Some Thoughts: Final Games, The Sabres Jacket, A Funny Custom Jersey, and More

Hasn’t it been a little easier to breathe since Tuesday  night?

Now that the Sabres have clinched the Northeast Division, there’s not much else to worry about. Sure, their final position in the standings is still up in the air, but they’ll either be second or third, and they’ll definitely have home-ice advantage, so why fret? Really, they’re doing pretty well either way.

If anything, the race for the lower-seeded spots should have Sabres fans strategically rooting for or against other teams in these final few days, based on which team they’d like to see Buffalo face in the first round.

The hardest game left? (Alygirl20/Flickr)

Even the Sabres themselves can take it (relatively) easy in their final three games. Probably the hardest game on the schedule is tonight against the Boston Bruins. The B’s desperately need to win to keep their spot in the post-season, so you know they’ll be fighting tooth and nail, and that means hard hits, desperate play, and the possibility of fights.

The Sabres final two opponents, however — Ottawa and New Jersey — have already secured playoff spots. While they, too, will be trying to squeeze out some final points, they’re not going to take as many risks that could result in injuries or, at the extreme, suspensions that would affect them in the playoffs.

So here’s a belated congratulations to Buffalo, the players and fans alike. Relax and enjoy the next few days, and get ready to remember what playoff hockey is like.

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Team traditions, rituals and superstitions can range anywhere from reverent to cute to totally quirky. Recently, the Sabres have started a new one, awarding a cream-colored jacket to a different player after each game. Nathan Gerbe, Tim Kennedy, Steve Montador and Drew Stafford have all been recent recipients, according to The Buffalo News. The previous game’s winner chooses the new winner.

This reward idea manifests itself in many different forms. Apparently they used a stuffed pigeon last year; the Bruins did the same thing with a hardhat. It’s less about what’s being awarded and more about the recognition — just one of those fun things to both give players something to work towards (besides the Stanley Cup, obviously) and have a little fun in the playoffs. Though, you’ve got to admit, that jacket looks pretty spiffy.

The JumboTron cameras spotted something pretty cool in the stands at Tuesday night’s game versus the New York Rangers.

Late in the third period, a fan was shown wearing a custom jersey with “NO GOAL” on the name plate and 99 as the number. Don’t make me explain it to you.

Custom jerseys have the tendency to be either cheesy or just plain stupid, and I generally dislike them. This one, however, brought a huge smile.

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Not quite Sabres-related, but still cool:

USA Hockey has announced the creation of the Brendan Burke Internship, in memory of Toronto GM Brian Burke’s son who was killed in a car accident earlier this year.

Brendan was a hockey operations assistant for the men’s ice hockey team at Miami University, where he was a student. Fittingly, the 12-month internship is intended for a recent college graduate interested in a career in hockey operations.