MUNICH -- JJ Peterka has boarded plenty of flights in his NHL career without thinking much of it. The Buffalo Sabres forward gets on, gets settled, the flight takes off, maybe a card game is played, maybe some food is eaten, and the flight lands. Next city. Next game. The grind goes on.
But Tuesday night was different. This flight originated from Niagara Falls International Airport and eight hours later landed in Munich. For Peterka, this was a flight home with his NHL team. This was the beginning of a dream coming true.
"I wanted to be here as quick as possible," Peterka told NHL.com after the Sabres practiced at SAP Garden here hours after landing Wednesday. "Just super happy to get it started. I was here until I think the 10th of September, went to Buffalo for two weeks and I knew it was coming. Just through camp in Buffalo I was just super excited to get on a plane and get back here."
The Sabres are here to continue their training camp and play EHC Red Bull Munchen in the 2024 NHL Global Series Germany presented by Fastenal at SAP Garden on Friday (2:30 p.m. ET; NHLN, MSG-B). It will be the first event ever at SAP Garden.
The team leaves Munich after practicing Sunday to fly to Prague, where it will open the regular season in the 2024 NHL Global Series Czechia against the New Jersey Devils on Oct. 4 and 5.
This is a business trip, but it's also a homecoming for Peterka.
He grew up in Munich and lives here in the offseason. He said his home is a 10-minute car ride away from SAP Garden and his parents are 40 minutes away.
He used to be a die-hard Red Bull Munchen as a kid. He turned pro and played for them from 2019-21. Peterka even skated with the current team in their training camp over the summer. He sat in on meetings too.
"I think I'm just excited to play here again," Peterka said. "When I was a really young kid, I was always in the stands with my family. For me when I turned pro here, that was so special coming from the stands and being on the ice, all of a sudden they cheer for you. Coming back to those fans, it's going to be really special."
Peterka came back to the city in a different way. He rode in from the airport on the team bus. That was weird.
"Driving through those streets in a bus, toward the hotel, looking out the window, I'm like, 'Normally I'm driving here with my car,'" he said. "Just pretty funny, actually."
He's staying in the team hotel even though his offseason home is nearby.
"I'm right downtown," he said.
Peterka said he hasn't decided if he's going to go home, even if only for a few hours. He might not have the time.
From media obligations to being the team host to practicing and getting ready for the game Friday, there's a lot going on for the 22-year-old. Then the Sabres have a day off Saturday, but Peterka is planning to take the team to Oktoberfest, which he himself hasn't been to since before the COVID-19 pandemic.
"I think just being connected with German hockey, being connected with the city of Munich, having always a good connection with the fans here, it's a really special thing and I'm obviously super happy and glad to be a huge part of that," Peterka said.
Peterka said he expects to have 30 family members in attendance Friday. They all live in Munich or just outside.
"We had the opportunity over the summer when he was here to talk about it and he always said, 'Hey, Christian, I can't believe that this happened,'" Red Bull managing director Christian Winkler told NHL.com. "I made some jokes saying, 'Yeah, we built the arena just for you.' And I also said, 'But make sure you don't score the first goal because we want to score the first goal.'
“But yeah with JJ, it's going to be amazing and I think he feels it too. His whole family is going to be here. All of his friends are going to be here. People he went to school with are going to be here. I think it's going to be a very special moment."
His teammates feel the enormity of the moment for Peterka too.
Rasmus Dahlin experienced it when the defenseman went back to Sweden with the Sabres in 2019 for two regular-season games against the Tampa Bay Lightning in Stockholm as part of the Global Series.
"I wish I could redo it," said Dahlin, who was named Buffalo captain Thursday. "You're so happy. You're so in about meeting your family, meeting everyone, and I wasn't playing very well. It's a lot going on, a lot of media, but it's for sure great for him and his family, fans here and German hockey. It's a great thing and I absolutely love this type of stuff."
Sabres forward Alex Tuch Tuch said, "We're definitely going to be skating hard for him [on Friday]. He's going to be buzzing."
