BillsSabresB.C.T. Fan
11-27-2007, 05:13 PM
ST. LOUIS --He proudly wears a St. Louis Blues sweater now, but there was a time when Lee Stempniak concerned himself with all things related to the Buffalo Sabres.
The pride of nearby West Seneca, N.Y., returns to Buffalo for the first time in his NHL career Wednesday when the Blues take on the Sabres. Stempniak's parents, two grandmothers and assorted other family, friends and ex-teammates will be in the stands.
"I definitely had a Buffalo Sabres jersey on when I first started doing this," said Stempniak, a 27-goal scorer last season who has 42 goals and 90 points in 160 NHL games. "This was certainly a day I looked at and circled on the calendar when the schedule came out. I've gotten so many phone calls from family and friends and people I played with growing up. It's going to be really special."
Stempniak, 24, hasn't forgotten the 1999 Stanley Cup finals when the Sabres lost to Dallas on Brett Hull's famous "in-the-crease" goal in triple overtime.
"It was crazy, they had giant big screens up in the parking lot outside the rink and people were going down there to watch it," Stempniak said. "The whole city was swept up in it and the last couple years with the good runs in the playoffs, Buffalo was really swept up in it again."
Stempniak saw Sabres games and even played a few youth hockey games at the old Memorial Auditorium. He's also been to games at the HSBC Arena, Buffalo's newer home rink that opened in 1996.
http://www.bnd.com/sports/blues/story/188554.html
The pride of nearby West Seneca, N.Y., returns to Buffalo for the first time in his NHL career Wednesday when the Blues take on the Sabres. Stempniak's parents, two grandmothers and assorted other family, friends and ex-teammates will be in the stands.
"I definitely had a Buffalo Sabres jersey on when I first started doing this," said Stempniak, a 27-goal scorer last season who has 42 goals and 90 points in 160 NHL games. "This was certainly a day I looked at and circled on the calendar when the schedule came out. I've gotten so many phone calls from family and friends and people I played with growing up. It's going to be really special."
Stempniak, 24, hasn't forgotten the 1999 Stanley Cup finals when the Sabres lost to Dallas on Brett Hull's famous "in-the-crease" goal in triple overtime.
"It was crazy, they had giant big screens up in the parking lot outside the rink and people were going down there to watch it," Stempniak said. "The whole city was swept up in it and the last couple years with the good runs in the playoffs, Buffalo was really swept up in it again."
Stempniak saw Sabres games and even played a few youth hockey games at the old Memorial Auditorium. He's also been to games at the HSBC Arena, Buffalo's newer home rink that opened in 1996.
http://www.bnd.com/sports/blues/story/188554.html