The human side of the Buffalo Sabres 18-game winless streak of 2021
Fred Kfoury III/Icon Sportswire
For nearly all of March, the Buffalo Sabres were the punchline of the NHL. They slogged through an 18-game winless streak, the longest in the salary cap era. They fired yet another coach, Ralph Krueger, as captain Jack Eichel remained sidelined with an injury. In its weekly power rankings, the Buffalo News even ranked the expansion Seattle Kraken (a team without players or a coach) ahead of the Sabres.
When Krueger was dismissed on March 17, assistant Don Granato was appointed interim coach. Granato, 53, is a member of one of America s most prominent hockey families. His younger sister, Cammi, is a Hockey Hall of Famer, and now a pro scout for the Kraken. His older brother Tony played 774 NHL games and now coaches Wisconsin s men s team. Don always dreamed of being an NHL head coach, but he finally got his opportunity at the most inopportune time and at the expense of a friend.
STH spotlight: Support for CBJ, local hockey runs deep for Zazon family
From billeting youth hockey players to helping in the community, this family does it all by Jeff Svoboda @JacketsInsider / BlueJackets.com
Throughout the Blue Jackets 20th anniversary celebration, BlueJackets.com will be profiling season ticket holders who have become an integral part of the CBJ experience as part of the Season Ticket Holder spotlight presented by Jet s Pizza.
Any strong hockey community needs people like Mike and Sue Zazon.
The two have been Blue Jackets season ticket holders from the beginning. Their son, Matthew, plays goalie for the Ohio AAA Blue Jackets, and Zazons have been a billet family for out-of-town members of the AAA program for years.
STH spotlight: Fan brings some heart to Nationwide Arena
Joe Alvarez continues to root on the Blue Jackets even after a heart transplant in 2018 by Jeff Svoboda @JacketsInsider / BlueJackets.com
Throughout the Blue Jackets 20th anniversary celebration, BlueJackets.com will be profiling season ticket holders who have become an integral part of the CBJ experience as part of the Season Ticket Holder spotlight presented by Jet s Pizza.
Many fans have their lucky jersey to wear to Nationwide Arena. It might simply be the name and number of a favorite player. It might be their own name on their back, or it could be a special message that means a lot.
Paul Donskov spent three decades growing the game in central Ohio by Jeff Svoboda @JacketsInsider / BlueJackets.com
Of all the things people miss the most, it seems the thing that stands out is they can t pick up the phone and hear Paul Donskov s voice anymore.
For Ed Gingher, founder and president of the Ohio AAA Blue Jackets, those calls were often about how central Ohio s premier developmental hockey squad could continue to make inroads when it came to producing high-level talent.
For J.D. Kershaw, the Blue Jackets vice president for operations and development as well as a longtime amateur coach in the Columbus area, the conversations were often about how they could continue to grow the game in the Columbus area.