I grew up near Atlanta where hockey fans--real hockey fans are few and far between. I remember going to a Georgia Cyclones game with my church youth group when I was in middle school and sitting high in the stands. I did more talking than actually watching the game. When I married into my husband's family I didn't realize that I was also marrying a sport. The year that Andrew and I were engaged was the year of the NHL lockout. Andrew would mention the Buffalo Sabres in passing as my eyes glazed over and I nodded half listening.
The first year that we were married my wonderful in-laws bought us tickets to go see a game. We went to dinner first at Fat Bob's Smokehouse where I inhaled delicious pulled pork and I opened a few presents. Around us in the restaurant were a few people dressed in the Sabres gold and blue. After parking our cars I innocently asked which way the stadium was and was corrected and told it was an arena. I then wondered when it would be time for the "puck off." Apparently that was not the correct term for the start of the game and everyone laughed a little too enthusiastically. I don't think they remembered that I am a Georgia girl. Corrected again they told me the puck would drop at 7:00.
We watched the game and the Sabres were behind. They nearly tied it in the third period and I was hooked. I loved watching the players zoom back and forth across the ice. After the game I started listening to games on the radio (we didn't have cable) and since I didn't know the names of all of the Sabres players I only knew when they scored by listening to the tone of the announcer's voice. Andrew would patiently explain things like "icing," "offsides," "penalties," "face-offs" and the say scoring worked. That year the Sabres went to the Eastern Conference Finals and I was officially a fan. I jumped on the bandwagon and never hopped off.
The following year they made it to the finals again and in the evenings if Andrew was at work I would go next door to the gym and run through the first two periods of the game. I ran as far as 16 miles just to watch my beloved blue jerseyed boys skate back and forth across the ice. I listened faithfully to sports radio on my way to work. I knew when trade deadlines were and started studying stat pages. We went to several games while we lived in Buffalo but then we moved to Morgantown where our friends were Penguins "fans." (We often knew more about their team than they did.)
We still listened to the games and one year subscribed to NHL center ice so we could watch them whenever we wanted. A perk of moving back to Fredonia was knowing that the Sabres would be a part of life. I love that people decorate their cars on game day to cheer on their team. I love that they sell Sabres gear in the grocery store. I love hearing the sounds of Rick Jeanneret as he calls the games.
Tonight is hockey night in Fredonia. We are hanging out, listening to the game and enjoying our team.
Ben was a Sabres fan before he could even smile.
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