Buffalo Sabres Alumni Hockey Team

Buffalo Sabres Alumni Hockey Team
City	Buffalo, New York
League	Independent barnstormer team

The Buffalo Sabres Alumni Hockey Team is an independent barnstorming hockey (and occasionally basketball) team located in Buffalo, New York. Its roster consists entirely of retired National Hockey League players, mostly former members of the Buffalo Sabres. The team is operated by the Buffalo Sabres Alumni Association.

The team plays teams assembled by various local organizations around Western New York primarily as charity fundraisers. Its uniform is identical to the classic "blue and gold" Sabres home (white) uniform from 1970 to 1996.

The team considers KeyBank Center to be its home arena but rarely plays there.

One of its more recent and most notable games took place on March 29, 2007, when the team played a home game against the Buffalo Police Department as a fundraiser for police officer Patty Parete, who suffered spinal injury from a gunshot wound. The game drew over 7,000 fans as the Sabres Alumni won.

The Alumni Team played at HSBC Arena as part of the pre-game events for the 2008 NHL Winter Classic held at Ralph Wilson Stadium on January 1, 2008. They were also a part of the 2013-14 AHL Outdoor Classic as the opponent of the Rochester Americans alumni team in December 2013.

One of the key initiatives of the Buffalo Sabres Alumni is to fund-raise and support their family of scholarships they award to high school seniors attending college.

Several other players have been known to play on the Sabres Alumni team, depending on the importance of the event. Such players, whose participation varies widely, include:

Notable non-Sabres to have played for the team include:

The Buffalo Sabres Alumni are committed to helping in the community. For the past 15 years the Alumni have been playing basketball against faculty in local high schools to help raise money for programs. Look for Alumni events on their web site.

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