An idea was proposed to try and come up with a list of the top 20 Sabres of all-time. I wanted to do it, but it has become much harder than I anticipated. There are so many players who could have made this list, and good ones too, but here are the first five, starting at number 20:
20: Chris Drury - He only played in Buffalo for three seasons, but his performance on the ice was too good to ignore. He scored that goal when it was needed most, multiple times. His timely, clutch goals, are why he is on the ice in the last few minutes of a game.
The hit that he received against Ottawa a few years back is what sparked the Sabres/Sens brawl. His biggest goal in Buffalo was against the Rangers when he somehow managed to tie the game with seconds remaining.
Drury scored 18 points in 18 games during the playoffs that year, and 13 in 16 the year after. Unfortunately, Drury was never re-signed by the team and went on to play for the Rangers.
He won a Stanley Cup with Colorado and ended up as one of Regier's best acquisitions for Buffalo. Drury's career went downhill afterward, but he did enough for the Sabres to earn him a spot on the list.
I still get chills watching this video:
19: Daniel Briere- He may have been small, but Briere's offensive talent was too much to handle for opposing players. He played for Buffalo at the right time, during the "run n gun" type of offense that was helping the Sabres win.
He played three full seasons with the Sabres, and the last year was his best. Briere scored 95 points in 81 games that year. Briere also had 34 points in 34 playoff games as a member of the Sabres.
Briere's work behind the net was his biggest strength. Nobody could take the puck away from him, and he made perfect plays from there.
His career sky rocketed in Buffalo, but it was short lived, and off to Philadelphia he went.
18:-Dale Hawerchuk- He was another player that did not play for the Sabres for a long time, four seasons in fact.
Drafted 1st overall in 1981, Hawerchuk put up points like crazy. In four full seasons with Buffalo, his lowest point total was 86. He had years of 89,96, and 98 as well.
Hawerchuk finished his Sabres career with 385 points in 342 games.
17: Jim Schoenfeld- He began his career with the Sabres in 1972, scoring 19 points in 66 games, but offense wasn't his strength. Schoenfeld was drafted 5th overall because of his tremendous defensive ability.
Not only was he able to block shots and shutdown opposing offenses, but he was a physical defenseman who wasn't afraid to drop the gloves.
The most memorable moment may be when Schoenfeld got into a fight along the boards, causing the zamboni doors to open, and the fight continued in the hallway. He got into three fights during that game.
Schoenfeld finished his career with 255 points in 719 games, along with 1,132 penalty minutes. He then went on and became a head coach for a few different teams.
16: Bill Hajt- If you're going to talk about some of the Sabres best defensemen, then Bill Hajt is certainly one of them. He made no mistake about clearing the puck out of the zone, and his breakout passing was phenomenal.
He kept everything simple on the defensive side, but also used his strength and size to create scoring opportunities on the rush.
In 13 seasons with the Sabres, he never scored more than 20 points, but he made up for it with his strong defensive abilities. Buffalo decided to take Hajt in the third round, using its first two selections of Rick Martin and Craig Ramsay.
Hajt finished his career with 244 points in 854 games.
There's your first five of the list. I may be a little biased by having Briere and Drury make the cut, because I am younger and don't remember the older guys as much.
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