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.
If I drive down to Rochester friday how much would a ticket cost? I know at Blue Cross Arena there’s really not a bad seat in the house.
