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Brett Hull needs to get off my TV
MATT KRUEGER Sports Reporter
Ihate Brett Hull. I know that sounds like a pretty harsh statement to make, especially considering I've never met the man. But I do. I hate him. And I wish he would just go away.

Hearing him tell the people of Buffalo to "get over it" Sunday when his NBC broadcast partner, Ray Ferraro, reminded him of his "No Goal" from Game Six of the 1999 Stanley Cup finals, elicited such a colorful and vulgar retort from me that even my girlfriend recoiled in astonishment. Get over it? We're just supposed to forget how the Sabres were cheated by the league out of their chance to win the first championship this area has seen since the AFLdays of the Buffalo Bills? We're expected to erase the images of Hull skating around the rink, holding our Stanley Cup over his head in celebration? I still see Hull's left skate sitting in the crease as he slaps home the winning goal past Dominik Hasek to give the Dallas Stars (why does Dallas even have a hockey team?) the series win. That memory will never disappear or even fade. It's just as crisp and clear in my head as it was the moment it happened eight years ago.

Now my mother taught me not to hate anyone, but I seethe with rage whenever I see Hull's howdy-ma'am smirk taunting me in high definition. Doesn't he understand how much the sports fans of Western New York relate to the local teams? Doesn't he realize how our team's shortcomings reverberate within us all, making us feel inferior? His "No Goal" crushed the hopes of an entire metropolitan area. That was our year.

Now, the best Sabres team to ever take the ice is four wins away from returning to the Stanley Cup finals for the third time in franchise history, and we have to watch him openly cheer for the other team on national television. Nice tact, Brett. Let's get Rob Ray out of the MSG booth, send him over to NBC and give Hull a Buffalo beat-down as only Razor knows how.

Oh, and just as he picked the Sabres to lose to the Rangers in the conference semifinals, Hull is predicting the Ottawa Senators will trounce the boys in blue and gold in the finals. Well Brett, you'll have 18,690 fans inside HSBC Arena Thursday night ready to tell you where you can stick your disrespect.

Now my hatred for Brett Hull will not be the only vocal venom flying this week. When the Senators hit the ice in Buffalo, the fight will be on. Remember, these are the same two teams that brought a 12-player brawl to the NHL back in February and racked up more than 100 minutes of penalties. We might as well bring Michael Buffer in to announce the starting lineups, since this will certainly be more hostile than that Oscar De La Hoya-Floyd Mayweather Jr. fight was Saturday.

It's no secret the Sabres and Senators hate each other. That's what happens when division rivals play fast, physical hockey and can match weapon for weapon. Buffalo and Ottawa played eight times in the regular season and not one of those games could be considered a tea party.

But that's what makes sports so interesting. When raw emotion figures into the equation, the contests take on added dimensions. Celebrations are euphoric, while disappointment is crushing.

At some point, every sports fan finds an athlete to detest, someone who can turn a philosophical pacifist into a warmongering barbarian simply by showing his face. For me, it's Brett Hull. Argh!

e-mail: mkrueger@beenews.com