My first blog...
3-30-2007 15:21:03
Having been born in Buffalo, N.Y., and being so close to Canada, hockey was an institution in my home. Even though Buffalo had the Sabres, the Bills, and, at the time, the Braves in the NBA, hockey was still very popular. I grew up with it, just like every other kid in Buffalo did then and now.
I went to games with my dad at an early age and followed the Sabres for the rest of my life right up to today. I remember clearly seeing the “fog” game in 1974-75 against Philadelphia in the Final. I was at my aunt’s house and I was four or five years old and they were saying that they couldn’t play because of the fog on the ice at the old Memorial Auditorium. I remember they had the French Connection line of Gilbert Perreault, Rick Martin and Rene Robert. And I was lucky because my dad was in television, so I had access to the players. My dad was a small town celebrity, and I was able to do all kinds of things like meet the players, go behind the scenes and that sort of stuff. From my point of view that was pretty hardcore. I didn’t really play the game as a kid, I only played it on the street, but then I started skating about four or five years ago and now I figure I play a little like a Claude Lemieux-type of winger. I have a little skill but I’m tough to play against. One of my favorite times now is taking the ice for the first time, when it’s a whole sheet of clean white ice, and you’re out there with just your skates, your stick, and a puck. It’s awesome.
That’s how I got introduced to the game. Then I moved to Philly in ’78 and I remember clearly Bobby Clarke. I saw him score his 1000th point against the Boston Bruins; I was in the building for it. Amazing stuff. I saw Keith Primeau score the goal to advance to game seven in the playoffs a few years ago, against the Tampa Bay Lightning (before the Bolts went on to win the Cup). I saw a game vs. the L.A. Kings and the Red Wings, the year the Kings came back from a 3-1 deficit to beat Detroit, (Detroit was heavily favored). Last year I saw Edmonton battle for the Stanley Cup to be returned to the building that Wayne Gretzky built. Edmonton, that was crazy – you can’t lean forward in your seats, you have to lean back, because everyone wants to see every second of the game.
I remember that playoff game between Pittsburgh and Philly that went to five OTs – that’s eight periods of hockey – and it was so intense. You know, that’s what I love about the playoffs, shootouts are done. Sudden death is the real excitement and they go until they win. Nothing is better than that. Playoff hockey is all adrenaline, there is nothing like it: the excitement, the game, the adrenaline level in the building when that game is going on. And the thing is, these guys are warriors! It’s so long after the season has ended, and they’re still flying, still scoring unreal goals, and the goalies are still making saves that stop your heart. At that point, it all comes down to conditioning.
And here I have a little hockey story of my own. I grew up in the Chef’s Restaurant in Buffalo. They have a dish called “Spaghetti Parm,” its spaghetti with mozzarella on the top melted. And get this: my dad invented that dish. The Sabers loved and still love eating there. I’ll likely go there and watch a game during these playoffs. To me, that’s what playoff hockey is all about: Italian sauce, hot dogs, Spaghetti Parm, and Chefs’.
And it’s good that the guys still go there, because they’re going to need their energy. Playoff hockey is a different game. You have to have a power play and you have to have a goaltender. Ryan Miller is a great goaltender, very focused. But for some reason the first round is scary. Here they are sitting at the top of the League, they have 105 points, the best record going into the second season and they have to play the 8th seed. They won’t even know who they’ll play until the end, and it changes daily. Those teams are scary, they have nothing to lose and they take one out of your building and you go home.
When they played Philly, they really had our number and looked poised to win the Cup. I like Anaheim, but Detroit, the way Dominik Hasek is playing right now, will be good too. You have to love Danny Briere, he’s the X-factor. Goaltending with Miller, he has to be the tops, but these guys are getting healthier now. Ales Kotalik is the last player coming back and he’s skating with Dainius Zubrus and Chris Drury. The defenseman Lydman is having an excellent season. They’re getting healthier, their players are coming back, and they have to step up, guys like Maxim Afinogenov and Kotalik.
You have to go into the playoffs healthy and go in winning, play solid hockey, work on your power play, work on your shifts, make everything clean, take these last eight days of the season to prepare. When you go into the playoffs, everything is a clean slate. If you lay back, you’re susceptible to mistakes. If you’re going to make your mistakes, you make them now.
Because there is going to be a team that comes out of nowhere, and you have to be ready when you run into them.
Posted by David Boreanaz
