I am so so grateful and happy that Jeff is getting all the love in the world from the Sabres. He deserves it so so so much. I happened to start watching the Canes right after he was traded. Right before the season that would break the playoff drought, after many years of Jeff being a major face of the franchise, a couple years after he got the A, he was shipped off to Buffalo.
It was a shock for many reasons: the very little the Canes got in return, an insult to what he meant to the team, but it also felt a little inevitable: mismanagement and badly coached, he wasn’t utilized properly. Despite this, he was a highlight of one of the worst stretches of Carolina hockey.
How do I know all this when I just missed him? Because he’s almost like a bruise for the fanbase. For the long time faithful, he will always be The Rookie, the Calder Winner, the youngest All Star, goofy former figure skater, turned beloved alternate captain, a mainstay, a Hurricane.
For eight years he was a bright spot amongst record setting low attendance. Then, with a new owner who had sights on a new image, a new foundation for the team, giving away that trademark smile was almost a certainty but still in the many hearts of Raleigh, a surprise.
It breaks my heart a little, to see no one from Carolina comment on his milestone. Maybe they’re trying not to bring up the sadness of the trade, but I still remember Jeff posting his support for UNC Chapel Hill in the NCAA tournament a year or two ago. He posted a cup from an old dive bar near the university only locals know. This is a college basketball state above all else and he still showed his love for it after all these years.
He helped future stars, the next alternate captain even, adjust to the team in his last years. And now, through no fault of his own, holds the awful record of never going to the playoffs while being the youngest to 1000 games. Many had hoped so much more for him here. Today, I saw so many people saying how much love they still have for him, how much they wished he could’ve had a better time here, wishing we could’ve given him more than he gave us.
Many players come and go every single season, but whenever Buffalo comes into town, I know I’ll see a multitude of 53s in PNC Arena, most of them red and white. Happy 1000th, Jeff. You’re still here, in the people who miss you: the fans, the staff, the players; they remind us of your place in Carolina history.
56 notes
·
View notes
sigh fine I guess I’ll write a Bal x Ambrosius snzfic
14 notes
·
View notes
I've bunny hopped my way to a whole new fandom, and of course there's less than 400 fics on AO3 and a whopping None for the ship I'm into
2 notes
·
View notes
me lookin at the obscure ship tag like there will be new content
10 notes
·
View notes
when are you people gonna man up and write about Trish going to get her HRT huh?
2 notes
·
View notes
I can, have, and will continue to draw jadzia with a dick
1 note
·
View note