'He just loves to help' | How Tuch made an impact while awaiting debut

Kevyn Adams received a text from Alex Tuch shortly after the Sabres acquired Tuch as part of the trade that sent Jack Eichel to Vegas in early November.
Tuch - whose debut with the Sabres would be delayed as he recovered from offseason shoulder surgery - asked if he could visit the team offices.
"He went around to the entire staff and just introduced himself and learned what people do," Adams said. "I got to tell you, it's such a big deal when someone that works in the operations or finance department understands that Alex Tuch knows who they are, appreciates the job they do every day.
"It's how you can build a really powerful organization in terms of the culture and what people mean to each other. I give Alex a lot of credit. That's just the type of person we're talking about here."

Tuch embodies the message that Adams has reiterated since the end of last season. The Sabres general manager - a Clarence native who grew up watching games at The Aud - spoke about building around players who want to be in Buffalo. He talked about restoring connectivity between players and fans.
It's no accident that the team sought Tuch when crafting a deal with Vegas. His skill alone - a combination of 6-foot-4 size and elite skating - made him a sought-after player. He will finally get his chance to introduce himself in that sense on Wednesday, when he makes his long-awaited Sabres debut against the New Jersey Devils at KeyBank Center.
But he has already spent two months introducing himself in another sense. Tuch's genuine passion for the Sabres, his favorite team growing up in Syracuse, oozed during his first press conference. He rattled off players from the beloved mid-2000s teams, including his childhood neighbor Tim Connolly. He expressed reverence toward Alexander Mogilny, the last Sabre to wear No. 89 before him.
He, like Adams, has a vested interest in restoring the connection between the Sabres and Buffalo. And he hasn't shied away from expectations.
"It's not just our team, it's not just the players in the locker room," Tuch said. "It's players, coaching staff, management, all of our support staff here at the rink, especially all the fans.
"The entire City of Buffalo, you want to get as many people a part of our team as possible. I know that once we continue to build and progress this team is going to be selling out barns, playing in the playoffs down the road. We have high expectations for this group going forward. I think myself included, we put a lot of pressure on ourselves to do as much as possible."

There was one problem: Tuch was a month from skating with teammates when he joined the Sabres. So, he found other ways to "make a footprint" in Buffalo in the meantime.
Tuch - who at 25 has already founded his AT9 Foundation to support facing challenges in all areas of their lives, with a special focus on supporting research to end children's cancer and helping those with special needs - got in touch with the Sabres' community relations department.
He ended up taking a trip to Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center, where he toured the pediatric clinic and chemotherapy wing.
"Just within a minute of meeting him, you could tell that everything he did and said was genuine," Megan Crawford, program coordinator for Courage of Carly Fund, said.
"He just had such an open heart and wanted to learn, wanted to give back, wanted to do anything he could whether it be a visit or just talking with a kid or a monetary thing. He just fully just dove right into it within seconds of being on campus."
Crawford told Tuch she would be in a suite at an upcoming Sabres game with a group of boys ages six to eight. Tuch watched part of the game there, conversing with the boys about their favorite video games and pizza toppings. When one boy told Tuch he was no longer allowed to play Call of Duty because of adult language, Tuch instructed him how to turn it off in the game's settings.
"He sat down on their level and just chatted with them like they were best buds on the playground," Crawford said. "Just truly a wonderful human being that looked beyond their diagnosis, looked beyond their disease and just treated them as a kid like they want to be."

Amy Lesakowski, with her husband, Mike, received a phone call during this year's event from a contact at Roswell Park. Tuch - who played in an 11 Day Power Play "Community Shift" game alongside Sabres alumni in 2018 - had asked to stop by.
The 11 Day Power Play is an annual marathon hockey game that this year raised $2.1 million toward cancer research in Western New York while breaking the record for longest continuous hockey game at 251 hours and 30 minutes. Tuch showed up about midway through the 11-day trek.
Mike Lesakowski is one of the 40 players who trade off hours-long shifts and live inside Buffalo Riverworks to make it all possible. He was asleep when Tuch arrived and can speak firsthand about the jolt the players receive when a player visits.
"It's like an exaggerated version of when just anybody you know shows up, you kind of get that little burst," he said. "But when it's someone that's noteworthy like a Sabre or (Bills quarterback) Josh Allen, it's really cool because it's like he's coming to see us and the event, where he's used to people coming to see him play."

Tuch asked to tour the entire facility, from the locker rooms to the living quarters. He asked questions about how their shifts worked and how they managed to play for 11 straight days. He insisted on purchasing his own merchandise before leaving.
On both stops, he left the impression that he was there to learn about people. Just as he had been inside the Sabres offices.
"Talking to Alex was like talking to somebody that I've known for a long time," Amy Lesakowski said. "He just was very comfortable and had a lot of questions. We just had a lot of fun."
Added Crawford: "It's really hard to describe other than the fact that he was just a sweet, kind soul who was just like a sponge, absorbing everything and taking in everything."
This is the Alex Tuch teammates got to know during his four seasons in Vegas. Peyton Krebs, who will make his Sabres debut alongside Tuch, described Tuch as the go-to guy in the Golden Knights dressing room for tickets to shows and events. Tuch took Krebs under his wing when the two were both rehabbing injuries in 2019.
"I was living with Mark (Stone) so whenever they were on the road, I would go to his house every day pretty much," Krebs said. "He's the connections guy so we got to do some fun things. I spent a lot of time with him."
Casey Mittelstadt spent about a month skating with Tuch while the two rehabbed their injuries in November. He said Tuch was already setting up team dinners before he ever played a game with the Sabres.
"He feels like he's obligated to do something when he sees something wrong," Malcolm Subban, Tuch's close friend and teammate in Vegas, said. "He's just that nice of a guy. … He just loves to help people."
Tuch will finally slip into the blue and gold jersey tonight.
He's already begun to leave his mark as a Sabre.
"Making a footprint as early as possible," he said.