Sabres give Williamsville’s Trevor Kuntar welcome wake-up call
Williamsville's Trevor Kuntar joined the Buffalo Sabres in Vancouver, after signing a contract with Rochester of the American Hockey League this summer.
Sabres center Josh Norris, scoring on Jets goaltender Thomas Milic on Dec. 1, was not on the ice Thursday for the Sabres’ morning skate.
Joed Viera, Buffalo News
Trevor Kuntar’s phone alert woke him out of an afternoon slumber Wednesday in Belleville, Ont.
An alarm didn't wake him from his pregame nap, ahead of Rochester’s American Hockey League game Wednesday at Belleville. He got the phone call he’d dreamed about, first growing up in the Buffalo area, then playing college hockey at Boston College.
The Sabres wanted him to join the team in Vancouver, where it prepared to face the Vancouver Canucks at 10 p.m. ET Thursday at Rogers Arena. Needless to say, Kuntar didn’t go back to sleep.
“It was a little startling, but in a good way,” Kuntar said Thursday, after completing his first morning skate with the Sabres.
The Sabres announced Wednesday they had signed Kuntar, who grew up in Williamsville, to a one-year, two-way contract. He took a car service from Belleville to Toronto, a three-hour drive, then a one-way flight to Vancouver to join the Sabres on their longest road trip of the season. He likely won’t be in the lineup against the Canucks, as he was an extra forward during the morning skate.
“I can’t say how special this is,” Kuntar said. “Just telling my family was amazing. A dream come true. A lot of people dream of just playing in the NHL, but I dreamed of playing in the NHL, for the Sabres, and winning for the Sabres. That’s something I look forward to doing … and that’s been my dream.”
“I’m soaking in this moment, and hopefully making it last.”
Kuntar’s father, Les, is a Nichols School graduate who played for Rochester in the 1996-97 season, and a Montreal Canadiens draft pick in 1987 out of Nichols and was an All-American goalie at St. Lawrence University. Kuntar was 2-2 in six games in 1993-94 with the Canadiens.
Trevor Kuntar originally signed a one-year contract with the Sabres’ American Hockey League farm team in Rochester in July. The 24-year-old center has nine goals and four assists in 24 games with the Amerks this season.
The 6-foot center spent the previous two seasons with Providence of the AHL, scoring 13 goals with 19 assists in 124 games.
“How well he played and the fact that a guy like (Noah) Ostlund would have to play a (AHL) game before coming back,” Sabres coach Lindy Ruff said. “That factored into it, too. And we didn’t know if we were going to need a guy, in the first place.”
Ostlund scored a goal and had two assists Wednesday in Rochester’s 6-1 win at Belleville, his first game with the Amerks since Nov. 1. Ostlund returned to Rochester on Dec. 7, after a 16-game stint with the Sabres.
UPL goes viral
Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen’s phone blew up during the Sabres’ six-game road trip, but it wasn’t for the same reason as Kuntar.NHL Europe’s Instagram page posted a video Tuesday of the Sabres goalie indulging in a pregame snack, then appearing to wrap the leftovers in stick tape, with commentary from broadcasters.
“There seems to be cameras everywhere, right now,” Luukkonen said, with a smirk. “I ate the whole thing!
“The tape I have left from my stick, when I retape it, I just make a ball out of and tape on top of it.”
Luukkonen has a pregame habit: He eats a Honey Stinger waffle cookie before every game and wraps the wrapper in stick tape, a habit he started when he played for Sudbury of the Ontario Hockey League. It’s part of his pregame routine, a superstition of sorts. And goalies have a lot of superstitions they follow, in general, to prepare for a game.
“It’s one of those things, when you’re younger, you do something, and you’re tracking everything you do, and you play a good game, you have to do everything exactly the same way. It stuck with me, because it doesn’t matter where you are playing, what country, what tournament, you can still do that before every game and kind of get into the rhythm of a game day, and all that.”
The cookie in question in the viral video: salted caramel.
Injury report
Josh Norris was not on the ice Thursday for the Sabres’ morning skate, and Ruff said the center will not play against the Canucks. Norris did not play Tuesday in a 4-3 win at Edmonton due to soreness and illness; he was a late scratch against the Oilers after pregame warmups. Norris is a possibility to return Sunday, when the Sabres play at 8 p.m. ET at Seattle.Colten Ellis is on injured reserve, two days after the goalie entered concussion protocol. Late in the first period of the win Tuesday in Edmonton, Oilers right wing David Tomasek collided with Ellis and was penalized for goalie interference. Ellis was lifted from the game by a concussion spotter for precautionary reasons. Ruff confirmed it was a concussion.
“He said he was feeling better, already, but just protocol,” Ruff said. “We’ll go through that and get him back, as soon as we can.”
There was a moment in the morning skate Thursday when it looked like the Sabres would have only one goalie. Alex Lyon skated out of the starter’s net at Rogers Arena and off the ice, hunched over in pain. Luukkonen moved to the starter’s net, but Lyon’s absence was short. Lyon returned to the ice and the starter’s net and finished the morning skate, and was expected to start Thursday against the Canucks.
2006 Alumni Night roster announced
The Sabres have announced that 23 former players will attend their 2005-06 Reunion Night on Jan. 15 when the Sabres play Montreal in KeyBank Center.As part of the team's season long "Throwback Thursdays" promotion, the '05-06 team will be honored in a pregame ceremony prior to the game. The current team will wear the black goathead jerseys made famous during that time, and 2000s anthem singer Doug Allen will perform.
The '05-06 Sabres burst from the NHL lockout to a 110-point season, earned playoff victories over Philadelphia and Ottawa and advanced to Game 7 of the Eastern Conference final before losing to the eventual Stanley Cup champion Carolina Hurricanes.
The Sabres were beset by injuries to their defense in the playoffs, and were further damaged when stalwart defenseman Jay McKee developed a sudden leg infection following Buffalo's 2-1 overtime victory in Game 6. That knocked him out of the series finale.
McKee, now the head coach of the OHL's Brantford Bulldogs, is among those scheduled to attend the reunion. The marquee name on the list is goaltender Ryan Miller, who was inducted into the Sabres Hall of Fame and had his No. 30 retired by the team in 2023.
The most notable absences from the list of attendees are the three players who are current NHL general managers – co-captains Daniel Briere (Philadelphia) and Chris Drury (New York), and forward Mike Grier (San Jose)
2006 Alumni Night Roster
Goalies: Miller, Martin Biron, Mika Noronen.Defense: McKee, Brian Campbell, Rory Fitzpatrick, Doug Janik, Dmitrik Kalinin, Teppo Numminen, Henrik Tallinder
Forwards: Maxim Afinogenov, Tim Connolly, J.P. Dumont, Paul Gaustad, Jochen Hecht, Ales Kotalik, Jiri Novotny, Daniel Paille, Andrew Peters, Jason Pominville, Taylor Pyatt, Derek Roy, Thomas Vanek.