The Sabres, along with the Vancouver Canucks, joined the NHL in the 1970-71 season.

The French Connection accounted for most of Buffalo's scoring during their seven years together, amassing a total of 1,681 points over 1,536 man-games from 1972-79, while leading the Sabres to the franchise's first appearance in the Stanley Cup Finals. All three players were French-Canadians from Quebec.

Gilbert Perreault was the Sabres' very first draft pick. He recorded the first power play goal and the first hat trick in the team's history and led the team to 11 consecutive playoff appearances during the course of his 17-year career. He is the only Buffalo Sabre to wear number 11.

The biggest prank in NHL history occurred in 1974 when Buffalo Sabres GM Punch Imlach selected star center Taro Tsujimoto of the Japan Ice Hockey League's Tokyo Katanas in the 11th round of the NHL draft. The NHL made the pick official, and it was reported by media outlets including The Hockey News. But Taro Tsujimoto didn't exist. In fact, his team didn't exist either. (The JIHL had no team representing Tokyo at the time.) Imlach did not acknowledge the fake draft pick until just before the start of training camp. The team even set up a stall for Tsujimoto and listed him on their training camp roster. When the prank was finally discovered, the league was not amused as Tsujimoto's name had already appeared in several NHL publications.

Dominik Hašek played a career high 72 games in the 1997-98 season, and set a team record with 13 shutouts. Six of these shutouts came in December, which tied the all-time NHL record for most in one month. He won the Lester B. Pearson Award, the Hart Memorial Trophy, and the Vezina Trophy, becoming the first goalie in NHL history to win the Hart twice.

Sabretooth is the mascot of the Buffalo Sabres. He is ostensibly a sabre-toothed tiger. From 1992 to 1998, he was also the mascot of the Buffalo Bandits of the National Lacrosse League.

On February 6, 1986, in a 8-6 win over the Boston Bruins, Dave Andreychuk scored five goals and also assisted on a goal by Norm Lacombe.

On March 22, 1989, Steve Tuttle of the Blues and Uwe Krupp of the Sabres crashed hard into the goal crease during play. As they collided, Tuttle's skate blade hit the right front side of Malarchuk's neck, severing his carotid artery and partially cutting his jugular vein. The excessive amount of blood that Malarchuk lost caused eleven fans to faint, two more to have heart attacks, and three players to vomit on the ice. Malarchuk believed that he was going to die, but his life was saved due to quick action by the Sabres' athletic trainer, Jim Pizzutelli, a former US Army combat medic who pinched off the blood vessel and didn't let go until doctors arrived to stabilize the wound.

Rob Ray was the Sabres' main enforcer for 14 seasons, including 1991-92 when he accumulated 354 minutes in the sin bin.

Daniel Brière earned the nickname "Cookie Monster" from Sabres play by play announcer Rick Jeanneret for his notoriety for shooting top shelf, "where momma hides the cookies."