Wednesday, October 14, 2009

What We Needed (and One Thing We Didn't Need)

After the torture that was Sunday's life-draining Bills game, Buffalo fans needed a lot of things to keep morale up for what was looking to be a long fall and winter for sports lovers in WNY.

Even if tonight was just one game, at least we have the Sabres to thank for giving us some of those things that our fan experience had been lacking recently:

  • Offensive production
  • Solid coaching and a good game plan
  • Team tenacity
  • The ability to beat a proven winner (or even a team that maybe wins some games every once in a while)
  • Rookies who are actually used effectively and productively on the team
  • A leader who makes a big play (or save) when it's called for
  • Excitement - Buffalo fans just want to believe in something and feel passionate about something. That's hard to do with the passionless football being played right now, but it was a different story inside HSBC Arena tonight.

Tonight was an important night in my house - as Goose (my favorite) and Pat Kaleta (my dad's favorite) scored their first goals of the season. It's always a good feeling to watch the guy you cheer the hardest for put it in the back of the net, and I honestly thought I was going to have to wait a lot longer for Goose's first goal. Those post-goal high fives always feel the best when it's the guy on your jersey who just put your team up by another goal.

The only negative aspect of tonight's game was the loss of Thomas Vanek. Just as the team was finding its offensive stride, its star scorer goes down. I guess I'm just happy it's now instead of down the home stretch.

I know that this game could have been a fluke, but I was highly impressed with the product put on the ice tonight. It gave Buffalo fans something to really cheer about and thoroughly enjoy watching - which is something we could all use a little more of lately.

2 comments:

Shelby said...

I am so happy they were able to beat the Red Wings. I really don't want to see this game as a fluke and believe the team really did put all of their best efforts into last night to beat one of the best run teams in the NHL.

Katie said...

That's why I think this wasn't a fluke, Shelby - they really did put in a solid effort. Nothing was too fancy or lucky - they won with hard work.