Jay McKee has had a front-row seat to two of the most memorable stretches in Sabres history, and he still feels the pull of both.
One of only two former Buffalo players, along with goalie Martin Biron, to be on both the 1998-99 club that reached the Stanley Cup Final and the 2005-06 team that helped reignite hockey in Western New York, McKee said last season’s return to relevance stirred plenty of old memories. Buffalo ended the longest playoff drought in league history at 14 years, and for McKee, the mood around the team brought him right back.
“You could see the energy in the city,” McKee told Bill Hoppe of the Times Herald. “… It brought back kind of those great feelings and emotions that we all went through as players. Even seeing those highlight-reel films from the past and the things they were doing this season, it just kind of brought you back as a player and reminded us all (that) was the time of our lives back in the years of 2005 and 2006.”
That 2005-06 team was a surprise from the start. Buffalo had missed the playoffs three straight times before the lockout, then took advantage of the NHL’s renewed enforcement of obstruction rules to play fast and loose and storm all the way to the Eastern Conference Final.
The run ended in frustration, though, as a wave of defensive injuries left the Sabres short-handed against Carolina. McKee himself missed Game 7 with a severe leg infection, and the Hurricanes won the deciding game before going on to capture the title.
The 1998-99 team came even closer to the finish line, pushing Dallas to Game 6 of the Stanley Cup Final before the infamous “No Goal” by Brett Hull ended Buffalo’s hopes in controversial fashion.
The franchise still hasn’t won a championship since arriving in 1970, but the fan base’s appetite for hockey has never really gone away. That was evident again this spring, when the Blue and Gold reached the second round of the 2026 Stanley Cup Playoffs before falling in Game 7 to the Montreal Canadiens. It was Buffalo’s longest postseason stay since 2007.
McKee’s name is already starting to surface in conversations about the Sabres’ future behind the bench. His coaching path began in the Buffalo organization as an assistant with the AHL’s Rochester Americans in 2011-12, but he lasted only one season there and said the “dynamic didn't work.” Since then, the 48-year-old Canadian has worked with the OHL’s Erie Otters, Kitchener Rangers and Brantford Bulldogs before taking over as head coach of the AHL’s Hamilton Hammers in May.
He’s built a reputation for developing young players, and he said current Sabres coach Lindy Ruff has influenced his own approach.
“Certainly have some of his drills and some of his concepts,” McKee told Hoppe.
Ruff signed a two-year extension in May after guiding Buffalo back to the playoffs, but his long-term future remains uncertain. If he steps away in 2028, McKee could be a logical name to watch after getting more pro head coaching experience in Hamilton.
There was a time when the Sabres seemed to be looking at another internal option, with former general manager Kevyn Adams appearing to favor Seth Appert, who once coached the Amerks, as Ruff’s eventual replacement. But Appert’s struggles running the team’s power play over the last two years may have altered that thinking under new GM Jarmo Kekalainen.
Kekalainen has a long list of connections from his NHL career, so the search for Ruff’s successor would likely be wide-ranging. Still, McKee would deserve a real look if he keeps building his case in Hamilton.
And if that day comes, Buffalo fans would probably be more than happy to welcome him back.
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