It Ain’t Over Till It’s Buffalover

The problem with mythmaking is that the myth needs constant feeding, and each dish must be spicier and more exotic than the last. Fortunately for the Buffalo Sabres, they seem to get how it’s supposed to be done. It is no longer enough to cite the 15 years in which they haven't mattered, or how they worst-to-firsted between December and April, or that the man who built the roster, general manager Kevyn Adams, had to be fired for that roster to finally get the idea that suck is not a permanent state. Buffalo is now the representative of cool kids everywhere because narratives have to eat, too. But until Sunday, the enduring truth of the Cup was always lingering in the background—that cool only gets you past the national anthem, and then you get serious, one crosscheck at a time. Buffalo was a team with an excellent record, a revivified fan base and a roster full of playoff neophytes playing against the Boston Bruins, who always seem like a tough postseason out even when they don't make the postseason at all.