Larry Carriere, “The Hawk”, returns for his ninth season in the Sabres front office, his seventh in the position of Assistant to the General Manager. Larry works in a variety of roles, but his primary responsibilities are overseeing minor league operations and contracts, as well as professional player development. He is also the Sabres representative on the American Hockey League Board of Governors.
Carriere continued his role in helping develop Sabres players assigned to the team’s minor league affiliates: the American Hockey League’s Rochester Americans, and the South Carolina Stingrays of the East Coast Hockey League. The Amerks, under first-year head coach Randy Cunneyworth, achieved 104 points for the second consecutive season and won their division for the third straight season. Rochester duplicated the Sabres defensive success as goaltenders Mika Noronen (1997, 1st round) and Tom Askey were recipients of the 2001 Harry “Hap” Holmes Award in recognition of the goaltenders that allow the least amount of goals in the AHL (192). Noronen was again selected as The Hockey News’ Minor Pro Prospect of the Year for 2001; the only two-time winner of the award and third straight year a Sabres prospect has been honored (Martin Biron, 1999). The Amerks defense unit was also honored as teammates Brian Campbell and Mike Hurlbut were selected as AHL All-Stars. Noronen began the 2000-01 season in Buffalo and due to injury, saw his first NHL career action in the first two games of the 2000-01 season; winning both games. The promotion of Dmitri Kalinin, J.P. Dumont, and Denis Hamel to the NHL was a tribute to their hard work and development with the Amerks.. Kalinin became a steady performer on the Sabres blue line, while Dumont finished fourth in team scoring with career-highs in goals (23), assists (28) and points (51). Hamel was finding his own offensive touch before a knee injury ended his rookie campaign at mid-season.
Prior to being named to his current position, Larry was the team’s Director of Player Evaluation after serving as a scout for the Sabres in the Quebec region for eight years. He is also fluent in French.
The team’s second-round draft choice in 1972, Carriere played 206 games over two stints with the Sabres during his seven-year NHL career. Carriere's playing days with Buffalo ranged from the 1972-73 season through and including the 1974-75 campaign and the Sabres' appearance in the Stanley Cup Finals. Carriere was dealt to the Atlanta Flames before the start of the 1975-76 season and would go on to also play with Vancouver and Los Angeles before returning to Buffalo during the 1977-78 season. He appeared in 416 NHL games, recording 17 goals, 83 assists, 100 points, and 512 penalty minutes.
Carriere graduated from Loyola College in Montreal with a Bachelor of Commerce degree, with a major in Business Administration. He has also studied management at the University of Michigan. Larry and his wife, Suzanne, live in Williamsville, New York and have two grown children: Nicholas and Stephanie.
