The Sabers called it a “moment of celebration.” Perfect choice of words.
We’ve needed some good news. We’ve needed a chance to go scream with joy together. In the midst of all this sadness, Damar Hamlin has come back to life. He can’t bring back anyone we lost at Tops in May or in that terrible blizzard in December, but he brings hope.
Times have been so hard around here of late. Sitting in an empty KeyBank Center on Saturday night prior to the gates opening, I was suddenly struck with thoughts of the spring of 2007, when a Goo Goo Dolls ballad became an anthem for a city during a Stanley Cup run. You know the words. It fits for 2023:
And you asked me what I want this year
And I try to make this kind and clear
Just a chance that maybe we’ll find better days.
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There was no moment of silence just prior to the faceoff. PA announcer Jay Moran asked for the celebration and he got it. For Hamlin and his family. And for all those first responders and medical professionals who impeccably did their jobs in the toughest of circumstances. The scoreboard and ribbon boards were bathed in Bills blue and all said “Love for Damar.” There were no. 3s sprinkled all around.
The crowd applauded. And applauded some more. And then there was a roar. And more applause. And a bigger roar. And the players and coaches were applauding. And banging their sticks on the boards and on the ice.
So many of you will be there Sunday in Highmark Stadium to again give thanks for the work of the first responders and medical staff in Cincinnati that saved the lives of the Bills’ safety.
After everything this town had endured since May 14, we needed some good news.
It’s hard to even fathom what the scene will be like in Orchard Park, especially with the positive vibes now flowing on a daily basis from Cincinnati, and Hamlin joining the social media world early Saturday night.
“It’s been a surreal experience to some degree for all of us when you witness an occurrence like that,” Sabers coach Don Granato said Saturday morning. “And the snowstorm is almost incomprehensible. You know so many lives were lost, and families are still suffering. With Damar and his family you feel for it. … we’ve obviously talked a lot about it.
“It’s been a topic of conversation in our community. And I know that our guys, as I’ve mentioned many times, are very proud of being in this community. I felt that, saw that during the storm. (Sabres center) Dylan Cozens stayed in his house without power. And when I asked him about it, he was like, ‘Yeah, it’s just what you do.’ Very proud to be here in Buffalo.”
If Luukkonen is in goal Saturday against the Minnesota Wild, he’ll have to continue to show management that a nontraditional depth chart would benefit the Sabers once fellow goalie Eric Comrie returns.
“It’s crazy when you look at some of the things that have happened and these are the kind that put things in perspective,” added Sabers winger Jeff Skinner. “It adds even more awareness to the role that we play in the community, that sports play in any community. It’s about bringing people together.”
The Sabers were devastated on Tuesday over Hamlin, just like most of you were. You don’t see two teams connected in the same town as much as these two are. Sabers captain Kyle Okposo pointed out Thursday it’s not just players knowing players and everybody knowing the owners. There’s doctors and trainers and other support staff who either contribute to both teams or worked for one and now work for the other.
The Sabers understood how much that post-Christmas blizzard game against Detroit meant. Same with that overtime win Tuesday in Washington as well as Saturday’s celebration.
“You get choked up,” right winger Alex Tuch said. “It was serious. It still is. It was tough. But, you know, we had a job to do. And we wanted to play for the City of Buffalo and Damar.”
“For us to be a part of this community is something that every guy in here has talked about,” Skinner said. “Every guy in here is proud to be a part of it and when the guys take pride like that, it’s a nice thing to be a part of.”
We’ll be seeing a lot of the Sabers this month. Saturday opened a stretch where seven of nine games are at home. You can tell the fans are jazzed to be rooting for the NHL’s highest-scoring team. The building was full Saturday and clearly a lot of you are making a weekend out of it.
“They’ve gathered lots of energy from the crowd,” Granato said of his team. “When they come home and there’s atmosphere in this building, our guys feel that and that’s energizing for them because they are proud to be here.”
The Sabers began a monumentally rugged segment of the schedule Saturday night with the first of 13 games over 22 days. Starting here Monday against Philadelphia, they open what will be a pattern for three straight weeks: A Monday-Tuesday back-to-back followed by games on Thursday and Saturday. And there will be travel sprinkled within that.
At the start of play Saturday, the Sabers had six games in hand over the Washington Capitals, five over the New York Islanders and four apiece over the New York Rangers and Florida.
“It’s gonna be a tough challenge, but I think most players would rather play games anyway,” said Skinner. “The coaches, training staff and strength staff will do a good job of trying to manage our loads on practice days and giving us proper rest. But I think for players you get excited for the chances to play games and for chances to have a stretch here like we have in front of us.”
• During Monday’s Winter Classic, “Buffalo” appeared on the Green Monster at Fenway Park for the first time since the Bisons played the Pawtucket Red Sox in the 2012 “Futures of Fenway” minor-league baseball doubleheader.
The American League East standings were replaced by the NHL’s Atlantic Division standings, meaning “Buffalo” was No. 5 on the list behind Boston, Toronto, Tampa Bay and Detroit. There are spots for only five teams, so Ottawa and Montreal were left out.
• There might be no one on the current Sabers roster other than Tage Thompson that possesses the kind of shot that first-round pick Jiri Kulich has. The kid who was taken 28th overall in July with the pick acquired for Sam Reinhart showed off a howitzer at the World Juniors, piling up a hat trick in Czechia’s win over Austria, and his club finished with a silver medal after losing to Canada in overtime. in the gold medal game. He finished with seven goals and two assists in nine games.
Kulich has six goals and 16 assists in 24 games in Rochester, which is pretty impressive for an 18-year-old. It will be interesting to see how much this tournament helps him when he returns to the ice with the Americans in the next few days.
• The Sabres’ win in Arizona’s new Mullett Arena is looking even better in the rearview mirror. The Coyotes are 7-3-2 at home and in December alone, they beat Boston, Toronto, Colorado, the Islanders and Los Angeles on the campus of Arizona State.
The Coyotes are a scrappy bunch with a decent talent base and have played an NHL-low 12 home games thus far while playing 26 on the road (and going 6-17-3). The home-ice advantage in the cozy 4,600-seat arena will continue to help them climb the standings and it seems like they may not be nearly as close to the bottom as people thought they’d be heading into the season.
• It’s January and the Avalanche are still not in a playoff spot, even though star Nathan MacKinnon is now back from injury. The last defending Cup champions to miss the postseason were the 2007 Hurricanes.
• So the final total was 23 points at the World Juniors for Connor Bedard, five more than the previous record for an Under-18 player in a single tournament of 18 set by Jaromir Jagr in 1990. It’s going to put the tankapalooza into high gear. , maybe kick-starting some January trades from teams hoping to make sure they slide to the bottom.
Bedard looked spectacular in the tournament but you know the view from here: Tanking gets you nowhere. Edmonton has won a whole lot in seven years with Connor McDavid, right? Three playoff series, with two coming last season.
This year, the Oilers look like they miss veterans like Duncan Keith and Mike Smith, and were damaged by the long-term wrist injury suffered by Evander Kane. They entered the weekend barely holding on to a wild-card slot and 12 points behind Pacific Division-leading Vegas.
• Minnesota goalie Marc-Andre Fleury played in his 964th career game here Saturday night, snapping a tie with Ed Belfour for fifth all-time. Next up is Detroit legend Terry Sawchuk at 971. Fleury entered Saturday third all-time with 533 career wins — which was 522 more than Buffalo starter Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen.
• The Sabers got in and out of Washington just in time. The Capitals will get the season debuts of Nicklas Backstrom (hip) and Tom Wilson (ACL) in Sunday’s game against Columbus. To make room for Backstrom on the cap, defenseman John Carlson is expected to go on LTIR after suffering a facial fracture.
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