Posted by It’s about time to come clean. Heading into Friday night, I have been to about 14 Sabres games in my life. We never had enough money to make a habit of it, but I usually got to go to a live game once a season, maybe twice if I was lucky.
The truth of the situation is I’ve only seen the team win once while I was in attendance. One time. One stinkin’ time I have been able to walk out of a The Aud, Marine Midland Arena or HSBC with the ability to banter about the victory I just witnessed. Well, there was that one time when the family I was with decided we needed to leave early because there were only 4 minutes left in the game, the Sabres were down 2 and we needed to beat the traffic. By the time we got out of our seats, walked down the car and found the game on the radio, the Sabres had just won the game in the first minute of overtime. Noonan!
Most people blame the bad luck on this hat I own and wear religiously. Actually, it’s referred to by many as “The Hat.” It’s a ’99 Conference Champions hat that makes most people throw up at the sight of it. My mother has tried, on numerous occasions, to get rid of the hat, buy me a new hat and even threaten to walk out of a restaurant if I didn’t take the hat off. Rumor has it that Bird Flu originated from the brim of the hat. Basically, it upsets a lot of people.
I decided to head to the game Friday night without The Hat and see if it really does need to be retired for good (plus I needed to try and pick up chicks and The Hat certainly doesn’t drive ‘em wild like it used to; makes them puke actually).
Being my first hockey game since moving to the Washington,Dc/Northern Virginia area, I must say that there are a ton of Buffalo Sabres supporters down here. I had the pleasure of sitting in a 100 level box, sharing the entire section with local favorite Jimmy Cirrito. For those of you not from the Washington area, Jimmy is the owner of Jimmy’s Old Town Tavern in Herndon, Virginia. It is a Bills/Sabres backer bar that has the best chicken wings outside the Buffalo area and proudly boasts the ability to get Molson Canadian ON TAP. It felt good to not stand out like a sucker in a sea of red as he brought about 50 crazed Buffalo fans to the game that evening (and one Goose).
I also have to say that Capital fans are quite friendly people and the Verizon Center is a dynamite facility. There was friendly back and forth banter between myself and several fans and I actually received a handshake from someone in a Semin jersey telling me good luck in the rest of the season. Pretty classy treatment compared to some of the places that I’ve been before. Hats off to the fans and the organization for turning the franchise around over the past decade and getting the team back to where they belong. It’s good for the city and even better for the sport of hockey.
Both clubs came out winners on Friday as Buffalo gained 2 crucial points in their push for the playoffs and Washington gained the 1 point needed to clinch the Southeast Division title. Buffalo was up and down all evening but forced a turnover in overtime that led to Jason Pominville burying the puck in the back of the net on Simeon Varlamov (who will be a great option for the Capitals between the pipes once the organization realizes that Jose Theodore is a mediocre goaltender on a high powered offensive team).
For the second time in my life, I was able to see the Sabres win a game while in attendance and it’s a damn good feeling let me tell you. It was a great back and forth game that all fans should have enjoyed. The Sabres will certainly look for some help down the stretch here as they are contending with Florida and New York for that final spot. The Sabres have a game at hand on the Rangers and Cats, however it’s a “must win out” situation for Buffalo to ensure the greatest opportunity to play in the post season. Buffalo has Detroit, Toronto, Carolina and Boston in the final week of play; certainly not an easy road by any stretch of the imagination.
The Hat will remain on the shelf for the time being and will only be brought out for the most special and joyous occasions: graduation, my wedding and future job interviews.
schrembs@saucerpass.comtwitter: @saucerpass
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