Coming Attraction? Sabres Host Connor McDavid, Erie Otters
By Chris Gay
Mandatory Credit: Timothy T. Ludwig-USA TODAY Sports
Even with access to the perpetually bubbling fountain of endless cash that seems to flow out from new Sabres owner Terry Pegula’s wallet, Buffalo knows it won’t be much help in landing future NHL wunderkind Connor McDavid of the Ontario Hockey League’s Erie Otters.
No. Instead next year the formality of a draft lottery will be held behind closed doors, after which it’ll be announced that the #1 overall pick will go to the Pittsburgh Penguins. (Just kidding, NHL. That joke was too easy to pass up.)
Anyway, Mr. Pegula is doing the next best thing; he’s bringing the Otters to Buffalo tonight.
It’s a nice gesture toward Sabres fans. The Swords obvious-to-all tank job means those spectators who are currently voluntarily paying their way through a hockey season that promises to hold all the excitement of the NBA, (I’m sure there must be something more boring than basketball, but this game I’m writing about would start by the time I thought of one) will get to see the most talked-about prospect in years; a potential franchise player, in person.
And those fans know that if they can just hold on through 75 or so more games, they’re almost assured of seeing either McDavid or Jack Eichel, the other hockey prodigy who just played in Buffalo recently, skate for the home team in blue and gold next year.
Why? Because even with the likes of Carolina, Winnipeg and perennial bottom-dweller Edmonton appearing to do their very best to nip at the Sabres’ heels, it’s impossible to believe Buffalo GM Tim Murray would ever allow McDavid or Eichel to slip away from western New York’s grasp after all of those trades and all of that planning.
Murray would probably sign Charlestown Chief Denis Lemieux to play goal if starter Jonas Enroth and his carousel of AHL backups ever began stacking up any of those pesky wins.
So in silent compromise, for their patience, like any good marketing department the Sabres are providing their base with a few entertaining diversions; which is what this game is tonight. And entertaining it should be.
Make no mistake, though. This idea was fantastic, and kudos to the Sabres for pulling it off.
The Ice Dogs, Otters and McDavid will have a chance to play on NHL ice, in front of thousands more fans then they’re used to.
McDavid may have put Erie, Pennsylvania on the map, (The only other reference I can even think to it was in that cheesy ’80’s schlock-fest, Saturday the 14th. Or maybe it was a different flick. I could look it up, but…I’m not) but you have to believe it’s going to be a great, memorable night for him, too; a glimpse of what’s to come.
So when the Otters face-off versus the Niagara Ice Dogs, the evening will be a win for everyone involved. In fact it’s a doubleheader hockey night in Buffalo, as by the time this game finishes, First Niagara Center’s prime tenant should be ready to take the ice in Anaheim to face the Ducks.
That a pro-sports team would even bother to do something like this just to showcase a player to its fans that the Swords have, at best, a 20% chance of drafting continues to speak volumes about Terry and Kim Pegula’s commitment to Buffalo.
And that this game, like Eichel’s before it, will draw a very respectable crowd, also speaks to how great a hockey market that city truly is.
And once again, there is a good chance that one of these two games was, or will be, a sneak peak at at least one player with a chance to have his jersey join those of the French Connection’s up in the First Niagara Center’s rafters. Time will tell.