2012–13 Buffalo Sabres season
The 2012–13 Buffalo Sabres season was the 43rd season for the National Hockey League franchise that was established on May 22, 1970. The regular season was reduced from its usual 82 games to 48 due to a lockout. The season was the 15th and final season coached by Lindy Ruff, who was fired after a 6–10–1 start. The Sabres failed to qualify for the Stanley Cup playoffs for the second consecutive season.
Off-season
Broadcast changes
On June 8, 2012, the Sabres announced that Rick Jeanneret, the longest-tenured play-by-play announcer in NHL history, would be inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame; Jeanneret will also receive the Foster Hewitt Memorial Award. Rob Ray will replace Harry Neale as the full-time color commentator for all Sabres game broadcasts. Neale will join Mike Robitaille, whose role will remain unchanged, and Brian Duff, who will take over as full-time studio host, in the studio. Kevin Sylvester and Danny Gare, who served as the alternate broadcast team in 2011–12, were not originally going to reprise their roles in 2012–13; Sylvester instead revived the Hockey Hotline, a long-discontinued Sabres call-in talk show, for WGR. However, due to Jeanneret suffering an illness, Sylvester was pressed into service to call play-by-play for the first four games of the regular season.Alumni Plaza
On July 12, 2012, the Sabres announced that the plaza adjacent to First Niagara Center would be re-branded Alumni Plaza. On October 12, 2012, a bronze French Connection statue was added to the plaza. Other plans included plaques with the name of every player to play a game for the team and fans having to opportunity to buy engraved bricks.Lockout
On September 13, 2012, Buffalo Sabres owner Terrence Pegula, along with all 28 other league ownership groups, authorized NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman to lock-out the National Hockey League Players' Association upon the expiration of the NHL Collective Bargaining Agreement on September 15. The lockout ended at 4:45 am EST on January 6, 2013, lasting days. The lockout reduced the regular season from 82 to 48 games.Overseas Sabres
After the announced lockout, players from the team began to sign contracts to play in Europe until resumption of NHL play.| Player | New team | League |
| Thomas Vanek | Graz 99ers |  Austrian Hockey League |
| Tyler Ennis | SCL Tigers |  Swiss National League |
| Andrej Sekera | Slovan Bratislava |  Kontinental Hockey League |
| Christian Ehrhoff | Krefeld Pinguine |  Deutsche Eishockey Liga |
| Jhonas Enroth | Huddinge IK |  Swedish Division 1 |
| Mike Weber | Lorenskog |  GET-ligaen. |
| Jason Pominville | Adler Mannheim | Deutsche Eishockey Liga |
| Jochen Hecht | Adler Mannheim | Deutsche Eishockey Liga |
| Alexander Sulzer | ERC Ingolstadt | Deutsche Eishockey Liga |
| Tyler Myers | Klagenfurt AC | Austrian Hockey League |
''Beyond Blue and Gold''
During the abbreviated training camp the team released the first episodes in a new web-series called Beyond Blue and Gold. The series will run through the season with the goal to give fans an "all-access pass to the entire Sabres organization throughout the entire 2012–13 NHL season."Regular season
After the lockout, the Sabres had an abbreviated one-week training camp. During the camp, the Sabres' first pick in the 2012 NHL Entry Draft, Mikhail Grigorenko, played well on a line with off-season trade acquisitions Steve Ott and Ville Leino. At the end of the camp, Grigorenko was put on the opening day roster. The Sabres were given five games to decide whether to keep him on the roster or send him back to his junior team, the Quebec Remparts; in the end, Grigorenko was kept on the roster after Leino suffered an injury. After several weeks of mediocre play and Leino's return to the active roster, Grigorenko returned to the Remparts. He remained with the Remparts until their elimination from the QMJHL playoffs, whereupon he returned to the Sabres.After an unsuccessful 6–10–1 start, general manager Darcy Regier announced the firing of head coach Lindy Ruff Ruff coached the team since 1997 and was the team's most successful coach. It was further announced that Ron Rolston, who was the current coach of the Rochester Americans, would replace Ruff on an interim basis. The Sabres performed better under Rolston but were nonetheless eliminated from playoff contention following an 8–4 home loss to the New York Rangers.
The Sabres allowed the most shorthanded goals in the NHL, with seven.
Playoffs
The Sabres did not qualify for the playoffs for the second consecutive year.Standings
Schedule and results
Original regular season schedule
Revised regular season schedule
Player statistics
Final regular season stats;Skaters
| Player | ||||||
| 38 | 20 | 21 | 41 | −1 | 20 | |
| 48 | 15 | 19 | 34 | −4 | 20 | |
| 47 | 10 | 21 | 31 | −14 | 16 | |
| ‡ | 37 | 10 | 15 | 25 | 1 | 8 |
| 48 | 9 | 15 | 24 | 3 | 93 | |
| 47 | 5 | 17 | 22 | 6 | 34 | |
| 47 | 5 | 13 | 18 | −4 | 41 | |
| 46 | 6 | 12 | 18 | −16 | 21 | |
| 47 | 5 | 9 | 14 | 6 | 18 | |
| 37 | 2 | 10 | 12 | −2 | 4 | |
| 26 | 6 | 5 | 11 | 6 | 0 | |
| 42 | 5 | 5 | 10 | −3 | 14 | |
| 31 | 4 | 5 | 9 | −1 | 10 | |
| ‡ | 24 | 2 | 6 | 8 | −6 | 14 |
| 39 | 3 | 5 | 8 | −8 | 32 | |
| 42 | 1 | 6 | 7 | 3 | 70 | |
| 8 | 2 | 4 | 6 | 0 | 6 | |
| 25 | 1 | 4 | 5 | −1 | 0 | |
| 19 | 1 | 4 | 5 | −7 | 0 | |
| 17 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 3 | 10 | |
| 17 | 0 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 14 | |
| ‡ | 29 | 0 | 2 | 2 | −4 | 21 |
| 4 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| 34 | 1 | 0 | 1 | −4 | 67 | |
| ‡ | 10 | 1 | 0 | 1 | −1 | 6 |
| 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | −2 | 10 | |
| 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 34 | 0 | 0 | 0 | −1 | 69 | |
| 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Totals* | 48 | 118 | 203 | 321 | −46 | 630 |
- Totals include goaltenders and bench minors
†Denotes player spent time with another team before joining the Sabres. Stats reflect time with the Sabres only.
‡Traded mid-season
Bold/italics denotes franchise record
Awards and records
Awards
Milestones
| Player | Milestone | Reached |
| Mikhail Grigorenko | 1st Career NHL Game | January 20, 2013 |
| Drew Stafford | 400th Career NHL Game | January 24, 2013 |
| Mikhail Grigorenko | 1st Career NHL Goal 1st Career NHL Point | January 29, 2013 |
| Mikhail Grigorenko | 1st Career NHL Assist | January 31, 2013 |
| Cody Hodgson | 100th Career NHL Game | February 3, 2013 |
| Tyler Ennis | 100th Career NHL Point | February 7, 2013 |
| Alexander Sulzer | 100th Career NHL Game | February 9, 2013 |
| Jordan Leopold | 600th Career NHL Game | February 12, 2013 |
| Jochen Hecht | 800th Career NHL Game | February 12, 2013 |
| Brian Flynn | 1st Career NHL Game | March 2, 2013 |
| Brian Flynn | 1st Career NHL Goal 1st Career NHL Point | March 7, 2013 |
| Brian Flynn | 1st Career NHL Assist | March 12, 2013 |
| Mark Pysyk | 1st Career NHL Game | March 17, 2013 |
| Jordan Leopold | 200th Career NHL Point | March 19, 2013 |
| Ville Leino | 100th Career NHL Point | March 19, 2013 |
| Steve Ott | 600th Career NHL Game | March 28, 2013 |
| Christian Ehrhoff | 600th Career NHL Game | March 30, 2013 |
| Mark Pysyk | 1st Career NHL Assist 1st Career NHL Point | April 2, 2013 |
| Ryan Miller | 492nd Career NHL Game | April 2, 2013 |
| Ryan Miller | Sabres Career Saves Record | April 5, 2013 |
| Chad Ruhwedel | 1st Career NHL Game | April 13, 2013 |
| Patrick Kaleta | 300th Career NHL Game | April 17, 2013 |
| Mark Pysyk | 1st Career NHL Goal | April 19, 2013 |
| Ryan Miller | 500th Career NHL Game | April 26, 2013 |
Final Roster
Transactions
The Sabres have been involved in the following transactions during the 2012–13 season:Trades
Free agents signed
Free agents lost
Claimed via waivers
Lost via waivers
Lost via retirement
Player signings
Draft picks
Buffalo Sabres' picks at the 2012 NHL Entry Draft, held in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania on June 22 & 23, 2012.| Round | # | Player | Pos | Nationality | College/Junior/Club Team |
| 1 | 12 | Mikhail Grigorenko | C | Russia | Quebec Remparts |
| 1 | 14 | Zemgus Girgensons | C | Dubuque Fighting Saints | |
| 2 | 44 | Jake McCabe | D | United States | University of Wisconsin |
| 3 | 73 | Justin Kea | C | Canada | Saginaw Spirit |
| 5 | 133 | Logan Nelson | C | United States | Victoria Royals |
| 6 | 163 | Linus Ullmark | G | Sweden | Modo Hockey Jr. |
| 7 | 193 | Brady Austin | D | Canada | Belleville Bulls |
| 7 | 204 | Judd Peterson | C/RW | United States | The Marshall School |
;Draft notes
- The Calgary Flames's first-round pick went to the Buffalo Sabres as a result of a June 22, 2012, trade that sent a 2012 first-round pick and a 2012 second-round pick to the Flames in exchange for this pick.
- The Buffalo Sabres' second-round pick went to the Calgary Flames as a result of a June 22, 2012, trade that sent a 2012 first-round pick to the Sabres in exchange for a 2012 first-round pick this pick.
- The Calgary Flames' second-round pick went to the Buffalo Sabres as a result of a June 25, 2011, trade that sent Chris Butler and Paul Byron to the Flames in exchange for Robyn Regehr, Ales Kotalik and this pick.
- The Buffalo Sabres' fourth-round pick went to the New York Islanders as the result of a June 29, 2011, trade that sent Christian Ehrhoff to the Sabres in exchange for this pick.
- The Chicago Blackhawks' seventh-round pick went to the Buffalo Sabres as a result of a June 29, 2011, trade that sent Steve Montador to the Blackhawks in exchange for this pick.