Sabres' playoff return has business of hockey booming in Buffalo again

BUFFALO, N.Y. — Buffalo Sabres players started to notice the change in January.Most players who join the franchise hear about what the home crowd is like when the team is good. The trouble is that not many teams in recent memory have been good enough to get a real taste of what KeyBank Center looks and sounds like when the Sabres are relevant in the NHL. Buffalo has always been a hockey town, but it was hard for it to feel like a Sabres town when the team missed the playoffs for 14 straight seasons.Advertisement