(L to R) #6 Chris White, me, and #22 Kyle Clancy.

My cousin Alicia has season tickets to the Buffalo Sabres and invited me to come up north to watch the Sabres play the CAPS. It’s a special tradition for us. This year we went downtown early and hung out in the new Labatt Tailgate Tent. It’s a large heated tent next to the arena that’s open before select home games. The entry fee is only $10 and includes one “free” beer, light hors d’oeuvres, music, and giveaways. In addition, various professional athletes stop by to socialize. On this night, members of the Buffalo Bandits (a National Lacrosse League team) showed up and signed autographs. They were a fun group of guys. I won a pair of tickets to the Bandit’s season opener on January 14 against the Toronto Rocks. At about 6:45 p.m. we headed next door for the hockey game. A camera guy was a few rows in front of us and we ended up being featured on the jumbotron. A few seconds later my Uncle Joe called and said I saw you two on TV! The Sabres were on fire that night and beat the CAPS 5 to 1. (The next morning news came that Bruce Boudreau had been fired. I was bummed because I really liked Boudreau. Apparently that game was the final nail on his coffin coaching for the CAPS.)