Buffalo Sabres fandom may be nearing an all-time low as the 2025-26 season approaches because of the team's 14-year playoff drought, which is the longest streak in NHL history. It wasn't always this way, though. Many Hall of Fame talents have worn and excelled in the blue and gold, providing memorable moments for generations of Sabres fans.
It's a group that includes the likes of Dave Andreychuk, Grant Fuhr, Dale Hawerchuk and Tim Horton, and those are Hall of Fame inductees who didn't even make the list of best single-season performances in the franchise's storied 55-year existence.
Fans in Buffalo hope the tide will eventually turn back in the Sabres' favor, preferably before the careers of Rasmus Dahlin and Tage Thompson begin to fade from their apex. For now, let's look back at some better days in Sabres history.
7. Ryan Miller (2009-10)
Notable Stats: 41-18-4 record, 2.22 GAA, .929 SV%, Vezina Trophy
Buffalo was coming off two straight playoff-less seasons following the departures of Chris Drury and Daniel Briere when Miller almost single-handedly willed them back to the postseason. It was the same campaign where he carried Team USA to the men's hockey Gold Medal Game in the Olympics.
Miller finished the year with 36 goals saved above average, which was eight more than any other netminder, per Hockey Reference. He also compiled five shutouts and finished fourth in Hart Trophy voting for NHL MVP. His win, goals against average and save percentage marks were all career-bests.
6. Phil Housley (1983-84)
Notable Stats: 31 goals, 46 assists, All-Star Game
Housley actually scored more points (81; the Sabres' all-time record for a defenseman) during the 1989-90 season, but the fact he tallied 77 points at 19 years old is more impressive. That's the highest point total by a 19-year-old blueliner in NHL history, according to QuantHockey.
Buffalo's 1982 first-round pick also scored six game-winning goals, which was tied for the third-highest mark on the team behind only a pair of legendary forwards, Andreychuk and Gilbert Perreault, who each had seven.
5. Gilbert Perreault (1975-76)
Notable Stats: 44 goals, 69 assists, Second Team NHL All-Star
Perreault was the Sabres' first pick in franchise history. He proceeded to play his entire 17-year NHL career in Buffalo and still holds several key team records. The 1975-76 campaign stood above the rest statistically with career-high totals in goals, assists and points.
Although the 113 points are the third-highest mark in Sabres history and the most of the center's illustrious career, he wasn't selected to the All-Star Game. It was the only time during a five-year stretch he didn't receive that honor, though he was named a Second Team All-Star at season's end.
4. Dominik Hasek (1997-98)
Notable Stats: 33-23-13 record, 2.09 GAA, .932 SV%, Vezina Trophy, Hart Trophy
We could have named this article the seven best single-season performances by Hasek and had more than enough content. Amid an era where Sabres fans beg their goalies to steal a game or two, it's easy to yearn for the days The Dominator was doing it on a nightly basis in Buffalo.
Just like Miller, one of Hasek's best seasons came during a year where he also shined for his national team at the Olympics. He led the Czech Republic to a gold medal at the 1998 Nagano Games, highlighted by a shutout in the final. He returned to the Sabres and captured his second straight NHL MVP.
3. Alexander Mogilny (1992-93)
Notable Stats: 76 goals, 51 assists, 11 game-winning goals, All-Star Game
It was recently announced Mogilny will finally take his rightful place in the Hockey Hall of Fame in November. It's a long overdue honor that should have almost been set in stone after his 76-goal season, which still stands as the fifth-highest total in league history.
Mogilny wasn't just a one-dimensional goal-scorer that season, either. His 51 assists were the second-highest mark of his career. He also finished eighth in voting for the Lady Byng Memorial Trophy, which is based on a player's sportsmanship.
2. Pat LaFontaine (1992-93)
Notable Stats: 53 goals, 95 assists, All-Star Game
LaFontaine's 148 points are a Sabres single-season record, and it may never be broken barring some significant NHL rule changes. Daniel Briere (95 points; 2006-07) and Thompson (94 points; 2022-23) are the highest totals during the current millennium.
The combination of LaFontaine and Mogilny was essentially unstoppable during the 1992-93 campaign, and the American center was never better from a playmaking perspective. His 95 helpers were nearly double the next highest total of his career (51).
1. Dominik Hasek (1998-99)
Notable Stats: 30-18-14 record, 1.87 GAA, .937 SV%, Vezina Trophy, All-Star Game
Hasek is the best goalie in hockey history. That's no disrespect to Martin Brodeur, Patrick Roy, Ken Dryden or any of the other contenders, but the Czech goaltender was a one-man force who pushed a Sabres group built more on grit than talent into Stanley Cup contention on an annual basis. They reached the 1999 Cup Final before falling short to the Dallas Stars in controversial ("No Goal") fashion.
The 1998-99 season marked Hasek's third straight Vezina win, and his .937 save percentage is the sixth-best mark in NHL history. He played 64 games, while no one above him on the list played more than 57. The 1.87 goals against average was the best of his decorated career.
He's the only player to make this list twice, and that's the way it should be. It's just too bad the "Hardest Working Team in Hockey" could never bring a Cup to Buffalo during his dominant run.