Prior to the 2001-02 season, the Buffalo Sabres made the tough decision to trade away the greatest goaltender that has played for the Sabres in Dominik Hasek. They would send him to the Detroit Red Wings in a sign that signaled the Sabres didn't believe they were in a position to compete for a Stanley Cup.
By trading Hasek, when they did, they gave him a chance to win his first-career Stanley Cup. While Hasek knew what the future looked like, the Sabres had to figure out who was going to replace an elite goaltender like Hasek.
Amazingly, they found similar production from Martin Biron, who had to feel immense pressure following a goaltender of Hasek's caliber. While the Sabres would struggle that season, Biron played very well and really kept Buffalo in more games than they probably should have been.
Martin Biron had a career season with the Buffalo Sabres in 2001-02
Prior to this season, Biron had been mostly a backup goaltender and had only 68 games played to his career to that point. However, the Sabres would lean on him heavily, and he played in 72 games that season with a 31-28-10 record.
Biron would finish with a very good save percentage of .915 and a goals against average of only 2.22 with four shutouts. He was tested though that season and finished eighth in the entire NHL in terms of shots faced with 1,781.
As the season went along, he seemed to get better and in the final 21 games he played he had three of his four shutouts and allowed only 37 goals over that time frame with a save percentage of .930.
It would be the first time in six seasons that the Buffalo Sabres would not make the playoffs and in fact, the Sabres finished last in the Northeast Division. Biron remained the starter for a few more seasons after that and was good but didn't play at the level he did his first season as a starter.
However, there is nothing that can be taken away from Martin Biron's performance that season, especially with what he was asked to do in replacing a legend like Dominik Hasek.