2005–06_Buffalo_Sabres_season

2005–06 Buffalo Sabres season

2005–06 Buffalo Sabres season

NHL hockey team season

The 2005–06 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 2000–01 season, but saw them advance to Game 7 of the Eastern Conference finals before losing to the eventual Stanley Cup champions, the Carolina Hurricanes.

Quick Facts Buffalo Sabres, Division ...

After starting the season 7–8–0 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 44–16–5 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 52–24–6 record for 110 points and a fourth-place finish heading into the playoffs. The season was the first 100–point season in 23 years and tied the 1979–80 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.

Regular season

On January 14, 2006, the Sabres defeated the Los Angeles Kings at home by a score of 10–1.[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 10–7.[4]

Season standings

More information No., CR ...

[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.

More information R, Div ...

Divisions: AT – Atlantic, NE – Northeast, SE – Southeast

Z – Clinched Conference; Y – Clinched Division; X – Clinched Playoff spot

Playoffs

Main article: 2006 Stanley Cup playoffs

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 2–1 overtime win in Game 6. Buffalo led the Hurricanes 2–1 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 4–2 final score.

Schedule and results

Regular season

More information Game, Date ...

Playoffs

More information 2006 Stanley Cup playoffs, Game ...

Player statistics

Scoring

  • Position abbreviations: C = Center; D = Defense; G = Goaltender; LW = Left wing; RW = Right wing
  • ‡ = Left team via a transaction (e.g., trade, waivers, release) during the season. Stats reflect time with the Sabres only.
More information Regular season, Playoffs ...

Goaltending

  • ‡ = Left team via a transaction (e.g., trade, waivers, release) during the season. Stats reflect time with the Sabres only.
More information Regular season, Playoffs ...

Awards and records

Awards

More information Type, Award/honor ...

Transactions

The Sabres were involved in the following transactions from February 17, 2005, the day after the 2004–05 NHL season was officially cancelled, through June 19, 2006, the day of the deciding game of the 2006 Stanley Cup Finals.[11]

Trades

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Players acquired

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Players lost

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Signings

More information Date, Player ...

Draft picks

As there was no 2004–05 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:

More information Round, # ...

See also

Notes

  1. In parentheses is the player's free agency group on August 1 if applicable.[18]

References

  • "Buffalo Sabres 2005-06 roster and scoring statistics at hockeydb.com". www.hockeydb.com. Retrieved October 14, 2022.
  • "2005-06 Buffalo Sabres Roster and Statistics". Hockey-Reference.com. Retrieved October 14, 2022.
  1. [1]
    National Hockey League (2010). The National Hockey League Official Guide & Record Book/2011. Triumph Books. p. 27. ISBN 978-1-60078-422-4.
  2. [2]
    "2005-06 NHL Summary".
  3. [3]
    "Los Angeles Kings at Buffalo Sabres Box Score — January 14, 2006".
  4. [4]
    "Detroit Red Wings at Buffalo Sabres Box Score — February 24, 1993".
  5. [5]
    Dinger, Ralph, ed. (2009). The National Hockey League Official Guide & Record Book/2010. Dan Diamond & Associates. p. 162.
  6. [6]
    "2005–2006 Standings by Conference". National Hockey League. Retrieved March 26, 2012.
  7. [7]
    "2005-06 Buffalo Sabres Schedule". Hockey-Reference.com. Retrieved October 14, 2022.
  8. [8]
    "Ruff Wins Jack Adams Award". NHL.com. June 22, 2006. Archived from the original on October 28, 2022. Retrieved December 1, 2023.
  9. [9]
    "Marian Hossa Named NHL Offensive Player Of The Week". Atlanta Thrashers. December 26, 2005. Archived from the original on March 25, 2006. Retrieved October 29, 2022.
  10. [10]
    "Defensive Player of the Week". NHL.com. February 6, 2006. Archived from the original on October 28, 2022. Retrieved December 1, 2023.
  11. [11]
    "Hockey Transactions Search Results". Pro Sports Transactions. Retrieved June 22, 2022.
  12. [12]
    "Three defencemen, two goalies, two forwards and a Sutter". Calgary Flames. July 30, 2005. Archived from the original on December 1, 2005. Retrieved June 23, 2022. the Flames traded two picks (Nos. 87 and 96) to Buffalo to move up to No. 74
  13. [13]
    "Kennedy: One Step Closer". NHL.com. August 24, 2005. Archived from the original on June 22, 2022. Retrieved December 1, 2023. 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.
  14. [14]
    "Sabres Acquire Lydman". NHL.com. August 25, 2005. Archived from the original on June 22, 2022. Retrieved December 1, 2023.
  15. [15]
    "Leighton, Bartovic dealt". theahl.com. October 4, 2005. Retrieved June 22, 2022.
  16. [16]
    "Noronen Traded To Canucks". NHL.com. March 8, 2006. Archived from the original on March 27, 2019. Retrieved December 1, 2023.
  17. [17]
    "Thursday roundup: Avs to keep Tanguay, Sauer". ESPN.com. August 4, 2005. Retrieved June 22, 2022.
  18. [18]
    "Free Agents List". ESPN.com. August 1, 2005. Retrieved June 19, 2022.
  19. [19]
    "Amerks' Botterill retires". theahl.com. February 24, 2005. Retrieved June 22, 2022.
  20. [20]
    "Oilers strike again, acquire Isles' Peca for York". ESPN.com. August 3, 2005. Retrieved June 22, 2022.
  21. [21]
    "Thrashers Sign Unrestricted Free Agent Forwards Eric Boulton, Ramzi Abid and Scott Barney". Atlanta Thrashers. August 8, 2005. Archived from the original on March 25, 2006. Retrieved June 20, 2022.
  22. [22]
    "Lightning sign four". theahl.com. August 18, 2005. Retrieved June 22, 2022.
  23. [23]
    "AMERKS RE-SIGN SMITH & DUFRESNE". Rochester Americans. August 31, 2005. Archived from the original on November 19, 2005. Retrieved June 22, 2022.
  24. [24]
    "TRANSACTIONS". Hartford Courant. September 8, 2005. Retrieved December 31, 2023. TAMPA BAY LIGHTNING–Signed D Todd Rohloff to a one-year contract.
  25. [25]
    "Leafs move on from Marchment, ink D Brown". ESPN.com. September 10, 2005. Retrieved June 22, 2022.
  26. [26]
    "TOM ASKEY". TSN.ca. Archived from the original on September 13, 2006. Retrieved June 22, 2022. 21-Sep-05: Signed with the HIFK Helsinki of the SM-Liiga (Finland).
  27. [27]
    "Trashers swap Jorde for Stewart". OurSports Central. November 22, 2005. Retrieved June 22, 2022.
  28. [28]
    "TRANSACTIONS". The New York Times. July 29, 2005. Retrieved June 22, 2022. BUFFALO SABRES--Signed C Clarke MacArthur to a three-year contract.
  29. [29]
    "TRANSACTIONS". The New York Times. July 30, 2005. Retrieved June 22, 2022. BUFFALO SABRES--Announced D Dmitri Kalinin exercised his one-year option. Exercised their one-year option on D Rory Fitzpatrick.
  30. [30]
    "Taylor Pyatt Stats, News, Video, Bio, Highlights on TSN". TSN. Retrieved June 22, 2022. Aug 04, 2005 Re-signed as a restricted free agent by the Buffalo Sabres to a one-year contract.
  31. [31]
    "Grier accepts one-year qualifying offer from Sabres". ESPN.com. August 8, 2005. Retrieved June 22, 2022.
  32. [32]
    "Biron Accepts Qualifying Offer". NHL.com. August 12, 2005. Archived from the original on June 22, 2022. Retrieved December 1, 2023.
  33. [33]
    "Miller and Campbell Accept Qualifying Offers". NHL.com. August 12, 2005. Archived from the original on June 22, 2022. Retrieved December 1, 2023.
  34. [34]
    "Eleven Players Accept Qualifying Offers". NHL.com. August 15, 2005. Archived from the original on June 22, 2022. Retrieved December 1, 2023.
  35. [35]
    "Hecht Agrees to Three-Year Deal". NHL.com. August 15, 2005. Archived from the original on June 22, 2022. Retrieved December 1, 2023.
  36. [36]
    "McKee rejoins Sabres for one year at $1.6-million". The Globe and Mail. September 10, 2005. Retrieved June 22, 2022.
  37. [37]
    "SEAN MCMORROW". TSN.ca. Archived from the original on May 15, 2007. Retrieved June 22, 2022. 14-Sep-05: Re-signed as a restricted free agent by the Buffalo Sabres.
  38. [38]
    "Mark Mancari Stats, News, Video, Bio, Highlights on TSN". TSN. Retrieved June 22, 2022. Oct 11, 2005 Signed by the Buffalo Sabres to a three-year contract.
  39. [39]
    "Sabres Sign Drew Stafford". NHL.com. May 3, 2006. Archived from the original on June 22, 2022. Retrieved December 1, 2023.
  40. [40]
    "Sabres Sign Four Players". NHL.com. June 5, 2006. Archived from the original on June 22, 2022. Retrieved December 1, 2023.
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