Buffalo Sabres Memories, NHL Stars, HARBORcenter
Good morning, Buffalo Sabres fans. It’s a game day morning here in Buffalo, as the Detroit Red Wings are in town to face the Sabres in the first of a string of home games for the Buffalo team. Tonight is a big night for the Buffalo Sabres, who look to break out of a lengthy losing streak.
Before tonight’s game begins, however, the Buffalo Sabres will honor one of their own, raising Dominik Hasek‘s #39 banner to the rafters of First Niagara Center.
Hasek was arguably one of the best goaltenders of all-time, and he played his best hockey during his time with the Buffalo Sabres. Some of his franchise records have since been broken – thank you, Ryan Miller – but there’s no doubt that Hasek’s legacy with the Buffalo Sabres organization lives on.
CBS Sports this morning has a piece looking closer into just how dominating the Dominator really was during his time in Buffalo.
Tonight’s game is the perfect one to retire Hasek’s number at, due in large part to his history with both the Buffalo Sabres AND the Detroit Red Wings. Hasek played some truly incredible hockey in Buffalo, but he also did his part in Detroit, winning two Stanley Cups with the Wings (2002, 2008). [The Buffalo News]
As pointed out in that article from TBN, it’s possible that we could see two Czech goaltenders face off tonight, with Michal Neuvirth starting for Buffalo and Petr Mrazek for the Red Wings. What an incredible tribute to the Dominator.
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Some members of the Detroit Red Wings organization also reflect on Dominik Hasek and his outstanding legacy in the NHL in this article from The Detroit News.
Other links regarding the Dominator this morning from around the Internet:
Remembering a Legend: Sabres to Retire Hasek’s Number [The Hockey Writers]
How Dominik ‘The Dominator’ Hasek dominated the NHL with his unique style [NHL.com]
Dominik Hasek Leads Class To Be Inducted Into IIHF Hall Of Fame [Fansided]
In other news, the National Hockey League named its three stars of the week. St. Louis Blues center David Backes received first star honors, while Semyon Varlamov and Jonathan Huberdeau were named second and third stars of the week. [NHL.com]
Backes had eight points in three games last week, including five goals, as the Blues won three consecutive games.
Also from NHL.com this morning: five questions with Buffalo Sabres general manager Tim Murray. Questions include Murray’s evaluation of Tyler Myers and his thoughts heading into the NHL Trade Deadline.
Finally, Team USA just won gold at the IIHF U-18 Women’s World Championships, which were held right here in Buffalo, at HARBORcenter. The week-long tournament – which I’ll try to recap my thoughts on at a later time – saw the United States defeat Canada in overtime with a goal just 51 seconds in. The United States captured its first gold medal in the tournament since 2011, and became the first team to ever win gold on home ice in the U-18 WWC.
USA captain Jincy Dunne scored the game-winning goal in overtime Monday night to capture the victory for her team. [IIHF]
Overall, it was a great tournament, and there was a great showing of support. Buffalo had the second-highest attendance for a U-18 Women’s World Championship tournament, second only to the Czech Republic in 2012. [The Buffalo News]