2006–07 Buffalo Sabres | |
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Presidents' Trophy winners
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Northeast Division champions
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Division | 1st Northeast |
Conference | 1st Eastern |
2006–07 record | 53–22–7 |
Home record | 28–10–3 |
Road record | 25–12–4 |
Goals for | 308 |
Goals against | 242 |
Team information | |
General Manager | Darcy Regier |
Coach | Lindy Ruff |
Captain |
Daniel Briere and Chris Drury |
Alternate captains | Teppo Numminen |
Arena | HSBC Arena |
Average attendance | 18,690 |
Team leaders | |
Goals | Thomas Vanek (43) |
Assists | Daniel Briere (63) |
Points | Daniel Briere (95) |
Penalties in minutes | Adam Mair (128) |
Plus/minus | Thomas Vanek (+47) |
Wins | Ryan Miller (40) |
Goals against average | Ryan Miller (2.73) |
The 2006–07 Buffalo Sabres season was the 37th season of operation, 36th season of play, for the National Hockey League franchise that was established on May 22, 1970. The Season began with the team attempting to rebound from a disappointing end to the 2005–06 season, in which the Sabres advanced to the Eastern Conference Finals before losing in seven games to the eventual Stanley Cup champion Carolina Hurricanes.
With the best regular-season record in the NHL, the Sabres were awarded the Presidents' Trophy for the first time in their history, and they also earned the top seed in the Eastern Conference playoffs. They defeated the New York Islanders and New York Rangers in the first two rounds of the playoffs. In the Eastern Conference Finals, however, the Sabres' season came to an end when they were defeated in five games by the Ottawa Senators.
The team lost several veterans to free agency, including J. P. Dumont, Jay McKee, Mike Grier, and Rory Fitzpatrick. Conversely, the team signed only one new player to the roster: defenseman Jaroslav Spacek. The team planned to rely on young players from their own organization – Jiri Novotny, Paul Gaustad and Nathan Paetsch, to name a few—to fill the holes left by the departing players.