Blade Gang gets Sabres fans rolling before Game 1 against Canadiens

BUFFALO – The Blade Gang was making it look mean Wednesday, in the minutes leading up to Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Second Round against the Montreal Canadiens at KeyBank Center.

The viral rollerbladers entered the street party in front of the arena like rock stars, whispers of “they’re coming; here they come” growing through the crowd. It was a scene right out of the cult classic hockey movie, “Slap Shot.”

Suddenly, there they were. Ten young men rolling down Perry Street, which was blocked off to traffic.

A roar went up from the crowd, growing louder as the members took turns making runs at and beating up a dummy used for boxing training that was dressed in a jersey of the Canadiens.

It’s still hard to believe the reception, said Jack Ellis, one of 10 founding members of the group from South Buffalo.

“Celebrities? Whatever you want to call it,” he said. “It’s fun and the fans really seem to like it.”

That they do.

After all, the Blade Gang is as blue-collar as the city itself. They live the ethos of working hard and partying harder, proudly representing their city with pride, bleeding the blue-and-gold of the Sabres.

“This city loves their sports, football, hockey, it doesn’t matter,” said Ellis, wearing a No. 26 Rasmus Dahlin jersey. “Everybody can say what they are going to say, but this city is awesome.

“This is awesome,” he continued, waving his arm to take in the plaza in front of the arena, fans drinking beers, chanting for the Sabres, for the Blade Gang.

There was extra drama on this Wednesday though. After all, the stakes rise with each round.

A team of rollerbladers from Montreal was on hand looking for a match.

It never materialized, but the Canadiens team leader, Cedric Seguin, enjoyed playing the villain.

He was hard to miss, towering above the crowd on his blades, hair poking out of his chrome-colored helmet, dark sunglasses hiding the gleam in his eye.

Seguin — a distant cousin of Tyler Seguin of the Dallas Stars, he joked – was going to make the most of the opportunity after making the seven-hour drive from Montreal.

“A good rivalry starts off the ice,” Seguin said. “We want to play (the Blade Gang) because they are the face of the franchise right now.”

He said his group decided to come to Buffalo minutes after “Mr. Alex Newhook scored that beautiful goal.”

Seguin was referencing the series-winning goal in the first round against the Tampa Bay Lightning that was scored in Game 7 on Sunday.

As Seguin skated through the plaza, fans booed and chanted “silver medal,” referencing a painful overtime loss by Team Canada to Team USA in overtime of the gold medal game at the 2026 Winter Olympics and called him a copycat and a poser. 

“I thought the Sabres fans would have been a bit more chippy,” he said, adding a playful smile.

Ellis respected the effort by the Canadiens group. After all, the Blade Gang took their act on the road in the first round for a game against the Boston Bruins.

“They had (courage), I’ll tell you that,” Ellis said. “We would have had (courage) had we showed up to Canada.”

Will the Blade Gang hit the road for the games in Montreal later in the week?

“We are in the works right now,” he said. “We’ll figure it out. It’s crazy out there, but we will have to see.”

For now, he was too busy looking around outside the arena, contemplating how far a fever dream among friends has escalated into something so special.

The Gang members did not have tickets to Game 1, but no matter.

“We are going to rock it from out here,” Ellis said.

They were already well on their way.