The Dominator and random thoughts...

I was ecstatic when I found out that Dominik Hasek was going to be in town for the Thrashers game on Saturday. Hasek was one of my first Sabres idols when I was a kid. I've been going to Sabres games for as long as I can remember, but I guess Hasek was the first player that really stood out to me and he's the first player I associated as being a fan of. I've always been a fan of the Sabres, but when I was watching Dominik Hasek tend goal I realized I was a fan of him as an individual, as a goalie, as well as just being a fan of him because he was a Sabre.

So naturally as soon as I heard he'd be making an appearance on Saturday I immediately bought tickets. It was such a wonderful moment watching him step onto the ice in a Sabres jersey and hearing the reception he received from the fans. I was so proud and it instantly brought back memories of me as a kid cheering on Hasek. I still have posters that show him winning his numerous awards and playing on the ice. I was so glad to be apart of the crowd cheering him on and welcoming him back to Buffalo.

The memories also came flooding back when I heard his interview with Kevin Sylvester. Hearing that thick Czech accent and somewhat broken English brought me right back...I never realized how much I missed Dom! I never really had any ill will toward him when he departed Buffalo and I always kept tabs on him as Red Wing (and as a Senator), but it just felt so right seeing him back at the HSBC Arena. Hopefully we'll see his number hanging from the rafters soon.


Dommmm!!

Some other random thoughts from the game...

- Watching Miller making those sprawling saves made me realize how funny it would be to watch goalies make saves without any of their goalie gear on... Just imagine Miller or any other goalie in normal, every day clothes rolling around on the floor making saves. Come on, it's funny.

- I love the jabs that people in Buffalo make toward each other depending on what area from WNY you hail from. For example, one time at a game a lady with really poofy, 80s-stylish hair was standing up and was blocking everyone's few, and some guy was telling her to sit down but for some reason she refused to do so. So he goes, "Hey, why don't you take your Cheektowaga hair and sit the hell down."

Or another time at a game, some girl was very, very drunk and was making a fool out of herself and some guy turns to me and says, "Gotta love South Buffalo..."

And finally, the last game I was at there was a group of guys who were extremely obnoxious (but pretty funny) sitting behind me, and at one point they revealed that they were from North Tonawanda, and the guy sitting next to me says, "Soooo...who's surprised that those guys are from Tonawanda?? Not this guy!!"


It just makes me laugh because it's only something that someone from WNY would understand.

- Some guys in the section next to me were trying to start a "Let's Go Buffalo" chant the whole night, but they were getting the chant wrong! It's "Let's Go Buff-a-lo!", NOT "Let's Go Buffa-lo!" There's a difference!

- I'm digging the "Swords of a Thousand Men" as our goal song.

That's it for now... Until then, Let's Go Buff-a-lo!

PS...I just had to make a "Dominik Hasek" tag. If I had this blog in the late 90s, there probably would have been over 200+ entries tagged with "Dominik Hasek". Ahh, nostalgia.