Watching The Rangers Special Last Night - Run To Glory

[CallawaySabres]

Even when the Sabres made the Cup run in 99, I don't think I really thought hard enough about what this city would be like if we won the Cup. After watching the recap of the Rangers/Devils ECF/vancouver Finals and how the Rangers fans reacted, I could not help but get a little welled up thinking about what the city will be like WHEN Buffalo gets the championship. I have not been sucked into another team's emotion like I did watching that show and was just trying to imagine how I would be reacting if I had been a Rangers fan in 94. So many of the fan's reactions were EXACTLY how I would have felt and I want that emotion back here soooo badly.

 

I can't wait till that damn pucks drops again in October and I love the fact that I am getting sucked in even more as I get older. The Cup will be here some day and it will be worth the wait. I look forward to immersing myself in the overflow of emotion and will enjoy every game until that time is upon us. Here is to the chase and to the eventual catching of that championship that has eluded this city for far too long. Embrace being a Buffalo fan because it is gonna be like nothing any of us could have imagined when it happens....

[CallawaySabres]

Hmm, out of the 7 years posting here, I was actually more curius about reactions to this post than many others in the past. Either nobody has watched the show, it's been posted before or nobody can fathom Buffalo winning the Cup. I truly thought the fan interviews in NY would be pretty close to how people would feel here in Buffalo..... Oh well

[Weave]

Didn't see the show.

[dEnnis the Menace]

Hmm, out of the 7 years posting here, I was actually more curius about reactions to this post than many others in the past. Either nobody has watched the show, it's been posted before or nobody can fathom Buffalo winning the Cup. I truly thought the fan interviews in NY would be pretty close to how people would feel here in Buffalo..... Oh well

 

I didn't see the show, but I've always tried to figure out what my reaction would be to Buffalo bringing home a major championship. When I do this, I go back to the year that RIT went to the frozen four, and even typing it out gives me the goosbumps. There's a feeling that one cannot just describe in words when you see your team rise to a legendary status. I'll do my best to sum up how I felt then, and how I think it would correlate to how I think I would feel with Buffalo:

 

I attended RIT for 6 years. I bled orange and crap brown for 6 years. I was at every Men's Hockey game that I could attend when it didn't conflict with work, and I started attending Women's games at the end of my tenure there. I could recite most stat lines and records that Tiger players held or were closing in on. I was at every game my freshman year, even when the team was ABSOLUTELY HORRID! There were the ups and downs, should'ves and could'ves.

 

The year didn't start out as planned, but it took a major upturn about midseason. Big names were stepping up, from Cameron Burt and Dan Ringwald, to Andrew Favot and little known Chris Tanev. It was amazing to watch them play. It felt as if every home game was a guaranteed win, and we the fans provided the last 'oomph' needed to maintain the home-ice advantage when games were close! The only time we couldn't win? Blue Cross Arena, downtown. Well, first game of the playoffs, and we won at BCA. It seemed like a fluke, but we were all stoked to be back for the finals. The next night seemed to destroy the myth that we couldn't win at BC, as we powered our way to our first Regionals showdown.

 

Selection Sunday came, and pitted us against the #2 team in the country: Hockey powerhouse, Denver University. The commentators and so-called experts didn't give us a lick of a chance. We Tiger fans didn't care. We drove to Albany none-the-less, and lined up to make sure we could get our 'corner' section for cheering. We packed the place. I will never forget that first goal, which set off a feeling of joy and hope that most fans just don't understand until it hits them. I look back now, and can't remember who took the shot or even made the pass. A defenseman was streaking into the zone, and the pass found his stick. He slapped it, and top shelf, glove high, hitting the twine. (NOTE: the Corner Crew is always standing at games). What happened next would repeat itself 7 more times over the course of the weekend. That red light illuminated, and I was jumping and screaming like never before. The kid next to me had someone jump on his back and had his arms in the air. Everyone went nuts. When we scored the game winner, it was even more intense. The feeling of "hey, we have a shot" came over all of us. We beat the #2 team in the country, and we felt on top of the world. You don't stop talking about it, every conversation leads to "we didn't stand a chance, yet we prevailed" faster than a convo here turns to DR and LR.

 

That night, we find out that we're playing UNH next. UNH LIT Cornell up 6-2, with 1 of Cornell's goals being an absolute garbage time goal. That was one of the league's best goalies. What would we endure?

 

Well, I'll tell you: Both teams came out on fire. We were all holding our breath, until a 90 ish second interval in the second period, in which we scored 3 goals on what seemed 3 consecutive shots. The crowd put the nail in the coffin for the Tigers. Watching the team rush the goalie at the other end after we finished counting down the clock, and the gloves and sticks fly was just an amazing feeling. The school the entire next week was abuzz about the hockey team. People that weren't hockey fans before all of sudden loved the team. People who had never heard of the men's players all of sudden were bragging to everyone that they had classes with them, or lived 4 apartments down from them, or even just passed them in the hall at school. The buzz was electric, and everytime someone mentioned those 3 goals, or defeating the Monster Denver, you just got goosebumps. A lot of people know what happened when RIT went up against Wisconsin, but hey, it was great for the week prior. It was the greatest feeling ever.

 

RIT might not have won it all, but they went further then thought possible. The feeling around campus was amazing. It gives new electricity to morale. It makes everyone feel great knowing that your team is doing so well.

 

If Buffalo won the cup, I'm pretty sure ex-pats and current natives alike would be feeling this electricity, the feeling of invincibility, or just the feeling of "hey, that's my city's team!" There's a stat from a few years back that on Monday mornings following a Bills win, productivity in the city increased, whereas after a loss, it decreased. What do you think a monumental win like the Stanley cup would provide to this city?

[CallawaySabres]

I can only imagine but I highly urge people to watch that Ranger special as it as close to anything I have ever seen when thinking about the emotion involved. Even the way they won it - from Messier's guarantee to nail biting games one after another. They had a guy just sitting outside MSG from 8am on just because he had no idea what to do with himself. Offerings of 20K for game 7 tickets that were turned down as well as one guy who was convinced they were going to lose particular game because his mother in law called to congradulate him on going to the Cup with 7 seconds left in the game. NJ ended up tying it and going to OT with 3 seconds and you can imagine what was said about that call.....Anyhow, story after story of raw emotion was just incredible to see.