[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 145 (1999), Part 10]
[Senate]
[Pages 13966-13967]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]



 CONGRATULATIONS TO THE BUFFALO SABRES, NATIONAL HOCKEY LEAGUE EASTERN 
                           CONFERENCE CHAMPS

 Mr. MOYNIHAN. Mr. President, I rise today to add my voice to 
the growing chorus of people congratulating the Buffalo Sabres for 
their outstanding performance in the Stanley Cup Finals. Led by team 
captain Michael Peca, and their indefatigable goalie, Dominik Hasek, 
the entire team accomplished what was thought by many to be the 
impossible. Their heartfelt play brought a level of excitement to the 
Stanley Cup finals not seen in years. I am proud to stand with the City 
of Buffalo and Western New York to honor our team.
  Considered underdogs in all of their playoff series, the Sabres 
played with pure heart and soul to sweep the Ottawa Senators in the 
first round, defeated the Boston Bruins and then the Toronto Maple 
Leafs to win the Eastern Conference and the Prince of Wales Trophy for 
the first time in 24 years. The triple overtime loss in Game 6 of the 
Stanley Cup finals showed the hockey community what a team with 
determination and true grit is. The controversial goal that ended the 
dreams of the Sabres will not dampen the spirits of the most devoted 
fans in the world--Buffalo Sabres fans.
  As the Stanley Cup Finals end, I extend my deep appreciation to the 
Knox Family for bringing the Sabres to Buffalo 29 years ago, John J. 
Rigas, owner and Chairman of the Board, Darcy Regier, General Manager, 
Lindy Ruff, Head Coach, and the entire Buffalo Sabres team, their 
coaching staff, their families and their fans for their great efforts 
and support. I know next season will bring even more to celebrate.
  In this spirit, I ask that an article from The Buffalo News, be 
printed in the Record.

                 [From the Buffalo News, June 23, 1999]

         Rally for Sabres Proves Buffalo Has Something Special

       It was noon Tuesday and they streamed into Niagara Square 
     from all directions. White-haired men and middle-aged ladies 
     and mothers pushing strollers made the pilgrimage down 
     Niagara Street, Franklin Street, Delaware Avenue.
       They came, in all colors and sizes. Shirt-and-tie 
     businessmen, smooth-skinned teens wearing black-and-red 
     jerseys with Hasek or Peca stitched across the back, little 
     kids holding their mother's hand. They came in cares, on 
     bikes, on Rollerblades. They all came downtown, washed in the 
     summer sun, because this is Buffalo and sometimes you win 
     even when you lose.
       They crowded in front of City Hall, more than 20,000 of 
     them. Men in business suits climbed atop the marble railings 
     of the McKinley Monument. Dozens stood on the roofs of the 
     Federal Court Building and the Buffalo Athletic Center and 
     the Turner Parking Ramp.
       They do not have rallies for teams that lose in most 
     cities.
       Most cities are not Buffalo.
       A lot of people around the country would read that and say 
     ``Thank God.''
       I ran into one of them on a plane to Dallas a couple of 
     weeks ago. She said she was going home and asked where I was 
     from. When I told her, she said, ``Why would anybody want to 
     live there?''
       Lady, this is why.
       Yes, there are things wrong with this place and I don't 
     just mean high taxes. A streak of negativity runs through 
     some folks. Our so-called leaders habitually put self-
     interest ahead of our interest. We get told we're the pits so 
     often we sometimes forget this is a truly nice place to live.
       But there's a sense of community here, a shared bond, you 
     don't find in most other places, at least not most other 
     places I've been. It's a hard thing to prove, but then a day 
     like Tuesday comes and there it is, 20,000 people for all the 
     world to see.
       They didn't come to this rally for a hockey team that lost 
     in the Stanley Cup finals because Buffalo loves a loser or 
     likes to cry in its Genesee Cream Ale.
       They came because this team carried the city's name on its 
     jerseys the way we want it to be carried.
       They came not to lament what might have been, but to 
     celebrate what was.
       The hockey team was a lot like the town, overlooked and 
     underappreciated. Yet they left team after supposedly better 
     team dazed and bleeding by the side of the road. They finally 
     got beat--with the help of officials too gutless to enforce 
     the rules--by a tough, character-laden Dallas team many 
     expected would swat them aside like a bothersome fly. 
     Instead, the Sabres took them to their limit, made them sweat 
     and ache and pay for every

[[Page 13967]]

     pass and shot and goal they got--and even one they didn't.
       At the end, after absorbing a mind-boggling 82 hits in the 
     final game, the Dallas trainer compare their locker room to a 
     M.A.S.H. unit. Some Dallas players took intravenous fluids 
     between the overtime periods of the 5\1/2\-hour game; a half-
     dozen ended the series with torn ligaments or other damage.
       You lay a team out like that and end up losing--losing on a 
     tainted goal--and it doesn't mean you're losers. It means 
     time ran out, fate didn't smile, the story is To Be Continued 
     next season. If these guys had any doubt about that, 20,000 
     people Tuesday told them otherwise.
       They didn't abandon a team that tried mightily and never 
     backed down and came up an illegally placed skate short. Just 
     like you don't stop loving your kid or your brother or best 
     friend. That's not the way it works around here.
       Diana and Nicole Jarosz, 21 and 18, came down 90 minutes 
     early so they could be close to the stage. They have lived in 
     Buffalo all their lives and they could not imagine not coming 
     to this.
       ``We're here to say we still love you and we're still proud 
     of you,'' said Diana. ``As hard as (Saturday night) was for 
     us, I can't imagine how hard it must have been sitting on the 
     (players') bench.''
       We don't want to pick on Dallas, but it's a town of 
     shameless front-runners. Some folks were interviewed in 
     downtown Dallas a couple of weeks ago, before this series 
     started. One of them said, ``If this team starts losing, 
     people will drop them like a hot poker.''
       Well, this Buffalo team lost early Sunday morning, and most 
     folks just held them closer.
       The Stars won the Cup, and all of 150 people showed up to 
     meet their plane at the airport. Buffalo lost it, and 20,000 
     came out to say, ``Thanks for the ride.''
       The players seemed genuinely touched by it all, at times 
     nudging each other and grinning when the crowd went nuts, or 
     waving to the kids in Sabres jerseys sitting on their dads' 
     shoulders.
       ``We really didn't expect that kind of excitement,'' said 
     team captain Michael Peca afterwards. ``This is not a city 
     that forgets (about) you, absolutely not.''
       Dallas has a pewter Cup. We have something they'll never 
     have. Something not about towering glass skyscrapers and 
     money and jobs. It's a spirit, a feeling, a connection you 
     don't get in big cities.
       It's something so many of those who move away from here, 
     usually in search of greener job pastures, never find again. 
     They go somewhere else, start a new life, but a piece of them 
     stays.
       You can leave Buffalo, but you can never leave it behind.
       Tuesday, we showed the world why.

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