The Buffalo Sabres rank 25th among NHL teams in average attendance so far this season, but Western New York has long been one of North America's best hockey markets. Unfortunately, a 14-year playoff drought, the longest streak in league history, has sapped a lot of that enthusiasm.
Alexander Mogilny, who was inducted in the Hockey Hall of Fame on Monday night, remembers better days in Sabres franchise history.
"Buffalo Sabres, where I learned the true meaning of resilience in that Blue and Gold jersey and was honored to wear a captain patch," Mogilny said during his enshrinement speech. "What a great hockey town."
Mogilny played in Buffalo from 1989 through 1995. He also made stops with the Vancouver Canucks, New Jersey Devils and Toronto Maple Leafs during a 16-year NHL career.
Alexander Mogilny owns a special place in Buffalo Sabres team history
Mogilny made worldwide news when he defected from the Soviet Union to join the Sabres amid political tensions, and he quickly earned fan-favorite status in Buffalo.
The dynamic winger produced one of the best seasons in franchise history in 1992-93 when he recorded 76 goals and 51 assists for a career-high 127 points. The 76 goals still represent the Sabres team record and are tied for the fifth-highest single-season total in NHL history.
Amazingly, no other Sabre has ever lit the lamp more than 56 goals in a season (Danny Gare in 1979-80), and teams no longer score at the rate they did during Mogilny's prime years, so his spot atop the record book may stand the test of time.
NHL teams are averaging 3.08 goals per game so far in 2025-26, per Hockey Reference. In 1992-93, that number was 3.63, so more than a half-goal higher per contest.
Mogilny finished his six-year run in Buffalo with 444 points (211 goals and 233 assists) while making 381 appearances for the Blue and Gold.
Meanwhile, the latter stages of the Mogilny-Pat LaFontaine era of the Sabres led into the peak of the Dominik Hasek era. That was followed a short time later by the Chris Drury-Daniel Briere-Ryan Miller era. Buffalo hockey fans were eating good.
Sadly, those type of memorable runs of exciting hockey have gone dormant.
The Sabres haven't reached the playoffs since 2011 and there's no end in sight to the misery. Buffalo, which enjoyed a few hopeful moments during the initial stages of the current campaign, has lost six of its last seven games to reach last place in the Eastern Conference.
It's a common place of residency for the Blue and Gold during the drought, but it hasn't produced the endless stream of high-impact prospects you'd expect when always drafting in the lottery.
In the end, another regime change may be on the horizon for the Sabres, who hope to one day find another player capable of making the incredible impact of Mogilny.