That number was not a misprint.
Seventeen thousand, one hundred and fifteen fans finished off a gorgeous summer day in early July by filling the First Niagara for the Buffalo Sabres annual Blue and Gold Scrimmage. And I thought last years attendance of 8,725 for the scrimmage was an incredible turnout.
17,115.
"It’s crazy to think there was 17,000 people here for a scrimmage in July," said top Sabres prospect, 2015 second-overall pick Jack Eichel, "but it says a lot about Buffalo and how passionate they are about the Sabres.”
Eichel wouldn't say it, but the main reason the fans opted to spend a few hours watching prospects scrimmage instead sipping a beverage outside in the warm summer evening was him. The 18 yr. old center represents a number of things to Buffalo hockey fans, but maybe most importantly, he's considered the face of the future and he's is helping Sabres fans lay to rest the last two years.
Ask any Sabres fans about the bickering over all things "suffering" the last two seasons and I'd hazard to guess that they won't remember just how
ugly things got. "If you end up drafting high, it's wonderful," said team president Ted Black back in October, 2013. "But the pain of getting there is great." It's something Sabres fans came to know all to well during the ensuing year and a half.
From Darcy Regier, "the core" and Ron Rolston to Pat Lafontaine,Ted Nolan and consecutive last place finishes--and all points in between--the path to Friday was littered with the debris of a hundred little battles waged amongst the die-hards as the team plummeted to unseen depths.
While some may still struggle with how the Sabres got here, and while their optimism may be tempered by the sheer wretchedness of the product they witnessed for the better part of two seasons, simply put, it's done.
Over. In the past. History. Something that will now end up being a story told to children and grandchildren. And for 17,115, they'll begin their story with, "I remember seeing Eichel hit the ice that summer for the first time..."
But the cool part about the Sabres renaissance is that it's not Eichel being placed atop an inept and/or young rookie crop that will need to suffer more. The support group that he and many others youngins playing in last night's scrimmage will have is young and strong and composed of many other first round picks, including those drafted in the top five. Even in Eichel's group of youngins, he's not the only top-end pick as last year the Sabres picked Sam "the Forgotten One" Reinhart 2nd-overall in the 2014 draft.
Reinhart was the main reason that 8,725 went to the First Niagara Center on July 15, 2014 for that Blue and Gold scrimmage. He was introduced to the NHL by a thunderous check compliments of 2012 14th-overall pick, Zemgus Girgensons, very early on that game. It was something that might have shaken him to his foundations as a middling off-season and a non-descript nine-game NHL tryout lead to his
demotion to junior and a directive from GM Tim Murray to focus upon strength and conditioning.
While Reinhart was busy scoring 65 points (19+46) in 47 games for his Kootenay Ice junior club and dominating the 2015 World Juniors for gold medal-winning Team Canada, he was spending what little free time he had in the gym adding strength to his 6'1" 185 lb. frame. When I think of what he did to hit development camp, I'm reminded of defenseman Rasmus Ristolainen.
Ristolainen was sent to Rochester for seasoning in 2013 and when he came to development camp in 2014 he did so with a chisled frame and an attitude that said he wasn't going back to the AHL. The 2013 8th-overall pick is now set to become the top-pairing d-man that they believed he could be.
Reinhart looked definitively bigger coming into camp and he had a larger presence as well due to the confidence he gained over the last 10 months. Last night he had two goals and an assist in stealing the spotlight from Eichel who was held without a point.
Even though it was only a scrimmage in July, strong performances from those who are expected to have them is always a good thing. One pro coming off of his rookie campaign in Rochester last year was Jake McCabe, who was in control throughout the evening.
From all accounts McCabe, who was at his fourth Sabres Development Camp, was dominant on the back-end and looks NHL ready, but even he tempered his enthusiasm. "It felt like it was my fourth year and a lot of guys' first year," he said post-scrimmage. "First impressions are always good to make," he continued, "but it's only July and there's a lot of summer left and a lot of improvements to be made. That being said I'm going back to work for the next couple of months, get into the best shape possible for training camp and make an even better impression."
From Ristolainen to Reinhart to McCabe, the message emanating from the organization is that "nothing's given." The Sabres are expecting a professional commitment from their players and while they'd like to see these prospects start contributing as soon as possible, they won't rush them. For as much as McCabe looks the NHL part, and he very well could have a great training camp and preseason to make the NHL roster, getting that extra year of seasoning will be extremely beneficial to both player and team long-term.
It's been said that no one sells hope better than Buffalo sports teams which, as of late, has been a fairly accurate statement. We all know the stories. It's also true that two dates out of the year have been high points for Buffalo sports fans--draft weekend and the first game of the season. We know this, yet we jump on board every year with the thought that, "This year will be different."
For the 17,115 in attendance last night there's a feeling that it will be different beginning now and they wanted to be some of the first on the bus. On a beautiful Friday night in July.
"This only happens in Buffalo, this many people showing up," said McCabe incredulously.
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