A 'whirlwind of emotions' for Sabres as players monitor Damar Hamlin's progress

Jan. 6—Alex Tuch's bottom lip quivered as the Buffalo Sabres winger eloquently described the emotions he and his teammates processed in the hours after watching Buffalo Bills safety Damar Hamlin collapse on the field during Monday Night Football.

Recounting the series of events in chronological order, from the messages of concern exchanged between teammates as the scene unfolded on the field in Cincinnati to the "Love for 3" shirts worn by the Sabres ahead of their game against the Washington Capitals on Tuesday, Tuch paused briefly as he reached the difficult chapter that unfolded on the ice in Capital One Arena.

Tuch chose to not speak about the game. He quickly apologized, then went on to describe the happiness in the Sabres' dressing room that they were able to help the community heal and the overwhelming relief that Hamlin is progressing.

The Sabres had no choice but to face the Capitals. Feelings of concern and, as captain Kyle Okposo explained, "fear" and "anxiety," had to be left off the ice. Naturally, those bubbled to the surface following a moment of silence held in support of Hamlin and his family as the 24-year-old remained in critical condition after going into cardiac arrest.

"You get choked up," said Tuch, who grew up near Syracuse. "It was serious. It still is. It was tough. But, you know, we had a job to do. And we wanted to play for the City of Buffalo and Damar."

General manager Kevyn Adams gathered his coaches and players Tuesday morning to reiterate the impact the Sabres have in the community. Again, they had to work together to help Buffalo through an unimaginable and terrifying situation, less than one week after they did so in the aftermath of a winter storm that was responsible for the deaths of 42 people in Erie and Niagara counties. Despite the psychological challenge, the Sabres pulled through with an overtime win over the Capitals.

The emotions were still raw as the Sabres sat in their dressing room at KeyBank Center following practice Thursday. They found some solace on a nearby monitor, which displayed the Bills' latest update that Hamlin has made "remarkable" improvement over the previous 24 hours and appears to be neurologically intact. But this was another heavy day for the group as it prepared for a game Saturday night against the Minnesota Wild.

"It's been a whirlwind of emotions, for sure," Okposo said. "Obviously, first and foremost, our thoughts, our prayers are with Damar and his family and all the players over there, the Bills, the entire organization, everybody that's directly affected with it. And it's great to see we get a positive update, which is phenomenal. I think that sports is such a — it's woven into the fabric of our society and it has such a major impact on a lot of people's lives. At times, you can forget that there's human beings in the sport. This is one where, as a human being, to have something like that happen on one of the biggest stages that we have in this country is scary.

"It has all of us praying for him, but it had me, personally, kind of thinking about a lot of things. We play a sport for a living, accidents happen. It got me thinking about different times in my career or things that I've seen on the rink that have been situations similar. It puts a little bit of doubt in your head and causes a little bit of fear, a little bit of anxiety."

Like so many in Buffalo and elsewhere, the Sabres had a restless night of sleep Monday. They saw the reaction of Bills players on the field as medical staff gathered around Hamlin, who received CPR after collapsing as the result of a tackle in the first quarter. A group text message provided the Sabres with an avenue to exchange reactions and check in on one another. They continuously monitored social media for updates on Hamlin's condition.

Okposo, Adams, coach Don Granato and Nicole Hendricks, the Sabres' Senior Director of Communications, met early Tuesday morning to talk about the traumatic event and how the team should proceed.

There was a general sense of how traumatic the event was for the Sabres, but they determined a team meeting was the only effective method of ensuring everyone was OK. They took turns expressing their feelings, and there was no fear in appearing vulnerable to the rest of the group.

"Obviously, everybody's thinking about him and has it on their mind, but, hopefully, to try to give people a bit of a reprieve in watching us play was something that we tried to do," Okposo said. "To where we got to emotionally, you try to block it out. But I just think that when you talk about things, it helps you move on from things and heal at an appropriate rate, and that's what we did. We had to make sure that we addressed, we spoke about it as a group, and we were able to try to play."

This has been a difficult year for the Sabres, Bills and all of Western New York.

In May, a gunman open fired in a Tops Markets grocery store in a predominantly Black neighborhood of Buffalo and killed 10 people in a racist mass shooting.

Over Christmas weekend, a deadly blizzard paralyzed the City of Buffalo with ferocious, hurricane-level winds and lake-effect snow. People were stranded in vehicles and thousands were without power. And last week, a house fire on Dartmouth Avenue killed five children between the ages of 2 and 10.

In one of the United States' poorest cities, where frigid winter weather can limit the ways in which people can cope with tragedies or difficult times, professional sports can have the power of healing.

"I think we have a lot of guys that truly do love the City of Buffalo and want to see it flourish and do well," said Sabres center Tage Thompson, who scored three goals Tuesday, including the game-winner. "I think for us, from our standpoint, all we can do is continue to work hard and try to turn this team around and try and win some games, get into playoffs and bring some life to the city. Whatever we can do away from the rink to help the community when it's hurting, we're going to do. This is home for me and for, obviously, everyone in this room. You want to take care of your home and the people around it."

The Sabres had to shift their focus to hockey Tuesday morning. There was no way to mask how they were feeling, though. Their pregame skate at Capital One Arena was quiet. Players spoke in hushed tones. There were no playful goal celebrations or witty banter, as there are in a typical practice.

Staff members, led by Hendricks, organized different methods to express support for Hamlin from afar. The t-shirts were ordered and worn by players as they entered the arena. Adams, Granato and the rest of the coaching staff wore Hamlin's No. 3 on the left lapel of their suit jackets. Four signs hung above the team's bench during warmups, two of which read: "Love for 3."

Players and staff in both organizations are close. Adams and Granato exchange messages with Bills general manager Brandon Beane and coach Sean McDermott. Both teams are owned by Terry and Kim Pegula. In June, Kim Pegula was hospitalized for an undisclosed medical condition. She hasn't resumed her role as president of the two teams, and there hasn't been a recent update on her health or recovery.

In addition, there's crossover with support staff, including team doctors. Bills players attend Sabres games when possible, and vice versa. Okposo and Tuch wanted to respect the Bills' privacy, though. They didn't want to add to the onslaught of messages Hamlin's teammates have likely received.

The Sabres wanted to show with their play that their thoughts were with Hamlin, the Bills and the rest of Buffalo. They knew hockey couldn't take away the pain or concern. But channeling anxiety and fear into a relentless effort on the ice could help others. Tuch and Thompson led an inspiring performance.

Buffalo built a two-goal lead, fell behind 4-3 in the third period, then won in overtime with Tuch forcing a turnover behind the net and finding Thompson in front for the winning goal.

"Obviously, for them, they love playing hockey and they certainly love their teammates," Granato said. "And that was a forum where they could just embrace each other and play the game we wanted to play knowing that they're all going through different things and don't know what to make of it. Those are situations that are tough because you really don't know what to make of it. I mean, we all go through life not thinking about situations like that and just living.

"When one happens, it forces you to stop and feel how vulnerable you might be. I like the fact that our guys go in that locker room and even though we feel vulnerable — we feel vulnerable every night in different ways in an NHL game — but they really felt, it looked like, 'Let's just do something together and we have a chance to do something together.' And it was enjoyable to see them embrace that."

Businesses across Western New York have used their marquee signs to publicly express words of encouragement and support for Hamlin. Donations to his foundation's toy drive, which began with an initial goal of $2,500, reached $7.3 million by Thursday afternoon. Bills fans have gathered outside University of Cincinnati Medical Center as Hamlin continues his recovery.

Okposo, 34, has made this his home, year-round, and he's been in Buffalo since signing a seven-year contract with the Sabres in July 2016. He's seen similar outpourings of support and encountered his own serious health scare following a concussion in 2017. The efforts to help Hamlin and his family did not come as a surprise to Okposo or anyone else in the dressing room.

"It's a special place," he said. "You have a smaller market in the terms of North American markets, but the passion in it is second-to-none. And you see how wins and losses affects people's mood around town, let alone something as tragic as we all witnessed with Damar. So, you can just amplify that and how it touches people's lives and how it affects them.

"It truly is a special place and the city of good neighbors, and they want to help and try to heal together."

___

(c)2023 The Buffalo News (Buffalo, N.Y.)

Visit The Buffalo News (Buffalo, N.Y.) at www.buffalonews.com

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.