By Budd Bailey
Two different goalies wore No. 1 for the Sabres in 2014-15. The one you remember is Jhonas Enroth, who was traded to Dallas during the season. The one you don’t is Andrey Makarov.
Makarov had a long journey to get to Buffalo and the Sabres, and he’s done some traveling since then too. He was born in 1993 in Kazan, Russia, and actually started his hockey career as a forward for a year before switching to goalie. He crossed the pond in 2010 to play some junior hockey with the Lewiston MAINEiacs, That team folded in 2011, so it was on to Saskatoon for two seasons with the Blades – although he signed as a free agent with the Sabres in between. Andrey was named the top goalie in the 2013 Memorial Cup.
Along the way, Makarov had a career highlight. He played for Russia in the championship game against Sweden in the World Junior Championship. Andrey was brilliant, stopped 57 of 58 shots in a 1-0 loss. “Well, if only we won that game … it was a pity,” he told an interviewer. “We thought we could win, and they scored in overtime. After that game, bouncing back was psychologically hard.”
After becoming a full-time pro in 2013, Andrey spent most of his first full season as a professional with the Fort Wayne Komets of the ECHL. He had a respectable 2.79 GAA and .906 save percentage. Makarov also played 10 games with Rochester that season. Andrey served as a backup goalie in Buffalo for a few games that year, but never set foot on the ice.
Then in 2014-15, he moved up to play fairly regularly (39 games) with the Americans. Near the end of the season, he was brought up to play a game against the Islanders in New York. Nathan Liewen was sidelined by a concussion. Makarov stopped 33 of 36 shots that April 4, but he received no offensive help and went home with a 3-0 loss. Coach Ted Nolan said he thought the netminder looked quite confident in his NHL debut.
Makarov stayed in the Sabres’ organization in 2015-16. He played 22 games in Rochester, and was a respectable 9-9-2 in 22 games there. Upon exiting, Makarov claimed that the Sabres’ front office – general manager Tim Murray in particular – had an anti-Russian bias. That’s obviously rather difficult to prove.
Then the traveling for Makarov started. Andrey played with five different KHL teams in Europe – Kunlun, Nizhnekamsk, Yekaterinburg and Riga – over the next four years as a backup. There were also stops in a Russian league and a Slovakian circuit.
What’s more, he wasn’t done yet. Last season, Andrey played 24 games for Merano HC of the Alps Hockey League, which is located in central Europe. There’s no sign of him on a roster, but with Andrey, it’s a case of never say never.
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