Seeing that Montreal fans have been ever so kind and inviting, I’ll dedicate this blog to you. And… we’re playing them tonight so maybe if I’m really nice, Karma might let us win. Last time I crossed them off and they killed us (and Niagara).
The other day, DS made a comment on The Willful Caboose quoting from an article by TSN:
“Buffalo is just one season removed from winning the Presidents’ Trophy with a league-best 113 points…The Sabres are on the verge of joining the 1969-70 Canadiens and 1992-93 New York Rangers [Chris Drruuurryyy] as the only teams since 1967-68 to miss the playoffs the season after finishing atop the regular-season standings.”
Then, DS made the point that, the next year, Montreal won the Stanley Cup. Oh, SERIOUS JOY! I would HOPE we win the Cup next year. Better yet, winning this year would be fan-tastic, but those chances are clearly unrealistic and probably mathematically impossible. However, you know how we in Buffalo love breaking records like THAT!
I had to research this little fact and by “research” I mean Wikipedia. Seeing that I’m a nice little blogger, I have taken five seconds of my time to copy, paste, and site my information to spare you unknowing Buffalo fans the three seconds it takes to Google and read “1969-1970 Montreal Canadiens.”
“April 5, 1970 – The Montreal Canadiens were in a desperate race to qualify for the NHL playoffs [Sabres?]. The Canadiens hosted the Chicago Blackhawks… Chicago would score five empty net goals and win the game by a score of 10-2. Montreal would miss the playoffs for the first time in 22 years. Boo.” ["Boo" added for dramatic effect]
The very next year: “The Montreal Canadiens were matched against the Boston Bruins, and in one of the most extraordinary upsets in hockey history, Ken Dryden was hot in goal for the Canadiens as the Habs beat the Bears in seven games. The 1971 Stanley Cup finals were played by the Montreal Canadiens and the Chicago Black Hawks. The series went the full seven games, with the Canadiens winning in Chicago despite trailing 2-0 halfway into the second period of game seven. Jacques Lemaire took a shot from centre ice that miraculously escaped goaltending Tony Esposito’s notice, cutting the Black Hawks’ lead to 2-1. Henri Richard tied the game just before the end of the second period, and scored again 2:34 into the third, giving the Habs the lead. Montreal goalie Ken Dryden kept Chicago off the board for the rest of the game, and the Habs won their third Stanley Cup in four years.” [Totally unfair]
Holla! History is pointing fingers right to the Buffalo Sabres winning the Stanley Cup next season with a big neon sign! Forget everything I said about stats. I heart stats. Stats. Stats. Stats.
Just in case you are interested in Danielleia’s weird life goals, I finished reading the last three chapters of “The Game.” One thing Dryden said was really interesting.
“In Colorado, or Detroit, or New Jersey, win one Stanley Cup and you are a success. In Montreal, win one and you’re a failure.”
Win one of anything in Buffalo… What are you? Celebrity? Hero? God?
Oh yeah, as for the Rangers, they stole our Chris Drury. Happy-ending-for-them.
[Hang tight for two more]
Go Sabres!
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