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| June 6, 2008
Day one in Buffalo
|  First night of games and we prepare for an exciting Saturday
Well night one is over. We saw the squirt/peewee division, bantam and midgets all hit the floor at the Pepsi center.
It's great to see the Radicals, Wolves, Aviators, Tigers, Kowboys and Coyotes cross the border to join us in Buffalo. We look forward to some big games Saturday during the day and evening. One thing that I always marvel about the Canadian teams is how they play the game hard, but do enough to get the point across to their opponent until the whistle blows. Great memories kick back when I remember the 2006 finals in Brampton and the Hershey centre. Great games with some teams we had never seen before who played hard and drove to the net until that whistle blew.
It'll be great to catch up Jason and Erik of the Wings, get to speak to the Canadian teams parents and coaches and find out how things are up north. Colorado is here as well as Buffalo branching out with some different organizations. We have the Buffalo Storm and the Team Mission.
We've had a wild start to the tournament, but it's just beginning. Congrats to the BIHG Razors, Colorado Misconduct, Brampton Radicals, Tour Bandits, Tour Excitement and the Buffalo Wings all winning games in round robin play this past Friday evening.
Can you believe that just ten years ago, Jason Domitrovic, State Wars director was the driving force behind the Buffalo Wings program? I remember his involvement in helping California become even more the dominant force in roller hockey.
The Pepsi center is a site to behold. Three ice rinks, a fitness center, full size pro shop, party rooms and actual equipment cleaning on site business.
The arena is a great place to catch a hockey game. Seats and bleachers surround the playing surface giving any fan a great view of the games played and the competition. We get to sit directly behind the scorekeeper to enjoy the action and catch up with the coaches.
The news around Buffalo is Tommy McCollum. McCollum played with the Guelph Storm of the OHL and is an alumni of the Buffalo Wings program. Today, at age 18, Tommy is the #1 ranked North American Goaltender heading into this year’s NHL Entry Draft, a title that would almost entirely ensure that he will be selected in the first round. Most Wings players would never dream of making it to the NHL, let alone being as highly touted as McCollum. He just finished his second season with the Guelph Storm of the OHL and for the second year in a row, McCollum posted stellar numbers establishing himself as one of the top goaltenders in the league. His name resides near or at the top of just about every statistical category.
It would be great if at the NARCh finals, Daryn was able to pull off a game with all the NARCh alumni who are now either in the NHL, or playing for an NHL team affiliate. The list would read like a perennial who's who of some of the best to ever lace 'em up for a NARCh tourney... just imagine Statsny, McCollum, Maroon, Boyes, Booth and Hensick all taking the floor at the finals to show their roots and make everyone aware of how roller hockey and NARCh played a pivotal point helping them get to where they are today!
As we prepare to bring you the world's greatest roller hockey on a Saturday morning, we look forward to a full schedule and more action in Buffalo.
Stay tuned, NARCh the rollin' road to San Jose continues from the state of the art Pepsi Center in Amherst, New York.
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