On June 30, 2006, the front page of The Buffalo News ran a story from John Vogl reporting that the Buffalo Sabres would be returning to blue and gold. Directly:

The blue and gold color scheme is coming back for the Buffalo Sabres — just not as most fans expected.

The primary logo will be completely different from the original. It will feature the head and hunched upper half of a charging buffalo rather than a full buffalo perched above two crossed swords.

Sabres Managing Partner Larry Quinn strongly indicated last July the team would return to blue and gold for the 2006-07 season and said it again during an interview on the team website in November.

Excerpts from John Vogl’s front-page article on the June 30, 2006 edition of The Buffalo News

Within a month, the same newspaper’s front page had a story of a petition featuring about 15,000 signatures on a webpage called fixthelogo (this website, you’d be astonished, does not exist in October 2026) assembled by Cheektowaga’s Drew Celestino. The article by Gene Warner lists the logo’s comparisons to things such as “a banana slug, Bobby Hull’s ratty toupee, even a colostomy bag”, in addition to the hair of that guy from that Apprentice show from back in the day.

There’s nowhere else to go with this story. The word “Buffaslug” was only spoken twice in the News the rest of the calendar year. Just didn’t want to bury “Bobby Hull’s ratty toupee” in Part 1 since there was a lot to write about the offseason. They did have over 10,000 at the jersey reveal practice.

October 4, 2006: Buffalo Sabres 3 – Carolina Hurricanes 2 F/SO

News Recap, Box Sxore

For every player on the Sabres, this is where last season ended, even for Jaro Spacek. It would be the first time we see Max Afinogenov replacing JP Dumont alongside Danny Briere and Jochen Hecht and Jiri Novotny in Tim Connolly’s center spot.

The Hurricanes came out with 11 of the first 12 shots on goal but Ryan Miller weathered them all, and his team rewarded him with a goal from Dmitri Kalinin to go up 1-0. Eric Staal tied the game 5 minutes later, and Erik Cole scored on the powerplay in the middle of the second period, but Chris Drury tied the game just under 3 minutes later. The other takeaway from the first two periods was the penalties, with a total of 5 penalties in the first period and then TEN in the second.

Shots were even in the third at 11, as were goals at none apiece, so the game went to a stalemate overtime and then a shootout, with Danny Briere scoring the lone goal and giving Buffalo their season-opening revenge against a new rival. The team blocked 28 shots, led by 8 from Brian Campbell. Spacek, Jay McKee’s replacement, blocked 2.

	Buffalo	Carolina
SOG	32	34
Blocked Shots	28	11
Powerplay	0/9	1/9

October 6, 2006: Buffalo Sabres 5 – Montreal Canadiens 4 F/SO

News Recap, Box Score

The Sabres opened their home slate as they did their road slate, trailing after 2 period, but Jason Pominville scored in the first minute of the third to make it 3-2. While Saku Koivu scored on a 5-on-3 to make it 4-2, and Buffalo took a fourth straight penalty minutes later, Buffalo got a goal from Danny Briere 5 seconds after the last of those penalties expired, and Max Afinogenov scored with 15 seconds left to give the Sabres the game-tying goal to force another overtime and then another shootout. He and Thomas Vanek scored in the shootout, while Ryan Miller once again made all his shootout saves for the team’s second win. Jiri Novotny also scored in the game.

	Buffalo	Montreal
SOG	37	27
Blocked Shots	14	16
Powerplay	0/5	2/5

October 7, 2006: Buffalo Sabres 4 – Ottawa Senators 3

News Recap, Box Score

The Sabres were 1-5-2 against the Senators in the regular season the previous year before their 5 game series win in the second round of the playoffs. In game 3 of the season, they never trailed, getting goals from the backend to start and end the period, with Henrik Tallinder opening the scoring 33 seconds in and Brian Campbell breaking the powerplay skid to open the season with 54 seconds left in the first. Ottawa dominated in the second period with a shot differential of 18-5 in their favor, but Marty Biron, making his season debut in the back-to-back, made 17 of his 34 saves in the frame to keep the score 2-1 after 2, and then Chris Drury opened the third with a goal to make it 3-1. Two goals from Jason Spezza in 1:44 were broken up by a goal from Jason Pominville to ensure the victory in Buffalo’s favor. Another trip to Ottawa with a game-winning goal for the 24 year old.

	Buffalo	Ottawa
SOG	24	37
Blocked Shots	21	11
Powerplay	1/7	0/8

The Sabres were now 3-0 for the first time since 1994-95 and after 3 games in 4 nights, they were going to have 5 days off. And there certainly wasn’t any weather event coming to the region later in the week. Right? Why are you looking at me like that? It’s October 12 and I wore shorts to 4th grade today there’s no way it’s gonna sn–WHAT THE

October 13, 2006: Buffalo Sabres 3 – Detroit Red Wings 2

News Recap, Box Score

The Sabres hadn’t started 4-0 since 1975-76, and it was looking early on like the reigning Prince of Wales conference would keep the honor of being the only to do so, as back in 2006, the Detroit Red Wings got out to a 2-0 start thanks to a pair of goals from Jason Williams. Chris Drury scored on the powerplay to make it 2-1 after 1, but the Sabres had been outshot 16-3 in the frame. After 2, it was up to 31-8, but the Sabres tied it with another powerplay goal this time courtesy of Thomas Vanek. The third was more even at 10-9 shots in favor of Detroit, but no more goals found the back of the net, and the Sabres were heading back to overtime for the third time already and then their fourth shootout thanks to their special teams making up for their rough night at even strength.

Williams missed to open up the shootout before Danny Briere scored to start things nicely for the Sabres. Pavel Datsyuk scored to even the shootout at 1 before the rest of the first three were denied. In Round 4, Tomas Holmstron was stopped before Alex Kotalik beat Dominik Hasek with a backhand for the 4-0 start. With 41 saves, Ryan Miller finally had his first win against the Red Wings.

	Buffalo	Detroit
SOG	17	43
Blocked Shots	19	9
Powerplay	2/5	0/8

The team would get on plane and head back to snowy Buffalo to face a Rangers team that met them there amidst the state of emergency.

October 14, 2006: Buffalo Sabres 7 – New York Rangers 4

News Recap, Box Score

Even with the region getting clobbered with the 6th most 24-hour snowfall in the city’s history…in mid-October, HSBC Arena was sold out to see the Sabres dominate the Rangers.

It didn’t start as such, with the Rangers getting two powerplay goals in 1:18 of gameplay from Brendan Shanahan and Fedor Tyutin. But Buffalo took over from there, starting with Ales Kotalik, Chris Drury, and Danny Briere scoring in the final 5:08 of the first period to give the Sabres the lead. In the second, Max Afinogenov and Jochen Hecht scored to extend the lead to 5-2, and while Shanahan would score his second of the game, Drury completed his first career hat trick with two more goals to extend the lead to 7-3. A Martin Straka goal in the third made the final 7-4. Ten Sabres registered a point.

	Buffalo	New York
SOG	32	23
Blocked Shots	14	14
Powerplay	2/5	2/8

Dating back to the end of the 2005-06 regular season, the Sabres had won 10 straight.

It is scary. It’s like, if you put in a Ferrari, very good gas. It’s just going to go. They just play so good together. When the defense gets the puck, two guys are just flying up the ice.

Jaromir Jagr via The Buffalo News, October 16, 2006

October 17, 2006: Buffalo Sabres 9 – Philadelphia Flyers 1

News Recap, Box Score

Another 3 in 4 set ended with the Sabres welcoming the Philadelphia Flyers to town for the first time since dominating them in the first round of the last playoffs. At 1-3-1, the Flyers were struggling out the gate and desperate for a win. They didn’t get it.

After a scoreless first, Thomas Vanek gets on the board with a goal 37 seconds in to make it 1-0. Just after the halfway point of the game, Jaro Spacek scores on the powerplay for his first as a Sabre before Chris Drury gets his 7th goal of the early season 1:13 later. In the final 5 minutes, Derek Roy, Henrik Tallinder, and Max Afinogenov scored. The scoreless game after 1 was now a 6-0 lead for the Sabres. Jeff Carter channeled second year New Orleans Hornets point guard Chris Paul to put the Flyers on the board 1:22 into the third, but Derek Roy erased it 24 seconds later. Jiri Novotny and Vanek added two more in the next couple minutes. 9-1 win. The Flyers, shellshocked. The Sabres, 6-0 ahead of Carolina coming to town, staying grounded.

It was a coming out party for what became a notoriously dangerous third line of Derek Roy (2 goals), centering Thomas Vanek (2 goals 2 assists) and Maxim Afinogenvov (1 goal 4 assists). The team lost two crucial forwards in the summer, but two 23 year olds were stepping up to open the new season.

And for the Flyers? Bobby Clarke resigned and Ken Hitchcock was fired by the end of the week following their worst start since 1989-90.

	Buffalo	Philadelphia
SOG	37	38
Blocked Shots	19	11
Powerplay	3/6	0/5

October 20, 2006: Buffalo Sabres 5 – Carolina Hurricanes 4

News Recap, Box Score

The Hurricanes were 3-3 since their season-opening shootout loss. While they had the upper hand again in the first 30 minutes of the game, the Sabres were about to take over again. With Derek Roy in the box, Dimitri Kalinin scored shorthanded to tie the game and then Max Afinogenov scored 59 seconds later to take the lead. While Eric Balanger scored to tie the game at 3, and the score stayed tied into the final 8 minutes of the third, a powerplay goal from Thomas Vanek gave Buffalo the lead before Jaro Spacek snuck a point shot from outside to extend the lead to 2. Mike Commodore scored late to cut the deficit to one, but the Sabres held on for another win.

	Buffalo	Carolina
SOG	29	20
Blocked Shots	9	18
Powerplay	1/5	1/5

You can see it on the bench. Everybody is pushing each other to be a little better. It’s a great thing. I was a little scared about the [preseason predications], that we would be the best team in the Eastern Conference. The first couple games, it didn’t look like that, but we won those games. Now, I know.

Jaro Spacek via The Buffalo News, October 21, 2006

October 21, 2006: Buffalo Sabres 6 – Boston Bruins 2

News Recap, Box Score

For the first time this season, the Buffalo Sabres were playing a team that hadn’t played in the 2006 Stanley Cup Playoffs. Like the Flyers, the Bruins were off to a slow albeit kind of expected start at 2-3-1. It was less of a blitz, but another 6 goals for the Sabres helped them cruise to a 6-2 win. For a footnote, Phil Kessel scored his first career goal in the second period to make it 4-2. Two more goals for Chris Drury and another goal for both of Thomas Vanek and Max Afinogenov. That 1975-76 team now had company at 8-0.

	Buffalo	Boston
SOG	30	26
Blocked Shots	10	9
Powerplay	3/7	0/4

October 23, 2006: Buffalo Sabres 4 – Montreal Canadiens 1

News Recap, Box Score

Chris Drury is the first player in the league to hit the 10 goal mark as part of a 4-1 win at the Bell Centre, and the Sabres are 9-0. The season is only 19 days old, but the team is long removed from 3 shootouts in their first 4 games. Their goal differential ballooned to 46 goals for and 23 goals against, double the goals scored than they gave up.

	Buffalo	Montreal
SOG	26	27
Blocked Shots	21	9
Powerplay	0/6	0/4

October 26, 2006: Buffalo Sabres 3 – New York Islanders 0

News Recap, Box Score

There was only one thing left to be accomplished in this streak: a shutout. So perhaps it’s fitting that Ryan Miller capped off the run to the record with 29 saves, including 3 on former teammate Miro Satan and 2 on other former teammate Alexei Zhitnik. A goal a period from Alex Kotalik, Maxim Afinogenov, and Jason Pominville provided the formality. We’ll save the talk about the Other Former Sabre for the playoffs.

The 1993-94 Toronto Maple Leafs would have company as the only two teams to start a season 10-0. The only player from that team still in the league was Yanic Perreault, although he was out west playing for the Phoenix Coyotes. That team finished 43-29-12, second in their division. After series wins over the Chicago Blackhawks in 6 and the San Jose Sharks in 7, the Vancouver Canucks ended Toronto’s season, rattling off 4 straight wins (the last of which in overtime) after dropping the opener to advance to the Stanley Cup Final, where they fell to the New York Rangers.

	Buffalo	New York
SOG	27	29
Blocked Shots	19	17
Powerplay	1/7	0/3

I think it’s great. I hope they keep it going. I’ve always felt that way wherever I’ve been. I do have a feeling for the other teams in town and I follow those teams in the papers. You pull like heck for them.

Dick Jauron via Rochester D+C, October 26, 2006

October 28, 2006: Atlanta Thrashers 5 – Buffalo Sabres 4 F/SO

News Preview, News Recap, Box Score

The hottest Halloween party the weekend before the holiday took place at the HSBC Arena. Resale tickets were eclipsing $400. National media was coming in to take it in. The fanbase had almost sold the entire season out by the end of October. The momentum was on the side of the Sabres. The bankruptcy scare of less than 4 years ago seemed like another lifetime ago, maybe more because the team was wearing new uniforms that put the Adelphia colors in a time capsule for a much later day.

While the team knew it was exciting, they knew they didn’t want it to define their season because their aspirations was on one single goal.

But 10 games into the season, there was more clarity of opponent, and the team coming to said hottest party in town was off to their own hot start.

The Atlanta Thrashers were 7-1-3 and were on a 6 point point streak despite losing after regulation in their last two. They were atop the Southeast Division and were second in scoring in the league with 40 in their first 11 games and were getting goaltending similar to that which the Sabres were getting (2.21 GAA for Atlanta, 2.24 for Buffalo). It was the best start in their franchise history.

Bobby Holik’s goal to open the scoring was the first time the Sabres had trailed in over 210 minutes. While Danny Briere scored to put Buffalo on the board, Scott Mellanby got it right back 44 seconds later. And that is how the game would continue. While Thomas Vanek scored on the powerplay with assists from Derek Roy and Max Afinogenov, Niko Kapanen had the answer about two minutes later. In the third, Jason Pominville tied it again 2:23 into the frame before Ilya Kovalchuk gave the Thrashers the lead back again 1:15 later. Atlanta could only hold on until the final two minutes, when Pominville let a slap shot go that was rebounded in front by a full shielded Jochen Hecht after he took a puck to the mouth the game prior. The game went to overtime, where the Sabres would have the chance to get their 6th come from behind win of the streak. But it wasn’t meant to be.

In the shootout, the lone shooter to find the back of the net was Slava Kozlov, the 38 game member of the 2001-02 Sabres as part of the Dominik Hasek trade.

	Buffalo	Atlanta
SOG	36	36
Blocked Shots	9	27
Powerplay	1/5	0/2

The run was over, but after the offseason had a couple of question marks about the repeatability of the success they accomplished the year prior, it was abundantly clear that this team was, indeed, as scary good as they were where they left off.

The point streak would extend one more game, as the team opened up November with a shootout win in Boston but then fell 4-1 to the Toronto Maple Leafs on November 4. One final fun footnote, the Amerks started 7-0 too and then rattled off another 7 in a row after their first loss.

(Photo Credit: Barton Silverman, New York Times)