By Budd Bailey, Buffalo Sports Page Columnist
Jason Pominville of the Sabres
Taken in Round 2 in 2001
Other picks in that round: No one else in that round played more than Pominville’s 1,060 NHL games. There were some good players, though – Fedor Tyutin, Mike Cammalleri, Chris Thorburn, Jay McClement and future Sabre Nathan Paetsch, who didn’t sign with the Capitals and went back into the draft pool in 2003.
The details: This is a story of something of a love affair between a town and a player. Pominville arrived in Buffalo during the 2005-06 season, and was an instant contributor. In his first full season, Jason scored a career-high 34 goals. Pominville was one of the team’s top scorers during some good times in those mid-to-late 2000s. He was traded to Minnesota in 2013 as Buffalo tried to rebuild, but came back as part of a 2017 transaction. Jason played two more seasons in Buffalo, where he was a reminder of better times.
Other 55s: Jacques Cloutier did a lot of commuting in the 1980s between Buffalo and Rochester, but he was a decent reserve goalie when given the chance. Always popular, Jacques was traded to Chicago in 1989 and finished his career with Quebec. Darcy Loewen and Doug Janik had brief stops with the Sabres. Roscoe Parrish spent seven years with the Bills, and he led the NFL in average yardage per punt return in two of those seasons. John Parrella (1993) only played one season in Buffalo, but went on to become a starter for the Chargers and Raiders for most of the next 11 seasons through 2004.
(Follow Budd on Twitter @WDX2BB)
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