Getting A Little Well-Earned Respect Around the Neighborhood

by Matt Wells

When the post-lockout NHL season began, I was unhappy with the direction my team, the Buffalo Sabres, had taken.  Miroslav Satan and Alexei Zhitnik were now New York Islanders.  I watched as other teams in the East became stronger – the Flyers now had Peter Forsberg and the Senators would be having Dominik Hasek in goal.

Who did the Sabres pick up?  Teppo Numminen and Tony Lydman.  I became slightly unhappy as I was sure that Buffalo would be passed by in the standings this season.  Hasek in Ottawa, Joe Thornton in Boston, and the likes of Mats Sundin and Eddie Belfour in Toronto were sure to make the life of the Sabres team and their faithful a living hell.Then, the season started.  The Sabres, behind a surprisingly strong offense, started out 6-2.  Being a Sabres fan in New Jersey and dealing with those Flyers fans in Pennsylvania (where I go to school), all I could get was the call of Rick Jeanneret on NHL Radio.  I feel blessed for that, let me tell you; he is perhaps the best announcer in sports.

As the phrase of “NOW DO YOU BELIEVE??!!” was used by Jeanneret in the postseason this year, I believed in this team from the outset.  When starting goaltender Ryan Miller went down with an injury in early November, backup Martin Biron stepped in and won 13 starts in a row.  Now, that’s goaltending depth.

The minimal free agent pickups of Numminen and Lydman turned out to be the best moves the Sabres could have made.  Both players provided the skills necessary to play defense in the NHL and both (especially the veteran, Numminen) brought their leadership abilities to Buffalo.

I am a diehard Sabres fan, but I was still admitting that the Senators, who were simply running away with the Eastern Conference, were going to represent the conference in the Stanley Cup Finals this year.  I had to sit in agony as the Senators rolled off wins of 10-4 and 6-1 over my beloved Sabres, seemingly putting Buffalo in their place.  By “their place,” I mean where the analysts put them this year – at the bottom.

It was fitting.  The Sabres were chosen by basically each and every TV analyst and sportswriter to finish in the bottom of the conference.  It seemed to many that they were just the same old small-market team that we knew before the lockout.  No really big names (think, say, Yzerman or Sakic).  Attendance at home games was barely noticeable.  They were going to finish like they do every year – dead last in the division.

The losses to Ottawa didn’t rattle the Sabres, though they rattled me.  After Biron’s winning streak, the Sabres found themselves sitting at 22-10-1.  That’s 45 points in 33 games.  This is usually a Sabres team that finishes with about 70 points for the entire season!  I had been believing all along.

Along the way, the Sabres were able to sweep all four games played against the Penguins.  They were able to sweep all four games against the Islanders.  They even threw in a 10-1 drubbing of the L.A. Kings (one of my favorite games from this year).

It was only midseason, but the Sabres appeared to be a lock for the playoffs.  They were sitting in fourth place in the conference (and second in the division) for most of the second half of the season.  Amazingly, those empty seats in the HSBC Arena were now being filled.  Bandwagoners, perhaps?  Had I lived in Buffalo, I would have been there from the start.

The Sabres finished the regular season with a record of 52-24-6 (110 points).  The 52 wins were a franchise record, as were the 25 road wins the Sabres accumulated during the season.  It was now playoff time, and I knew I would be listening to the radio or watching the games on TV whenever possible.  If it wasn’t overly possible, I would make time.  This is the playoffs!

The Sabres greeted the first round of the playoffs by defeating the Philadelphia Flyers 4 games to 2.  Game 1 game saw the nasty hit on R.J. Umberger by Sabres defenseman Brian Campbell.  It also saw my second favorite player (behind Chris Drury), Daniel Briere, scoring the winning goal in double overtime of Game 1 in Buffalo.  Said Rick Jeanneret: “DANNY BRIERE!  DANNY BRIERE!  ON AT LEAST HIS 13TH SHOT OF THE NIGHT!  AND BUFFALO WINS IT IN DOUBLE OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOVERTIME!!!!”

Game 2 would be a blowout in favor of my Sabres.  It became so heated that Flyers goalie Robert Esche would attack Buffalo forward Derek Roy.  The Sabres would win 8-2, and would take their act to Philly.

The Flyers would take Games 3 and 4 at home with goalie Ryan Miller looking like he was human, especially when R.J. Umberger won the game for the Flyers on what appeared to be a soft shot.  But, you can’t stop all of the pucks all of the time.

The Sabres would take Game 5 at home and Game on the road in Philly, with Game 6 being a 7-1 rout on Flyers ice.  We were moving on to…Ottawa.

“Oh, geez,” I figured.  Ottawa was the Eastern Conference’s best team during the season.  Every newspaper in America and every sports site on the Internet was predicting a Senators win in about 6 games.  Easier said than done.  Luckily for us (the Sabres, that is), it was Ray Emery in net for the Senators, not Dominik Hasek.

Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Semifinals was a classic.  Down 5-4 with under two minutes to play, Derek Roy would score a shorthanded goal on a 2-on-1 rush to tie the game at 5.  On the ensuing powerplay, Ottawa’s Brian Smolinski would put the Sens back in the lead, 6-5, with just 1:13 remaining.

I had feared the worst.  I had accepted defeat, and I was ready for Game 2.  Then, with 10.9 seconds left in regulation, Buffalo’s Tim Connolly ties the game with Ryan Miller sitting on the bench for extra attacker.  I think that I, a 21 year old, almost had a heart attack.  Chris Drury would seal it just 18 seconds into overtime.  What a game!

The Sabres seemed to get dominated in almost every game by the Senators.  They continuously got outshot.  Yet, Ryan Miller was up to the task.  Before I knew it, the Sabres led the series 3-0, and would eventually win the series 4 games to 1, when Jason Pominville would win Game 5 with (what else?) a shorthanded goal.  Said Rick Jeanneret: “SCOOOOOORE!  JASON POMINVILLE!  NOW YOU DO YOU BELIEVE?!  OH, NOW DO YOU BELIEVE?!  THESE GUYS ARE GOOD, SCARY GOOD, AND THEY’RE GOING TO EITHER CAROLINA OR NEW JERSEY!!!!”

They would go to Carolina to face the Hurricanes.  Everyone knew that this would be some series.  Both teams were fast.  Both teams had rookie goaltenders (Cam Ward in net for the ‘Canes).  Both teams, despite not having headline-making players (well, perhaps Drury for Buffalo and Staal for Carolina), were sitting in the Eastern Conference Finals.

The Hurricanes, like the Sabres, were not given a chance when the season began.  When the two teams met for the right to go the Stanley Cup Finals, sportswriters across America had to eat their words.  Two teams, off of everyone’s radar when the season began, were no longer in that position.

This was a back and forth series, with the Sabres holding series leads of 1-0 and 2-1.  However, the Sabres started to get hit hard.  Tim Connolly was out with an injury.  Then, there was the defense.  That poor, poor defense.  Dmitri Kalinin?  Injured.  Henrik Tallinder?  Injured.  Teppo Numminen, the veteran?  Injured.  To pile it on, the Sabres best defenseman, Jay McKee, would miss Game 7 with an infection.

The Sabres played most of the series with a patchwork defense called up from the AHL.  Nathan Paetsch played Game 7 in place of McKee.  Doug Janik was called up to fill in.  It wasn’t looking good.

Yet, the Sabres battled.  They battled hard.  Down 3 games to 2, they won Game 6 in overtime when Daniel Briere scored a powerplay goal.  Amazingly to some, they held a 2-1 lead after two periods of Game 7.  They wouldn’t hold on to that lead for long, as Doug Weight would tie the game and Rod Brind’Amour would give the Hurricanes a lead they wouldn’t give up.

My hats go off to the Hurricanes.  If one team deserves a Stanley Cup berth and, perhaps, championship more than the Sabres do, it’s the Hurricanes.  It was a hard-fought series, with the Hurricanes having just a little more left in the tank than the Sabres did.

I’m not sulking.  I’m not complaining about injuries.  I’m not avoiding all contact with the outside world because my beloved Sabres lost.  26 other teams didn’t even make it to their respective conference finals.  Yes, it’s a disappointment, but it’s an accomplishment – an accomplishment worthy of celebration.

The Sabres succeeded without big names.  They didn’t have a player finish near the top of the league in scoring, yet they had 6 players top 20 goals scored during the regular season.  While the Ottawa Senators, Carolina Hurricanes, and New Jersey Devils (towards the end of the season) gathered all of the attention, the Sabres did what they did best – they won.

The biggest disappointment, aside from not making it to the Cup Finals, may have been Ryan Miller getting snubbed for the U.S. Olympic hockey team in Turin, Italy.  I mean, come on….John Grahame?!  Robert Esche?!

Yes, I now have to wait until October to hear the radio calls of Rick Jeanneret and read the recaps of Buffalo games.  However, this was one hell of a season to remember.  From start to finish, I believed (though more at some times than others).

With a corps of young players, ranging from goaltender Ryan Miller to wingers Derek Roy, Ales Kotalik, and Jason Pominville to defensemen Brian Campbell and Dmitri Kalinin, the Sabres will be gracing your television screens with multiple playoff appearances in the seasons to come.

Consider this: 3 players on the Sabres roster are over 30 years of age – Teppo Numminen (37), Mike Grier (31), and Rory Fitzpatrick (31).  Everyone else is under 30 years of age.  If the ownership in Buffalo is able to retain these playoffs, the Sabres will be hoisting the Stanley Cup some time during this decade.

The Sabres should be proud of what they accomplished and they should not have their heads down.  You can’t win it every year.  Next year, though, I’ll be ready.

Finally…a little well-earned respect around the neighborhood.