The Buffalo Sabres are a professional ice hockey team based in Buffalo, New York. They are members of the Northeast Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League (NHL).

The Sabres, along with the Vancouver Canucks, joined the NHL in the 1970–71 season. Their first owners were Seymour Knox III and Northrup Knox, scions of a family long prominent in Western New York. Buffalo had a history of professional hockey. The Buffalo Bisons were one of the pillars of the American Hockey League (AHL), winning the Calder Cup in their final season.

Wanting a name other than "bison," which was common among Buffalo sports teams, the Knoxes immediately commissioned a name-the-team contest. The winning choice, "Sabres," was chosen because Seymour Knox felt that a sabre, a weapon carried by a leader, could be used effectively on both offense and defense. The Knoxes tried twice before to get an NHL team, first when the NHL expanded in 1967, and again when they attempted to buy the Oakland Seals with the intent of moving them to Buffalo. At the time of their creation, the Sabres exercised their option to create their own AHL farm team, the Cincinnati Swords. Former Toronto Maple Leafs general manager and head coach Punch Imlach was hired in the same capacity with the Sabres.

Brian Joseph Gionta (born January 18, 1979) is an American professional ice hockey player and captain of the Montreal Canadiens of the National Hockey League (NHL), and is the second American-born captain of the Canadiens and its first sole American-born captain (the first, Chris Chelios, was a co-captain with Guy Carbonneau). He goes by the nickname "Gio" from his teammates and The Rochester Rocket, dubbed by the media.^{[citation needed]} Although small in stature compared to most other players (Gionta is currently the second-shortest player in the NHL; fellow Boston College Eagle Nathan Gerbe is two inches shorter), he is known for his tenacious play.

Gionta was drafted 82nd overall by the New Jersey Devils in the 1998 NHL Entry Draft. The diminutive but fiery forward attended high school at the Aquinas Institute in Rochester, NY, then skated for Boston College from 1997 to 2001, winning a National Championship as Eagles captain in the 2000–2001 season. He was mentored by current New York Islanders forward Marty Reasoner; also a Rochester, NY native; and enjoyed his best statistical season in his freshman year on a line with Reasoner, posting 30 goals and 62 points in 40 games as the Eagles fell to the University of Michigan in the National Championship game in Boston.

Matthew Keith Moulson (born November 1, 1983) is a Canadian professional ice hockey left winger who plays for the New York Islanders of the National Hockey League.

Moulson grew up in Mississauga, Ontario, playing minor hockey for A Erindale, AA York Toros, AAA North York canadiens, AAA Mississauga Senators, AAA Markham Islanders, AAA Mississauga Reps and at Midget for the AA Mississauga Braves of the GTHL.

After his midget days, Moulson signed with the Guelph Dominators Junior B club of the Midwestern Ontario Junior B League (OHA) for the 2000-2001 and 2001-02 seasons. The following four years, Moulson attended Cornell University.

Moulson was drafted 263rd overall by the Pittsburgh Penguins in the 2003 NHL Entry Draft. Moulson attended Our Lady of Mount Carmel Secondary School in Mississauga, where he was a part of the school's hockey team. Moulson graduated from Cornell University in 2006, where he was captain of the hockey team and a member of the Quill and Dagger society in his senior year.