Nearly 400 miles to the Northwest — or about as far from New York City as one can be while remaining in New York State — a truly great hockey story is emerging. The Buffalo Sabres burst out of the gate with a stellar 9–0 record, including a 4-1 win against the Montreal Canadiens on national television last night, and have blossomed into the NHL’s finest team in the season’s first month.

To understand just how improbable this story is, one need not look back very far. On January 13, 2003, the Sabres filed for bankruptcy, and it appeared that they might not survive the fiscal scandal surrounding former Adelphia Communications chairman John Rigas. When the league shuttered its doors for the lockout in 2004–05, there was good reason to wonder whether Buffalo’s hockey team could ever recover from its onslaught of bad fortune. But as it turned out, the light at the end of the tunnel wasn’t the onrushing locomotive the Sabres feared, but rather the bright future ahead.

Last season, the Sabres were one of the NHL’s most pleasant surprises, finishing with 110 points (fifth best in the entire NHL) and getting all the way to the Eastern Conference Finals before getting eliminated in a tough Game 7 by the eventual champions, the Carolina Hurricanes. If they hadn’t had to play that game without four of their top six defensemen — Jay McKee, Dmitri Kalinin, Teppo Numminen, and Henrik Tallinder were all injured — the Sabres quite likely would have gotten to celebrate with the Stanley Cup.

Now healthy, this year’s edition of the Sabres looks to be even better. During the offseason, they managed to keep most of their nucleus together — this despite having an NHL-record 12 players file for salary arbitration — and the few moves they did make were quite positive.

McKee is gone, off to St. Louis where the Blues gave him an incomprehensible four-year deal worth $16 million. Now in McKee’s place is Jaroslav Spacek, one of the steadiest performers for the Edmonton Oilers during their run to the 2006 Cup Finals. Spacek is unquestionably a better fit on this lightning-fast Sabres team, and he is one of the key reasons why they’ve improved.

Another important change came when the Sabres walked away from the $2.9 million contract forward J.P. Dumont was awarded in salary arbitration. They instead used that money to help get their other free agents under contract, concluding correctly that Thomas Vanek would be able to take a huge step forward in his development. In the Sabres’ first nine games, Vanek tallied six goals and seven assists; he is already one of the league’s most prolific scorers and seems to improve with each game. Last night, his empty-net goal sealed the Sabres’ victory. Meanwhile, Dumont has gotten off to a solid but unspectacular start with the Nashville Predators (two goals and three assist in eight games).

The Sabres have also gotten great contributions from Chris Drury and Daniel Briere, two diminutive forwards who, like the Devils’ Brian Gionta, personify the post-lockout NHL. They have combined for 26 points in the first nine games, and both bring a rare combination of speed, skill, grit, and leadership to the table.

But perhaps the biggest story in Buffalo is the emergence of Maxim Afinogenov. The Russian winger boasts Pavel Bure-like speed and creativity, but until last season, struggled to find consistency. He broke out with a 73-point campaign and exhibited signs — in particular during the playoffs — that even more was still to come.

The league’s leading scorer entering last night’s games, Afinogenov has become the Sabres’ go-to offensive weapon. He always appeared to have an extra gear, bursting past even the most mobile blueliners with uncanny ease. But now, the Russian winger has finally figured out how to convert on a much larger percentage of the scoring opportunities he generates.

Amazingly, the Sabres have managed to get off to this hot start without receiving elite-level goaltending on a nightly basis. Much like other top rookie goaltenders from last season who have struggled out of the gate — most notably the Rangers’ Henrik Lundqvist and the Hurricanes’ Conn Smythe Trophy winner Cam Ward — Buffalo sophomore Ryan Miller has floundered a bit in the early going.

In three of his seven appearances, Miller gave up four goals. Last season, Miller gave up four or more goals only 11 times in 48 appearances. But Miller has certainly exhibited flashes of brilliance, most notably during a game against the Red Wings in Detroit where he stopped 41 of 43 shots en route to a 3–2 victory. And the only goal he gave up last night came on a wicked deflection off the stick of Tallinder. If Miller can catch fire, these already-dangerous Sabres will be even more formidable.

One thing the Sabres don’t have going for them, however, is their fashion sense. The jerseys they introduced for 2006-07 are design disasters worthy of Us Weekly’s “Fashion Police,” and drew tremendous backlash from outraged fans during the off-season (the Web site FixTheLogo.com collected over 30,000 signatures in protest).

But there are no pictures on the scorecard, and if the Sabres keep on winning, their fans won’t care what they wear.

Mr. Greenstein is the editor in chief of InsideHockey.com.