My son and I hadn't attended a Sabres game together until Friday night. It used to be that we would go to a couple of Sabres games a season together. Heck, hockey played a big part in our lives for over a decade as I coached my boy in hockey since he was a five year old in the learn to skate program up until bantam major. We spent eleven years together in house and then travel hockey. I would routinely bring my little man with me to watch Sabres practices so that he could watch first hand the skating styles and shot techniques of his heroes. My garage door is still pitted with hundreds of divots and dents, the by products of his countless hours of shooting thousands of pucks until he could lift them and direct them to the corners of his choosing. My little buddy wanted badly to be a good hockey player. He succeeded at improving his skating and his shooting by investing his 10,000 hours. Malcolm Gladwell was right. He worked on his game for hours at a time after games and practices. He respects the game and he knows firsthand that the game doesn't owe you a thing. You work for what you want from the game. You give back to the game. There are no "cheat codes" nor shortcuts. Hockey rewards those who handle their business and work to achieve their goals. Like in life, nothing is promised in hockey. It's earned.
My son always has loved and respected the game. He's a remarkable young man.
He was my wing man for many a freezing cold ride to and from the rinks. He was a great companion and co-pilot for over a decade. I wish that I could listen back today to some of our conversations that we had in the drive to practices and games. We would laugh like fools and blast AC/DC, Audioslave, Van Halen, Metallica, and all things hard and heavy to get our game faces on.
He loves hockey. I love hockey. We love hockey.
His go-to snack after games and practices was chocolate milk and a chocolate frosted doughnut. I can't tell you how many thousands of ice rink french fries that I had to clean out of the back seat of my car as a result of my little buddy gnoshing down after games.
Hockey brought us together. Hockey keeps us together today.
My boy is a freshman in college now and he's been away at school for this entire Sabres season. For months, I've been looking forward to hanging out with him and shooting the breeze at the Sabres-Blackhawks game. We picked a great game to attend. A friend and his son joined us for the festivities. What an emotional roller coaster it was. What a great night for hockey and family was. A couple of weeks ago, I took my son and nephew to Erie, PA to scout Connor McDavid, Dylan Strome, Nick Baptiste and the Otters. We had a blast together.
Friday night, down 2-0 early on, the Sabres could have easily packed up their street hockey net and walked home. They didn't quit. They fought the good fight and were rewarded for it. My son hadn't been to a Sabres game all season long and was confused at first when Sabres fans around us in section 205 were cheering and chanting for the Blackhawks. He hadn't witnessed the tank tantrum by select fans live in person. Like me, he understands the motive behind it. Like me, he thinks that that stuff is best kept in one one's head. Sabres fans cheer for their team, not against their team. That's why I was proud of my boy when he jumped to his feet and screamed "Hell Yeah" and high-fived me after Larsson's goal, and both of Marcus Foligno's beautuies. While self-proclaimed Sabres fans (sporting Sabres gear) a section over from us were booing and bemoaning the Sabres for scoring, my boy was doing what great fans do. He was cheering for his team. Through thick and thin. In the final analysis, the Sabres stood toe to toe and traded punches with one of the best teams of the past decade. Down 2-0, they didn't quit, bitch, moan, or give up on themselves. They bit down harder on their mouth pieces, got pissed off, and took out their anger and frustration on the all star team that was their guest in their building. The Hawks dominated just nine minutes of the game in Buffalo: The first seven, and the last two minutes. The Sabres did us proud, stealing the momentum and carrying play to the Hawks for 51 minutes. The lesson learned is simple: you never quit on your team. Ever. Not even in a moment of weakness when your fan head tells you that your Connor McDavid and Jack Eichel dreams are evaporating. You fight off their negativity and focus on the positivity. You don't quit on your team. Not even if your fingers are crossed and you don't really mean it.
My son, daughters, wife and I respect and admire our Sabres. We are with them through thick and thin. Always have been, always will be. We'll be here in the bad times and of course in the good times. In the end, the Sabres were tazered by a first ballot Hall of Famer named Toews. We tipped our buckets to a hero like that.
Good Friday was Great Friday for me and my boy. Back at the rink. Together. Just like the good old days.
Thanks, son. I needed that.
I love you.
***
Jonathon Toews is a winner. He always has been and he always will be.
He's played leadership roles on a World Junior Hockey Championships gold medal winning team. He's won two Olympic gold medals. He's won two Stanley Cup championships. He's won a Conn Smythe Trophy as Stanley Cup MVP.
He also scored the game winning goal that clinched his team's seventh consecutive playoff berth against the Vancouver Canucks on Thursday night.
The Hawks stormed out of the gates and dominated the Sabres in the first ten minutes of the first period. Before you knew it, they were up 2-0. The Hawks played a hard fought game against the Vancouver Canucks on Thursday night. Afterwards, they chartered to Buffalo where they landed in the early hours of the morning. The Hawks postponed their Friday morning skate. Their strategy appeared to be to blitz Buffalo early and take them out of the game by having to make them play catch up. Their strategy worked for only ten minutes. Then, Buffalo turned the table on the Hawks and took control of the game. Buffalo played a fast, physical style for the next 48 minutes.
On Friday night, he scored two huge goals 47 seconds apart that lifted the Blackhawks to a 4-3 victory over the 30th place Buffalo Sabres.
Sabres fans jumped to their feet and applauded Toews for his heroics. They want Connor McDavid or Jack Eichel more than they want two meaningless points against Chicago and in the end, they got what they wanted.
The regulation loss keeps Buffalo two points ahead of the Coyotes in the McEichel standings.
Toews led his team by example. He grabbed them up by the scruff of their necks and led them into battle and to their eventual victory.
Toews ignited a movement that saw 18,000+ fans offer an enthusiastic standing ovation at the end of the game.
When the hockey gods made Toews, they broke the mold. There si only one Captain Serious.
"Big goal for us to tie it, I don't think we expected to score two that quickly," Toews said. "I think at that point any team would've been thinking about going to overtime."
Nervous, anxious and conflicted Sabres fans chewed their cuticles until bloody after Marcus Foligno scored his second goal of the game to give Buffalo the 3-2 at the 12:42 mark of the third period.
Toews then beat Anders Lindback with 1:43. Moments later, he potted the game winner when it looked like the Hawks were dead and buried. Toews carried his team to its seventh-straight win against Buffalo and fourth-straight overall.
"Toews wins the face off, I mean we don’t score if we don’t win the face off, then he goes right to the net and he has a nice, soft goal-scoring touch to put that one in," Duncan Keith said. "Then it was a nice play, a nice drop pass by Saad and a great shot by Toews."
Keith and Patrick Sharp scored first-period goals to put the Blackhawks up 2-0. Chicago pulled to within a point of Nashville in the Central Division standings.
With 4 games to play, the Sabres still hold a 2 point "lead" in the McEichel standings. The Sharks won 3-1 over the Coyotes, who remain in 29th with 54 points. two up 30th place Sabres
More to come......
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*****
Connor McDavid told the Toronto Sun that he watched the Sabres-Leafs game on TV earlier this week.
The consensus first overall pick in the 2015 NHL Draft admitted to "cheering for the Leafs".
He's a Toronto boy, just doing what Toronto boys do, right?
I won't hold it against him. He's a big Sabres fan, too.
"I love the Sabres too but I'm just a Leafs fan because that's the way I grew up," McDavid admitted. "I grew up a Leafs fan and I'd like to see them do well. "
The 30th place Buffalo Sabres are the owners of the NHL's worst record and by extension the best odds of winning the lottery and McDavid. The Sabres have a 20% chance of wrapping up McDavid and taking him to Buffalo for the next 10+ seasons. The Loafs have less than a 10% chance of winning the lottery.
Several NHL teams have been tanking on purpose in order to get the best best odds of winning the NHL Lottery which will take place on Saturday April 18.
How totally Leafs of the Leafs to begin their nose-dive two months too late. They can't even tank properly.
McDavid was asked Friday about the unsavory business of the Leafs fans high-fiving after the Sabres beat them in regulation earlier this week.
McDavid: "It's all in good fun."
"The Leafs fans are some of the most passionate fans in the world,".
"They're obviously not enjoying the experience of all the losing. But if there is some benefit to the losing they are going to get a very very good player and, whether that's whoever, it doesn't matter. The draft is so deep this year. So I'm sure Leaf fans are going to be pretty excited."
Especially if the NHL Draft delivers them a Toronto native in Dylan Strome or Mitchell Marner.
***
Speaking of the Erie Otters....
They spanked teh Sarnia Sting 7-0 Friday night to win their first round series four games to one. They will likely meet the London Knights in the next round of the playoffs.
The Knights lost to Kitchener 6-3 in Game 5 at home on Friday, but still lead the series 3-2 heading into Game 6 on Sunday in Kitchener.
After four straight nail biters against the Sting, the Otters made Sarnia tap out in Game five.
They scored a touchdown and shutout a pesky Sting team 7-0 in front of 6,103 fans at Erie Insurance Arena on Friday night.
"It felt like what people thought the series was going to be like," center Dylan Strome told GoErie.com.
"We know it's playoff hockey, and every game is going to be a grind. But we just proved we were dominant."
Devin Williams stopped all 26 shots he faced in his third OHL playoff shutout, two nights after being pulled in Game 4 after allowing three goals on six shots.
Strome, Connor McDavid and Travis Dermott had a goal and two assists apiece. Nick Baptiste scored twice for the Otters who will have at least five days off before starting the conference semifinals. That series won't start until at least Thursday.
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