Commentary
Playoff hockey an event not to be missed
MATT KRUEGER Sports Reporter
The crowd is awash in blue and gold, but the faces of the fervent, screaming fans are red. The sound system pumps out rockers like Finger Eleven and Saliva, but it's the collective roar from the 18,690 backers that widens the building with intense decibel levels near to its breaking point. The hot dogs, nachos and popcorn sting with an extra sweetness not noticed before. And the ice emits a clean, pure, even serene odor that can only be described as heavenly.

Yes, it's playoff hockey at HSBC Arena.

As the Buffalo Sabres took the ice against the New York Islanders Thursday night with plans of winning the Stanley Cup entrenched in their minds, they brought with them the realization of the alluring NHL playoffs. It's what every hockey fan waits for during the regular season. And seeing the hometown team put up a 4-1 whooping on former Sabre Miroslav Satan and former coach Ted Nolan makes things all the more luscious.

All of the senses twinge with a little added stimulus when the action on the ice ratchets up a few notches. And somehow you just can't scream loud enough or smile wide enough when your team turns a simple looking outlet pass into a 3-on-1 breakaway before fooling the opposing goalie into going low and giving up a top-shelf goal.

The sights, sounds, smells, tastes and touches - everything is better in the playoffs.

The postseason is a completely different animal in any sport, but the Stanley Cup playoffs are an entity unlike any other.

"I think everyone's that much more intense," Buffalo winger Derek Roy said. "Everyone's ready to play every game and everyone's going out like it's their last shift every shift."

Each puck that just skips over the stick of a waiting Sabre looking to blast a slap shot from the point draws an ooh from the eager, anticipating Joes and Janes in the seats. Every scoring opportunity Ryan Miller stops with a lightning-quick swipe of his glove elicits a deep ah. And when the Sabres bank in a power-play goal past a sprawling goalie, the crowd demonstrates the definition of raucous.

Yes, sitting inside HSBC Arena during a playoff game is like submerging yourself in waters that heighten the senses, excite the mind and turn ordinarily quiet fans into hollering, rampaging beasts, that slap high fives with gorilla-like strength and scream louder than a grizzly bear with a hangnail.

And, of course, the walls in the arena's 300 Level stand adorned with signs saluting almost everyone on the Sabres' roster. There's the South Park-esque "Timmmay" in 307, the "Briere Bunch" straddling the aisle between 308 and 309, the "Mair's Office" in 327. And don't forget about the communities of "Pominville" and "NummiNation" in 326. New for the playoffs is the "Stafford Insection" in 315 and the "Spacek Space Station" between 306 and 307. But the one that probably rings most true with all of the watchers is the yellow strip between 300 and 301 that simply reads "We Believe."

Yes, the playoffs are here and those fans fortunate enough to have a highly sought-after ticket, can immerse themselves in the electric atmosphere of the Sabres' Stanley Cup chase. For the rest of you, now you know what you're missing.

e-mail: mkrueger@beenews.com