Sabres All-Time Team
JP stole the idea from a Canes writer who did an all-time Hurricanes team. So I’m stealing it as well.
All time team. Four forward lines, three defense pairs, two goalies. You can flop some wingers around if you must, but I’m going to try to play it legit. And I’m going to try to use just their time in Buffalo as the measuring stick, although if two guys are close, I will look at the whole of their careers. I tried to make line combos that made sense – if someone is a wing on the third line (Danny Gare) it doesn’t mean I consider him the third-best RW in Sabres history (because in my opinion he was the best)
Dave Andreychuck – Pat LaFontaine – Alex Mogilny
Lindy Ruff – Dale Hawerchuk – Danny Gare
Craig Ramsay – Don Luce – Mike Foligno
What, you’re going to break up The French Connection? I did however remove Yuri Khmylev from the LaFontaine line and put HOFer Andreychuck in there instead (he did see time with those guys as well). If there’s one thing that probably should be changed it would be removing Lindy Ruff and sliding an out-of-position Pierre Turgeon or Miro Satan onto the wing with Hawerchuk and Gare. But neither of those were my “type” of players, so I stuck with Lindy.
Mike Ramsey – Doug Bodger
Jerry Korab – Bill Hajt
I also couldn’t bring myself to put Alex Zhitnik on the list, although he may have brought some much-needed scoring to the back end, probably at the expense of Jerry Korab.
Don Edwards
If it was based on total career, Tom Barrasso knocks off Donny Edwards.
Please feel free to spend the weekend discussing this vital issue.
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About the Authors
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Kevin
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Chris
I am a born and raised Buffalo fan since my birth in Niagara Falls in 1977. For reference, my first communion gift from my parents was a replica Sabres Home White Mike Ramsey jersey. I still have that jersey. After stints at Georgetown and the U.S. Army, I have settled in DC where my Sabres, Bills and Hoyas passion runs unabated (I have season tickets to all 3). I believe that while supporting my franchises is good, I believe supporting them with data and statistics is better. -
dave in Rocha
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Mark
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twoeightnine
I live in a van.
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Jerry Korab????
Are you friggin’ kidding me??!!??
How’ bout Larry Carriere? Tim Horton?
I don’t think the brief time Tim Horton spent in Buffalo merits his inclusion. While I realize the influence he had on a young and new Sabres team, 124 games and one goal just don’t make it.
I liked Larry Carriere, but 52 career points and a career +/- of +13 made me leave him off the list. Besides, his 207 games played as a Sabre, while a decent number, trails Mike Wilson (he actually ranks 29th).
Jocelyn Guevermont I would have accepted as an argument, however. Maybe even Jay McKee.
“Alex Zhitnik… much-needed scoring to the back end”
Alex spent his time in buffalo punishing the boards behind the net w/ his blistering couldn’t hit the broad side of steamship shot (scoring?)
I would have to find room for Dave Hannon and Wayne Presley, not sure who I let catch Scotty Bowman flu
Some guys I think of as Sabres that may or may not fit in there are Craig Ramsey and Larry Playfair on D, Jim Lorentz at Center, Ric Seiling at RW, and of course Rob Ray, who played a shitload of games despite his goon status.
Also, John Tucker and Dave Andreychuck go together for me.
Finally, what about Smehlik, if for no other reason than his name was fun to use in a sentence.
Craig Ramsey played LW not on D. Jim Lorentz would be effective in a bat killing tournament or if we were trying to fill a color commentary position, otherwise, no place on the list.
An interesting side topic is which members of the current roster have a chance to make this list? Obviously Vanek, Roy and Miller have a chance if for no other reasons other than long term contracts and productivity. Any others?
Zhitnik is third all-time on the Sabres in defensive scoring. I know it’s hard to believe, and you may not like it, but at one point he could wheel.
Eric, I love where you are going. With the deal Roy is signed to, he could slide ahead of Hawerchuk. Heck, he’s only 180-or-so points behind. That’s two good years. Vanek has a great shot because LW is so weak. He’s already 7th in scoring all-time.
I know Alex Zhitnik was truly a horse for most of his years in bflo – I just have this image in my mind of the team needing to get a puck on net and alex would make the boards cry in terror
i loved those first years when he’d get interviewed; west coast lingo w/ a russian accent – dude
“Make the boards cry in terror” is just a fantastic line.
The Canes “all-time” team has Bates Battaglia. All-time Caps team has some decent guys on it.
More representation from the late 90’s era? The deep playoff runs ought to count for something. Hard to argue with anyone on the list, but might there be room for Zhitnik, McKee, Peca? Maybe Grosek to counter the Battaglia nod on the Caniac squad?
Great list, Kevin. I think I would sub John VanBoxmeer for Bodger and maybe Tony McKegney for Ruff. And Gare belongs on the line with Ramsay & Luce.
Bill Hajt was an anchor on the Blue Line, not flashy but solid to a fault. Thanks for recognizing his contributions to the Sabres.
Tim Horton is a given, he would power out Bodger or even “Kong”. Watched him drop a hot shot center with one punch. The best part of that was because it was on a face off in the defensive zone. No penalty, laid him out like a prom dress, Horton didn’t even look back to see him laying on the ice. Just went up ice with the puck, got the far blue line and passed it over to an open rushing winger for a quality shot on net. The marquee center was not heard from again during that game. Wish I could remember more details but I was only 12 years old and I was laughing my butt off because I witnessed a master at work by taking the center out off a faceoff without any problem and took care of the task at hand… Haven’t seen anything like it since.
Here’s hoping a few years from now when you make this list The Kaleta is on there
briere – drury – dumont
greer – drury – briere
dumont – briere – drury
drury – drury – drury
campbell – mckee
mckee – campbell
campbell – kalinin
biron
biron
Bucky’s right:
dumont – briere – drury
ought to be among the greatest Sabres ever.
How bout Roger Crozier in goal over Edwards?
crozier certainly crossed my mind. The Sabres first playoff wins came with him in net, but he played 105 fewer games than Edwards and had 60 fewer wins. Hard to believe that Ryan Miller has now played in more games than Crozier.
How quickly we forget Campbell, Briere, and Drury.
FYI…Henrik Tallinder and Toni Lydman are better than Korab and Hajt on their worst nights.
frech connection , schonfeld horton korab hajt mckee mike ramsey crozier hasik, gare craig ramsay mogilney, lafontaine,dudley, spencer touhness and finess, crozier was the best goaltender the sabres had, hasik folded under pressure
How about Bob Sauve, Mike Ramsey or Mike Peca.
OOOOPS Ramsey is there. My bad.
Let’s not forget Grant Fuhr and Gerry Desjardiens.
Drury or Peca instead of Hawerchuck.
My seventh d-man would be Larry Playfair.
Otherwise, great stuff. Especially Hajt.
I’d stick with the inagural 1970-1971 lineup:
FORWARDS:
Dick Duff – Perreault – Ron Anderson
Gerry Meehan – Phil “Skip” Krake – Floyd Smith
Eddie “The Entertainer” Shack – Phil Goyette – Steve Atkinson
DEFENSE:
Jim Watson – Reg Fleming
Tracy Pratt – Doug Barrie
Al Hamilton – Jean Guy Talbot
GOALTENDERS:
Roger Crozier
Joe Daley
We didn’t need a 4th line back in 1970. Our players were tougher than that – we’d just get 3 fans down from the Upper Golds to come down and play as our fourth line. And if they didn’t get into a fight during the game, we’d demand our nickel back!
/Monty Burns’d
…and in those days, nickels had pictures of bumblebees on ‘em. ‘Give me five bees for a quarter,’ you’d say.
Now where were we? Oh yeah – the important thing was I had an onion on my belt…
/Grandpa Simpson-John McCain
Seth, an onion on the belt was the style at the time…
… and there goes J.D. Rockefeller, flyin’ by!
Did you run out of the house with a washtub, Dave?
Round about comment 25, this thread went all Ralph Wilson on us. Is it, is this Monday?
I think the point Tick, is that it was actually post 23 when that happened.
What? No Benoit Hogue? I just loved it when I heard the French pronounciation when he scored at the old Montreal Forum.
and i bet you people who think you know the sabres.talk about scoring on the back end,and all that stuff about having a proven player in the defence and not a word about one of the leagues best any takers on phil housley?how soon you all forget he did have alot of points as a buffalo sabre. glad i can show you how good a fan i am.
glad i can show you how good a fan i am.
Uh, thanks, I guess. *thumbs up* Allow me to return the favor and introduce you to punctuation and capitalization.
sure thing, like im getting graded on my writing, one thing i know for sure is alot of people talk trash behind a screen and keyboard. grow up tick.
Of course I’m talking trash from behind a keyboard, in person I wouldn’t be able to see your grammar.
I didn’t live in Buffalo during most of Housley’s NHL career, but I was watching hockey most of that time, and I don’t even remember this guy. Obviously his numbers are good, but many Sabres fans who are more knowledgable than I of that era think Housley was overrated or never scored at important times. That -53 plus minus number isn’t great, either.
And, uh, isn’t Housley in the first D pairing Kevin listed?
“I didn’t live in Buffalo during most of Housley’s NHL career, but I was watching hockey most of that time, and I don’t even remember this guy.”
Whether or not he’s an all time Sabre may be debatable, but the ridiculousness of this statement is not. He retired with the most points ever for an American born player (all skaters, not just D-men). He played in 7 all-star games. Even if you didn’t live in Buffalo, if you watched hockey from the mid-80’s through the 90’s, how on earth do you not remember him?
thank you chris, thats my point. as for the debating part he was a little overrated at times here in buffalo, but many players come here get that from the organization and others in hockey not from fans. from the fans standpoint you yourself mentioned he retired as the top point man in all of hockey not defenceman, that statement in of itself should convince you he is an all time player. and if he was already mentioned, i missed it.so the tick got me on that, my glasses need some cleaning.
gary, my point wasn’t to argue whether or not Housely is an all time Sabre, it was to point out the amazing fact that TheTick was able to watch hockey through the 80’s and 90’s and have no recollection of the 2nd highest scoring American hockey player ever.
I remember his name, but no plays that he made. Never once do I remember a ‘Man, Housley is killing them’ moment. I knew of his existence as a player, but not that he was considered all that much better than everyone else. I was a kid, though, for most of it and in one of those ‘non-traditional’ markets. Pretty much relied on ESPN for coverage. *shrug* Just telling you what I remember, I could rattle off a few dozen players from that time easy, but Housley was not memorable at all.
i was pointing to the fact of his career making him an all time player and being a player on buffalos teams he should be added. i mean heck some people are saying horton and korab and the likes of players who were good i will give them that, but the facts are they were fan favorites making them pick them not on the merits of their play just here in buffalo, if that were the case i dont think horton did much here at all, sure he was a great player, but all but 2 seasons were in toronto.heck if thats the case for meriting an honor of all time great sabres then why not craig muni? he is on the cup a few times too.or what about yvon lambert, sure one season, but the same thing hes on the cup multiple times too, there needs to be a line of comparison to deceide who is a great player for the sabres or the league itself.we sabre fans ought to be thankfull, we had an ownrship that will allow us the ability to see these players and ownership now that continues to do this for us as well. if the knoxes didnt have a stake in the oakland seals they may not have been able to intrest the league into getting a charter to get the franchise at all.thats alright about not knowing as much about the sabres chris, most people i know were trying to forget about the 80s and 90s anyway, bad hair, cruddy music, and god awfull looking clothes too.
read the book on the sabres 26 seasons in buffalos memorial auditorium, you will get the feel for what im thinking.