Few NHL players bring more energy to the rink on a nightly basis than hard-hitting Buffalo Sabres forward Beck Malenstyn, but even he's been impressed with passion displayed by the city's sports fans during the team's recent run of success.
Malenstyn, who joined the Sabres in June 2024 after four seasons with the Washington Capitals, recently told Matthew Fairburn of The Athletic he's starting to believe some of the things he heard about Buffalo before arriving the the long-suffering club.
"I had a few people tell me last season, this is a hockey city before a football city," Malenstyn said. "As a first-time guy here in the situation that we were in and seeing the Bills as an outsider, I was like, 'I don't know if that's true. How is that possible?’ Then it was the game against Boston after Christmas, the energy in the building was unlike anything I had seen last season. You could feel it on the bench. It's a hit in the corner. It's a stick lift on a backcheck. It's that all-consuming energy from the fans."
The Sabres have often taken a backseat in recent years as the NFL's Bills emerged as a Super Bowl contender led by MVP quarterback Josh Allen, and perhaps rightfully so given the hockey team's 14-year playoff drought, which is the longest such streak in NHL history.
Those who lived in Buffalo and experienced fandom from the Dominik Hasek years through the Daniel Briere-Chris Drury-Ryan Miller era will tell you the City of Good Neighbors has a unique, special vibe when the Sabres are highly competitive.
Now, as the tide may finally be turning back in the Blue and Gold's favor, the players are taking notice of the rapid increase in support and the town's knowledge of the game.
"A lot of fan bases just cheer to cheer," winger Zach Benson told Fairburn. "But Buffalo is such a sports community. It's kind of all they know, or not all they know, but a lot of their life is sports. They know a lot about football and hockey. Stuff like that just shows they really care and they really know what they're watching."
Center Josh Norris added: "You can just tell that they love hockey."
Yet, there's still a lot for the Sabres to prove as they attempt to hunt down a postseason berth from the incredibly crowded Eastern Conference standings.
Beck Malenstyn emerging as a Buffalo Sabres fan favorite due to his unique play style
Malenstyn isn't going to light up the scoreboard, as evidenced by his 17 points (seven goals and 10 assists) across 119 appearances for the Sabres. Instead, he makes an impact with a relentless work rate, high-end skating speed and a physical edge not found elsewhere on the roster.
The 27-year-old Canadian winger has recorded 147 hits, 45 blocked shots and 20 penalty minutes in 43 games this season. His motor never stops, which helps keep a lot pressure on opponents, even when Buffalo's fourth line is on the ice.
Then, almost out of nowhere, Malenstyn delivered one of the best goals of the season in a Nov. 23 win over the Carolina Hurricanes.
The 2016 fifth-round pick probably won't be able to replicate that move again, but it showcased a dash of flash in an otherwise straightforward skill set.
Even if he's not showing up on the highlight reel, he's earning respect from Buffalo sports fans, who've always supported hard-nosed players just as much as superstars.
Sure, those in the 716 loved the likes of Hasek, Miller, Drury, Briere, Thomas Vanek and Miroslav Satan from the championship-contending teams of the late 1990s and early 2000s.
Yet, players like Rob Ray, Matthew Barnaby, Andrew Peters and Mike Grier were also fan favorites because of their hardworking, team-first attitudes.
Malenstyn can follow a similar path if the current version of the Sabres is able to end the postseason drought and bring playoff hockey back to downtown Buffalo at long last.