Bright Spots on a Dark Season in Buffalo

The Buffalo Sabres had a historically bad season in 1994. There was not a speck of DNA remaining from the powerhouse teams from the last decade. Their compete window was slammed shut by GM Brandon Johnson this past offseason. The remnants of the Rochester Americans were called up and some cost-effective free agents were brought in to hold places until the new core of the Buffalo Sabres were to come of age. While they undoubtedly did their best, the players on the pro squad just did not possess the tools to keep up with the talent of the rest of the NFHL.

There were some admirable performances despite the overall embarrassing results. Young forward Craig Endean led the Sabres in points and managed to stay healthy for the most part, playing 78 of the 80 game season. Endean had an impressive season when it came to goal scoring, finishing with 26. His 54 points in 78 games were by far the best on the team, with the next closest being Rob McClannahan at 41. While Endean was unable to crack the lineup in years past, it would be safe to assume that he will be a key player over the next few seasons. As he reaches his peak performance years, Endean could be the star that Buffalo fans need to keep them entertained while their young stars continue to develop.

Rookie forward Mike Craig also managed to have a decent season considering the fact that some tough injury luck held him out of the lineup for several games. Despite the painful season, Craig managed to score 18 goals and put up 36 points in 67 games. As Mike Craig goes into the offseason and works on becoming a better player, Sabres fans can expect him to be hungry to build off of this past season and try to make coaches and management want to keep him around when they start adding improvements to the team.

The Sabres have a long way to go when it comes to getting back on the winning track, but the pair of young forwards mentioned show that they might be the start of a new core of talented young players coming up through the Sabres' system. The 1995 season could be another painful one, but our eyes will be on this pair to see if they can take that next step.