I realized that, for those of you who are not that into hockey...or aren't from the Buffalo area...or are just stupid, a lot of this story might not make sense. I've added these footnotes to aid you poor individuals. Enjoy, and learn something.
CHAPTER 1
JOHN MURPHY - Sports reporter for WKBW-TV, channel 7 in Buffalo. He also is the colour commentator for games on the Buffalo Bills radio network. See more information, and a picture of him in all his rotund glory, here. He's the dude on the right. The geezer on the left is prehistoric Buffalo Bills broadcaster Van Miller.
RUSSELL CROWE - Actor. Most famous for roles in "Gladiator" and a pretty good hockey movie, "Mystery, Alaska". Check out this page for more.
CHAPTER 2
HSBC ARENA - Home arena of the Buffalo Sabres. Formerly known as Crossroads Arena and Marine Midland Arena. See more at the official website.
MR. RIGAS - Buffalo Sabres owner John Rigas. Also the president of Adelphia cable and Empire Sports Network. See his official bio.
"THE TOOLS TO FINISH THE JOB" - After the Sabres narrowly missed winning the Stanley Cup in June 1999, John Rigas said at a public ceremony that he would bring to Buffalo "the tools to finish the job" of winning the championship. He has yet to do so.
CHAPTER 3
CANUCK - According to dictionary.com, this is "often offensive slang" for a Canadian. Offensive? Makes you wonder even more why there is a hockey team named "the Canucks," no?
CUP CRAZY 2002 - A few years back, the NHL had a commercial with the slogan "Cup Crazy" to the tune of "Let's Go Crazy" by Prince.
CHAPTER 4
"HE WAS DRAFTED BY THE WINNIPEG JETS..." - Bob was drafted by the Winnipeg Jets (now the Phoenix Coyotes) with the 71st overall pick in the 1983 NHL draft. Getting to Winnipeg does not entail going across the Atlantic for Bob.
TAYLOR PYATT - Taylor Pyatt was acquired by the Buffalo Sabres (along with Tim Connolly) from the New York Islanders on June 24, 2001, in exchange for Michael Peca. This was about a month and a half before the Sabres signed Essensa. Check out his profile here.
CHAPTER 5
PEACE BRIDGE - The Peace Bridge connects Buffalo to Canada (Fort Erie, Ontario, to be precise). You can learn more about this bridge at its official site.
RAINBOW BRIDGE - The Rainbow Bridge connects Niagara Falls, NY, with Niagara Falls, Ontario. Check out a pretty spiffy picture here (the Rainbow Bridge is at the top of the picture).
CHAPTER 6
CHRIS TAYLOR - Center for the Buffalo Sabres. He fills in for the Sabres occasionally, but spends much of his time at their minor league affiliate in Rochester. Check out his profile here.
QEW - The Queen Elizabeth Way, or "QEW", is part of the Ontario Provincial Highway system. It runs from the Peace Bridge to Toronto. Check out some facts about the QEW here.
LINDY RUFF - Head coach of the Buffalo Sabres. He had a long playing career with the Sabres and the New York Rangers. He became head coach of the Sabres in 1997, replacing Ted Nolan. Check out his biography.
CHAPTER 7
THE CN TOWER - The world's tallest free-standing structure. Check out its official website.
ONTARIO PROVINCIAL POLICE - Self-explanatory, but here's their website.
THUNDER BAY - Taylor's hometown is a city in western Ontario, due north from Madison, WI (if that helps). Check it out.
CHAPTER 8
CANADIAN TIRE - Kind of an all-purpose store in Canada. Check our their website.
CHAPTER 10
ERIK RASMUSSEN - Forward for the Buffalo Sabres. Check out his profile, and that hair...
MARKUS NASLUND - High-scoring forward for the Vancouver Canucks. Check out his profile.
VANCOUVER CANUCKS - Bob's former team, with whom he played in the 2000-01 season, before he signed with the Sabres. Their official website is here.
DAN CLOUTIER - Starting goaltender for the Vancouver Canucks. Check out his profile.
CHAPTER 11
"AFTER THE GLOVES WERE OFF..." - There isn't much better in hockey than a goalie fight. They don't happen very often, but they sure are awesome when they do. This really doesn't need a footnote; I just wanted to say that. Check out some pictures of goalie fights here. There's a great sequence of pictures of a Dan Cloutier fight.
MAXIM AFINOGENOV - Sabre winger from Russia. His line is a play on his horrible English. Check out his profile.
CHAPTER 12
ALFIE MICHAUD - One-time backup goaltender for the Canucks. This story was written prior to Peter Skudra being signed by the Canucks. Check out Michaud's profile.
DONALD BRASHEAR - A former Canuck, Brashear was recently traded to the Philadelphia Flyers. He is best known for being whacked upside the head by Marty McSorley's stick (video). Check out his profile.
STU BARNES AND MIRO SATAN - Two of the Sabres most dangerous scorers. Check out the profiles of Stu and Miro. By the way, do you think it is a coincidence that Satan's player profile number on Yahoo is "666"? Check out the URL. Freaky.
ROB RAY AND ERIC BOULTON - The Sabres two biggest goons. They don't score goals very often. Check out the profiles of Rob and Eric.
RICHARD SMEHLIK - Sabres defenseman. Check out his profile.
DARCY! - Sabres general manager Darcy Regier, who makes all transactions for the franchise. Check out his biography.
CHAPTER 13
MIKA NORONEN - The goaltender who the Sabres called up from their minor league affiliate in Rochester who took Bob's job on the team. Check out his profile.
CHAPTER 15
"ALSO SPRACH ZARATHUSTRA" BY RICHARD STRAUSS - The theme from "2001: A Space Odyssey." You know... BOM... BOM... BOM... BOM BOM!
"HVA ER BEGIVENHET?" - Norwegian (Mika, in his godliness, is multilingual) for "What's up?" or "What is happening?"
CHAPTER 16
EX-MENUDO MEMBER - In the 1980s, Ricky Martin was a member of the Mexican boy (little boy) band "Menudo." He was kicked out when he got "too old"... i.e., he hit puberty. I know these things by watching VH1!
RIP SIMONICK - The Buffalo Sabres equipment manager. There is a picture of him at this site.
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