Sabres thrilled to open new arena with NHL Global Series Challenge Germany

MUNICH -- Alex Tuch's first impression of SAP Garden had the Buffalo Sabres forward thinking about his own future, about a decade down the road, and what he might consider doing.

"I think this would be a great place to play," Tuch said. "I have some German background so who knows, push comes to shove, maybe in 10 years I'll come over here and play here for a year, bring the family over. That would be kind of fun. I think this place is incredible."

Tuch and the Sabres will make history in the new arena Friday, when building operators open the doors for the first event in SAP Garden history, the 2024 NHL Global Series Challenge Germany presented by Fastenal between the Sabres and EHC Red Bull Munchen (2:30 p.m. ET; NHLN, MSG-B), the local team from the Deutsche Eishockey Liga, Germany's top professional hockey league.

The Sabres will open the regular season against the New Jersey Devils in the 2024 NHL Global Series Czechia presented by Fastenal at O2 Arena in Prague on Oct. 4 with a second game on Oct. 5. Those will be the eighth and ninth regular season games in Prague.

Friday's game is the first featuring an NHL team in Munich. The new arena is a big reason why.

"I mean, I can just speak if that were to happen in my hometown in Sweden it would mean the world to Swedish hockey, the city," said defenseman Rasmus Dahlin, who was named Buffalo captain Thursday. "It's a really big deal and we do take it seriously. We respect everything that is going on around us. Every single guy in there is super pumped and excited for what's going to happen. It's going to be fun."

Several Sabres players have toured the building, including forward JJ Peterka, who is from Munich and played for Red Bull from 2019-21. Peterka did a walking tour with two Red Bull players on Wednesday. He trained in the building with Red Bull over the summer.

Tuch said he was blown away by the facilities, especially the gym and the fact that there are two practice rinks in the building on the same level as the main rink.

The Sabres have practiced in Rink 1 the past two days.

"I've walked around and I've seen a good part of it, and it's an incredible facility; the practice rink, the main rink, their locker room," Sabres coach Lindy Ruff said. "It's a building you want to come and play in for sure."

The building was a vision of EHC Red Bull Munchen, who previously played its home games at Olympia Eishalle, a 57-year-old facility that seats approximately 6,000 for hockey games.

SAP Garden seats 10,900, Red Bull managing director Christian Winkler said.

"We've been talking so much about the building, and we've been hoping someday it would work out, and now after four years of construction we're not only counting the days, we're counting the hours," Winkler said. "Then having the Buffalo Sabres here is the cherry on top. You could have any NHL team here, but you have the Buffalo Sabres here with JJ Peterka, who is born and raised and learned hockey in Munich. It couldn't be better for this event."

The Sabres are here because the NHL was initially asked by local organizers to be a part of the opening of SAP Garden.

"They prioritized us as being the organization they wanted to open the building with, over, as I understand it, potentially an NBA team in a basketball game, so we obviously were pleased to have been approached," NHL Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly said. "We approached the Sabres as a potential fit for that. The Sabres embraced it as an opportunity."

Peterka was the hook. He grew up here and still makes his offseason home here, about 10 minutes from SAP Garden, he said.

"Certainly, that goes into the thinking on all the clubs we approach in terms of whether they have any connection with the marketplace," Daly said. "Obviously, Peterka in Germany made for a good fit for sure."

Buffalo general manager Kevyn Adams said the organization is "honored" to be included. Adams and Winkler sat together during the Sabres practice Wednesday and were planning to go out to lunch together Thursday.

"This is a really big deal here in Munich, it's something special," Adams said. "We're here to do a job. This is a business trip for us, but you have to take a step back and enjoy this. I'm excited for our guys. I'm excited for JJ. To have an experience to come back to your hometown is pretty unique."

Winkler said the hope is for the NHL to bring two teams for regular-season games here in the future. It might be a possibility as Daly said Germany and Switzerland are on the League's radar for future regular-season games as part of the Global Series.

The only NHL regular-season game to be played in Germany was between the Sabres and Los Angeles Kings in Berlin on Oct. 8, 2011. There have been seven preseason games in Germany since 2008; three in Berlin, two in Mannheim, and one each in Hamburg and Cologne.

"It's a developed market," Daly said. "It develops elite hockey players. We've got a good relationship with the hockey infrastructure in Germany, both with the federation over time and also with the league."

In addition to the games in Germany, the Dallas Stars and Florida Panthers will play two games at Nokia Arena in Tampere, Finland, on Nov. 1-2. Those will be the third and fourth NHL regular season games in Tampere and the 10th and 11th games in Finland.

The NHL will do a full analysis of the impact of the game here Friday before determining if Munich can handle a regular-season game, but the opening of SAP Garden, the facilities it has to offer plus the size of the market and growth of German hockey have local officials optimistic.

Reactions to the building like the one Tuch had could go a long way too.

"I always say this building will be for the best and highest sports you can have," Winkler said. "Having a regular-season NHL game, maybe a season opener here in Munich, for sure I hope it's in the future."

NHL.com columnist Nicholas J. Cotsonika contributed to this story