Dating back to the original Buffalo Bisons hockey franchises, hockey has had a rich tradition in Buffalo, New York. When the Buffalo Sabres were born in town in 1970, the growth of hockey in Western New York exploded. Since then, Buffalo has produced generations of hockey talent, from sons of former Sabres to homegrown heroes.
Buffalo boasts perhaps the greatest American hockey player of all time, Patrick Kane. The longtime Chicago Blackhawks forward has 1284 career points in 1230 career games. His three Stanley Cups brought back to Buffalo are the most of any player from the area. He’s now with the Detroit Red Wings padding his totals at the fine age of 35.
Building a team of Buffalo-native players around the greatest American player in history should be easy, but first, let’s set some limits. Let’s start by defining that this is a team of players throughout history, so we’ll consider their longevity and the prime of their careers. Next, we should set some city limits.
NHL Players from Buffalo
First, we’re looking for players who played at the highest level – the NHL. Each player on the team must have appeared in an NHL game to qualify for the team.
This eliminates the slew of former Junior Sabres drafted by Buffalo and around the league in recent seasons that are still developing. This also eliminates Canisius College’s all-time leading scorer Josh Heidinger and accomplished Cardinal O’Hara High School alum and Niagara University’s fourth-highest all-time scorer Chris Moran. Moran is the highest scorer in NCAA history from the area, outpacing South Buffalo’s Tim Kennedy (Michigan State), Kenmore East’s Andrew Sturtz (Penn State), and Nichols’ Sean Malone (Harvard).
Daniel Audette, the son of former Sabres winger Donald Audette, scored 50 goals and 136 points in the AHL. Prestigious NHLer Rick Vaive’s son Justin played 280 AHL games. Since both players failed to reach the NHL, they do not qualify.
The same goes for Peter Ratchuk’s younger brother Mike, Todd Marchant’s younger brother Terry, and Tony Tuzzolino’s younger brother Nick.
Peter Ratchuk, Todd Marchant, and Tony Tuzzolino do qualify as NHL hometown products, however.
Greater Buffalo Limits
To be considered “from Buffalo”, we’re using the loose region of Western New York. This includes eight counties – Erie, Niagara, Chautauqua, Cattaraugus, Allegany, Wyoming, Genesee, and Orleans. In other words, draw an imaginary line about halfway between Buffalo and Rochester from Lake Ontario down to the Pennsylvania border. This eliminates all Rochester and Syracuse hockey talent, such as Brian Gionta, Ryan Callahan, and Tim Connolly.
Perhaps we indulge in this exercise for both of those cities in the future, but we need to draw a line somewhere.
Born -or- Raised in Buffalo
Being a Buffalonian can mean you were born in the city, raised there, or have adopted it as your home as an adult. We’ll eliminate the latter as a qualification since many former Sabres have made Buffalo their post-retirement home. If a player was born or raised in Western New York at a young age, we’ll include them as candidates.
This opens up Brooks Orpik, who attended Nichols School but was born in San Francisco, California. One of the best names in NHL history becomes available in Bob Beers, who was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania but played for the Buffalo Jr. Sabres.
The Foligno brothers Nick and Marcus also qualify since they were both born in Buffalo. When former Sabres captain and father Mike was traded to the Toronto Maple Leafs Marcus was an infant, so he represents Canada in international play.
Must Read: Need for Speed: Fastest Sabres Skater Revealed
Building Team Buffalo
With the standards set and Kane as the centerpiece, it’s time to start building out the team. We’ll start with the forwards, who run 16 deep.
Forwards
Patrick Kane
The South Buffalo-born winger is one of the greatest in recent NHL history. Need I say more?
Nick Foligno
Much like his father, Nick is a former NHL captain. He is still getting it done at age 36 with the Chicago Blackhawks. Foligno bypassed the Buffalo youth hockey system by playing in Hershey, Pennsylvania in high school before moving on to the U.S. National Team Development Program and the OHL.
Marcus Foligno
Following his brother, Marcus Foligno joins Team Buffalo despite spending most of his early hockey life in Sudbury, Ontario. Fittingly, Foligno returned to Buffalo as a member of the Sabres organization, where he spent his first six NHL seasons. Only Kane, his brother Nick, and two other Buffalonians have outscored him in the NHL.
Todd Marchant
The third-highest scorer from Buffalo is Todd Marchant. While the first three additions to the team are current NHLers, Marchant was a longtime, quality center in the league from 1993 to 2011. From Clarkson University to being drafted in the seventh round in the 1993 draft, his workman-like mentality earned him the fast track to the NHL.
1195 games later, the speedy, defensively responsible center established himself as one of the greatest hockey players out of Western New York.
Lee Stempniak
West Seneca native Lee Stempniak is the fourth-highest scorer from the Buffalo area. Stempniak attended St. Francis and joined the Buffalo Lightning before heading to play at Dartmouth. The underappreciated talent he added to teams made him a journeyman, playing for 10 different NHL franchises across 911 games.
Alex Iafallo
Eden’s Alex Iafallo is building a nice NHL career for himself, seven seasons in. After switching teams for the first time last season as a member of the Winnipeg Jets, Iafallo was there were whispers of a potential trade to the Buffalo Sabres this offseason. He has yet to score 20 goals in the league but has underlying statistics to suggest he’s a good all-around player.
Miles Wood
Miles Wood joins the Foligno brothers as a legacy Buffalonian thanks to the Sabres existing. His father Randy played three seasons in Buffalo from 1991 to 1994. Miles is a harder-hitting, fast player who brings an edge to Team Buffalo.
Patrick Kaleta
Speaking of bringing an edge, Hamburg’s Patrick Kaleta adds more speed and dynamic hitting to the squad. Kaleta went to the OHL before being drafted in the sixth round by his hometown Sabres. After nine seasons in Buffalo, he’s still involved with developing hockey in the area.
Tim Kennedy
The previously mentioned Tim Kennedy is a South Buffalo native who went to play for the Sioux City Musketeers before starring at Michigan State. Kennedy was drafted by the Washington Capitals in 2005, but the Sabres traded for him before both teams left the draft. The two seasons in the Sabres organization to begin his career are now bookended by his current player development job with the team.
Justin Bailey
With several former Sabres’ sons making the team, Justin Bailey is the only former Buffalo Bills player’s son to find his way into being one of the greatest Buffalo hockey players. Carlton Bailey, of course, was a linebacker for the Bills from 1988 to 1992.
Justin was born a few years later in 1995, and was drafted by the Sabres in the second round in 2013. After seven seasons of spot duty in the NHL, Bailey enjoyed his longest stay with the big club last season as he appeared in 59 games for the San Jose Sharks.
Other Forwards
Rounding out the rest of the forward group are Sean Malone, Jason Zent, Peter Ciavaglia, Scott Thomas, Greg Britz, and Tony Tuzzolino. Malone, Ciavaglia, and Thomas have NHL appearances with the Sabres. Thomas played the most NHL games of the six forwards listed with 63.
Division Analysis: State of the Ottawa Senators; Banking on Former Vezina Winner
Defense
Brooks Orpik
Apart from being California-born, Brooks Orpik was raised in Amherst and attended Nichols School. He moved on to Thayer Academy in Massachusetts and stayed in the state to play NCAA hockey at Boston College. Orpik adds another Stanley Cup to the Buffalo résumé to join Kane’s three and Marchant’s one with the Anaheim Ducks.
Aaron Miller
Since we’re adding Stanley Cups to the team, Aaron Miller’s one with the Colorado Avalanche in 1996 counts, even if he only played five games for them that season as a young defenseman. Miller was on the unfortunate end of a trade to the Los Angeles Kings in the Rob Blake deal in 2001, missing out on that year’s Cup team. The Buffalo native went on to play 677 NHL games.
Mike Lalor
Throwing things back a bit, Mike Lalor played 687 NHL games in the 1980s and 1990s for the Montreal Canadiens, St. Louis Blues, Washington Capitals, Winnipeg Jets, San Jose Sharks, and Dallas Stars. Lalor provided a steady defensive presence to a blueline over his 12 seasons. He’s a Fort Erie, Ontario native but was born across the border in Buffalo.
Jack Brownschidle
Taking us back to the early ’80s, one of the original players out of Buffalo to reach the NHL was Jack Brownschidle. Brownschidle played for the Niagara Falls Flyers before heading to the University of Notre Dame. He was drafted 99th overall by St. Louis and spent seven seasons with the Blues. He hung on for three more seasons in the NHL with the Hartford Whalers, before landing nearly full-circle to play for the AHL Rochester Americans to close out his professional career.
Dennis Gilbert
How could we have an all-Buffalo team and not include the one current Sabres player from the area? Dennis Gilbert signed a one-year deal with the team this offseason to return to where it all began. After attending St. Joseph’s Collegiate Institute in Kenmore, playing for the Junior Sabres, and spending one year in the USHL, Gilbert also ended up at the University of Notre Dame.
His 34 games played for the Calgary Flames last season was the highest single-season total to date for the 27-year-old.
Bob Beers
Besides playing for the Junior Sabres, Bob Beers represented the Buffalo Regals in youth hockey. He then played collegiate hockey at Northern Arizona and the University of Maine after being drafted 210th overall in 1985 by the Boston Bruins.
Beers played 258 NHL games for the Bruins, Tampa Bay Lightning, Edmonton Oilers, and New York Islanders throughout the ’90s.
Other Defensemen
Peter Ratchuk, Peter Scamurra, Jeff Brownschidle, Kevin Quick, Nick DeSimone, and Dan McFall round out the list of qualifying defensemen from Buffalo. Ratchuk had a brief stint with the Sabres organization by spending a season with the Rochester Americans, but never made it into a game for Buffalo. Jeff Brownschidle is Jack’s brother who passed tragically in a car accident in 1996.
Prospects: Sorting Sabres Prospects into Tiers
Goalies
Philippe Sauve
Philippe Sauve joins the list of former Sabres’ sons on the squad, coming from a rich line of hockey talent. Bob, his father, played nine seasons in Buffalo and 420 games total in the NHL. His uncle, Jean-Francois Sauve, also played for the Sabres as a forward. His cousin, Maxime Sauve, saw NHL time with the Boston Bruins.
As for Philippe, he earned 32 NHL appearances over an eight-year professional career.
Tom Askey
The Tonawanda native Tom Askey played for the Wheatfield Blades before heading to Ohio State to play college hockey. Askey received seven NHL appearances with the Anaheim Mighty Ducks in 1997-1998 and spent five seasons with the Rochester Americans in the early 2000s.
Thomas McCollum
While Thomas McCollum only appeared in three NHL games, he was easily the highest-regarded goaltender to come out of Western New York. He was the top-ranked North American goalie by NHL Central Scouting and was drafted in the first round, 30th overall, by the Detroit Red Wings in the 2008 NHL Draft.
McCollum was selected one pick and four picks before New Jersey Devils goalies Jacob Markstrom and Jake Allen, respectively. While his career didn’t turn out as expected, McCollum still has a spot on Team Buffalo.
Team Buffalo Lineup
Throwing a lineup together using players from different eras can be a tough exercise. We have some questions to answer, like who’s the best fit offensively with Kane? How do we balance out the lines? Who do we scratch?
Here’s the best attempt at assembling a quality all-Buffalo lineup:
Forwards
Nick Foligno – Tim Kennedy – Patrick Kane
Marcus Foligno – Todd Marchant – Lee Stempniak
Miles Wood – Sean Malone – Patrick Kaleta
Alex Iafallo – Peter Ciavaglia – Justin Bailey
Defense
Brooks Orpik – Aaron Miller
Mike Lalor – Jack Brownschidle
Dennis Gilbert – Bob Beers
Goaltending
Philippe Sauve (Starter)
Tom Askey (Backup)
The Kennedy-Kane South Buffalo connection was too enticing to pass up. Nick Foligno complements their talents well with a combination of scoring and grit.
That leaves the brothers split up with Marcus on line two with the best center in Buffalo history in Marchant. Stempniak on the line creates a fun, all-around trio.
Wood, Malone, and Kaleta are an intimidating threesome to face on the ice. Ciavaglia gets the call on the fourth line over Thomas as a true center.
Orpik and Miller are the most decorated defensemen from Buffalo and earn the top pair. Lalor and Brownschidle are a formidable second pairing, and Gilbert and Beers are a fun third to pair together.
Sauve has the most NHL games and earns the start by default, while Askey serves as his backup.
How good does Team Buffalo look to you? Who was missed? Who are the “what could have been” players from the area? Comment your takes below.
