Thank you Sabres ...

[KansasPat]

... reviving my interest in hockey, and strengthening a bond to my hometown that had weakened considerably through the years.

 

The 2002-2005 years were dark years to be a Sabres fan, and a hockey fan in general. The game sucked, and when your team sucks (and making some endangered species lists as well), it's too easy to tune it out. Especially when you haven't lived in WNY for nearly a decade. When my high point in that timeframe as a hockey fan is the Ducks going to the Cup finals, you know it's pretty bleak (although I still have the Ducks as my defacto No. 2 team, if only for Teemu Selanne).

 

My profession makes it impossible for me to not know how the Sabres are doing (I'm in the sports print media), but outside of that, I don't think I could've named five players on the team at the beginning of the season.

 

Thank you, 2005-06 Sabres, for changing that.

 

Thank you, Rick Jeanerette, for being the best PBP voice in the game, and for "Roll Out the Highlight Film" ... a CD that sent me over the top in reviving my interest. The timing of that CD was impeccable. Please, find it in you to call games as long as your voice is willing to let you.

 

Thank you, WGR, for having streaming audio so I could listen to the Sabres at work.

 

Thank you, those of you who still live in Buffalo and REPRESENT as the best damn fans in the league. One thing I always bring up when talking about local appreciation for the Bills and Sabres is that people don't realize that, in general, we appreciate the Sabres just as much as the Bills, and would welcome a Stanley Cup with as much fervor and enthusiasm as a Super Bowl. Although I haven't been to a game in Buffalo since 1995, I've been to a few in Southern California and talked to some expatriates. The fervor burns strong in all of us.

 

Thank Tom Golisano, for your Paul Revere-like ride to the rescue. We couldn't enjoy any of this without you.

 

Finally, thank you to the regular posters here. The insight is great, and I've become a more enthusiastic fan because of you all. Keep up the good work, and please don't disappear during the summer.

 

Now ... if we could only get the Bills going strong again. Cuz I'm starting to feel about them as I did with the Sabres in the timeframe mentioned above.