Deal with it. That’s just the way it is. Find any meme you want, but for long suffering Sabres fans, this NHL playoff series eats the NFL Draft’s lunch. And it isn’t even close. Considering the Sabres withered on the vine for the better part of two decades and had the notorious distinction of being the worst team in hockey for multiple years, their resurrection from the dead on December 9th will go down in hockey lore as one of the greatest midseason turnarounds in NHL History.
The last few days have felt like the locusts coming out of hibernation after 17 years. Since that time table seems to fit the Bills’ playoff drought more in terms of numbers, I liken (you will love this pun) being a Sabres fan these days to lichen… when photosynthesis stops with this cyanobacteria because conditions aren’t right for proliferation. It’s not hibernation in the traditional sense, but similar in that lichen can go dormant for lengthy periods of time.
That’s my fanhood.
Like lichen.
Watching the Sabres over the last 15+ years was an exercise in mental discipline. It required letting go of any hope the team would find a way out of the morass and simply accepting that it’s okay for a fan to love a bad team knowing they may not make the playoffs again before I die. I let go of all that stuff over the years and reached a place of contentment to simply watch each game for whatever it brought, no matter how bad.
So as much as some of us may bleed the red, blue and white, there are many of us who silently bled… drip by drip… blue and gold. We may not have said much, but that’s what we did. Some of us may have even forgotten what it felt like to be enthused about the Buffalo Sabres. That’s how much the brand was tarnished.
But that all changed after December 9th. The Sabres went on their historic run and are about to see if they can do any damage in the playoffs.
Enter the 2026 NFL Draft into the equation.
Normally at this time I would be knee deep into draft analysis, especially looking for any BIG men playing DT because it’s still a bug-a-boo for the Bills defense. I’d be looking at pass rushers, linebackers and safeties.
Not this year.
I’ve relied more than ever upon Dean Kindig, John Green, Cover1 and a host of other draft experts who spend their lives putting together great analysis for those of us with little or no time available for such pursuits. Thankfully, they are out there making the Cliff Notes so we can focus on something we haven’t experienced in a long, long time.
So when I state how much my priorities shifted this year because of the Sabres extraordinary season, I must also confess it somewhat surprised me.
It made me realize I was much more of a hockey fan than demonstrated over years of dormancy. There were years when I lived in the west before NHL Center Ice was ever a thing. During those seasons, I never stopped loving and caring about the Sabres, regardless how little I got to see them play.
The success of the Sabres will not alter my love for the Bills. Just like the lichen, my fan-hood simply went dormant for a couple of decades. But it sprouted this season like someone gave this old lichen some ‘roids.
Bottom line… with absolutely no disrespect to the NFL Draft, I’ll be continuing to read the Cliff Notes.
Keep those notes coming, Dean and John! Some of us need your work now more than ever.
Editor’s babble: I blab. Sometimes a lot. Can also be found on X @RobynMundyWYO.
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My hunch is that while much attention is diverted, Brandon Beane will shine. And we know there’s a Nose Tackle in that huge wrapped box under the Draftmas Tree…we just don’t know whether he will be brand new or vintage.