Jaroslav Spacek could sense the difference the first time he walked into the Buffalo Sabres' dressing room in training camp.
His new teammates were still hurting from the Eastern Conference finals.
He could see it in their eyes and hear it in their voices, but still he didn't fully understand.
Spacek had suffered, too. He spent the final 31 games with the Edmonton Oilers and was along for their glorious playoff ride through the playoffs.
It ended in the Stanley Cup finals, the same way it did for the Sabres, with a Game Seven loss in Carolina. But still he didn't understand what it truly meant.
http://buffalonews.com/editorial/20061021/1046010.asp