Three Buffalo Sabres to remember when playing a game of ‘Puckdoku’

Puckdoku is the trivia game sweeping the hockey world. It’s the NHL equivalent of the “Immaculate Grid,“ a three-by-three fill-in-the-blank puzzle that originated as an MLB game but quickly spawned variants for all kinds of other sports leagues.

The concept is simple: for each square, try to think of a player who fits into the criteria established by both the corresponding X- and Y-axis labels. For example, Ray Bourque would fit perfectly into a Boston Bruins/Colorado Avalanche square. Patrick Roy would do just fine for Colorado/Montreal. You get the idea.

Of course, it goes a little deeper than that. Sometimes, instead of teams, Puckdoku uses statistical thresholds (“200+ goals”) or career achievements (“Olympic gold medallist”) as categories. Also, if you want to use a Minnesota North Stars player for the Dallas Stars or an original Winnipeg Jets player for the Arizona Coyotes, you can.

Naturally, some players are more useful for Puckdoku than others. Someone like Maurice Richard, who spent his entire career with the Montreal Canadiens, is pretty much useless for the game unless a Habs label happens to intersect with the right statistical category.

On the flip side, players who spent time with several NHL teams are among the most valuable for Puckdoku purposes. And the more obscure the player, the lower (and better) your “uniqueness” score will be. Both Jarome Iginla and Blake Comeau are valid answers for Calgary/Pittsburgh, but one is a little less well-known than the other.

Over the next few weeks, we’re going to spend some time here at Daily Faceoff highlighting three players connected with each NHL franchise who are particularly useful in games of Puckdoku. We’ll continue today with the Buffalo Sabres.

Eric Staal

Teams: Carolina Hurricanes, New York Rangers, Minnesota Wild, Buffalo Sabres, Montreal Canadiens, Florida Panthers

Eric Staal scored 100 points and was the No. 1 center on a championship team when he was only 21 years old. You’d think that might be the harbinger of many great things to come, and there’s no denying that Staal has had an excellent career. But he only ever surpassed 80 points once in the following seasons, and it took him 15 years to return to the Stanley Cup Final—and by that point, he was little more than a depth piece on a Cinderella team.

The Carolina Hurricanes originally selected Staal with the No. 2 overall pick in the stacked 2003 NHL Draft, and he lived up to his pedigree over 12 seasons with his draft club. Although the Hurricanes only qualified for the playoffs twice during Staal’s tenure, they made it to the Eastern Conference Final both times. In 2006, they toppled the Edmonton Oilers in seven games to win their first Stanley Cup. Staal went on to represent Canada at the 2010 and 2022 Olympics, winning gold in Vancouver. He’s a member of the exclusive Triple Gold Club.

Since leaving Carolina in 2016, Staal has experienced varying levels of success with five different NHL teams. After struggling to make an impact as a trade deadline rental with the New York Rangers, Staal latched on with the Minnesota Wild and enjoyed a brief renaissance, tying the club’s single-season goals record with 42 in 2017–18. But after being traded to Buffalo in 2020, Staal’s output plummeted to just three goals and 10 points in 32 games during the 2020–21 season.

The Sabres flipped Staal to the Montreal Canadiens at the 2021 trade deadline, and he featured in a tertiary role for the Original Six team as it made an improbable run to face the Tampa Bay Lightning in that year’s championship series. Then, after taking a one-year break from the NHL, Staal joined the Florida Panthers and helped them make it all the way to the 2023 final. At age 38, Staal might only have one season left, but it stands to reason that whichever team picks him up will have a chance to go far.

Derek Roy

Teams: Buffalo Sabres, Dallas Stars, Vancouver Canucks, St. Louis Blues, Nashville Predators, Edmonton Oilers

Perhaps Derek Roy’s short stature made him easy for opponents to overlook. The 5-foot-8 pivot put up huge numbers and helped the Sabres achieve back-to-back Eastern Conference Final berths in the late 2000s. Plus, his professional reinvention as a useful mercenary later in his career makes him a near-ideal Puckdoku player.

Today, Roy would probably be drafted way higher than the No. 32 overall pick the Sabres used on him at the 2001 NHL Draft. He dominated the Ontario Hockey League as a 16-year-old with the Kitchener Rangers and never looked back, topping out with 110 points in just 70 games split between the regular season and playoffs in 2002–03. Roy was ready for the NHL, and the NHL was ready for him.

Between the 2006–07 and 2009–10 seasons with the Sabres, Roy collected 107 goals and 283 points in 315 games. Thrust into the No. 1 center role upon Danny Briere’s departure as an unrestricted free agent in 2007, Roy responded with a career-best 81-point season. At his best, Roy was a high-end playmaker who could also put the puck in the net on a regular basis. It’s a shame that the Sabres forward group of Briere, Roy, Chris Drury, Jason Pominville, Maxim Afinogenov, and fellow Puckdoku great Thomas Vanek didn’t stay together longer.

After being traded to the Dallas Stars in 2012, Roy never stayed more than a year with a new team. He bounced around between the Stars, Vancouver Canucks, St. Louis Blues, Nashville Predators, and Edmonton Oilers, putting up respectable numbers in a depth role wherever he went but never again collecting 40 points in a season. Roy left the NHL in 2015 and played in Switzerland, Russia, Sweden, and Germany before retiring in 2021.

Andrej Sekera

Teams: Buffalo Sabres, Carolina Hurricanes, Los Angeles Kings, Edmonton Oilers, Dallas Stars

Andrej Sekera spent his formative years in the National Hockey League with the Sabres after being selected by the club in the third round (No. 71 overall) of the 2004 NHL Draft. The smooth-skating Slovak established himself as an NHL regular during the 2008–09 season and topped out with 29 points in 76 games with the Sabres in 2010–11, but Sekera never found the same level of success as a Sabre that he did in his subsequent NHL stops.

After being traded to the Carolina Hurricanes in 2013, Sekera broke out with 44 points in 74 games with the club in the 2013–14 season. He split the following campaign between the Hurricanes and Los Angeles Kings before signing an enormous six-year contract with the Edmonton Oilers as an unrestricted free agent.

Sekera enjoyed two strong seasons to begin his tenure with the Oilers. He reached the 30-point plateau in both the 2015–16 and 2016–17 campaigns, helping the club break its decade-long playoff drought in 2017 and appearing in 11 postseason contests before suffering a torn ACL. It took a long while for Sekera to return to action with the Oilers and he was limited to just 60 games over the following two seasons before being bought out of his contract in 2019.

After becoming an unrestricted free agent once again, Sekera signed with the Dallas Stars for the 2019–20 season. Although he’d lost much of his offensive ability, the veteran defender appeared in all 27 of the Stars’ playoff games as they reached the Stanley Cup Final against the Tampa Bay Lightning. Sekera appeared in two more seasons in a depth role with the Stars before announcing his retirement in 2022.

Daily Faceoff Puckdoku series

Anaheim Ducks (08/10) | Arizona Coyotes (08/11) | Boston Bruins (08/12) | Buffalo Sabres (08/13)