Our fanbase typically appreciated guys underappreciated elsewhere like Pommer, Mogilny, and so many others.
I’ll give this to Marty Biron for having the misfortune of being netminder between Hasek and Miller
mjandrr
Derek Roy
MidnightMass26
Going with a dark horse and saying Teppo Numminen
bukezilla
Teppo gets my vote
LaneMeyersLostSki
Taro Tsujimoto
splendid_ssbm
Jochen Hecht
The-Real-Larry
Going old school: Bill Hajt.
Played his entire, 14-season NHL career in Buffalo. Rock-solid stay-at-home defenseman. Only ever scored by accident.
SMVM183206
Drew Stafford
CanadaDoug
Craig Ramsay
Tsujimoto3
While I somewhat agree with the Numminem picks, I’m going to even further back and say Craig Ramsay.
Neo_Sapphire
Jay McKee
plzaskmeaboutloom
Curtis Brown
budboomer
Alexei Zhitnik – top defenseman on several teams that made deep playoff runs. Very good defensively and great skater.
Dozerdog43
Bill Hajt. A defenseman’s defenseman. For a guy who scored on an average of one goal for every 20-25 games played in 15 seasons-and his career spanned the crazy high scoring 80’s- he was a +320 for his career.
And most Sabres fans of today probably never heard of him
Rockhardwood
Girgs, at least lately. He was our most dependable bottom 6 guy for like a decade, and people treated that as an issue.
v-irtual
Ales Kotalik
sillygoosiee
Linus Ullmark
devin1421
Brian Campbell
hawkayecarumba
Jay McKee.
Never considered an elite D-man, never talked about in the same breath as other Sabres greats, but he was as reliable as they come for 7+ seasons for the Sabres.
Him literally putting his body on the line in that 05-06 playoffs is something I’ll never forget
timmeedski
Johan Larsson, elite defensive F
By extension girgensons, a loyal soldier through the drought
Grenzeb
This thing is slowly but surely reinforcing a lot of feeling I had over the years lmao 🤣
diebytheblade15
Jay McKee
Roguemutantbrain
Jaroslav Spacek
BobLoblaw75
I’d jump on the Jay McKee wagon. I was going to say Mike Ramsey. I like the defensive defensemen. They never get a lot of headlines
Any_Band_8428
Doug Bodger. Wasn’t flashy, but routinely gave you between 30-50 points a season.
Nervous_Cellist_6
John Van Boxmeer was a points machine yet I only see his name mentioned when looking up stats for sabres defensmen
JoshAllensRightNut
Zemgus girgensons.
glenvillequint
JP Dumont
DJ-dicknose
I’d say Ryan Miller. And that’s because he wasn’t Hasek. Remember the Mr. Softee taunts and such? He’s the second best goalie the team ever had, and for a lot of teams, probably would be their best ever. But Sabres fans wanted Hasek 2.0 (and who wouldnt) and that frustrated a lot of fans.
Zem is a good one. I even got on the “get rid of the guy” train because he never lived up to his draft pedigree and I think I expected someone more like Rod Brind Amour.
This suggestion may rub people the wrong way…. But Jack. Look, I get it. The way he left sucked. He was a douche.
But the Sabres wanted McDavid. And they got Jack instead. And he wasn’t McDavid, but a pretty great player anyway. And the fans expected more despite the team not doing enough to put a team around him. They just kept losing and losing and not doing anything to change that. And then he gets hurt and the Sabres tell him he can’t get his preferred surgery…. Jack’s not the only bad one in that public divorce.
And yes, he was very under appreciated when he was in BFLO
Wide_right_
Jaroslav Spacek
The-Pigeon-Man
Tallinder
Ficklenesses
Ryan O’Reilly
dasokay
I’m saying Spacek. We don’t know how good we had it with that guy around. It wasn’t all Lydman, Tallinder and Numminen, who are all spoken of fondly already.
Bluecrush2_fan
Hecht
sabres5616
Wayne Presley
Gottahavemytrees
Criminal lack of Paul Gaustad mentions here, great role player for us.
RecommendationOk4148
Mike Grier. Never took shortcuts. Always played the game the right way. Exceptional veteran on a young Sabres team that went to the ECF. I don’t think it’s a coincidence that we were back in the playoffs when he came back to the Sabres from San Jose. A pros pro and leader of men.
Main_Chocolate_1396
Craig Ramsey. Why not go with a key player that actually played in the Stanley Cup Finals
39 Comments
Our fanbase typically appreciated guys underappreciated elsewhere like Pommer, Mogilny, and so many others.
I’ll give this to Marty Biron for having the misfortune of being netminder between Hasek and Miller
Derek Roy
Going with a dark horse and saying Teppo Numminen
Teppo gets my vote
Taro Tsujimoto
Jochen Hecht
Going old school: Bill Hajt.
Played his entire, 14-season NHL career in Buffalo. Rock-solid stay-at-home defenseman. Only ever scored by accident.
Drew Stafford
Craig Ramsay
While I somewhat agree with the Numminem picks, I’m going to even further back and say Craig Ramsay.
Jay McKee
Curtis Brown
Alexei Zhitnik – top defenseman on several teams that made deep playoff runs. Very good defensively and great skater.
Bill Hajt. A defenseman’s defenseman. For a guy who scored on an average of one goal for every 20-25 games played in 15 seasons-and his career spanned the crazy high scoring 80’s- he was a +320 for his career.
And most Sabres fans of today probably never heard of him
Girgs, at least lately. He was our most dependable bottom 6 guy for like a decade, and people treated that as an issue.
Ales Kotalik
Linus Ullmark
Brian Campbell
Jay McKee.
Never considered an elite D-man, never talked about in the same breath as other Sabres greats, but he was as reliable as they come for 7+ seasons for the Sabres.
Him literally putting his body on the line in that 05-06 playoffs is something I’ll never forget
Johan Larsson, elite defensive F
By extension girgensons, a loyal soldier through the drought
This thing is slowly but surely reinforcing a lot of feeling I had over the years lmao 🤣
Jay McKee
Jaroslav Spacek
I’d jump on the Jay McKee wagon. I was going to say Mike Ramsey. I like the defensive defensemen. They never get a lot of headlines
Doug Bodger. Wasn’t flashy, but routinely gave you between 30-50 points a season.
John Van Boxmeer was a points machine yet I only see his name mentioned when looking up stats for sabres defensmen
Zemgus girgensons.
JP Dumont
I’d say Ryan Miller. And that’s because he wasn’t Hasek. Remember the Mr. Softee taunts and such? He’s the second best goalie the team ever had, and for a lot of teams, probably would be their best ever. But Sabres fans wanted Hasek 2.0 (and who wouldnt) and that frustrated a lot of fans.
Zem is a good one. I even got on the “get rid of the guy” train because he never lived up to his draft pedigree and I think I expected someone more like Rod Brind Amour.
This suggestion may rub people the wrong way…. But Jack. Look, I get it. The way he left sucked. He was a douche.
But the Sabres wanted McDavid. And they got Jack instead. And he wasn’t McDavid, but a pretty great player anyway. And the fans expected more despite the team not doing enough to put a team around him. They just kept losing and losing and not doing anything to change that. And then he gets hurt and the Sabres tell him he can’t get his preferred surgery…. Jack’s not the only bad one in that public divorce.
And yes, he was very under appreciated when he was in BFLO
Jaroslav Spacek
Tallinder
Ryan O’Reilly
I’m saying Spacek. We don’t know how good we had it with that guy around. It wasn’t all Lydman, Tallinder and Numminen, who are all spoken of fondly already.
Hecht
Wayne Presley
Criminal lack of Paul Gaustad mentions here, great role player for us.
Mike Grier. Never took shortcuts. Always played the game the right way. Exceptional veteran on a young Sabres team that went to the ECF. I don’t think it’s a coincidence that we were back in the playoffs when he came back to the Sabres from San Jose. A pros pro and leader of men.
Craig Ramsey. Why not go with a key player that actually played in the Stanley Cup Finals
Mike Grier