2008–09 Buffalo Sabres season

2008–09 Buffalo Sabres
Division 3rd Northeast
Conference 10th Eastern
2008–09 record 41–32–9
Home record 23–15–3
Road record 18–17–6
Goals for 250
Goals against 234
Team information
General Manager Darcy Regier
Coach Lindy Ruff
Captain Craig Rivet
Alternate captains Jochen Hecht
Teppo Numminen
Jason Pominville
Jaroslav Spacek
Arena HSBC Arena
Average attendance Average: 18,533
Capacity: 99.2%
Total: 296,522
Team leaders
Goals Thomas Vanek (40)
Assists Jason Pominville (46)
Points Derek Roy (70)
Penalties in minutes Craig Rivet (125)
Plus/minus Tim Connolly (+12)
Wins Ryan Miller (34)
Goals against average Ryan Miller (2.53)
<2007–08 2009–10>

The 2008–09 Buffalo Sabres season was the 39th season of operation for the Buffalo Sabres in the National Hockey League, their 38th season of play.

Pre-season

In their second pre-season game, the Sabres played the Montreal Canadiens in Roberval, Quebec, the 2008 winner of the Kraft Hockeyville contest. In their newly renovated arena, Roberval hosted the preseason game on Tuesday, September 23, 2008. Montreal scored the first three goals, then held off Buffalo for a 3–2 win in at Benoit-Levesque Arena.[1]

Regular season

Divisional standings

Northeast Division
GP W L OTL GF GA Pts
1 z – Boston Bruins 82 53 19 10 274 196 116
2 Montreal Canadiens 82 41 30 11 249 247 93
3 Buffalo Sabres 82 41 32 9 250 234 91
4 Ottawa Senators 82 36 35 11 217 237 83
5 Toronto Maple Leafs 82 34 35 13 250 293 81

Conference standings

Eastern Conference
R Div GP W L OTL GF GA Pts
1 z – Boston Bruins NE 82 53 19 10 274 196 116
2 y – Washington Capitals SE 82 50 24 8 272 245 108
3 y – New Jersey Devils AT 82 51 27 4 244 209 106
4 Pittsburgh Penguins AT 82 45 28 9 264 239 99
5 Philadelphia Flyers AT 82 44 27 11 264 238 99
6 Carolina Hurricanes SE 82 45 30 7 239 226 97
7 New York Rangers AT 82 43 30 9 210 218 95
8 Montreal Canadiens NE 82 41 30 11 249 247 93
8.5
9 Florida Panthers SE 82 41 30 11 234 231 93
10 Buffalo Sabres NE 82 41 32 9 250 234 91
11 Ottawa Senators NE 82 36 35 11 217 237 83
12 Toronto Maple Leafs NE 82 34 35 13 250 293 81
13 Atlanta Thrashers SE 82 35 41 6 257 280 76
14 Tampa Bay Lightning SE 82 24 40 18 210 279 66
15 New York Islanders AT 82 26 47 9 201 279 61

bold – qualified for playoffs, y – division winner, z – placed first in conference (and division)

AT – Atlantic Division, NE – Northeast Division, SE – Southeast Division

Schedule and results

2008–09 Game Log

Playoffs

The Buffalo Sabres failed to qualify for the 2009 NHL Playoffs.

Player statistics

Skaters

Regular season
Player GP G A Pts +/− PIM
Roy, DerekDerek Roy 82 28 42 70 -5 38
Pominville, JasonJason Pominville 82 20 46 66 -4 18
Vanek, ThomasThomas Vanek 73 40 24 64 -1 44
Connolly, TimTim Connolly 48 18 29 47 +12 22
Spacek, JaroslavJaroslav Spacek 80 8 37 45 +2 38
Stafford, DrewDrew Stafford 79 20 25 45 +3 29
Kotalik, AlesAles Kotalik 56 13 19 32 -7 28
MacArthur, ClarkeClarke MacArthur 71 17 14 31 -4 56
Gaustad, PaulPaul Gaustad 62 12 17 29 +4 108
Hecht, JochenJochen Hecht 70 12 15 27 -9 33
Paille, DanielDaniel Paille 73 12 15 27 0 20
Rivet, CraigCraig Rivet 64 2 22 24 +4 125
Lydman, ToniToni Lydman 80 3 20 23 0 70
Afinogenov, MaximMaxim Afinogenov 48 6 14 20 -7 20
Mair, AdamAdam Mair 75 8 11 19 +4 95
Sekera, AndrejAndrej Sekera 69 3 16 19 -11 22
Numminen, TeppoTeppo Numminen 57 2 15 17 -4 22
Tallinder, HenrikHenrik Tallinder 66 1 11 12 -2 36
Ellis, MattMatt Ellis 45 7 5 12 +4 12
Kaleta, PatrickPatrick Kaleta 51 4 5 9 +1 89
Paetsch, NathanNathan Paetsch 23 2 4 6 +3 25
Butler, ChrisChris Butler 47 2 4 6 +11 18
Moore, DominicDominic Moore 18 1 3 4 -1 23
Mancari, MarkMark Mancari 7 1 1 2 -4 4
Gerbe, NathanNathan Gerbe 10 0 1 1 +3 4
Peters, AndrewAndrew Peters 28 0 1 1 -2 81
Gragnani, Marc-AndreMarc-Andre Gragnani 4 0 0 0 +2 2
Kennedy, TimTim Kennedy 1 0 0 0 0 0
Weber, MikeMike Weber 7 0 0 0 -3 19

Goaltenders

Regular season
Player GP Min W L OT GA GAA SA SV Sv% SO
Miller, RyanRyan Miller 59 3443 34 18 6 145 2.53 1773 1628 .918 5
Lalime, PatrickPatrick Lalime 24 1296 5 13 3 67 3.10 669 602 .900 0
Tellqvist, MikaelMikael Tellqvist 6 230 2 1 0 9 2.35 125 116 .928 0

Denotes player spent time with another team before joining Sabres. Stats reflect time with Sabres only.
Traded mid-season. Stats reflect time with Sabres only.

Note:

Pos = Position; GPI = Games played in; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; PIM = Penalty minutes; +/- = Plus/minus; PPG = Power-play goals; SHG = Short-handed goals; GWG = Game-winning goals
Min, TOI = Minutes played; W = Wins; L = Losses; T,T/OT = Ties; OTL = Overtime losses; GA = Goals-against; GAA = Goals-against average; SO = Shutouts; SA = Shots against; SV = Shots saved; SV% = Save percentage;

Awards and records

Milestones

Regular Season
Player Milestone Date achieved
Jason Pominville 100th NHL assist October 13, 2008
Thomas Vanek 200th NHL point October 15, 2008
Lindy Ruff 400th NHL win October 15, 2008
Patrick Lalime 400th NHL appearance October 27, 2008
Mark Mancari 1st NHL goal November 22, 2008
Nathan Gerbe 1st NHL game December 6, 2008
Nathan Gerbe 1st NHL assist December 13, 2008
Chris Butler 1st NHL game
1st NHL assist
December 19, 2008
Tim Kennedy 1st NHL game December 27, 2008
Derek Roy 100th NHL Goal February 13, 2009
Drew Stafford 100th NHL Point February 13, 2009

Transactions

Trades

June 20, 2008
To Buffalo Sabres
First-round pick (12th overall) pick in 2008 (Tyler Myers)
To Los Angeles Kings
First-round pick (13th overall) pick in 2008 (Colten Teubert)
Third-round pick in 2009
June 21, 2008 To Buffalo Sabres
Third-round (81st overall) pick in 2008 (Corey Fienhage)
Fourth-round (101st overall) pick in 2008 (Justin Jokinen)
To Los Angeles Kings
Third-round (74th overall) pick in 2008 (Andrew Campbell)
July 4, 2008 To Buffalo Sabres
Craig Rivet
Seventh-round pick in 2010
To San Jose Sharks
Second-round pick in 2009
Second-round pick in 2010
July 4, 2008 To Buffalo Sabres
Third-round pick in 2009
Second-round pick in 2010
To Vancouver Canucks
Steve Bernier
March 4, 2009 To Buffalo Sabres
Mikael Tellqvist
To Phoenix Coyotes
Fourth-round pick in 2010
March 4, 2009 To Buffalo Sabres
Dominic Moore
To Toronto Maple Leafs
Second-round pick in 2009
March 4, 2009 To Buffalo Sabres
Second-round pick in 2009
To Edmonton Oilers
Ales Kotalik

Free Agents

Player Former team Contract Terms
Patrick Lalime Chicago Blackhawks 2 years, $2 million
Mathieu Darche Tampa Bay Lightning 1 Year, $500,000
Player New team
Dmitri Kalinin New York Rangers

Claimed from waivers

Player Former team Date claimed off waivers
Matt Ellis Los Angeles Kings October 1

Draft picks

Buffalo's picks at the 2008 NHL Entry Draft in Ottawa, Ontario.

Round Pick Player Position Nationality College/Junior Team
112Tyler MyersD CanadaKelowna Rockets (WHL)
126Tyler EnnisC CanadaMedicine Hat Tigers (WHL)
244Luke AdamC CanadaSt. John's Fog Devils (QMJHL)
381Corey FienhageD United StatesEastview High School (Minnesota)
4101Justin JokinenRW United StatesColquet High School (Minnesota)
4104Jordan SouthornD United StatesP.E.I. Rocket (QMJHL)
5134Jacob LagaceLW CanadaChicoutimi Sagueneens (QMJHL)
6164Nick CrawfordD CanadaSaginaw Spirit (OHL)

Roster

Updated March 6, 2009.[4]

# Nat Player Pos S/G Age Acquired Birthplace
61 Russia Afinogenov, MaximMaxim Afinogenov RW L 36 1997 Moscow, U.S.S.R.
34 United States Butler, ChrisChris Butler D L 29 2005 St. Louis, Missouri
19 United States Connolly, TimTim Connolly C R 34 2001 Baldwinsville, New York
37 Canada Ellis, MattMatt Ellis LW L 34 2008 Welland, Ontario
28 United States Gaustad, PaulPaul Gaustad C L 34 2000 Fargo, North Dakota
55 Germany Hecht, JochenJochen Hecht (A) LW L 38 2002 Mannheim, West Germany
36 United States Kaleta, PatrickPatrick Kaleta RW R 29 2004 Angola, New York
40 Canada Lalime, PatrickPatrick Lalime G L 41 2008 Saint-Bonaventure, Quebec
5 Finland Lydman, ToniToni Lydman D L 38 2005 Lahti, Finland
41 Canada MacArthur, ClarkeClarke MacArthur C L 31 2003 Lloydminster, Alberta
22 Canada Mair, AdamAdam Mair C R 37 2002 Hamilton, Ontario
30 United States Miller, RyanRyan Miller G L 35 1999 East Lansing, Michigan
17 Canada Moore, DominicDominic Moore C L 35 2009 Thornhill, Ontario
27 Finland Numminen, TeppoTeppo Numminen (A) D R 47 2005 Tampere, Finland
38 Canada Paetsch, NathanNathan Paetsch D L 33 2003 Leroy, Saskatchewan
20 Canada Paille, DanielDaniel Paille LW L 32 2002 Welland, Ontario
76 Canada Peters, AndrewAndrew Peters LW L 35 1998 St. Catharines, Ontario
29 United States Pominville, JasonJason Pominville (A) RW R 33 2001 Repentigny, Quebec
52 Canada Rivet, CraigCraig Rivet (C) D R 41 2008 North Bay, Ontario
9 Canada Roy, DerekDerek Roy C L 32 2001 Ottawa, Ontario
44 Slovakia Sekera, AndrejAndrej Sekera D L 29 2004 Bojnice, Czechoslovakia
6 Czech Republic Spacek, JaroslavJaroslav Spacek (A) D L 42 2006 Rokycany, Czechoslovakia
21 United States Stafford, DrewDrew Stafford RW R 30 2004 Milwaukee, Wisconsin
10 Sweden Tallinder, HenrikHenrik Tallinder D L 37 1997 Stockholm, Sweden
32 Sweden Tellqvist, MikaelMikael Tellqvist G L 36 2009 Sundbyberg, Sweden
26 Austria Vanek, ThomasThomas Vanek LW R 32 2003 Vienna, Austria

See also

Farm teams

On June 11, the Buffalo Sabres signed a three-year deal with the Portland Pirates of the American Hockey League, ending a 29-year affiliation with the Rochester Americans.[5]

References

  1. Montreal defeats Buffalo in Hockeyville, CA
  2. "NHL.com - Recap: Sabres @ Thrashers - 04/01/2009". Archived from the original on June 2, 2009. Retrieved April 2, 2009.
  3. "NHL.com - Game Boxscore: Sabres @ Capitals - 04/03/2009". Archived from the original on June 10, 2009. Retrieved May 9, 2009.
  4. "Buffalo Sabres - Team - Roster". Archived from the original on February 27, 2009. Retrieved March 4, 2009.
  5. Associated Press (June 11, 2008). "Sabres end 29-year affiliation with Rochester, switch to Portland". ESPN (ESPN). Retrieved June 11, 2008.
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