.jpg)
2 hours ago
3
LINDY RUFFALO, N.Y. – The sign was just a few miles outside of downtown Buffalo, driving West on Route 33. "Welcome to Lindy Ruffalo, New York."
Yep, this place certainly loves their Buffalo Sabres and the returned captain and coach, Lindy Ruff.
Of course, that's displayed by much more than just a sign. Maybe nothing captured it better Sunday night in the Sabres' return to the playoffs than the pregame video montage backed by the song from The Goo Goo Dolls, "Better Days." Fans told their stories of this journey, of the waiting and the longing for a return to the postseason's bright lights.
Tonight's the night the world begins again.
In many ways, there were no truer lyrics than those for all of Western New York this weekend.
In this hockey-mad part of the world, the local lads had gone 14 consecutive seasons without appearing in a postseason game. The fans showed up anyway. They passed their fandom on to their children, too, even amid an era of disappointment.
Some of those kids were at Sunday's playoff game. Multiple families had the same idea -- a sign that read, "I've been waiting for this my whole life," with a picture of a baby and of the current child, never having seen a playoff hockey game.
MORE: Sabres provide Buffalo a magical night 5,472 days in the making
Then there were a few actual babies in the crowd. They had never even gotten the chance to know the sadness of recent Sabres fandom. This was all new to them -- and probably very, very loud to those tiny ears.
In many ways, the Bills and the Sabres form the heartbeat of Western New York. Think of how many heartbeats had drummed since the last Buffalo playoff hockey game.
And think of the hearts that raced as these improbable, impressive, unstoppable Sabres came back from 2-0 down in the third period on Sunday night to shock the Bruins and claim a 4-3 playoff win in their first playoff game since April 26, 2011.
"You could feel the building shaking," Sabres head coach Lindy Ruff said after the game. "The atmosphere was unbelievable. It was great to give our fans that third period."
The fans had waited for this moment in much the same way the players had.
A guy like Tage Thompson, who scored Buffalo's first two goals on Sunday, has been a part of this. Athletes who come to Buffalo and stay are beloved by the faithful. Thompson is one of those guys.
For eight seasons of NHL action, he hadn't made the playoffs. He's gotten to hear all about the drought from the very beginning.
And so he, too, made sure to notice just how special everything felt when he took the ice Sunday night.
"It was unbelievable," Thompson said. "Didn't really know what to expect, to be honest with you. Kinda been thinking about it all day. Last few days, actually. The last half of the season, the fans have been unbelievable. It's been so much fun to play in front of them and string some winning games for them and find ourselves in the playoffs.
"Didn't know what the next level for the fanbase could get to. That was pretty exciting to see coming out for warmups that it was already almost full. Just a ton of energy. Tonight's game was full of emotion for everyone. Just happy we could come out on the right side of it."
In some ways, it was just one night.
But it will be a night so many will never forget.
For the lifelong fans who wondered if this day would ever come again, it was catharsis.
For those kids who had only known the Sabres to be losers, it felt like their own personal validation.
For the babies, it's a story their family will one day be able to tell them -- "Yeah, you were really there that night."
There are silly nomenclature disputes in New York state sometimes about what is classified as "upstate New York," and "Western New York," and so on.
On Sunday night, though, those borders were pretty much optional.
This was Lindy Ruffalo, New York, after all. And every person near and far looking for something to believe in found it in these unflappable, remarkable, city-inspiring Buffalo Sabres.
English (US)