'There's no script' | Bill Wippert shares the stories behind 10 classic Sabres photos

Bill Wippert’s interest in photography began in the pages of Sports Illustrated. Wippert was not a self-described “photography geek” growing up, but he did love sports. Seeing the photo spreads in the legendary publication sparked an interest.

Wippert bought a camera with a manual-focus lens that shot black-and-white film and, as a senior in high school, asked former Sabres public relations director Paul Wieland if he could shoot a preseason game in 1974. Wieland said yes, then allowed him to keep coming back until he finally offered Wippert a full-season credential in January of 1975.

Wippert never left. Now the team’s chief photographer, Wippert was honored recently for 50 years of capturing Sabres history. A gallery comprising some of his most memorable photographs can be found here.

We asked Wippert to choose 10 of those photos and give a backstory in his own words.

Gilbert Perreault's 500th goal - March 9, 1986

That’s the on-ice celebration immediately after Gilbert scored his 500th goal in 1986. I call it my most heroic Sabres moment that I photographed. This wasn’t after the game – this was after he scored the goal, the whole bench empty.

You’ve got some legacy Sabres in there, Mike Foligno and Dave Andreychuk. Doug Smith is the other person hoisting him up there.

I caught this from the penalty box. About 10 minutes before the goal, there was a collision right in front of me and somebody’s stick came up and caught me at the top of the head. The penalty box official said, ‘Man, you're bleeding, you might want to have that looked at.’ But, we have this moment that may or may not happen. It hasn't happened and it may not happen for another few days or games, but you don't know, right? There's no script. And sure enough, it was 10 minutes later he scored that goal.

Pat LaFontaine and Alexander Mogilny - Feb. 3, 1992

This was after Mogilny’s 50th goal. So, it was not his 76th, but that’s the year when Mogilny and LaFontaine went crazy. It was an amazing season. If people went to 30 home games, they were afraid that one of those 10 games they might have missed would be the night these guys could combine for eight or nine goals between them.

A lot of acquaintances and Sabres fans say that this is their favorite photo, that they have a copy of this. Just a nice moment of two important people in the franchise.

This is taken from the catwalk. That’s not a remote camera. It was shot on black-and-white film. I was shooting color at the time, but I would alternate shooting color and black and white. You couldn’t make good black-and-white conversions from color images, so you really needed to have something that was shot in black and white if you wanted to use it in black and white.

I had been going into the catwalks all the way back to my second year shooting, just because it was a cool angle. I’m 17, 18 years old just trying to be different.

Dominik Hasek

Hasek shows up in so many pictures because he was a global star, he led the team, he was the story of more games than not, and he was incredibly athletic in goal. He just did so many unorthodox movements and things. And shooting a goalie is easier because you know where he’s going to be and the action’s around him.

This was me in The Aud – probably around 1993 or 1994. Like a lot of the photos I shot in that era in color, it’s shot in strobes. And we still use strobes to add extra light to the building for better quality.

This specific picture, I turned off some of the lights so that I had this very harsh shadow. It gives a texture to the ice. The light in this photo is only coming from a strobe light on the left. If there was light coming from the right, it would fill in that shadow. You wouldn’t see that detail on the ice.

So, this is a product of fooling around and trying to get something cool. Would I be up there for Game 7 of a playoff series taking chances? No. This was just a pedestrian game where we didn’t have any definite needs, so it was an opportunity to play around and get something cool.

Last game at The Aud - April 14, 1996

This is not me being incredibly creative. This is not me having some amazing skill set. This is me having access as a team guy to be on the ice as they close down The Aud. A lot of times people say, ‘Oh my, that’s an amazing picture.’ Well, I've got great access. When you're afforded great access, you're allowed to put yourself in a position to do this where I can see Richard Martin in the foreground, all these guys looking up, see the banners, see the fans cheering, see the score of the final game.

This was an exciting time because I was involved in the construction of the new building in terms of any photo applications. I pushed hard to have a box between the benches where Rayzor is now. Announcers were not between the benches in 1995 when we designed this building. That was for a video camera and still photography. So, I had to push for that.

I was excited about the new building, but also sad about The Aud. I grew up going to those games. My dad took me to Buffalo Bisons games when they were in the AHL. So, there were emotions leaving. This picture sort of speaks to all that.

Derek Plante OT goal - April 29, 1997

This is just a year later in 1997, the winning goal of Game 7 of a playoff series against Ottawa in overtime. So that’s in between the benches – the spot I fought for. I’m leaning over a bit, and this is on strobes, so you get one photo every three seconds waiting for the strobes to recycle. It’s a good picture – but if the puck’s not in it, it’s only a pretty good picture. The puck was in the right place at the right time.

What’s amazing is the fans are not reacting yet. And then the reaction was crazy. Go to YouTube of that event and turn the volume up. That building was never louder. You can see the flash go off at the moment as well.

Dominik Hasek and Rhett Warrener

This is a great moment. I'm shooting with a long lens so it looks like Dom is looking right at me. It looks like it was set up after practice, right? But this was Rhett Warrener’s routine after every win. He would kiss him on the side of the helmet.

Back when ESPN The Magazine was around, they would run three, two-page pictures every issue. This picture was used. It was a big thrill.

Again, it’s something different. It’s not two guys skating. It’s something that makes you stop and look, which is the beauty of photography. A still photo, you can stop and stare at it as long as you’d like and pick out details.

Danny Briere - April 22, 2006

Electric moment here. This is Briere scoring in overtime against the Flyers – double overtime, which is why he’s down on this end by the Zamboni.

You go down to the end your team is shooting and you may get a picture of a goal, but you also may get blocked out there. You never get everything. I don’t know what year they went to two referees, but that was a monumental change for us because now if you’re shooting from a corner position on the goal line, the referee is either in front of you or he’s in front of the photo hole across the way.

The referee here is in a really weird position. He’s on my side of the ice but he’s way up into the play away from the boards. More often than not, he would be up against the boards potentially in front of my photo hole. Someone is shooting across from me there. For him, it’s all just rear ends and elbows. So, they can turn one way or they can turn the other. As I’ve said from the beginning, there’s no script.

Eva Scott - April 13, 2014

This is John Scott’s daughter, Eva. This is a late-in-the-season game in 2014 against the Islanders. This is before the third period. You never know where your photo tips will come from, but it’s good to have relationships with people. I got a tip from someone who said, "Oh, you might want to be down there for the start of the third period, I heard John Scott is going to have his daughter down there." And that was Kim Pegula who told me.

I shot this wide with a lot of players. I shot it close. I shot versions where you can see the players’ heads. But this is my favorite of all of them because it just accentuated the size difference, her look of wonder.

You’re always looking for offbeat pictures. It’s not just about slap shots and guys celebrating goals. I think to somebody who isn’t a hockey fan, this might be their favorite picture from the collection. It’s just human nature.

Josh Gorges and Rasmus Ristolainen

This is what we call the “dasher cam,” something I pushed for. It’s a low angle, shooting through a small, Plexi window, mounted before the game. It’s triggered remotely, so I can fire it when I know they’re near the glass. Sometimes you get nothing, sometimes you get amazing images.

The ice crew here is the best in the league. You can see a little bit of water spots on this – that’ll happen – but every TV timeout, the ice crew makes a point to wipe down the glass for us because any bit of water on this Plexi just obliterates the photo. The ice crew here is like part of the photo team. They really get excited about us getting good pictures from there.

Rick Jeanneret - April 29, 2022

There were so many moments with Rick. This was that last game when the staff came out to introduce him. This meant a lot to me. You can see the “Thank you, RJ” on the ribbon board. The fans are cheering. But this genuine visualization of love for him from longtime staff here in all different roles – from legal, merchandise and youth hockey and on and on – all different facets of the organization are out there and so happy to be there for him. And he just looks so humbly appreciative. And it’s a family, right? It’s a hockey family in Buffalo. Everybody who works here is a family, and the hockey community is a family.