2005β06 Buffalo Sabres | |
---|---|
Division | 2nd Northeast |
Conference | 4th Eastern |
2005β06 record | 52β24β6 |
Home record | 27β11β3 |
Road record | 25β13β3 |
Goals for | 281 |
Goals against | 239 |
Team information | |
General manager | Darcy Regier |
Coach | Lindy Ruff |
Captain |
Daniel Briere and Chris Drury |
Alternate captains |
Mike Grier Jochen Hecht Jay McKee |
Arena | HSBC Arena |
Average attendance | 16,886 |
Minor league affiliate(s) | Rochester Americans |
Team leaders | |
Goals | Chris Drury (30) |
Assists | Maxim Afinogenov (51) |
Points | Maxim Afinogenov (73) |
Penalty minutes | Andrew Peters (100) |
Plus/minus | Dmitri Kalinin (+14) |
Wins | Ryan Miller (30) |
Goals against average | Ryan Miller (2.60) |
The 2005β06 Buffalo Sabres season was the 36th season of operation, 35th season of play, for the National Hockey League franchise that was established on May 22, 1970. [1] The season not only saw the team qualify for the Stanley Cup playoffs for the first time since the 2000β01 season, but saw them advance to Game 7 of the Eastern Conference finals before losing to the eventual Stanley Cup champions, the Carolina Hurricanes.
After starting the season 7β8β0 through their first 15 games by November 9, 2005, the Sabres were sitting in fifth place in the Northeast Division and were trailing the Northeast Division-leading Ottawa Senators by 11 points. The Sabres then went on to have only eight regulation losses out of their next 50 games; by March 16, 2006, they had improved to 44β16β5 to move within one point of the Northeast Division-leading Senators. Despite having only two players to play all 82 games ( Ales Kotalik and Henrik Tallinder), Buffalo would finish the season with a 52β24β6 record for 110 points and a fourth-place finish heading into the playoffs. The season was the first 100βpoint season in 23 years and tied the 1979β80 club for the second-best point total in franchise history. The Sabres were one of five teams to reach the century mark in power-play goals during the regular season, scoring 101. [2] The Sabres also finished with 25 road wins, another franchise record.
The Sabres were recognized on June 22, 2006, at the NHL Awards Ceremony, when Lindy Ruff edged Hurricanes coach Peter Laviolette to win the Jack Adams Award as Coach of the Year in the closest vote in the award's history. Ruff was the second Sabres coach to win the award.
On January 14, 2006, the Sabres defeated the Los Angeles Kings at home by a score of 10β1. [3] Jochen Hecht and Jason Pominville each had hat-tricks in the game. It was the first time that the Sabres had scored 10 goals in a regular-season game since February 24, 1993, when they defeated the Detroit Red Wings at home by a score of 10β7. [4]
No. | CR | GP | W | L | OTL | GF | GA | Pts | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 1 | Ottawa Senators | 82 | 52 | 21 | 9 | 314 | 211 | 113 |
2 | 4 | Buffalo Sabres | 82 | 52 | 24 | 6 | 281 | 239 | 110 |
3 | 7 | Montreal Canadiens | 82 | 42 | 31 | 9 | 243 | 247 | 93 |
4 | 9 | Toronto Maple Leafs | 82 | 41 | 33 | 8 | 257 | 270 | 90 |
5 | 13 | Boston Bruins | 82 | 29 | 37 | 16 | 230 | 266 | 74 |
[5]
Note: CR = Conference rank; GP = Games played; W = Wins; L = Losses; OTL = Overtime/Shootout loss; GF = Goals for; GA = Goals against; Pts = Points
Bolded teams qualified for the playoffs.
R | Div | GP | W | L | OTL | GF | GA | Pts | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Z- Ottawa Senators | NE | 82 | 52 | 21 | 9 | 314 | 211 | 113 |
2 | Y- Carolina Hurricanes | SE | 82 | 52 | 22 | 8 | 294 | 260 | 112 |
3 | Y- New Jersey Devils | AT | 82 | 46 | 27 | 9 | 242 | 229 | 101 |
4 | X- Buffalo Sabres | NE | 82 | 52 | 24 | 6 | 242 | 239 | 110 |
5 | X- Philadelphia Flyers | AT | 82 | 45 | 26 | 11 | 267 | 259 | 101 |
6 | X- New York Rangers | AT | 82 | 44 | 26 | 12 | 257 | 215 | 100 |
7 | X- Montreal Canadiens | NE | 82 | 42 | 31 | 9 | 243 | 247 | 93 |
8 | X- Tampa Bay Lightning | SE | 82 | 43 | 33 | 6 | 252 | 260 | 92 |
8.5 | |||||||||
9 | Toronto Maple Leafs | NE | 82 | 41 | 33 | 8 | 257 | 270 | 90 |
10 | Atlanta Thrashers | SE | 82 | 41 | 33 | 8 | 281 | 275 | 90 |
11 | Florida Panthers | SE | 82 | 37 | 34 | 11 | 240 | 257 | 85 |
12 | New York Islanders | AT | 82 | 36 | 40 | 6 | 230 | 278 | 78 |
13 | Boston Bruins | NE | 82 | 29 | 37 | 16 | 230 | 266 | 74 |
14 | Washington Capitals | SE | 82 | 29 | 41 | 12 | 237 | 306 | 70 |
15 | Pittsburgh Penguins | AT | 82 | 22 | 46 | 14 | 244 | 316 | 58 |
Divisions: AT β Atlantic, NE β Northeast, SE β Southeast
Z β Clinched Conference; Y β Clinched Division; X β Clinched Playoff spot
The Buffalo Sabres earned the fourth seed in the Eastern Conference.
Buffalo defeated the Philadelphia Flyers in the first-round of the 2006 playoffs in six games. In the second round, the Sabres defeated top-seeded Ottawa in five games. A total of three victories in the series came in overtime, including the series-clinching Game 5, which was won on a short-handed goal by Jason Pominville to send Buffalo to the Eastern Conference Finals against the Carolina Hurricanes. It was the first time in NHL history that a series had been decided on a short-handed overtime goal.
Despite being without some or all of their four top defensemen ( Teppo Numminen, Dmitri Kalinin, Jay McKee and Henrik Tallinder), and their top powerplay scorer, Tim Connolly, who had 11 points in eight games in the playoffs, for much of the series, the Sabres fought back from a three-games-to-two deficit to force a seventh game by way of a 2β1 overtime win in Game 6. Buffalo led the Hurricanes 2β1 going into the final period of the deciding game but blew the lead early in the third and gave up two more late goals for a 4β2 final score.
2005β06 regular season [7] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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October: 7β4β0 (home: 4β1β0; road: 3β3β0)
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November: 8β5β1 (home: 4β3β1; road: 4β2β0)
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December: 11β2β1 (home: 5β1β0; road: 6β1β1)
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January: 6β4β1 (home: 2β2β1; road: 4β2β0)
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February: 4β0β2 (home: 3β0β1; road: 1β0β1)
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March: 9β7β1 (home: 6β3β0; road: 3β4β1)
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April: 7β2β0 (home: 3β1β0; road: 4β1β0)
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Legend:
Win (2 points) Loss (0 points) Overtime/shootout loss (1 point) |
2006 Stanley Cup playoffs [7] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Eastern Conference Quarterfinals vs. (5) Philadelphia Flyers β Sabres win 4β2
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Eastern Conference Semifinals vs. (1) Ottawa Senators β Sabres win 4β1
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Eastern Conference Finals vs. (2) Carolina Hurricanes β Hurricanes win 4β3
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Legend:
Win Loss |
Regular season | Playoffs | |||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
No. | Player | Pos | GP | G | A | Pts | +/- | PIM | GP | G | A | Pts | +/- | PIM |
61 | Maxim Afinogenov | RW | 77 | 22 | 51 | 73 | 6 | 84 | 18 | 3 | 5 | 8 | 3 | 10 |
23 | Chris Drury | C | 81 | 30 | 37 | 67 | β11 | 32 | 18 | 9 | 9 | 18 | 5 | 10 |
12 | Ales Kotalik | RW | 82 | 25 | 37 | 62 | β3 | 62 | 18 | 4 | 7 | 11 | 4 | 8 |
48 | Daniel Briere | C | 48 | 25 | 33 | 58 | 3 | 48 | 18 | 8 | 11 | 19 | 0 | 12 |
19 | Tim Connolly | C | 63 | 16 | 39 | 55 | 5 | 28 | 8 | 5 | 6 | 11 | 3 | 0 |
26 | Thomas Vanek | LW | 81 | 25 | 23 | 48 | β11 | 72 | 10 | 2 | 0 | 2 | β1 | 6 |
9 | Derek Roy | C | 70 | 18 | 28 | 46 | 1 | 57 | 18 | 5 | 10 | 15 | 7 | 16 |
51 | Brian Campbell | D | 79 | 12 | 32 | 44 | β14 | 16 | 18 | 0 | 6 | 6 | β5 | 12 |
55 | Jochen Hecht | LW | 64 | 18 | 24 | 42 | 10 | 34 | 15 | 2 | 6 | 8 | 4 | 8 |
17 | Jean-Pierre Dumont | RW | 54 | 20 | 20 | 40 | β1 | 38 | 18 | 7 | 7 | 14 | 1 | 14 |
27 | Teppo Numminen | D | 75 | 2 | 38 | 40 | 6 | 36 | 12 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 |
29 | Jason Pominville | RW | 57 | 18 | 12 | 30 | β4 | 22 | 18 | 5 | 5 | 10 | 0 | 8 |
28 | Paul Gaustad | C | 78 | 9 | 15 | 24 | 4 | 65 | 18 | 0 | 4 | 4 | 1 | 14 |
25 | Mike Grier | RW | 81 | 7 | 16 | 23 | β7 | 28 | 18 | 3 | 5 | 8 | 3 | 2 |
10 | Henrik Tallinder | D | 82 | 6 | 15 | 21 | 10 | 74 | 14 | 2 | 6 | 8 | 14 | 16 |
45 | Dmitri Kalinin | D | 55 | 2 | 16 | 18 | 14 | 54 | 8 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 2 |
5 | Toni Lydman | D | 75 | 1 | 16 | 17 | 9 | 82 | 18 | 1 | 4 | 5 | 14 | 18 |
74 | Jay McKee | D | 75 | 5 | 11 | 16 | 0 | 57 | 17 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 3 | 30 |
24 | Taylor Pyatt | LW | 41 | 6 | 6 | 12 | β1 | 33 | 14 | 0 | 5 | 5 | β2 | 10 |
8 | Rory Fitzpatrick | D | 56 | 4 | 5 | 9 | β18 | 50 | 11 | 0 | 4 | 4 | β1 | 16 |
22 | Adam Mair | C | 40 | 2 | 5 | 7 | β2 | 47 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | β2 | 0 |
13 | Jiri Novotny | C | 14 | 2 | 1 | 3 | β5 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | β1 | 0 |
20 | Daniel Paille | LW | 14 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 2 | β | β | β | β | β | β |
30 | Ryan Miller | G | 48 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 18 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
38 | Nathan Paetsch | D | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | β1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
47 | Chris Thorburn | C | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | β1 | 7 | β | β | β | β | β | β |
43 | Martin Biron | G | 35 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 10 | β | β | β | β | β | β | |
34 | Jeff Jillson | D | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | β4 | 0 |
35 | Mika Noronenβ‘ | G | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | β | β | β | β | β | β | |
76 | Andrew Peters | LW | 28 | 0 | 0 | 0 | β2 | 100 | β | β | β | β | β | β |
33 | Doug Janik | D | β | β | β | β | β | β | 5 | 1 | 0 | 1 | β2 | 2 |
Regular season | Playoffs | |||||||||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
No. | Player | GP | W | L | OT | SA | GA | GAA | SV% | SO | TOI | GP | W | L | SA | GA | GAA | SV% | SO | TOI |
30 | Ryan Miller | 48 | 30 | 14 | 3 | 1440 | 124 | 2.60 | .914 | 1 | 2862 | 18 | 11 | 7 | 522 | 48 | 2.56 | .908 | 1 | 1123 |
43 | Martin Biron | 35 | 21 | 8 | 3 | 980 | 93 | 2.88 | .905 | 1 | 1934 | β | β | β | β | β | β | β | β | β |
35 | Mika Noronenβ‘ | 4 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 77 | 12 | 4.27 | .844 | 0 | 169 | β | β | β | β | β | β | β | β | β |
Type | Award/honor | Recipient | Ref |
---|---|---|---|
League (annual) |
Jack Adams Award | Lindy Ruff | [8] |
League (in-season) |
NHL Defensive Player of the Week | Ryan Miller (December 26) | [9] |
Ryan Miller (February 6) | [10] |
The Sabres were involved in the following transactions from February 17, 2005, the day after the 2004β05 NHL season was officially cancelled, through June 19, 2006, the day of the deciding game of the 2006 Stanley Cup Finals. [11]
Date | Details | Ref | |
---|---|---|---|
July 30, 2005 | To
Calgary Flames 3rd-round pick in 2005 |
To Buffalo Sabres 3rd-round pick in 2005 4th-round pick in 2005 |
[12] |
July 30, 2005 | To
Washington Capitals 6th-round pick in 2006 |
To Buffalo Sabres Rights to Tim Kennedy |
[11] [13] |
August 25, 2005 | To Calgary Flames 3rd-round pick in 2006 |
To Buffalo Sabres Toni Lydman |
[14] |
October 4, 2005 | To
Chicago Blackhawks Milan Bartovic |
To Buffalo Sabres Michael Leighton |
[15] |
March 9, 2006 | To
Vancouver Canucks Mika Noronen |
To Buffalo Sabres 2nd-round pick in 2006 |
[16] |
Date | Player | Former team | Term | Via | Ref |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
August 4, 2005 | Teppo Numminen | Dallas Stars | 1-year | Free agency | [17] |
Date | Player | New team | Via [a] | Ref |
---|---|---|---|---|
February 24, 2005 | Jason Botterill | Retirement (UFA) | [19] | |
August 3, 2005 | Miroslav Satan | New York Islanders | Free agency (UFA) | [20] |
August 8, 2005 | Eric Boulton | Atlanta Thrashers | Free agency (UFA) | [21] |
August 18, 2005 | Norm Milley | Tampa Bay Lightning | Free agency (VI) | [22] |
August 31, 2005 | Brandon Smith | Rochester Americans ( AHL) | Free agency (VI) | [23] |
September 7, 2005 | Todd Rohloff | Tampa Bay Lightning | Free agency (UFA) | [24] |
September 10, 2005 | Brad Brown | Toronto Maple Leafs | Free agency (UFA) | [25] |
September 21, 2005 | Tom Askey | HIFK ( Liiga) | Free agency (VI) | [26] |
N/A | Ryan Jorde | Danbury Trashers ( UHL) | Free agency (UFA) | [27] |
Date | Player | Term | Contract type | Ref |
---|---|---|---|---|
July 28, 2005 | Clarke MacArthur | 3-year | Entry-level | [28] |
July 29, 2005 | Rory Fitzpatrick | 1-year | Option exercised | [29] |
Dmitri Kalinin | 1-year | Option exercised | [29] | |
August 4, 2005 | Taylor Pyatt | 1-year | Re-signing | [30] |
August 8, 2005 | Mike Grier | 1-year | Re-signing | [31] |
August 12, 2005 | Martin Biron | 1-year | Re-signing | [32] |
Brian Campbell | 1-year | Re-signing | [33] | |
Ryan Miller | 1-year | Re-signing | [33] | |
August 15, 2005 | Maxim Afinogenov | 1-year | Re-signing | [34] |
Milan Bartovic | 1-year | Re-signing | [34] | |
Daniel Briere | 1-year | Re-signing | [34] | |
Tim Connolly | 1-year | Re-signing | [34] | |
Jean-Pierre Dumont | 1-year | Re-signing | [34] | |
Paul Gaustad | 1-year | Re-signing | [34] | |
Jochen Hecht | 3-year | Re-signing | [35] | |
Jeff Jillson | 1-year | Re-signing | [34] | |
Ales Kotalik | 1-year | Re-signing | [34] | |
Jason Pominville | 1-year | Re-signing | [34] | |
Michael Ryan | 1-year | Re-signing | [34] | |
Henrik Tallinder | 1-year | Re-signing | [34] | |
September 9, 2005 | Jay McKee | 1-year | Re-signing | [36] |
September 14, 2005 | Sean McMorrow | Re-signing | [37] | |
October 11, 2005 | Mark Mancari | 3-year | Entry-level | [38] |
May 3, 2006 | Drew Stafford | 3-year | Entry-level | [39] |
June 5, 2006 | Mike Card | multi-year | Entry-level | [40] |
Michael Funk | multi-year | Entry-level | [40] | |
Dylan Hunter | multi-year | Entry-level | [40] | |
Patrick Kaleta | multi-year | Entry-level | [40] |
As there was no 2004β05 season to set the order for the draft, a lottery was held in which teams were assigned a number of balls, between one and three, based on the number of playoff appearances the team had had in the past three seasons. As the Sabres had missed the playoffs three consecutive seasons, they were one of only four teams which had the full allotment of three balls in the lottery. Despite this advantage, the Sabres only ended up with the 13th overall pick.
Buffalo's picks at the 2005 NHL Entry Draft in Ottawa, Ontario:
Round | # | Player | Nationality | NHL team | College/junior/club team (league) |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 13 | Marek Zagrapan (C) | Slovakia | Buffalo Sabres | Chicoutimi SaguenΓ©ens ( QMJHL) |
2 | 48 | Philipp Gogulla (W) | Germany | Buffalo Sabres | Kolner Haie ( DEL) |
3 | 87 | Marc-Andre Gragnani (D) | Canada |
Buffalo Sabres (from Calgary Flames) |
P.E.I. Rocket ( QMJHL) |
4 | 96 | Chris Butler (D) | United States |
Buffalo Sabres (from Calgary Flames) |
Sioux City Musketeers ( USHL) |
5 | 142 | Nathan Gerbe (C) | United States | Buffalo Sabres | US National Team Development Program |
6 | 182 | Adam Dennis (G) | Canada | Buffalo Sabres | London Knights ( OHL) |
6 | 191 | Vyacheslav Buravchikov (D) | Russia |
Buffalo Sabres (from Minnesota Wild) |
Krylia (Russia 2) |
7 | 208 | Matt Generous (D) | United States | Buffalo Sabres | New England Junior Falcons ( EJHL) |
7 | 227 | Andrew Orpik (D) | United States | Buffalo Sabres | Thayer Academy (USHS) |
the Flames traded two picks (Nos. 87 and 96) to Buffalo to move up to No. 74
But Kennedy would remain a Capital for just 30 minutes as the Sabres traded Washington a sixth-round pick in the 2006 NHL Entry Draft in exchange for his rights.
TAMPA BAY LIGHTNINGβSigned D Todd Rohloff to a one-year contract.
21-Sep-05: Signed with the HIFK Helsinki of the SM-Liiga (Finland).
BUFFALO SABRES--Signed C Clarke MacArthur to a three-year contract.
BUFFALO SABRES--Announced D Dmitri Kalinin exercised his one-year option. Exercised their one-year option on D Rory Fitzpatrick.
Aug 04, 2005 Re-signed as a restricted free agent by the Buffalo Sabres to a one-year contract.
14-Sep-05: Re-signed as a restricted free agent by the Buffalo Sabres.
Oct 11, 2005 Signed by the Buffalo Sabres to a three-year contract.
2005β06 Buffalo Sabres | |
---|---|
Division | 2nd Northeast |
Conference | 4th Eastern |
2005β06 record | 52β24β6 |
Home record | 27β11β3 |
Road record | 25β13β3 |
Goals for | 281 |
Goals against | 239 |
Team information | |
General manager | Darcy Regier |
Coach | Lindy Ruff |
Captain |
Daniel Briere and Chris Drury |
Alternate captains |
Mike Grier Jochen Hecht Jay McKee |
Arena | HSBC Arena |
Average attendance | 16,886 |
Minor league affiliate(s) | Rochester Americans |
Team leaders | |
Goals | Chris Drury (30) |
Assists | Maxim Afinogenov (51) |
Points | Maxim Afinogenov (73) |
Penalty minutes | Andrew Peters (100) |
Plus/minus | Dmitri Kalinin (+14) |
Wins | Ryan Miller (30) |
Goals against average | Ryan Miller (2.60) |
The 2005β06 Buffalo Sabres season was the 36th season of operation, 35th season of play, for the National Hockey League franchise that was established on May 22, 1970. [1] The season not only saw the team qualify for the Stanley Cup playoffs for the first time since the 2000β01 season, but saw them advance to Game 7 of the Eastern Conference finals before losing to the eventual Stanley Cup champions, the Carolina Hurricanes.
After starting the season 7β8β0 through their first 15 games by November 9, 2005, the Sabres were sitting in fifth place in the Northeast Division and were trailing the Northeast Division-leading Ottawa Senators by 11 points. The Sabres then went on to have only eight regulation losses out of their next 50 games; by March 16, 2006, they had improved to 44β16β5 to move within one point of the Northeast Division-leading Senators. Despite having only two players to play all 82 games ( Ales Kotalik and Henrik Tallinder), Buffalo would finish the season with a 52β24β6 record for 110 points and a fourth-place finish heading into the playoffs. The season was the first 100βpoint season in 23 years and tied the 1979β80 club for the second-best point total in franchise history. The Sabres were one of five teams to reach the century mark in power-play goals during the regular season, scoring 101. [2] The Sabres also finished with 25 road wins, another franchise record.
The Sabres were recognized on June 22, 2006, at the NHL Awards Ceremony, when Lindy Ruff edged Hurricanes coach Peter Laviolette to win the Jack Adams Award as Coach of the Year in the closest vote in the award's history. Ruff was the second Sabres coach to win the award.
On January 14, 2006, the Sabres defeated the Los Angeles Kings at home by a score of 10β1. [3] Jochen Hecht and Jason Pominville each had hat-tricks in the game. It was the first time that the Sabres had scored 10 goals in a regular-season game since February 24, 1993, when they defeated the Detroit Red Wings at home by a score of 10β7. [4]
No. | CR | GP | W | L | OTL | GF | GA | Pts | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 1 | Ottawa Senators | 82 | 52 | 21 | 9 | 314 | 211 | 113 |
2 | 4 | Buffalo Sabres | 82 | 52 | 24 | 6 | 281 | 239 | 110 |
3 | 7 | Montreal Canadiens | 82 | 42 | 31 | 9 | 243 | 247 | 93 |
4 | 9 | Toronto Maple Leafs | 82 | 41 | 33 | 8 | 257 | 270 | 90 |
5 | 13 | Boston Bruins | 82 | 29 | 37 | 16 | 230 | 266 | 74 |
[5]
Note: CR = Conference rank; GP = Games played; W = Wins; L = Losses; OTL = Overtime/Shootout loss; GF = Goals for; GA = Goals against; Pts = Points
Bolded teams qualified for the playoffs.
R | Div | GP | W | L | OTL | GF | GA | Pts | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Z- Ottawa Senators | NE | 82 | 52 | 21 | 9 | 314 | 211 | 113 |
2 | Y- Carolina Hurricanes | SE | 82 | 52 | 22 | 8 | 294 | 260 | 112 |
3 | Y- New Jersey Devils | AT | 82 | 46 | 27 | 9 | 242 | 229 | 101 |
4 | X- Buffalo Sabres | NE | 82 | 52 | 24 | 6 | 242 | 239 | 110 |
5 | X- Philadelphia Flyers | AT | 82 | 45 | 26 | 11 | 267 | 259 | 101 |
6 | X- New York Rangers | AT | 82 | 44 | 26 | 12 | 257 | 215 | 100 |
7 | X- Montreal Canadiens | NE | 82 | 42 | 31 | 9 | 243 | 247 | 93 |
8 | X- Tampa Bay Lightning | SE | 82 | 43 | 33 | 6 | 252 | 260 | 92 |
8.5 | |||||||||
9 | Toronto Maple Leafs | NE | 82 | 41 | 33 | 8 | 257 | 270 | 90 |
10 | Atlanta Thrashers | SE | 82 | 41 | 33 | 8 | 281 | 275 | 90 |
11 | Florida Panthers | SE | 82 | 37 | 34 | 11 | 240 | 257 | 85 |
12 | New York Islanders | AT | 82 | 36 | 40 | 6 | 230 | 278 | 78 |
13 | Boston Bruins | NE | 82 | 29 | 37 | 16 | 230 | 266 | 74 |
14 | Washington Capitals | SE | 82 | 29 | 41 | 12 | 237 | 306 | 70 |
15 | Pittsburgh Penguins | AT | 82 | 22 | 46 | 14 | 244 | 316 | 58 |
Divisions: AT β Atlantic, NE β Northeast, SE β Southeast
Z β Clinched Conference; Y β Clinched Division; X β Clinched Playoff spot
The Buffalo Sabres earned the fourth seed in the Eastern Conference.
Buffalo defeated the Philadelphia Flyers in the first-round of the 2006 playoffs in six games. In the second round, the Sabres defeated top-seeded Ottawa in five games. A total of three victories in the series came in overtime, including the series-clinching Game 5, which was won on a short-handed goal by Jason Pominville to send Buffalo to the Eastern Conference Finals against the Carolina Hurricanes. It was the first time in NHL history that a series had been decided on a short-handed overtime goal.
Despite being without some or all of their four top defensemen ( Teppo Numminen, Dmitri Kalinin, Jay McKee and Henrik Tallinder), and their top powerplay scorer, Tim Connolly, who had 11 points in eight games in the playoffs, for much of the series, the Sabres fought back from a three-games-to-two deficit to force a seventh game by way of a 2β1 overtime win in Game 6. Buffalo led the Hurricanes 2β1 going into the final period of the deciding game but blew the lead early in the third and gave up two more late goals for a 4β2 final score.
2005β06 regular season [7] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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October: 7β4β0 (home: 4β1β0; road: 3β3β0)
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November: 8β5β1 (home: 4β3β1; road: 4β2β0)
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December: 11β2β1 (home: 5β1β0; road: 6β1β1)
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January: 6β4β1 (home: 2β2β1; road: 4β2β0)
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February: 4β0β2 (home: 3β0β1; road: 1β0β1)
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March: 9β7β1 (home: 6β3β0; road: 3β4β1)
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April: 7β2β0 (home: 3β1β0; road: 4β1β0)
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Legend:
Win (2 points) Loss (0 points) Overtime/shootout loss (1 point) |
2006 Stanley Cup playoffs [7] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Eastern Conference Quarterfinals vs. (5) Philadelphia Flyers β Sabres win 4β2
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Eastern Conference Semifinals vs. (1) Ottawa Senators β Sabres win 4β1
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Eastern Conference Finals vs. (2) Carolina Hurricanes β Hurricanes win 4β3
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Legend:
Win Loss |
Regular season | Playoffs | |||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
No. | Player | Pos | GP | G | A | Pts | +/- | PIM | GP | G | A | Pts | +/- | PIM |
61 | Maxim Afinogenov | RW | 77 | 22 | 51 | 73 | 6 | 84 | 18 | 3 | 5 | 8 | 3 | 10 |
23 | Chris Drury | C | 81 | 30 | 37 | 67 | β11 | 32 | 18 | 9 | 9 | 18 | 5 | 10 |
12 | Ales Kotalik | RW | 82 | 25 | 37 | 62 | β3 | 62 | 18 | 4 | 7 | 11 | 4 | 8 |
48 | Daniel Briere | C | 48 | 25 | 33 | 58 | 3 | 48 | 18 | 8 | 11 | 19 | 0 | 12 |
19 | Tim Connolly | C | 63 | 16 | 39 | 55 | 5 | 28 | 8 | 5 | 6 | 11 | 3 | 0 |
26 | Thomas Vanek | LW | 81 | 25 | 23 | 48 | β11 | 72 | 10 | 2 | 0 | 2 | β1 | 6 |
9 | Derek Roy | C | 70 | 18 | 28 | 46 | 1 | 57 | 18 | 5 | 10 | 15 | 7 | 16 |
51 | Brian Campbell | D | 79 | 12 | 32 | 44 | β14 | 16 | 18 | 0 | 6 | 6 | β5 | 12 |
55 | Jochen Hecht | LW | 64 | 18 | 24 | 42 | 10 | 34 | 15 | 2 | 6 | 8 | 4 | 8 |
17 | Jean-Pierre Dumont | RW | 54 | 20 | 20 | 40 | β1 | 38 | 18 | 7 | 7 | 14 | 1 | 14 |
27 | Teppo Numminen | D | 75 | 2 | 38 | 40 | 6 | 36 | 12 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 |
29 | Jason Pominville | RW | 57 | 18 | 12 | 30 | β4 | 22 | 18 | 5 | 5 | 10 | 0 | 8 |
28 | Paul Gaustad | C | 78 | 9 | 15 | 24 | 4 | 65 | 18 | 0 | 4 | 4 | 1 | 14 |
25 | Mike Grier | RW | 81 | 7 | 16 | 23 | β7 | 28 | 18 | 3 | 5 | 8 | 3 | 2 |
10 | Henrik Tallinder | D | 82 | 6 | 15 | 21 | 10 | 74 | 14 | 2 | 6 | 8 | 14 | 16 |
45 | Dmitri Kalinin | D | 55 | 2 | 16 | 18 | 14 | 54 | 8 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 2 |
5 | Toni Lydman | D | 75 | 1 | 16 | 17 | 9 | 82 | 18 | 1 | 4 | 5 | 14 | 18 |
74 | Jay McKee | D | 75 | 5 | 11 | 16 | 0 | 57 | 17 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 3 | 30 |
24 | Taylor Pyatt | LW | 41 | 6 | 6 | 12 | β1 | 33 | 14 | 0 | 5 | 5 | β2 | 10 |
8 | Rory Fitzpatrick | D | 56 | 4 | 5 | 9 | β18 | 50 | 11 | 0 | 4 | 4 | β1 | 16 |
22 | Adam Mair | C | 40 | 2 | 5 | 7 | β2 | 47 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | β2 | 0 |
13 | Jiri Novotny | C | 14 | 2 | 1 | 3 | β5 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | β1 | 0 |
20 | Daniel Paille | LW | 14 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 2 | β | β | β | β | β | β |
30 | Ryan Miller | G | 48 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 18 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
38 | Nathan Paetsch | D | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | β1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
47 | Chris Thorburn | C | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | β1 | 7 | β | β | β | β | β | β |
43 | Martin Biron | G | 35 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 10 | β | β | β | β | β | β | |
34 | Jeff Jillson | D | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | β4 | 0 |
35 | Mika Noronenβ‘ | G | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | β | β | β | β | β | β | |
76 | Andrew Peters | LW | 28 | 0 | 0 | 0 | β2 | 100 | β | β | β | β | β | β |
33 | Doug Janik | D | β | β | β | β | β | β | 5 | 1 | 0 | 1 | β2 | 2 |
Regular season | Playoffs | |||||||||||||||||||
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No. | Player | GP | W | L | OT | SA | GA | GAA | SV% | SO | TOI | GP | W | L | SA | GA | GAA | SV% | SO | TOI |
30 | Ryan Miller | 48 | 30 | 14 | 3 | 1440 | 124 | 2.60 | .914 | 1 | 2862 | 18 | 11 | 7 | 522 | 48 | 2.56 | .908 | 1 | 1123 |
43 | Martin Biron | 35 | 21 | 8 | 3 | 980 | 93 | 2.88 | .905 | 1 | 1934 | β | β | β | β | β | β | β | β | β |
35 | Mika Noronenβ‘ | 4 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 77 | 12 | 4.27 | .844 | 0 | 169 | β | β | β | β | β | β | β | β | β |
Type | Award/honor | Recipient | Ref |
---|---|---|---|
League (annual) |
Jack Adams Award | Lindy Ruff | [8] |
League (in-season) |
NHL Defensive Player of the Week | Ryan Miller (December 26) | [9] |
Ryan Miller (February 6) | [10] |
The Sabres were involved in the following transactions from February 17, 2005, the day after the 2004β05 NHL season was officially cancelled, through June 19, 2006, the day of the deciding game of the 2006 Stanley Cup Finals. [11]
Date | Details | Ref | |
---|---|---|---|
July 30, 2005 | To
Calgary Flames 3rd-round pick in 2005 |
To Buffalo Sabres 3rd-round pick in 2005 4th-round pick in 2005 |
[12] |
July 30, 2005 | To
Washington Capitals 6th-round pick in 2006 |
To Buffalo Sabres Rights to Tim Kennedy |
[11] [13] |
August 25, 2005 | To Calgary Flames 3rd-round pick in 2006 |
To Buffalo Sabres Toni Lydman |
[14] |
October 4, 2005 | To
Chicago Blackhawks Milan Bartovic |
To Buffalo Sabres Michael Leighton |
[15] |
March 9, 2006 | To
Vancouver Canucks Mika Noronen |
To Buffalo Sabres 2nd-round pick in 2006 |
[16] |
Date | Player | Former team | Term | Via | Ref |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
August 4, 2005 | Teppo Numminen | Dallas Stars | 1-year | Free agency | [17] |
Date | Player | New team | Via [a] | Ref |
---|---|---|---|---|
February 24, 2005 | Jason Botterill | Retirement (UFA) | [19] | |
August 3, 2005 | Miroslav Satan | New York Islanders | Free agency (UFA) | [20] |
August 8, 2005 | Eric Boulton | Atlanta Thrashers | Free agency (UFA) | [21] |
August 18, 2005 | Norm Milley | Tampa Bay Lightning | Free agency (VI) | [22] |
August 31, 2005 | Brandon Smith | Rochester Americans ( AHL) | Free agency (VI) | [23] |
September 7, 2005 | Todd Rohloff | Tampa Bay Lightning | Free agency (UFA) | [24] |
September 10, 2005 | Brad Brown | Toronto Maple Leafs | Free agency (UFA) | [25] |
September 21, 2005 | Tom Askey | HIFK ( Liiga) | Free agency (VI) | [26] |
N/A | Ryan Jorde | Danbury Trashers ( UHL) | Free agency (UFA) | [27] |
Date | Player | Term | Contract type | Ref |
---|---|---|---|---|
July 28, 2005 | Clarke MacArthur | 3-year | Entry-level | [28] |
July 29, 2005 | Rory Fitzpatrick | 1-year | Option exercised | [29] |
Dmitri Kalinin | 1-year | Option exercised | [29] | |
August 4, 2005 | Taylor Pyatt | 1-year | Re-signing | [30] |
August 8, 2005 | Mike Grier | 1-year | Re-signing | [31] |
August 12, 2005 | Martin Biron | 1-year | Re-signing | [32] |
Brian Campbell | 1-year | Re-signing | [33] | |
Ryan Miller | 1-year | Re-signing | [33] | |
August 15, 2005 | Maxim Afinogenov | 1-year | Re-signing | [34] |
Milan Bartovic | 1-year | Re-signing | [34] | |
Daniel Briere | 1-year | Re-signing | [34] | |
Tim Connolly | 1-year | Re-signing | [34] | |
Jean-Pierre Dumont | 1-year | Re-signing | [34] | |
Paul Gaustad | 1-year | Re-signing | [34] | |
Jochen Hecht | 3-year | Re-signing | [35] | |
Jeff Jillson | 1-year | Re-signing | [34] | |
Ales Kotalik | 1-year | Re-signing | [34] | |
Jason Pominville | 1-year | Re-signing | [34] | |
Michael Ryan | 1-year | Re-signing | [34] | |
Henrik Tallinder | 1-year | Re-signing | [34] | |
September 9, 2005 | Jay McKee | 1-year | Re-signing | [36] |
September 14, 2005 | Sean McMorrow | Re-signing | [37] | |
October 11, 2005 | Mark Mancari | 3-year | Entry-level | [38] |
May 3, 2006 | Drew Stafford | 3-year | Entry-level | [39] |
June 5, 2006 | Mike Card | multi-year | Entry-level | [40] |
Michael Funk | multi-year | Entry-level | [40] | |
Dylan Hunter | multi-year | Entry-level | [40] | |
Patrick Kaleta | multi-year | Entry-level | [40] |
As there was no 2004β05 season to set the order for the draft, a lottery was held in which teams were assigned a number of balls, between one and three, based on the number of playoff appearances the team had had in the past three seasons. As the Sabres had missed the playoffs three consecutive seasons, they were one of only four teams which had the full allotment of three balls in the lottery. Despite this advantage, the Sabres only ended up with the 13th overall pick.
Buffalo's picks at the 2005 NHL Entry Draft in Ottawa, Ontario:
Round | # | Player | Nationality | NHL team | College/junior/club team (league) |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 13 | Marek Zagrapan (C) | Slovakia | Buffalo Sabres | Chicoutimi SaguenΓ©ens ( QMJHL) |
2 | 48 | Philipp Gogulla (W) | Germany | Buffalo Sabres | Kolner Haie ( DEL) |
3 | 87 | Marc-Andre Gragnani (D) | Canada |
Buffalo Sabres (from Calgary Flames) |
P.E.I. Rocket ( QMJHL) |
4 | 96 | Chris Butler (D) | United States |
Buffalo Sabres (from Calgary Flames) |
Sioux City Musketeers ( USHL) |
5 | 142 | Nathan Gerbe (C) | United States | Buffalo Sabres | US National Team Development Program |
6 | 182 | Adam Dennis (G) | Canada | Buffalo Sabres | London Knights ( OHL) |
6 | 191 | Vyacheslav Buravchikov (D) | Russia |
Buffalo Sabres (from Minnesota Wild) |
Krylia (Russia 2) |
7 | 208 | Matt Generous (D) | United States | Buffalo Sabres | New England Junior Falcons ( EJHL) |
7 | 227 | Andrew Orpik (D) | United States | Buffalo Sabres | Thayer Academy (USHS) |
the Flames traded two picks (Nos. 87 and 96) to Buffalo to move up to No. 74
But Kennedy would remain a Capital for just 30 minutes as the Sabres traded Washington a sixth-round pick in the 2006 NHL Entry Draft in exchange for his rights.
TAMPA BAY LIGHTNINGβSigned D Todd Rohloff to a one-year contract.
21-Sep-05: Signed with the HIFK Helsinki of the SM-Liiga (Finland).
BUFFALO SABRES--Signed C Clarke MacArthur to a three-year contract.
BUFFALO SABRES--Announced D Dmitri Kalinin exercised his one-year option. Exercised their one-year option on D Rory Fitzpatrick.
Aug 04, 2005 Re-signed as a restricted free agent by the Buffalo Sabres to a one-year contract.
14-Sep-05: Re-signed as a restricted free agent by the Buffalo Sabres.
Oct 11, 2005 Signed by the Buffalo Sabres to a three-year contract.