60 free Buffalo Sabres trivia questions with answers — sports quiz, new questions added Aug 2026.
This Buffalo Sabres trivia quiz covers a franchise born from a name-the-team contest and a lucky spin of a wheel that delivered Gilbert Perreault. It runs through the French Connection, Punch Imlach's fictional draft pick, the Fog Game and the bat, the Adams Division years, Alexander Mogilny's defection, Pat LaFontaine, 'May Day!', Dominik Hasek's Harts and Vezinas, the Ted Nolan feud, the 1999 'No Goal' final, the Adelphia scandal, Briere and Drury, Ryan Miller, the Pegula purchase, Jack Eichel, and the 14-season playoff drought that finally ended in 2026. The arena, colours and culture get their own round: the Aud, KeyBank Center's many names, 'Sabre Dance', the blue-and-gold crossed-sabres logo, the red-and-black years, the reviled Buffaslug, the Winter Classic at the Bills' stadium and Rick Jeanneret's banner. Easy questions suit any Sabres fan; the hard ones are for people who remember Taro Tsujimoto. Every answer has been checked against an encyclopaedic source and each question shows its citation once you have answered.
30 of 60 questions with answers and explanations. Play the quiz
Q 01The Sabres joined the NHL in 1970 alongside which other expansion team?
Vancouver Canucks
The two clubs remain the oldest active NHL franchises never to have won the Stanley Cup.
Q 02The Sabres' founding owners, the Knox brothers, were grandsons of the co-founders of which retail chain?
Woolworth's
Seymour and Northrup Knox had twice failed to land an NHL team before the 1970 expansion.
Q 03Why did Seymour Knox choose the name Sabres from the name-the-team contest?
A sabre is a leader's weapon, good on offence and defence
Rejected entries included Mugwumps, Buzzing Bees and Flying Zeppelins; the Knoxes wanted anything but another Bisons.
Q 04Which piece by Aram Khachaturian has been the Sabres' signature music since 1970?
Sabre Dance
The Armenian war dance still plays at the start of each period.
Q 05The Sabres won the right to draft Gilbert Perreault in 1970 through what method?
A spin of a wheel of fortune
League president Clarence Campbell first thought the pointer showed 1 for Vancouver; Punch Imlach asked him to look again, and it was 11.
Q 06Gilbert Perreault set a rookie record with how many goals in 1970-71, winning the Calder Trophy?
38
His linemate Rick Martin broke it a year later with 44.
Q 07The French Connection line consisted of Perreault, Rick Martin and whom?
Rene Robert
All three have their numbers retired and a shared statue outside KeyBank Center since 2012.
Q 08The French Connection line was named after what?
A 1971 film
The name also nodded to the trio's French-Canadian roots.
Q 09At the 1974 draft, GM Punch Imlach selected a fictitious Japanese player named what?
Taro Tsujimoto
He was annoyed at the length of the draft; the pick was later invalidated but became Sabres folklore.
Q 10During the 1975 'Fog Game' against Philadelphia, Sabres center Jim Lorentz killed what with his stick?
A bat
Heat and no air conditioning at the Aud produced the fog; a French Connection winger won the game in overtime.
Q 11The Sabres lost their first Stanley Cup Final, in 1975, to which team?
Philadelphia Flyers
The Broad Street Bullies took the series in six games.
Q 12Which Sabres defenceman died in a 1974 car accident and gave his name to a coffee chain?
Tim Horton
He was 44 and still playing when he crashed on the QEW driving back from a game in Toronto.
Q 13Which Sabre became the first Soviet player to defect to the NHL, in 1989?
Alexander Mogilny
His No. 89 has been issued only once since he left, to Alex Tuch in 2021.
Q 21The 1999 Stanley Cup Final ended on a disputed triple-overtime goal by which Dallas Stars player?
Brett Hull
His skate was in the crease, which was illegal at the time; the league ruled he had continuous possession, and changed the rule that summer.
Q 22The Sabres were sold in 1998 to John Rigas, owner of which cable company later engulfed in fraud?
Adelphia Communications
He was convicted of embezzling more than $2 billion and the NHL had to take control of the team.
Q 23Which Rochester billionaire bought the Sabres out of NHL control in 2003?
Tom Golisano
Q 14The 1991 trade that sent Pierre Turgeon to the Islanders brought which star centre to Buffalo?
Pat LaFontaine
It was a seven-player blockbuster; Turgeon had been the first overall pick in 1987.
Q 15The famous 'May Day!' radio call celebrated whose overtime series-winner against Boston in 1993?
Brad May
It was the Sabres' first playoff series win in ten years; the broadcaster who made the call later got his own banner.
Q 16Dominik Hasek came to the Sabres in 1992 in a trade with which team?
Chicago Blackhawks
In Buffalo he became 'The Dominator' and was named the league's top goaltender six times between 1993 and 2001.
Q 17Dominik Hasek is the only goaltender to have won the league MVP award more than once; what is it called?
Hart Memorial
He won it in 1997 and 1998, the year he also led the Czechs to Olympic gold in Nagano.
Q 18In 1997 Hasek became the first goalie since Jacques Plante to win the Hart and which other award in one year?
Vezina
That season also brought Ted Nolan the Jack Adams Award and Michael Peca the Selke.
Q 19In the 1997 playoffs, Hasek attacked which Buffalo News columnist over a knee-injury story?
Jim Kelley
He tore the writer's shirt, apologised, and was suspended three games anyway.
Q 20Which coach won the 1997 Jack Adams Award with Buffalo, then left after refusing a one-year deal?
Ted Nolan
His feud with Hasek and GM John Muckler overshadowed a division title; Lindy Ruff replaced him.
He sold to Terry Pegula in 2011 for a reported $150 million.
Q 24The Sabres opened the 2006-07 season with how many straight wins, tying an NHL record at the time?
10
They went on to win the Presidents' Trophy for the first time, then lost the conference final to Ottawa.
Q 25On July 1, 2007, the Sabres lost both co-captains to free agency: Daniel Briere and whom?
Chris Drury
Briere went to Philadelphia and the other to the Rangers; Buffalo then matched a $50 million offer sheet to keep Vanek.
Q 26The Sabres hosted the first NHL Winter Classic on January 1, 2008, at which venue?
Ralph Wilson Stadium
The 'Ice Bowl' at the Bills' home was lost 2-1 in a shootout to Pittsburgh.
Q 27Which Sabres goaltender was named the NHL's best in 2010 and started for the US at the Olympics?
Ryan Miller
He passed Hasek as the franchise's career wins leader in 2012 and was nicknamed 'Leaf Killer' by the Toronto press.
Q 28Terry Pegula bought the Sabres in 2011 having made his fortune in which industry?
Natural gas
His company East Resources was one of the largest privately held firms in the U.S.; he bought the Bills three years later.
Q 29Which centre did the Sabres draft second in 2015, then trade in 2021 for a package including Alex Tuch?
Jack Eichel
He went to Vegas after a dispute over neck surgery and won a Cup there in 2023.
Q 30The Sabres won the 2018 draft lottery and selected which Swedish defenceman first overall?
Rasmus Dahlin
Three years later they won the lottery again and took Owen Power.