When I was a little kid late in elementary school and during middle school, those were my first real memories of watching the Buffalo Sabres. In 2005, coming out of the lockout, we were projected to be the worst team in the NHL that season and very similar to this year’s team, they came up with a whole team of young future stars and made the playoffs with a ton of magic that season that made me completely fall in love with hockey. In that playoff run, we were so much fun as the whole city of Buffalo rallied around hockey. So many magic moments, with Briere’s goal against Philly, Brian Campbell absolutely leveling RJ Umberger, Jason Pominville’s season winner going around Alfredsson to go to the Eastern Conference Finals, that I still have the RJ call from as my ringtone 20 years later. We went onto the Eastern Conference Finals against Carolina and even without our top four defenseman (I still remember that report of “Jay McKee out tonight with a Staph infection” where he almost lost his leg), we had the lead in the third period of Game 7 against them. I remember I cried at my friend Matt’s house as we lost that game, ending that magical run, completely obsessed at that point with the Sabres and the sport of hockey. I still hate the Hurricanes, who went on to beat Edmonton and win the Stanley Cup. That was our year and 20 years later I still say that (same with the 13 second game for the Bills against the Chiefs). The next year was even more special to me, as the pesky Sabres started the year on a ten game win streak and went on to win the President’s Trophy as the best team in the NHL. We fizzled out losing to Ottawa in the Eastern Conference Finals, losing to the Sens in five games, but God, was that year so much fun and really solidified my love for hockey and my Buffalo Sabres. 

That’s when it all came crumbling down for hockey in this city. On July 1st, our co-captains Chris Drury and Danny Briere, the heart of that team both left Buffalo with Drury going to his hometown Rangers and Briere signing a huge deal with Philly. Cried again for this team that day.

We made the playoffs again for the first time in 3 years in 2010, losing in six games to the Bruins. The next year new owner Terry Pegula said in his introductory press conference that “the sole reason for the Sabres existence will be to win a Stanley Cup”. We made the playoffs for the last time in what became 15 years, losing in seven games in the first round to the Flyers, with Ville Leino leading the way for Philly. Who would’ve thought that game would be the last time Buffalo would see the playoffs till this year.

The following year we signed Ville Leino and he was horrendous for us, not even scoring a goal that season. Probably my most hated Sabre ever. A couple years later we fired head coach Lindy Ruff. We kept being horrible and with Connor McDavid and Jack Eichel as the next generational prospects in the 2015 draft, the Sabres successfully tanked with then-GM Tim Murray traded away everyone we had left, making the team so bad to watch. We lost the lottery and ended up with Eichel over McDavid. Jack’s still my favorite player in the NHL, and I’m glad he got to lift a Stanley Cup in Vegas. It didn’t go great in Buffalo. That felt like the fix for this team, but it did not work. The team around him was so bad for years and the morale of the franchise fell to an all time low, with guys like Ryan O’Reilly saying that he lost his love for the game of hockey in Buffalo. The next year he was traded and went on to lead the last place in January, St. Louis Blues to win the Stanley Cup and win the Conn Smythe to go with it. Year after year, former Sabres would go on to win the Cup. Jack Eichel finally got traded to Vegas after like a year of wanting to get a neck surgery that the Sabres doctors wouldn’t allow. Royally fuck that up with a generational talent.

We became a complete joke of a team, as the Bills got good with Josh Allen and the city lost it’s love for hockey. 15 fucking years.

Last year the Sabres hired back Lindy Ruff, and as much as I loved him for the memories of my childhood, I thought it was a terrible hire, with it feeling like just a way for Terry to get the casuals to buy some tickets again, like I said in this blog when we hired him again. Last year, awful once again.

This year started terrible again for the Sabres as expected, as I referenced in my first blog of this season as we got shut out 4-0 at home by the Rangers to open the year. I thought we’d be tanking for Gavin McKenna. It wasn’t a good first couple of months, being in 29th place overall with a 7-9-4 record on November 21st, ranking 24th in goals (2.85) and 27th in goals against (3.55). Terrible play on both ends of the ice. In December we fired the GM Kevyn Adams, a long overdue move and ended up going on a ten game win streak, tying a franchise record and bringing the magic back. That was the turnaround and since November 21st had the best record in the league, going 43-14-4 after that, jumping up to finish the season fourth overall with a 50-23-9 record. The magic was back, as we led the league in goals (3.66) and were third in goals against (2.72) with great play in goal from the tandem of Alex Lyon and UPL. 

We made the playoffs, ending the drought with our first post-season appearance in 15 years, and beat out the Lightning and Canadiens to win the Atlantic Division, which was the hardest it has been since the four division format was introduced in the NHL in 2013.

I was never able to go to a playoff game when I was a kid but that love for hockey, and never really wavering through out the years, made me want it so bad. I was a senior in high school the last time we even made the playoffs and now I’m a 32 year old adult. Every awful year I’d watch as many games as I could, seeing them lose night in and night out. I had season tickets for a few years while we tanked for an then got Eichel, and it was so sad of hockey that I’d go in late, we’d already be losing, and I’d leave early. I picked up the Golden Knights as my second favorite team in their inaugural season and had a blast watching that Cup run that year against Ovi and the Caps, and was thrilled to see them win it in 2023, but they still weren’t my Sabres. I kept watching every miserable Sabres game every year, even writing live recap blogs for the last 3-4 years for every game, and year in and year out I would watch every playoff game across the league and just long for Buffalo to make it again and bring that magic back that I had experienced as a kid…and this year they finally did it.

I cannot wait to head to KeyBank Center in an hour and be in that arena tonight. The atmosphere is going to be electric and when those first couple piano notes of Better Days plays will be unreal as we wait for the puck to drop on the playoffs against one of our biggest rivals.

STANLEY CUP PLAYOFFS, HERE COME YOUR BUFFALO SABRES!!!

Tonight’s the night the world begins again!

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