'This is a hockey town' | A letter from Mattias Samuelsson

So, I’ve been going to this diner for about three years now. I’ll stop in there all the time – breakfast on off days and whatnot.

This one guy who works there, I see him all the time. Nice guy. He never said anything about my job. I assumed he just didn’t know I played for the Sabres.

Now I walk in there, and every time, that guy hits me with a “Great game last night!”

I’m starting to think he knew who I was this whole time, but we were so bad, he didn’t want to say anything. I think he was just disappointed.

It’s funny, we’d heard so much about this passion over the years – you know, what it would be like once we won. And I have to admit, after hearing it so much for so long, it could get tiring. Like, yeah, it will be good when we’re winning. Anywhere would.

But then we started winning and we saw it firsthand. And you realize, this place is not just anywhere. The passion here really is different than other cities.

Listen, I’m from Philly. I still watch Eagles games and get pissed at the players. Look up Trea Turner getting booed with the Phillies – that’s what I grew up with. So, I get it, what it means to be a passionate sports fan.

But this place is crazy, how much you all love hockey and coming to games and cheering and booing and chugging beers. I mean, sure, most cities probably sell out the building when their team is winning. But how many of the people in those cities actually care about the team? How many can name all the players?

I feel like here, almost every single person in KeyBank is actually passionate about this team. They’re not just at the game for something to do.

The energy is everywhere. I don’t know what it is in Buffalo, but people love doing their yards up with the sports teams. I’ve never seen that before. We don’t do that in Philly. But the first couple years, it’s always been Bills stuff. Now I see a whole front yard decked out in Sabres gear. That’s pretty cool.

We feel it when we’re out in the city and we get a “Go Sabres.”

And we feel it when we look up in the 300s and see all those signs and flags taped to the wall. That doesn’t happen in other places. Only here. This is a hockey town.

Even though we’ve seen how crazy this place gets with Bills and Bandits games, I’ve always thought of Buffalo as a hockey town first and foremost. Growing up, whenever there were major tournaments, they were always in Buffalo. And my dad played here as a visitor and told me stories of what it was like playing at The Aud.

In fact, my dad happened to be in town for that Tampa game. He said afterward, this is what it always used to be like playing here. Well, not the fights – but the atmosphere.

I’m never going to forget that game. We fall behind and everyone is still going nuts. Usually, you blow a lead like that, and you’re thinking, ‘Oh, we messed that one up.’ 

That night, because of the energy, I felt the whole time like we were going to win the game.

I saw the video afterward of fans going crazy as they were leaving the arena. I think a bunch of us shared it on Instagram. Seeing that just meant so much. I’ve said it before: The people here just love cheering and booing and chugging beers, and we love them for it.

And now we’re thinking about what’s next. I just envision being out there for the anthem ahead of Game 1. I’m so happy for this city and that we’ll be able to share that moment together. I want you all to know, our team is not taking this for granted.

But the job’s not finished. I mean, is it nice to finally end the drought and stop talking about it and answering questions? For sure. But we didn’t just make the playoffs to end the drought and go home. We all want to win. It’s all of our dreams to win the Stanley Cup.

To do it in a place like this? That would just be incredible.

- Sammy