2004–05 Buffalo Sabres season

The 2004–05 Buffalo Sabres season was to be the 35th for the National Hockey League franchise that was established on May 22, 1970.^[1] The season was cancelled as the 2004–05 NHL lockout could not be resolved in time to save the season.

2004–05 Buffalo Sabres
Division	Northeast
Conference	Eastern
2004–05 record	Did not play
Team information
General manager	Darcy Regier
Coach	Lindy Ruff
Captain	Vacant
Arena	HSBC Arena
Minor league affiliate(s)	Rochester Americans
← 2003–04 2005–06 →

Offseason

Schedule

The Sabres preseason and regular season schedules were announced on July 12 and July 14, 2004, respectively.^[2][3]

2004–05 schedule
Preseason Game Date Opponent 1 September 24 Columbus Blue Jackets 2 September 25 Minnesota Wild 3 September 28 @ Toronto Maple Leafs 4 October 2 @ Montreal Canadiens 5 October 3 @ Minnesota Wild 6 October 6 Montreal Canadiens 7 October 8 Toronto Maple Leafs 8 October 10 @ Tampa Bay Lightning
Regular season Game Date Opponent 1 October 15 @ Columbus Blue Jackets 2 October 16 New Jersey Devils 3 October 18 Tampa Bay Lightning 4 October 21 @ Atlanta Thrashers 5 October 22 @ Dallas Stars 6 October 24 @ Phoenix Coyotes 7 October 26 @ St. Louis Blues 8 October 28 San Jose Sharks 9 October 30 Pittsburgh Penguins 10 November 4 @ Boston Bruins 11 November 5 Philadelphia Flyers 12 November 12 Edmonton Oilers 13 November 13 @ New York Rangers 14 November 15 Toronto Maple Leafs 15 November 17 Carolina Hurricanes 16 November 19 New York Rangers 17 November 20 @ Carolina Hurricanes 18 November 24 Boston Bruins 19 November 26 Montreal Canadiens 20 November 27 @ Toronto Maple Leafs 21 December 1 Minnesota Wild 22 December 3 New York Islanders 23 December 4 @ Philadelphia Flyers 24 December 7 @ New Jersey Devils 25 December 9 Boston Bruins 26 December 11 @ Boston Bruins 27 December 13 Toronto Maple Leafs 28 December 15 @ Florida Panthers 29 December 17 @ Tampa Bay Lightning 30 December 19 Florida Panthers 31 December 21 @ Montreal Canadiens 32 December 22 Montreal Canadiens 33 December 26 New York Rangers 34 December 28 @ Pittsburgh Penguins 35 December 29 @ Chicago Blackhawks 36 January 1 Vancouver Canucks 37 January 3 Chicago Blackhawks 38 January 5 Ottawa Senators 39 January 8 @ New York Islanders 40 January 9 @ Washington Capitals 41 January 11 Atlanta Thrashers 42 January 13 Carolina Hurricanes 43 January 15 @ Philadelphia Flyers 44 January 17 @ Tampa Bay Lightning 45 January 19 @ Florida Panthers 46 January 21 @ Atlanta Thrashers 47 January 22 @ Ottawa Senators 48 January 25 St. Louis Blues 49 January 27 New York Islanders 50 January 29 @ New York Islanders 51 January 30 @ Boston Bruins 52 February 1 Toronto Maple Leafs 53 February 3 New Jersey Devils 54 February 5 Pittsburgh Penguins 55 February 8 Ottawa Senators 56 February 10 Washington Capitals 57 February 15 @ Detroit Red Wings 58 February 18 @ Toronto Maple Leafs 59 February 20 Atlanta Thrashers 60 February 22 Washington Capitals 61 February 25 Tampa Bay Lightning 62 February 26 @ Montreal Canadiens 63 March 1 @ Los Angeles Kings 64 March 3 @ San Jose Sharks 65 March 4 @ Anaheim Mighty Ducks 66 March 9 Boston Bruins 67 March 11 Ottawa Senators 68 March 12 @ Montreal Canadiens 69 March 15 Colorado Avalanche 70 March 18 @ New York Rangers 71 March 19 Nashville Predators 72 March 21 @ New Jersey Devils 73 March 23 Philadelphia Flyers 74 March 26 @ Ottawa Senators 75 March 27 Calgary Flames 76 March 29 @ Carolina Hurricanes 77 March 31 @ Pittsburgh Penguins 78 April 1 @ Ottawa Senators 79 April 3 Florida Panthers 80 April 6 @ Washington Capitals 81 April 8 Montreal Canadiens 82 April 9 @ Toronto Maple Leafs

Transactions

The Sabres were involved in the following transactions from June 8, 2004, the day after the deciding game of the 2004 Stanley Cup Finals, through February 16, 2005, the day the 2004–05 season was officially cancelled.^[4]

Trades

The Sabres did not make any trades.

Players acquired

Date	Player	Former team	Term	Via	Ref
September 10, 2004 (2004-09-10)	Todd Rohloff	Washington Capitals	1-year	Free agency	[5]
	Brandon Smith	New York Islanders	1-year	Free agency	[5]

Players lost

Date	Player	New team	Via[lower-alpha 1]	Ref
July 1, 2004 (2004-07-01)	Karel Mosovsky[lower-alpha 2]		Contract expiration (UFA)	[6]
	James Patrick[lower-alpha 3]		Contract expiration (III)	[6]
August 24, 2004 (2004-08-24)	Rick Mrozik	Edmonton Road Runners (AHL)	Free agency (VI)	[9]
September 4, 2004 (2004-09-04)	Scott Ricci	Nottingham Panthers (EIHL)	Free agency (UFA)	[10]
September 10, 2004 (2004-09-10)	David Cullen	Rochester Americans (AHL)	Free agency (VI)	[5]
October 18, 2004 (2004-10-18)	Brian Chapman	Springfield Falcons (AHL)	Free agency (VI)	[11]
December 6, 2004 (2004-12-06)	Alexei Zhitnik	Ak Bars Kazan (RSL)	Free agency (III)	[12]

Signings

Date	Player	Term	Contract type	Ref
June 30, 2004 (2004-06-30)	Ales Kotalik	1-year	Option exercised	[13]
July 23, 2004 (2004-07-23)	Mike Grier	1-year	Re-signing	[14]
July 28, 2004 (2004-07-28)	Brian Campbell	1-year	Re-signing	[15]
	Jeff Jillson	1-year	Re-signing	[15]
	Taylor Pyatt	1-year	Re-signing	[15]
	Henrik Tallinder	1-year	Re-signing	[15]
August 2, 2004 (2004-08-02)	Maxim Afinogenov	1-year	Re-signing	[16]
	Tim Connolly	1-year	Re-signing	[16]
	Rory Fitzpatrick	1-year	Re-signing	[16]
	Mika Noronen	1-year	Re-signing	[16]
August 6, 2004 (2004-08-06)	Jochen Hecht	1-year	Re-signing	[17]
August 9, 2004 (2004-08-09)	Martin Biron	1-year	Arbitration settlement	[18]
	Brad Brown	1-year	Re-signing	[19]
	Jean-Pierre Dumont	1-year	Re-signing	[20]
August 13, 2004 (2004-08-13)	Daniel Briere	1-year	Arbitration settlement	[21]
September 1, 2004 (2004-09-01)	Dmitri Kalinin	1-year	Re-signing	[22]
September 3, 2004 (2004-09-03)	Thomas Vanek	3-year	Entry-level	[23]
September 10, 2004 (2004-09-10)	Jason Botterill	1-year	Re-signing	[5]
September 14, 2004 (2004-09-14)	Andrew Peters		Re-signing	[24]
September 15, 2004 (2004-09-15)	Milan Bartovic	1-year	Re-signing	[25]
	Doug Janik	1-year	Re-signing	[25]
	Ryan Miller	1-year	Re-signing	[25]
	Norm Milley	1-year	Re-signing	[25]

Draft picks

Buffalo's picks at the 2004 NHL entry draft, which was held at the RBC Center in Raleigh, North Carolina on June 26–27, 2004.^[26]

Round	Pick	Player	Position	Nationality	College/Junior Team
1	13	Drew Stafford	RW	United States	University of North Dakota (WCHA)
2	43	Michael Funk	D	Canada	Portland Winter Hawks (WHL)
3	71	Andrej Sekera	D	Slovakia	HC Dukla Trenčín (Slovak)
5	145	Michal Valent	G	Slovakia	MHC Martin (Slovak)
6	176	Patrick Kaleta	RW	United States	Peterborough Petes (OHL)
7	207	Mark Mancari	RW	Canada	Ottawa 67's (OHL)
8	241	Mike Card	D	Canada	Kelowna Rockets (WHL)
9	273	Dylan Hunter	LW	Canada	London Knights (OHL)

Farm teams

The Sabres AHL affiliate Rochester Americans played with a roster that included many future Sabres. Thomas Vanek, Derek Roy, Ryan Miller and Jason Pominville among others, played the season in Rochester. HSBC Arena (now the KeyBank Center) hosted a pair of Rochester games experimenting with blue ice to see if blue would make the television appearance better than white.^[27] The blue ice experiment was ultimately not accepted in post-lockout rule changes.^[28]

Notes

1. In parentheses is the player’s free agency group on July 1 if applicable.^[6]
2. Mosovsky was inactive during the 2004–05 season.^[7]
3. Patrick was inactive during the 2004–05 season.^[8]

References

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. "Preseason Schedule Released". Buffalo Sabres. July 12, 2004. Archived from the original on December 13, 2004. Retrieved April 12, 2022.
3. "2004-2005 Season". Buffalo Sabres. Archived from the original on July 22, 2004. Retrieved April 12, 2022.
4. "Hockey Transactions Search Results". Pro Sports Transactions. Retrieved June 12, 2018.
5. "Amerks Sign Six Players". Buffalo Sabres. September 10, 2004. Archived from the original on October 14, 2004. Retrieved April 12, 2022.
6. "2004 free agents". ESPN.com. July 1, 2004. Retrieved November 8, 2015.
7. Karel Mosovsky career statistics at EliteProspects.com, retrieved April 12, 2022
8. James Patrick career statistics at EliteProspects.com, retrieved April 12, 2022
9. "2004-08-24 - MIKE MORRISON AND SEAN MCASLAN SIGN ONE-YEAR CONTRACTS WITH OILERS". Edmonton Oilers. August 24, 2004. Archived from the original on September 5, 2004. Retrieved April 12, 2022. the Oilers signed defenceman Rick Mrozik to a one-year AHL contract.
10. "GMB PANTHERS COMPLETE THEIR DEFENCE". Nottingham Panthers. September 4, 2004. Archived from the original on September 5, 2004. Retrieved April 12, 2022.
11. "FALCONS SIGN BRIAN CHAPMAN". Springfield Falcons. October 18, 2004. Archived from the original on November 7, 2004. Retrieved April 12, 2022.
12. "ЖИТНИК ПРИЕДЕТ В "АК БАРС" 17 ДЕКАБРЯ" (in Russian). Ak Bars Kazan. December 6, 2004. Archived from the original on December 25, 2004. Retrieved April 12, 2022.
13. "Free agency's tough to figure". Sun Journal. June 30, 2004. Retrieved April 12, 2022.
14. "Grier Accepts Qualifying Offer". Buffalo Sabres. July 23, 2004. Archived from the original on August 12, 2004. Retrieved April 12, 2022.
15. "Sabres Sign Three to One-Year Deals". Buffalo Sabres. July 28, 2004. Archived from the original on August 12, 2004. Retrieved April 12, 2022.
16. "Sabres Bring Four More Players Under Contract". Buffalo Sabres. August 2, 2004. Archived from the original on August 12, 2004. Retrieved April 12, 2022.
17. "Hecht Signs on the Dotted Line". Buffalo Sabres. August 6, 2004. Archived from the original on October 14, 2004. Retrieved April 12, 2022.
18. "Biron Signs One-Year Deal". Buffalo Sabres. August 9, 2004. Archived from the original on October 14, 2004. Retrieved April 12, 2022.
19. "Sabres Sign Defenseman Brad Brown". Buffalo Sabres. August 9, 2004. Archived from the original on October 14, 2004. Retrieved April 12, 2022.
20. "Sabres Sign JP Dumont". Buffalo Sabres. August 9, 2004. Archived from the original on December 12, 2004. Retrieved April 12, 2022.
21. "Briere Signs One-Year Deal". Buffalo Sabres. August 13, 2004. Archived from the original on October 14, 2004. Retrieved April 12, 2022.
22. "Sabres Ink Kalinin to One-Year Deal". Buffalo Sabres. September 1, 2004. Archived from the original on October 14, 2004. Retrieved April 12, 2022.
23. "Sabres Sign Vanek". Buffalo Sabres. September 3, 2004. Archived from the original on October 14, 2004. Retrieved April 12, 2022.
24. "Sabres Sign Peters". Buffalo Sabres. September 14, 2004. Archived from the original on October 14, 2004. Retrieved April 12, 2022.
25. "Sabres Sign Four Remaining Restricted Free Agents". Buffalo Sabres. September 15, 2004. Archived from the original on October 14, 2004. Retrieved April 12, 2022.
26. "2004 NHL Entry Draft Picks at hockeydb.com". hockeyDB.com. Retrieved April 29, 2022.
27. Brehm, Mike (March 15, 2005). "Buffalo arena trying light blue ice in experiment for TV". USA Today. Retrieved July 16, 2012.
28. "RELAUNCHING THE GAME". CBC. CBC.ca. Retrieved July 16, 2012.