OverPowerYou

I'm having a hard time deciding if I want the Florida Panthers or the Edmonton Oilers to win tonight. The panthers have 6 former Sabres and the oilers have our lottery pick player that they stole from us. Almost like a lose-lose for us again

I just hope the Oilers aren’t experiencing their version of Bills-Raiders 51-3 hype. They might be a little too cocky going into game 7

Imagine being Reinhart if the Panthers lose game 7. You play on the Sabres all those years and get blamed for a lot because you weren’t nearly as good as Eichel. Then you go to the finals 2 years in a row and lose. Oh yeah, and like 7 of your former teammates are playing with you on the Panthers

It’s odd that trades can happen when the finals are still on

So Jeff Skinner wins the cup next year with…?

It must be so hard being an Oilers fan right now going to game 4. You bought tickets knowing that your team has a 95% chance or more of being eliminated in the next few days. You’re kind of going to just cheer on the team and thank them for the long hard fought season

SABRES SEASON STARTS TODAY IF EDMONTON LOSES! GO PANTHERS! One step closer to October

Wow. I’m just realizing this. McDavid is Josh Allen. The most talented player in his sport but his team keeps him from winning it all

So this is what, the first time America has ever seen Connor McDavid play in the last 9 years?

All of them. I was in my early 20’s just like most of this current Sabres team the last time they made the playoffs.

Dreams happen quick. Words have to paint the picture

This may be a strange and unusual topic to create but I can’t help but share it. I want to paint a mental picture for everyone of the experience and emotions I just felt. I woke up around 15 minutes ago and I am still in a state of shock, euphoria and pandemonium. I had a dream that the Buffalo Sabres won the Stanley Cup in 2025. We had a season just like 2023. Every week was a rollercoaster. We would win 8-1 and 7-2 and then have a head scratching 2-0 loss against a remarkably inferior team. The usual, except we had a love affair with the team because Lindy was back and not only were they scoring but they were gritty, scrappy and they were hitting people. After a fun season with mild expectations the Sabres made it as the 2nd wild card team by winning in Florida in overtime the last game of the season. The playoffs started out like 2006 as we were steamrolling our way through teams in the playoffs and this time made the finals. It was a run for the ages and it felt like 1999 again. The hardest working team in hockey. We are talented but we know we don’t have as much talent as other teams. We made it to game 7 in the finals against Vegas. This was subconscious retribution. We had home ice so Vegas must have been the last wild card team in the West. The game was scoreless until the late 2nd period when Jack Quinn scored an awkward goal as time was almost expiring. Almost like game 7 Jochen Hecht. The 3rd period began and it started to sink in, “Could this really be happening?” But in typical Buffalo Sports fashion, we let Vegas score in the first 2 minutes of the 3rd period. Jack Eichel of all people. As he scored and did his smug celebrations and mocked the fans our emotions played on us. We’ve all seen this story before. We’re going to have this replaying in our heads for the next 50 years. This is Buffalo after all. We quickly bounced back in the next few minutes and scored to make it 2-1 but then Vegas came right back because nothing ever comes easy for Buffalo. It was 2-2 until about 5 minutes left in the 3rd period when Alex Tuch slammed home a rebound. The place went nuts. We could all feel Rick Jeanerette ringing in our ears as if we knew he was there watching with us. Some people were in tears they were so excited. I just remember so vividly an older female fan jumping up and down, wearing her Dahlin jersey with the 2007ish Pom-pom things. You could cut the excitement and anticipation with a knife. The next 5 minutes went on for what seemed to be an eternity. The commercial break on tv even felt like it was 10 minutes long. Ironically, even in my dream the stream of the game was buffering for 2 of the last 3 minutes. I finally caught the last minute as J.J Peterka scored a beauty of an empty net goal from his own end with about 10 seconds left. The puck dropped and the Sabres controlled possession of the puck as time expired. The end game goal horn sounded for about 20 seconds, there was indoor fireworks and it was surreal. My subconscious even slowed everything down, zoomed in on the Sabres bench/center ice area and even dimmed the arena lights like it was a dramatic ending to a movie. The TV commentators were just shocked and kept saying it was “Miracle on Ice part 2.” The tv broadcast showed the sabres celebrating and tackling each other to the ice in a frenzy meanwhile showing scenes of the different areas of Buffalo celebrating, the party in the plaza and even Niagara Square. One particular shot was High Mark Stadium filled to capacity watching on a big screen. That gave me chills. The postgame was filled with shots of jubilant fans, Sabres players, coaches and a never ending boatload of Sabres alumni. I’ll never forget the look on Lindy Ruff’s face as he was in tears. They finally brought the cup out and we didn’t even bother heckling Bettman. He then asked Captain Alex Tuch to come hoist the Stanley Cup. As soon as he lifted the cup the arena erupted and Tuch skated right over to his dad and let him hold the Stanley cup. I woke up with tears. I feel like I time travelled today.

The irony - there’s a good chance if McDavid was a Sabres that Reinhart would’ve stayed

Game 1 isn’t until Saturday. Whatever happened to the days when the next series started 2 days later? This is dragging on.

The Oilers started tanking in 2011 and the Sabres started in 2014. At this trajectory we should make the finals in 2027.

Calgary Vs Tampa. How far was that? Florida would have home ice. Tough for the Oilers

These conference finals are so back and forth. It’s like nobody wants to take a commanding series lead. Wouldn’t be surprised to see 2 game 7’s

I still can’t believe that the NHL has had 6-7 canadian teams and haven’t won in 30+ years. is it the pressure ?

Rangers fans at MSG seem to be really lame

Not sure why teams like Dallas Stars and Tennesee Titans get so much hatred for bad ref calls Same thing for the hurricanes. It’s not their fault we got injured

This may be the first time ever where i don’t dislike one of the final four teams

The NHL has never had a truly southern NHL finals. (Dallas Vs Tampa in 2020 didn’t count). That would be interesting

Today was the worst day I’ve had in 3 years. When I saw the final score to the bruins game all the bad feelings of the day went away immediately Thank you hockey gods

Any of these 8 teams could make it to the finals. I have no idea what to expect

Florida seems to always start slow. Lots of formers Sabres. Coincidence ?