Franchise History

Standings by Year

As of:

Final NHL standings as of the last day of the regular season, for any year on record. View by Division, Conference, or League, and track where Buffalo (and every other team) stood across a season with the trend chart below.

1982–83 Final Standings

1982–83 Game Results

Buffalo finished 9th in the league, 3rd in the Adams.

Prince of Wales

Adams

TeamGPWLTPTSPTS%GFGASOWSOLDIFFxPTSSTRK
1y-Boston Bruins80502010110.688327228+99108T1
2x-Montréal Canadiens8042241498.613350286+6496T1
3x-Buffalo Sabres8038291389.556318285+3389L1
4x-Quebec Nordiques8034341280.500343336+782W2
5Hartford Whalers801954745.281261403-14247L2

Patrick

TeamGPWLTPTSPTS%GFGASOWSOLDIFFxPTSSTRK
1y-Philadelphia Flyers8049238106.662326240+86104W2
2x-New York Islanders8042261296.600302226+76103L1
3x-Washington Capitals8039251694.588306283+2386W1
4x-New York Rangers8035351080.500306287+1985L1
5New Jersey Devils8017491448.300230338-10851W1
6Pittsburgh Penguins801853945.281257394-13748L2

Clarence Campbell

Smythe

TeamGPWLTPTSPTS%GFGASOWSOLDIFFxPTSSTRK
1z-Edmonton Oilers80472112106.662424315+109103T1
2x-Calgary Flames8032341478.487321317+481T2
3x-Vancouver Canucks8030351575.469303309-678T2
4x-Winnipeg Jets (1979)803339874.463311333-2275W1
5Los Angeles Kings8027411266.412308365-5767T1

Norris

TeamGPWLTPTSPTS%GFGASOWSOLDIFFxPTSSTRK
1y-Chicago Blackhawks80472310104.650338268+7098W1
2x-Minnesota North Stars8040241696.600321290+3188L3
3x-Toronto Maple Leafs8028401268.425293330-3771W1
4x-St. Louis Blues8025401565.406285316-3172L1
5Detroit Red Wings8021441557.356263344-8159L1

x - clinched playoff spot, y - clinched division, z - clinched conference, p - clinched Presidents' Trophy.

xPTS is the points a team’s goals for and against project: the Pythagorean win estimate GF² / (GF² + GA²), scaled to points as win% × 2 × games played. It follows the current pace on any “as of” date. +/-xPTS is real points minus xPTS, after removing each team’s overtime-loss points. That step matters because xPTS splits a flat 2 points per game, while an overtime game pays out 3, so without it almost every team since 1999–00 reads as lucky. What is left is the points a team banked above or below its goal margin: positive means winning more of the close and overtime games than goal difference alone predicts.

Standings Over the Course of the Season

Buffalo in navy. Tap any team to compare.
through 80 GP
1st5th10th15th21st1020304050607080games playedBUF 9th