brethren in the playoffs, the 1980-81 season remains one of the best in franchise history.
1982-83 (Lost in Division Finals)
The 1982-83 Buffalo Sabres recorded just a modest 89 points and finished third in the Adams Division. But they did manage to make a playoff run that included a three to zero sweep of the Montreal Canadiens in the Division Semifinals before losing four games to three to the Boston Bruins in the Division Finals.
And as he had done for so many seasons, the 32-year-old Gilbert Perreault paced the team in scoring with 76 points while Tony McKegney took the lead with 36 goals. Mike Ramsey went on to play in the 1983 All-Star Game.
This season was also notable as it would be future Hall of Famer Phil Housley’s first with the team. Housley went on to finish second in the Calder Memorial Trophy voting and he also secured a First Team spot on the NHL All-Rookie Team. It was also the first season for future Hall of Famer Dave Andreychuk.
While the Buffalo Sabres did not pull off the greatest regular season performance, they made things exciting toward the end. Had they won their series against the Bruins, the Sabres would have played the New York Islanders in the Conference Finals, a team they beat twice in the regular season.
1996-97 (Lost in Conference Semifinals)
While the Buffalo Sabres had some successful seasons between 1983-84 and 1995-96, they had little going for them, winning just one playoff series in that timespan. I also nearly added the 1983-84 season, in which they finished with 103 points – but a sweep to the Quebec Nordiques in the 1984 Stanley Cup Playoffs kept them off the list.
So here we are in 1996-97, in which the Sabres enjoyed their first Northeast Division title since 1980-81 and the second seed, logging just 92 points. They won in a thrilling Quarterfinal series against the Ottawa Senators before losing to the Philadelphia Flyers four games to one in the Semifinals.
As had been the case since he joined the Sabres, Dominik Hasek once again enjoyed a dominant season. He finished 37-20-10 and posted a 0.930 save percentage. Hasek also enjoyed a GAA of just 2.27 and he won the Hart Memorial Trophy, the Lester B. Pearson Award, the Vezina Trophy, and he also received NHL First Team All-Star honors.
Michael Peca also won the Selke Trophy as the league’s best defensive forward. And while they were non-hockey-related, both Pat LaFontaine and owner Seymour Knox won a share of the Lester Patrick Trophy, which recognizes those in the NHL who make the most memorable contributions to ice hockey in America. Head coach Ted Nolan would win the Jack Adams Award.
1997-98 (Lost in Conference Finals)
Arguably the third-best season on this list, the Buffalo Sabres had 89 points in the regular season, finishing third in the Northeast Division and sixth in the Eastern Conference. Despite their lower playoff seeding, the Sabres shocked the Philadelphia Flyers in the Quarterfinals, winning four games to one before they swept the seventh-seeded Montreal Canadiens.
Luck, however, was not on the Sabres side, as they lost four games to two against the Washington Capitals and missed out on their first Prince of Wales Trophy since 1979-80. Despite the frustrating finish, goaltender Dominik Hasek still had a season to remember, again winning the Hart, Pearson, and Vezina Awards, while he secured another NHL First Team All-Star honor.
Hasek finished 33-23-13 that season, logging a GAA of just 2.09 and a 0.932 save percentage. A defensive team if there ever was one, Hasek carried the Buffalo Sabres since Miroslav Satan led the team in points with 46, including 22 goals. As a team, the Sabres scored just 211 goals, the second lowest number of all Eastern Conference playoff teams.
1998-99 (Lost in Stanley Cup Final)
The 1998-99 season may be the best in Buffalo Sabres history to date. But you wouldn’t know it by looking at the regular season alone, as they fell to the seventh seed and only secured 207 goals, the latter being the lowest of all Eastern Conference playoff teams. But just as in 1997-98, it was defense-first, as they allowed only 175 goals, also the lowest in the conference.
Then, they pulled off a shocker, sweeping the Ottawa Senators in the Eastern Conference Quarterfinals. The Sabres played the sixth-seeded Boston Bruins next and took the series four games to two. Finally, the Sabres squared off against none other than that Team Up North, the Toronto Maple Leafs, and ended up winning the series four games to one.
Unfortunately, the playoffs would not end the way Buffalo Sabres fans would have liked, as they fell to the Dallas Stars in the Stanley Cup Final in six games in one of the most controversial finishes in NHL History. But more on that in another article.
Anyway, Sabres fans can at least rest assured that it took three overtimes and a controversial finish to eliminate their team. The 1998-99 Season was the last time the Sabres won the Prince of Wales Trophy to date. It was also a year where Hasek once again took home the Vezina Trophy and yet another First Team NHL All-Star Award.
Satan again paced the team with 40 goals and 66 total points. He created a dangerous dynamic duo with none other than Michael Peca, who finished second on the team with 56 points and 27 goals. And while the Sabres wouldn’t reach the same level of success in the following seasons, they did make two more deep playoff runs in their history.
2005-06 (Lost in Conference Finals)
The 2005-06 Buffalo Sabres season was part of a new era for the franchise. Gone were the hard-nosed defensive teams of the Hasek era. But that didn’t mean the era of franchise goaltenders were finished, as Ryan Miller took charge that season, posting a 30-14-3 record en route to a 2.60 GAA and 0.914 save percentage.
He split time that season with Martin Biron, who finished 21-8-3 with a GAA of 2.88 and a 0.905 save percentage. Miller took charge in the playoffs, and while his GAA averaged out to just 2.56, it wasn’t enough to supplant the eventual Stanley Cup winner, the Carolina Hurricanes in the Eastern Conference Finals.
But it was an exciting playoff run nonetheless, and one in which the Sabres knocked off the Philadelphia Flyers in six games and the Ottawa Senators in five. Maxim Afinogenov led the team in scoring with 73 points and 22 goals while Chris Drury topped the Sabres in goals scored with 30.
Head coach Lindy Ruff won the Jack Adams Award, becoming the first Buffalo Sabres coach to win the honor since Ted Nolan in 1996-97.
2006-07 (Lost in Conference Finals)
And finally, we got the 2006-07 Buffalo Sabres season. Besides winning the Northeast Division, the Sabres compiled 113 points, allowing them to win their first and only Presidents’ Trophy to date.
And did the Sabres start out hot, posting a 10-0-1 record in October. And by the end of November, this team was 19-3-2. Even more impressive, they did not record their 10th loss in regulation until January 11th, 2007. As January was the team’s leanest month, they would lose just eight more times from February 1st to April 8th, securing the top seed in the 2007 Stanley Cup Playoffs.
The Sabres, if anything, got even hotter when the playoffs commenced, defeating the New York Islanders in five games before they knocked off the Rangers. But unfortunately, they collapsed in the Eastern Conference Finals, dropping their first three games before ultimately losing in five to the Ottawa Senators.
It was, however, overall, a great season for the likes of Ryan Miller, who secured a 0.911 save percentage and a 2.73 GAA. Daniel Briere led the team in scoring with an astounding 95 points. He would also lead the Sabres in assists while Thomas Vanek paced everyone in goals with 43.
More. Top 10 scorers in franchise history. light
The Sabres would go on to record two more playoff appearances following this memorable season before the dark days arrived. But with the likes of a young core in place plus a regime intent on building in-house and through the NHL Draft, perhaps the Buffalo Sabres of the 2020s will force me to make a few adjustments to this list. Let’s err on the side of optimism.
(Statistics provided by Hockey-Reference)