The Sabres, along with the Vancouver Canucks, joined the NHL in the 1970 – 1971 season. Their first owners were Seymour Knox III and Northrup Knox, scions of a family long prominent in Western New York, along with Robert O. Swados, a Buffalo attorney. Buffalo had a history of professional hockey.

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.

In May 2002, John Rigas and his sons were indicted for bank, wire, and securities fraud for embezzling more than $2 billion from Adelphia. Rigas eventually was convicted and presently is appealing a sentence of 15 years in prison. The league took control of the team, though the Rigas family remained owners on paper.

For a while, there were no interested buyers. After the two-year period of uncertainty that left the Sabres franchise in limbo, the team was sold to a consortium led by Rochester, New York billionaire and former New York gubernatorial candidate Tom Golisano and by former Sabres president Larry Quinn, whose bid included no government funding. Tom Golisano was introduced as team owner on March 19, 2003.

On February 18, 2011, Terrence Pegula purchased Hockey Western New York LLC (the holding company that owns the Buffalo Sabres and the Buffalo Bandits of the National Lacrosse League) from previous owners Tom Golisano, Larry Quinn, and Dan DiPofi for $189 million. Terrence Pegula’s purchase made an immediate positive impact, with players, fans and alumni invigorated by his investment in the team, the First Niagara Center and the building of HarborCenter across the street. Pegula was quoted as saying, “Starting today, the Buffalo Sabres’ reason for existence, will be to win a Stanley Cup.”