Who are the five most forgotten Buffalo Sabres of all-time?
Every NHL franchise has a laundry list of forgotten heroes. So who were some valuable Buffalo Sabres that few fans are likely to remember?
The Buffalo Sabres had some incredible players over their past 50-plus seasons that have faded into obscurity. So compiling a list of forgotten players was quite the task, as most who ever put on an NHL uniform are easy to forget. Maybe they had a moment or two in the NHL limelight, but not much more.
So the players listed below and in the following slides are those who contributed significantly to the Sabres organization, but their names do not rise to the surface in the same way as many others. Therefore, they are often overlooked, despite their solid performances in the Queen City. Who made the top five on this list? Keep reading to find out more.
The five most forgotten Buffalo Sabres of all-time: Player #1 – Stu Barnes
Barnes is a former fourth overall pick who saw time with several NHL franchises. He didn’t take the ice for the Buffalo Sabres until late in the 1998-99 season, in which he played 17 games and compiled four points.
Despite the meager start, Barnes became a moderately productive player for Buffalo in the 1999 Stanley Cup Playoffs and eventually served as a team captain in 2002-03. He only played for the franchise until then, spending parts of five and just three whole seasons with the Sabres.
During his time in Buffalo, he totaled 310 games, 172 points, 67 goals, and 105 assists. Barnes will never go down as one of the best in team history. But he was a serviceable player for the Sabres who helped fuel their 1999 run to the Stanley Cup Final.
Adam Mair
Like Barnes, Mair didn’t play for the Buffalo Sabres until he already made stops elsewhere. And he was part of those unforgettable mid-2000s teams that enjoyed deep playoff runs. But because of the likes of Jason Pominville, Thomas Vanek, and Ryan Miller, to name a few, Mair often gets lost in the shuffle.
He was a fourth-liner and an enforcer on those teams, never totaling over 11 minutes of average total ice time during his seven seasons in Buffalo. While he had only 105 points with the organization, he was a well-known hitter and was not afraid to fight regardless of the situation.
That said, his most memorable career moment came when he was a member of the Los Angeles Kings when he fought Chris Neil of the Ottawa Senators. Instead of waiting for a situation when the two were together on the ice, Mair left the bench. The incident caused the NHL to suspend him for 10 games.
Christian Ruuttu
A former seventh round pick, Ruuttu actually had a memorable rookie season with the Buffalo Sabres that saw him finish sixth for the Calder Trophy. He ended up scoring 331 points, 101 goals, and 230 assists in 438 games in Buffalo, and his efforts landed him a spot in the 1988 NHL All-Star Game en route to a 71-point, 26-goal season.
He was one of the better players during what were arguably the franchise’s most meager days until their record-breaking playoff drought that started in 2011-12. For this reason, he’s rarely mentioned as one of the better players in franchise history.
Ruuttu’s case is rather common in the scope of many NHL franchises that saw dry periods. Die-hard fans will remember him. But those who started following the team after his departure to the Chicago Blackhawks in 1992 may have never heard of Ruuttu, despite what he was able to accomplish on the ice.
Richard Smehlik
A forgotten fifth-round pick, Smehlik was a key contributor to the successful Buffalo Sabres teams of the late 1990s. And while he will never go down as a great player, the Sabres always seemed to be more productive as a unit during his time on the ice, as he was often on the positive end of the plus-minus statistic, even during those lean seasons between 1994 and 1996.
Early in his career, Smehlik even showed signs of becoming a two-way player, given his 41 points, 14 goals, 27 assists, 13.2 shooting percentage, and plus-22 in 1993-94, all career highs. And while he did not emulate that success later on, he remained an integral part of the team until he left following the 2001-02 season.
Smehlik will go down as one of those role players whose overall moderate production on the stat sheet does not reflect the value he held when he played in the Queen City. And that is why he made this list.
Maxim Afinogenov
Concussions were ultimately responsible for shortening Afinogenov’s career. But he still managed nine solid seasons with the Buffalo Sabres, mainly playing on the lower lines. He finished 18th for the Calder during a rookie campaign that saw him score 34 points, 16 goals, and 18 assists in 65 games.
His best scoring seasons didn’t come until those exciting deep playoff runs of the mid-2000s. In 2005-06, while the Sabres were busy shocking the NHL universe, Afinogenov did his part with 73 points, 22 goals, and 51 assists in 77 games. He put up 61 points in an encore performance in 2006-07, with 61 points, 23 goals, and 38 assists in 56 games.
Afinogenov spent most of his career in Buffalo as a no-frills player apart from his solid rookie campaign and excellent seasons when winning was the norm in the Queen City. He played for one season in Atlanta, scoring 61 points in 82 games, before retiring.
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Overall, you can make several lists of forgotten Buffalo Sabres. But the five names listed above stand out more than the rest. So who is on your list of forgotten Sabres? Let me know who you got in the comments.
Article Source: Top 10 Most Underrated Buffalo Sabres of All-Time by Chris Owen
(Statistics provided by Hockey-Reference)