The Sabres won the opening game on June 8 in Dallas. The win set up a series for the Stanley Cup with the Dallas Stars, managed by Peterborough’s Bob Gainey. Ball caps and T-shirts depicting the conference title were quickly shoved into the players bags. They were after but one other trophy, the Stanley Cup. When presented none of the players would touch it. As was the custom in those days the trophy was nowhere. The win gave the Sabres the Eastern Conference title and the Prince of Wales Trophy. Regier brought me into the dressing room after the game. The Sabres won the fifth game 4-2, taking the series in five games behind the stellar goaltending of Dominik Hasek. My ticket to be that close was I happened to be with the Sabres’ manager, Darcy Regier. In the deciding fifth games played in the then Air Canada Centre I watched most of the game from the alleyway leading from the Sabres’ bench to their dressing room. I attended all the games in the Leafs-Sabres series. The Sabres defeated Ottawa in the first round of playoffs, Boston in the second round and the Toronto Maple Leafs in the conference final. This was the year the Sabres went to the final, losing to the Dallas Stars in six games. As a scout with the Buffalo Sabres, team management arranged for the staff to attend all the games in Buffalo. Twenty-four years ago, in 1999, I was afforded the opportunity to attend a number of the Stanley Cup games. Fights are usually quite rare but when they happen they are for a specific purpose, not staged to motivate the team, but usually to right a preserved wrong an opponent did to a team’s player. Unlike the regular season games, each playoff game is filled with hard-driving, no-nonsense competitive action. With the NHL Stanley Cup playoffs up and running, hockey fans are seeing some of the most intense hockey available.
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