Peterka looking forward to homecoming at Global Series Challenge Germany

PRAGUE -- When the Buffalo Sabres visit Munich for the 2024 NHL Global Series Challenge Germany presented by Fastenal, they won’t just be playing a preseason game Sept. 27.

They’ll be visiting forward JJ Peterka’s hometown and playing his former team, EHC Red Bull München, and it just so happens that they’ll be doing it during Oktoberfest.

“We’re going to be all in the lederhosen,” Peterka said at the European Player Media Tour on Aug. 21.

You read that right. The plan is for the Sabres to spend some down time dressed in the traditional leather shorts.

“They’ll fit somehow,” Peterka said.

Even a guy like Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen, the 6-foot-5 goalie?

“Well, I think I don’t have an option,” Luukkonen said. “But I think it’s going to be very fun."

It will be special for Peterka and Munich. Combined with two regular-season games against the New Jersey Devils in Prague in the 2024 NHL Global Series Czechia presented by Fastenal on Oct. 4-5, it will help the Sabres bond.

“We’re expecting big things from JJ, what he’s going to set up for us,” Luukkonen said. “It should be a very fun trip, and it’s always something special to go see and play where somebody’s from.”

Peterka was born and raised in Munich. He grew up watching EHC Red Bull München and later played for the team at Olympia Eishalle. The old arena sat 5,728 and had the atmosphere you find in many European rinks, with fans standing and beating drums.

“I was always there with my parents cheering for the team,” Peterka said. “We were in the stands all the time. It was so special for me to play for Munich because I’m from there, growing up there. Yeah, having the chance now to go back there, play against them, play in front of all the fans again, yeah, it’s going to be really special.”

The 22-year-old continues to work out with EHC Red Bull München in the offseason. He has been skating with the team this summer in the practice rink at SAP Garden, a new 10,726-seat facility. He has even been sitting in on meetings, gathering intelligence for the big game.

“It’s super funny,” he said. “It makes it even more exciting.”

This will be the first sporting event at SAP Garden. Peterka said he’s looking forward to seeing what the atmosphere is like in the bigger building, and he hopes it will have a lasting impact on locals who are drawn to the game just because it is a big event. You know EHC München will play hard to try to beat Peterka and an NHL team.

“It’s just a friendly for them as well, but I think for them it’s an extra motivation,” Peterka said. “It’s going to be super exciting. I think it’s going to be great hockey, great for the city especially, great for the new rink. But hopefully a lot more people now fall in love with the sport, especially in Munich. That would be awesome. But I think just overall it’s a really, really nice event for both sides. It’s going to be really exciting.”

This will be a business trip. Buffalo has missed the Stanley Cup Playoffs for 13 straight seasons, the longest drought in the NHL. Peterka and Luukkonen each said the Sabres no longer can use the excuse that they’re a young team. They feel it’s time to take the next step, and so the focus will be on getting off to a good start.

But this is also a unique opportunity, unlike a normal training camp and season opener at home, and they want to take advantage of the opportunity to explore and raise a stein or two. The hope is that the off-ice activities will help on the ice.

“When you’re home, you’re home,” Luukkonen said. “Everybody has their families, and they’re with them. But now when you come to Europe, it really kind of binds the team together. We’re here as a team, and we’re going to have a lot of time to spend together among the two cities we’re going to be visiting. Even everything else in the Oktoberfest, there’s going to be a lot of great stuff to do as a team. I think it will be a really, really good thing for us.”

OK, now for the most important questions: Other than Peterka, the native Bavarian, who will look the best in the lederhosen? Who will look the worst?

“[Forward Alex] Tuch would probably make the best look, because he would style himself as well as he could, slick his hair back, stuff like that,” Peterka said. “I think he would look pretty good. The worst is a good question.”

Peterka paused for a while, smiling, thinking. He declined to dodge.

“It’s actually funny,” he said. “I don’t know. I want to pick one. I would probably say [defenseman Mattias] Samuelsson. He would look funny. I don’t know. I’m excited to see that.”