2012–13 Buffalo Sabres season

The 2012–13 Buffalo Sabres season was the 43rd season for the National Hockey League (NHL) franchise that was established on May 22, 1970. The regular season was reduced from its usual 82 games to 48 due to a lockout. The season was the 15th and final season coached by Lindy Ruff, who was fired after a 6–10–1 start. The Sabres failed to qualify for the Stanley Cup playoffs for the second consecutive season.
==Off-season==
===Broadcast changes===
On June 8, 2012, the Sabres announced that Rick Jeanneret, the longest-tenured play-by-play announcer in NHL history, would be inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame; Jeanneret will also receive the Foster Hewitt Memorial Award. Rob Ray will replace Harry Neale as the full-time color commentator for all Sabres game broadcasts. Neale will join Mike Robitaille, whose role will remain unchanged, and Brian Duff, who will take over as full-time studio host, in the studio. Kevin Sylvester and Danny Gare, who served as the alternate broadcast team in 2011–12, were not originally going to reprise their roles in 2012–13; Sylvester instead revived the Hockey Hotline, a long-discontinued Sabres call-in talk show, for WGR.Pergament, Alan (June 13, 2012). Sabres make right moves with broadcast team. Retrieved June 13, 2012. However, due to Jeanneret suffering an illness, Sylvester was pressed into service to call play-by-play for the first four games of the regular season.Reiman, Liz. Jeanneret out for Sabres game #2. WIVB-TV. Retrieved January 21, 2013.
===Alumni Plaza===
On July 12, 2012, the Sabres announced that the plaza adjacent to First Niagara Center would be re-branded Alumni Plaza. On October 12, 2012, a bronze French Connection statue was added to the plaza. Other plans included plaques with the name of every player to play a game for the team and fans having to opportunity to buy engraved bricks.
===Lockout===
On September 13, 2012, Buffalo Sabres owner Terrence Pegula, along with all 28 other league ownership groups (the League still collectively owns the Phoenix Coyotes), authorized NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman to lock-out the National Hockey League Players' Association (NHLPA) upon the expiration of the NHL Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) on September 15. The lockout ended at 4:45 am EST on January 6, 2013, lasting 113 days.
 The lockout reduced the regular season from 82 to 48 games.
===Overseas Sabres===
After the announced lockout, players from the team began to sign contracts to play in Europe until resumption of NHL play. 
 Overseas Sabres
Player 	New team 	League
Thomas Vanek 	Graz 99ers 	Austrian Hockey League
Tyler Ennis 	SCL Tigers 	Swiss National League
Andrej Sekera 	Slovan Bratislava	Kontinental Hockey League
Christian Ehrhoff	Krefeld Pinguine 	Deutsche Eishockey Liga
Jhonas Enroth 	Huddinge IK 	Swedish Division 1Vesey, Steve. Enroth signs two-game deal in Sweden. WIVB-TV. Retrieved October 26, 2012.
Mike Weber 	Lorenskog 	GET-ligaen.Hoppe, Bill (November 16, 2012). Weber signs with Norwegian club. Olean Times Herald via BuffaloHockeyBeat.com. Retrieved November 18, 2012.
Jason Pominville 	Adler Mannheim 	Deutsche Eishockey LigaVogl, John (November 30, 2012). Sabres' Pominville 'just wants to play,' says timing is right to head to Germany . The Buffalo News. Retrieved December 3, 2012.
Jochen Hecht 	Adler Mannheim 	Deutsche Eishockey LigaHoppe, Bill (December 11, 2012). Hecht heading to Germany with goal of NHL return. Olean Times Herald. Retrieved December 23, 2012.
Alexander Sulzer 	ERC Ingolstadt 	Deutsche Eishockey Liga
Tyler Myers 	Klagenfurt AC 	Austrian Hockey LeagueHarrington, Mike (January 11, 2013). Myers' ankle passes early Sabres workout test. The Buffalo News. Retrieved January 11, 2013.
===Beyond Blue and Gold===
During the abbreviated training camp the team released the first episodes in a new web-series called Beyond Blue and Gold. The series will run through the season with the goal to give fans an "all-access pass to the entire Sabres organization throughout the entire 2012–13 NHL season."
==Regular season==
After the lockout, the Sabres had an abbreviated one-week training camp. During the camp, the Sabres' first pick in the 2012 NHL Entry Draft, Mikhail Grigorenko, played well on a line with off-season trade acquisitions Steve Ott and Ville Leino. At the end of the camp, Grigorenko was put on the opening day roster. The Sabres were given five games to decide whether to keep him on the roster (and thus pay him a full season's salary) or send him back to his junior team, the Quebec Remparts; in the end, Grigorenko was kept on the roster after Leino suffered an injury. After several weeks of mediocre play and Leino's return to the active roster, Grigorenko returned to the Remparts. He remained with the Remparts until their elimination from the QMJHL playoffs, whereupon he returned to the Sabres.
After an unsuccessful 6–10–1 start, general manager Darcy Regier announced the firing of head coach Lindy Ruff Ruff coached the team since 1997 and was the team's most successful coach. It was further announced that Ron Rolston, who was the current coach of the Rochester Americans, would replace Ruff on an interim basis. The Sabres performed better under Rolston but were nonetheless eliminated from playoff contention following an 8–4 home loss to the New York Rangers.
The Sabres allowed the most shorthanded goals in the NHL, with seven.https://www.hockey-reference.com/leagues/NHL_2013.html
==Playoffs==
The Sabres did not qualify for the playoffs for the second consecutive year.
==Standings==
== Schedule and results ==
===Original regular season schedule===
2012–13 Original Schedule (For reference only)	2012–13 Original Schedule (For reference only)	 	 	 	 	
October
{| class="wikitable" 	 	 	 	 	 	
Game 	October 	Opponent 	Score	Decision	Location/Attendance 	Record
1 	13 	Pittsburgh Penguins 	 	 	First Niagara Center 	
2 	16 	Detroit Red Wings 	 	 	First Niagara Center 	
3 	19 	New York Rangers 	 	 	First Niagara Center 	
4 	20 	@ New York Islanders	 	 	Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum	
5 	24 	New Jersey Devils 	 	 	First Niagara Center 	
6 	26 	@ New Jersey Devils 	 	 	Prudential Center 	
7 	28 	Philadelphia Flyers 	 	 	First Niagara Center 	
8 	30 	@ Boston Bruins 	 	 	TD Garden 	
===Revised regular season schedule===
2012–13 Game LogOverall: 21–21–6 (Home: 11–10–3; Away: 10–11–3)	2012–13 Game LogOverall: 21–21–6 (Home: 11–10–3; Away: 10–11–3)	 	 	 	 	
January: 3–3–1 (Home: 1–1–1; Road: 2–2–0)
{| border="1" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0" class="wikitable"	 	 	 	 	 	
Game 	January 	Opponent 	Score 	Decision 	Location/Attendance 	Record
1 	20 	Philadelphia Flyers 	5–2 	Miller (1–0–0)	First Niagara Center (19,070)	1–0–0
2 	21 	@Toronto Maple Leafs	2–1 	Miller (2–0–0)	Air Canada Centre (19,475) 	2–0–0
3 	24 	@Carolina Hurricanes	3–6 	Enroth (0–1–0)	PNC Arena (18,081) 	2–1–0
4 	25 	Carolina Hurricanes 	1–3 	Miller (2–1–0)	First Niagara Center (18,824)	2–2–0
5 	27 	@Washington Capitals	2–3 	Miller (2–2–0)	Verizon Center (18,506) 	2–3–0
6 	29 	Toronto Maple Leafs 	3–4 (OT)	Miller (2–2–1)	First Niagara Center (18,801)	2–3–1
7 	31 	@Boston Bruins 	7–4 	Miller (3–2–1)	TD Garden (17,565) 	3–3–1
==Player statistics==
Final regular season stats 
;Skaters
 Regular Season
Player 	 	 	 	 	 	
 	38	20 	21 	41 	−1 	20
 	48	15 	19 	34 	−4 	20
 	47	10 	21 	31 	−14	16
‡ 	37	10 	15 	25 	1 	8
 	48	9 	15 	24 	3 	93
 	47	5 	17 	22 	6 	34
 	47	5 	13 	18 	−4 	41
 	46	6 	12 	18 	−16	21
 	47	5 	9 	14 	6 	18
 	37	2 	10 	12 	−2 	4
 	26	6 	5 	11 	6 	0
 	42	5 	5 	10 	−3 	14
 	31	4 	5 	9 	−1 	10
‡ 	24	2 	6 	8 	−6 	14
 	39	3 	5 	8 	−8 	32
 	42	1 	6 	7 	3 	70
 	8 	2 	4 	6 	0 	6
 	25	1 	4 	5 	−1 	0
 	19	1 	4 	5 	−7 	0
 	17	3 	1 	4 	3 	10
 	17	0 	4 	4 	4 	14
‡ 	29	0 	2 	2 	−4 	21
 	4 	1 	0 	1 	1 	2
 	34	1 	0 	1 	−4 	67
‡ 	10	1 	0 	1 	−1 	6
 	8 	0 	0 	0 	−2 	10
 	6 	0 	0 	0 	0 	0
 	34	0 	0 	0 	−1 	69
 	7 	0 	0 	0 	0 	0
Totals*	48	118	203	321	−46	630
*Totals include goaltenders (G/A/Pts/PIM) and bench minors (PIM)
;Goaltenders
 Regular Season
Player	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
 	40 	39	2302:14	17	17	5	108	2.81	1270	.915	0	0	0	2
 	12 	9 	623:26 	4 	4 	1	27 	2.60	332 	.919	1	0	0	0
Totals	Totals	48	2925:40	21	21	6	135	2.77	1602	.916	1	0	0	2
†Denotes player spent time with another team before joining the Sabres. Stats reflect time with the Sabres only.
‡Traded mid-season
Bold/italics denotes franchise record
== Awards and records ==
===Awards===
 Regular Season
Player 	Award 	Awarded
Thomas Vanek	NHL Third Star of the Month	February 1, 2013
Thomas Vanek	NHL First Star of the Week 	February 4, 2013
===Milestones===
 Regular Season
Player 	Milestone 	Reached
Mikhail Grigorenko	1st Career NHL Game 	January 20, 2013
Drew Stafford 	400th Career NHL Game 	January 24, 2013
Mikhail Grigorenko	1st Career NHL Goal1st Career NHL Point 	January 29, 2013
Mikhail Grigorenko	1st Career NHL Assist 	January 31, 2013
Cody Hodgson 	100th Career NHL Game 	February 3, 2013
Tyler Ennis 	100th Career NHL Point 	February 7, 2013
Alexander Sulzer 	100th Career NHL Game 	February 9, 2013
Jordan Leopold 	600th Career NHL Game 	February 12, 2013
Jochen Hecht 	800th Career NHL Game 	February 12, 2013
Brian Flynn 	1st Career NHL Game 	March 2, 2013
Brian Flynn 	1st Career NHL Goal1st Career NHL Point 	March 7, 2013
Brian Flynn 	1st Career NHL Assist 	March 12, 2013
Mark Pysyk 	1st Career NHL Game 	March 17, 2013
Jordan Leopold 	200th Career NHL Point 	March 19, 2013
Ville Leino 	100th Career NHL Point 	March 19, 2013
Steve Ott 	600th Career NHL Game 	March 28, 2013
Christian Ehrhoff 	600th Career NHL Game 	March 30, 2013
Mark Pysyk 	1st Career NHL Assist1st Career NHL Point 	April 2, 2013
Ryan Miller 	492nd Career NHL Game(Sabres Goalie Franchise Record)	April 2, 2013
Ryan Miller 	Sabres Career Saves Record 	April 5, 2013
Chad Ruhwedel 	1st Career NHL Game 	April 13, 2013
Patrick Kaleta 	300th Career NHL Game 	April 17, 2013
Mark Pysyk 	1st Career NHL Goal 	April 19, 2013
Ryan Miller 	500th Career NHL Game 	April 26, 2013
==Final Roster==
|}
== Transactions ==
The Sabres have been involved in the following transactions during the 2012–13 season:
===Trades===
Date 	Details 	Details
June 22, 2012Sabres stock up on centers in NHL draft 	To Calgary Flames 1st-round pick (21st overall) in 20122nd-round pick (42nd overall) in 2012	To Buffalo Sabres 1st-round pick (14th overall) in 2012
July 2, 2012SABRES ACQUIRE OTT, PARDY FROM DALLAS IN EXCHANGE FOR ROY 	To Dallas Stars Derek Roy 	To Buffalo Sabres Steve OttAdam Pardy
March 15, 2013BRENNAN DEALT TO PANTHERS 	To Florida Panthers T. J. Brennan 	To Buffalo Sabres 5th-round pick in 2013
March 30, 2013 	To St. Louis Blues Jordan Leopold 	To Buffalo Sabres 2nd-round pick in 2013Conditional 5th-round pick in 2013
April 1, 2013SABRES ACQUIRE TWO DRAFT PICKS FROM LOS ANGELES KINGS FOR DEFENSEMAN REGEHR	To Los Angeles Kings Robyn Regehr 	To Buffalo Sabres 2nd-round pick in 20142nd-round pick in 2015
April 3, 2013SABRES ACQUIRE LARSSON, HACKETT & DRAFT PICKS FROM WILD 	To Minnesota Wild Jason Pominville4th-round pick in 2014 	To Buffalo Sabres Matt HackettJohan Larsson1st-round pick in 20132nd-round pick in 2014
=== Free agents signed ===
Player 	Former team 	Contract terms
John ScottSABRES AGREE TO TERMS WITH FORWARD JOHN SCOTT	New York Rangers 	1 year, $600,000
Kevin Porter 	Colorado Avalanche 	2 years, $1.075 million
Mark Mancari 	Vancouver Canucks 	1 year, $550,000
Nick TarnaskySABRES SIGN TARNASKY, RE-SIGN BRENNAN 	Vityaz Chekhov 	1 year, $525,000
Tim SchallerSABRES SIGN FORWARD TIM SCHALLER 	Providence College 	2 years, entry-level contract
Chad RuhwedelSABRES SIGN DEFENSEMAN CHAD RUHWEDEL 	University of Massachusetts Lowell	2 years, $1.85 million entry-level contract
=== Free agents lost ===
Player 	New team 	Contract terms
Paul SzczechuraSzczechura Thanks Fans for Support	Lev Praha 	1 year, undisclosed
Shaone Morrisonn 	Spartak Moscow 	Undisclosed
Dennis Persson 	Brynas IF 	Undisclosed
Brad BoyesBoyes Agrees To Terms 	New York Islanders	1 year, $1 million
Michael Ryan 	Assat 	1 year, Undisclosed
===Claimed via waivers===
Player	Former team	Date claimed off waivers
=== Lost via waivers ===
Player 	New team 	Date claimed off waivers
Joe FinleyIslanders Claim Finley off Waivers	New York Islanders	January 14, 2013
=== Lost via retirement ===
Player
===Player signings===
Player 	Date 	Contract terms
Nathan Lieuwen 	May 5, 2012 	3 years, $1.715 million entry-level contract
Alexander Sulzer 	May 21, 2012 	1 year, $725,000 contract extension
Joel Armia 	June 16, 2012 	3 years, $3.825 million entry-level contract
David Leggio 	July 6, 2012 	1 year, $550,000
Zemgus GirgensonsGIRGENSONS, SABRES AGREE TO TERMS ON ENTRY-LEVEL CONTRACT	July 13, 2012 	3 years, $2.775 million entry-level contract
T. J. Brennan 	July 17, 2012 	1 year, $550,000
Mikhail GrigorenkoSABRES SIGN GRIGORENKO TO ENTRY-LEVEL CONTRACT 	July 18, 2012 	3 years, $2.775 million entry-level contract
Drew SchiestelSCHIESTEL SIGNS ONE-YEAR, TWO-WAY DEAL 	July 25, 2012 	1 year, $577,500
Patrick KaletaSABRES, KALETA AGREE ON MULTI-YEAR CONTRACT 	July 31, 2012 	3 years, $3.75 million
Alex BiegaSABRES SIGN BIEGA TO ONE-YEAR DEAL 	August 2, 2012 	1 year, $577,500
Tyler EnnisSABRES SIGN ENNIS TO TWO-YEAR DEAL 	September 15, 2012	2 years, $5.625 million
Jochen HechtHECHT AGREES TO TERMS ON ONE-YEAR DEAL 	January 13, 2013 	1 year, $1 million
John Scott 	May 20, 2013 	1 year, $750,000 contract extension
Colin Jacobs 	May 30, 2013 	3 years, $1.775 million entry-level contract
Jhonas Enroth 	June 20, 2013 	2 years, 2.5 million
Mike Weber 	June 27, 2013 	3 years, $5 million contract extension
==Draft picks==
Buffalo Sabres' picks at the 2012 NHL Entry Draft, held in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania on June 22 & 23, 2012. 
Round	# 	Player 	Pos 	Nationality	College/Junior/Club Team (League)
1 	12 	Mikhail Grigorenko	C 	 	Quebec Remparts (QMJHL)
1 	14 	Zemgus Girgensons 	C 	 	Dubuque Fighting Saints (USHL)
2 	44 	Jake McCabe 	D 	 	University of Wisconsin (WCHA)
3 	73 	Justin Kea 	C 	 	Saginaw Spirit (OHL)
5 	133	Logan Nelson 	C 	 	Victoria Royals (WHL)
6 	163	Linus Ullmark 	G 	 	Modo Hockey Jr. (J20 SuperElit)
7 	193	Brady Austin 	D 	 	Belleville Bulls (OHL)
7 	204	Judd Peterson 	C/RW	 	The Marshall School (USHS-MN)
 
;Draft notes 
* The Calgary Flames's first-round pick went to the Buffalo Sabres as a result of a June 22, 2012, trade that sent a 2012 first-round pick and a 2012 second-round pick to the Flames in exchange for this pick.
* The Buffalo Sabres' second-round pick went to the Calgary Flames as a result of a June 22, 2012, trade that sent a 2012 first-round pick to the Sabres in exchange for a 2012 first-round pick this pick.
* The Calgary Flames' second-round pick went to the Buffalo Sabres as a result of a June 25, 2011, trade that sent Chris Butler and Paul Byron to the Flames in exchange for Robyn Regehr, Ales Kotalik and this pick.
* The Buffalo Sabres' fourth-round pick went to the New York Islanders as the result of a June 29, 2011, trade that sent Christian Ehrhoff to the Sabres in exchange for this pick.
* The Chicago Blackhawks' seventh-round pick went to the Buffalo Sabres as a result of a June 29, 2011, trade that sent Steve Montador to the Blackhawks in exchange for this pick.
== See also ==
* 2012–13 NHL season
==References==
Category:Buffalo Sabres seasons
B