The Buffalo Sabres are embarking on their 56th season and have a storied history, but that proud record has been sullied recently by a 14-year playoff drought. The club has 15 players who have been inducted in the Hockey Hall of Fame, and many others that deserve recognition. Over the next few weeks, we will be looking at players in Sabres history by their jersey number, ranking the top three players to wear that particular number.
#1 – Eight players have worn this number in the history of the Sabres
Third: Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen – The Sabres current starter was selected 54th overall in 2017, won the OHL’s Most Valuable Player award and a World Junior Championship with Finland in 2019, and has posted a 71-65-15 record in three-plus seasons with Buffalo.
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Second: Don Edwards – Edwards began his Sabres career at age 21, replacing veteran Al Smith as the backup for Gerry Desjardins in 1976-77. He became the full-time starter the next season after Desjardins was injured and led the NHL with 38 victories. The bulk of his career was as a tandem partner with Bob Sauve, who won the Vezina Trophy in 1980. Edwards is third on the Sabres all-time victories list with 156, behind only Ryan Miller and Dominik Hasek.
First: Roger Crozier – Crozier won the Calder Trophy and was the first player to win the Conn Smythe Trophy in a losing Stanley Cup Final effort with Detroit in 1966. Bouts of chronic pancreatitis kept him out for long stretches with the Red Wings, and in 1970, he was traded to the expansion Sabres.
In spite of continuing health issues, he played 107 games in the club’s first two seasons, but Crozier led the Sabres to their first playoff appearance in 1973, and in Buffalo’s run to the Stanley Cup Final in 1975, he went 17-2-1, with a 2.62 GAA. He finished his Sabres career with a 74-76-29 record.
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