2006–07 Buffalo Sabres season

NHLTeamSeason
Season=2006–07
Team=Buffalo Sabres
Conference=Eastern
ConferenceRank=1st
Division=Northeast
DivisionRank=1st
Record=53–22–7
HomeRecord=28–10–3
RoadRecord=25–12–4
GoalsFor=308
GoalsAgainst=242
GeneralManager=Darcy Regier
Coach=Lindy Ruff
Captain=Daniel Briere
Chris Drury
AltCaptain=Teppo Numminen
Arena=HSBC Arena
Attendance=18,690
GoalsLeader=Thomas Vanek (43)
AssistsLeader=Daniel Briere (63)
PointsLeader=Daniel Briere (95)
PIMLeader=Adam Mair (128)
PlusMinusLeader=Thomas Vanek (+47)
WinsLeader=Ryan Miller (40)
GAALeader=Ryan Miller (2.73)
PresidentsTrophy=Yes
DivisionWin=YesThe Buffalo Sabres 2006–07 Season began with the team attempting to rebound from a disappointing end to the 2005–06 season, in which the Sabres advanced to the Eastern Conference Finals before losing in seven games to the eventual Stanley Cup champion Carolina Hurricanes. The team lost several veterans to free agency, including J.P. Dumont, Jay McKee and Mike Grier. Conversely, the team signed only one new player to the roster: defenseman Jaroslav Spacek. The team planned to rely on young players from their own organization -- Jiri Novotny, Paul Gaustad and Nathan Paetsch, to name a few -- to fill the holes left by the departing players.

, when the colors were changed to black and red. The new logo, though, was said to resemble to many a slug or a wig. There were strong efforts to prevent the team from wearing this new jersey, although none were successful. The team's new third jersey, meanwhile, featured the team's original logo. Despite the controversy, however, the NHL reported that sales of Sabres merchandise were up approximately 1170% from the 2005–2006 season.cite news
first = Garth
last =
title = SABRES TOP NHL.COM MERCHANDISE SALES
url = http://www.hockeybuzz.com/blog.php?post_id=3561
publisher = Hockeybuzz.com
date =2006-11-07
accessdate =2007-01-02]

The Sabres were very successful early in the season, tying an NHL record by winning their first ten games, before finally suffering a shootout loss to the Atlanta Thrasherscite news
title= Thrashers put an end to Sabres' bid for NHL record start
url= http://sports.espn.go.com/nhl/recap?gameId=261028002
publisher= espn.com
date= 2006-10-28
accessdate= 2007-03-04] . They did not lose a game in regulation until exactly one month into the season, in their thirteenth game, when they lost to Torontocite news
title= Sundin, Maple Leafs hand Sabres first loss in regulation
url= http://sports.espn.go.com/nhl/recap?gameId=261104002
publisher= espn.com
date= 2006-11-04
accessdate= 2007-03-04] . The Sabres also set an NHL record by winning their first ten road games of the seasoncite news
title= Sabres defeat Canes, bump road record to 10–0
url= http://sports.espn.go.com/nhl/recap?gameId=261113007
publisher= espn.com
date= 2006-11-13
accessdate= 2007-03-04] , not losing outside of HSBC Arena until November 18 in Ottawa.

On January 9, it was announced that three members of the Sabres had been voted to start the All-Star Game for the Eastern Conference: forward Daniel Briere, defenseman Brian Campbell, and goaltender Ryan Miller. It was the first All-Star appearance for each.cite news
title= 2006–07 NHL All-Star Rosters
url= http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/feature/?fid=9182
publisher= tsn.ca
date= 2007-01-09
accessdate= 2007-01-15] In addition, as the Sabres had the best record in the Eastern Conference as of the end of All-Star voting, head coach Lindy Ruff was assigned to coach the Eastern Conference team.cite news
title= Ruff, Carlyle to coach All-Star teams
url=http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/news_story/?ID=190825&hubname=
publisher= tsn.ca
date= 2007-01-04
accessdate= 2007-01-15] Briere recorded a goal and four assists in the game, and was named Most Valuable Player of the game.cite news
title=Briere shines, but West wins All-Star Game
url=http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/news_story/?ID=193486&hubname=
publisher= tsn.ca
date= 2007-01-25
accessdate= 2007-01-25] Thomas Vanek was also invited to All-Star Weekend to play in the YoungStars game.cite news
title= NHL's bright future is on display
url= http://www.nhl.com/nhl/app/?service=page&page=NewsPage&articleid=287353
publisher= nhl.com
date= 2007-01-13
accessdate= 2007-01-15]

On January 13, Jason Pominville recorded his 20th goal of the season, becoming the fourth Sabre (after Chris Drury, Thomas Vanek and Maxim Afinogenov) to record 20 goals before the All-Star break. At the time of Pominville's 20th goal, no other team in the NHL had more than two players with 20 goals.cite news
title= Richards nets tiebreaker in Lightning win over Sabres
url= http://sports.espn.go.com/nhl/recap?gameId=270113002
publisher= espn.com
date= 2007-01-13
accessdate= 2007-01-15] Daniel Briere became the fifth Sabre to record 20 goals as he scored a hat trick on January 30 against the Boston Bruins. With the feat, the Sabres became the first team since the 1995–96 Pittsburgh Penguins to have five 20–goal scorers before February.cite news
title= Drury leads the Sabres over Bruins
url= http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/news_story/?ID=194540&hubname=nhl
publisher= tsn.ca
date= 2007-02-01
accessdate= 2007-02-02]

In February, the Sabres found themselves battling injury problems. Forward Tim Connolly had been on the long-term injury list all season, and he was joined by Paul Gaustad when a tendon in his leg was sliced on February 7 against the Ottawa Senators. Jaroslav Spacek broke his left hand soon thereafter, and the Sabres lost Maxim Afinogenov, who broke his left wrist, and Jiri Novotny with a high ankle sprain. Ales Kotalik was next to go down, with a knee sprain, and forward Daniel Paille broke his finger. Against the Ottawa Senators on February 22, captain Chris Drury was injured by a blow to the head by Chris Neil, sparking a wild brawl which saw a fight between Martin Biron and Senators goaltender Ray Emery, and later between Emery and Sabres enforcer Andrew Peters.cite news
title=Sabres outlast Sens in hard-fought battle
url=http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/news_story/?ID=197259&hubname=
publisher= tsn.ca
date= 2007-02-23
accessdate= 2007-02-28]

The Sabres were the last team to be involved in a trade in the 2006–07 season. On the day of the NHL trade deadline, though, they made four trades. Goaltender Martin Biron, who had been the longest-tenured Sabre, was sent to Philadelphia for Philadelphia's second-round pick in the 2007 NHL Entry Draft. Buffalo's fifth-round pick in that draft was sent to Columbus in exchange for another backup goalie, Ty Conklin. Jiri Novotny was sent along with Buffalo's 2007 first-round pick to Washington in exchange for Dainius Zubrus and Timo Helbling. Finally, the Sabres sent their fourth-round pick in 2007 to Nashville for Mikko Lehtonen, a minor league defenseman.cite news
title=Sabres beef up with Zubrus
url=http://www.nhl.com/nhl/app?articleid=289720&page=NewsPage&service=page
publisher= nhl.com
date= 2007-02-27
accessdate= 2007-02-27]

Due to injuries, many Sabres prospects were called up from the team's American Hockey League affiliate, the Rochester Americans, and made their NHL debuts during the season; Mike Card, Michael Funk, Patrick Kaleta, Clarke MacArthur, Mark Mancari, Michael Ryan, Andrej Sekera and Drew Stafford all played their first career NHL game during the 2006–07 season.

With the best regular-season record in the NHL, the Sabres were awarded the Presidents' Trophy for the first time in their history, and they also earned the top seed in the Eastern Conference playoffs. They defeated the New York Islanders and New York Rangers in the first two rounds of the playoffs. In the Eastern Conference Finals, however, the Sabres' season came to an end when they were defeated in five games by the Ottawa Senators.

Regular season

eason standings

December

Record for Month 9–4–1 (Home 5–2–0 Away 4–2–1)

March

Record for Month 8–5–2 (Home 5–3–0 Away 3–2–2)

Eastern Conference Semifinals: vs. (6) New York Rangers

The Sabres faced the New York Rangers in the second round of the playoffs. The Rangers advanced by sweeping the Atlanta Thrashers, the number three seed, in the first round.

*Stats reflect games played with Buffalo only.
*Note: Goaltenders are not assessed plus/minus ratings.

Thomas Vanek

Thomas Vanek finished the season with the best plus/minus rating in the entire NHL with a +47.

Goaltending

"Note: GP = Games Played; TOI = Time On Ice (minutes); W = Wins; L = Losses; OTL = Overtime Losses; GA = Goals Against; SO = Shutouts; Sv% = Save Percentage; GAA = Goals Against Average"

Free Agents Lost

External links

* [http://www.sabres.com/index.cfm Official website of the Buffalo Sabres]

ee also

*2006–07 NHL Season

References

*Game log: [http://sports.espn.go.com/nhl/teams/schedule?team=buf Buffalo Sabres game log] on espn.com
*Team standings: [http://sports.espn.go.com/nhl/standings NHL standings] on espn.com

Goaltenders:

hockey team player|no=30|name=Miller•hockey team player|no=34|name=Dennis•hockey team player|no=35|name=Conklin•

Defensemen

hockey team player|no=3|name=Funk•hockey team player|no=5|name=Lydman•hockey team player|no=6|name=Spacek•hockey team player|no=10|name=Tallinder•hockey team player|no=27|name=Numminen•hockey team player|no=33|name=Card•hockey team player|no=38|name=Paetsch•hockey team player|no=44|name=Sekera•hockey team player|no=45|name=Kalinin•

Forwards

hockey team player|no=9|name=Roy•hockey team player|no=12|name=Kotalik•hockey team player|no=13|name=Novotny•hockey team player|no=15|name=Zubrus•hockey team player|no=19|name=Connolly•hockey team player|no=20|name=Paille•hockey team player|no=21|name=Stafford•hockey team player|no=22|name=Mair•hockey team player|no=23|name=Drury•hockey team player|no=25|name=Mancari•hockey team player|no=26|name=Vanek•hockey team player|no=28|name=Gaustad•hockey team player|no=29|name=Pominville•hockey team player|no=36|name=Kaleta•hockey team player|no=37|name=Ryan•hockey team player|no=41|name=MacArthur•hockey team player|no=48|name=Briere•hockey team player|no=55|name=Hecht•hockey team player|no=61|name=Afinogenov•