Heritage Classic brings full-circle moments for players and families

HAMILTON, Ont. - Dylan Cozens' path to the NHL began in a backyard in Whitehorse, Yukon. His father, Mike, had the impromptu thought to build a rink when Dylan was three years old. The rink became a tradition, growing more sophisticated with each passing year.
It likely never reached the heights of the outdoor ice surface the father and son skated on Saturday. The Sabres held a family skate following their practice inside Tim Hortons Field in Hamilton, Ont. ahead of the Heritage Classic on Sunday.
For Cozens, the presence of his father at an outdoor NHL game represented a full-circle moment.
"He's the one who got it all started for me building that rink every single year as a kid," Cozens said. "So, for him to be here for this game is awesome."

Cozens skated in temperatures that sometimes dipped into the negatives growing up in The Yukon, experience he hopes proves useful come Sunday. The forecast for the 4 p.m. puck drop calls for temperatures in the low 30s and 27 mph wind gusts.
The conditions on Saturday were severe enough to delay the Sabres' practice time by an hour. They practiced for nearly an hour in the frigid, blustery confines of a Canadian Football League stadium tucked within a southern Ontario neighborhood.
Sabres coach Don Granato designed the session to get the players moving in both directions up and down the ice to acclimate to the wind.
"It's a factor, there's no question," he said. "The wind today was a factor. There's a dramatic difference in how you execute. It's interesting to just watch our guys snap the puck around. There's a completely different velocity on the puck … It was good to get out there today for our guys, I'm sure for both teams to have that one day of acclimation because you do need to acclimate and adjust to it."
Cozens was still shivering when he and Casey Mittelstadt took the podium for their post-practice media availability.
"It's definitely not going to be fun backchecking into the wind," Cozens said. "But you might be able to use that to your advantage when you're with the wind. So, you definitely take that all into account and obviously not try to do anything too crazy - stickhandling or any crazy moves or else it could come back to bite you. The biggest thing is keeping it simple to start and getting adjusted to it."
While the Sabres did their best to prepare for a windy hockey game against the Toronto Maple Leafs, the larger purpose of Saturday were moments like the one Cozens shared with his father.
Many of the team's veterans - Zemgus Girgensons, Kyle Okposo, Mark Pysyk, and Vinnie Hinostroza among others - took the ice with their young children. The younger players shared the moment with their own parents.
Tweet from @BuffaloSabres: 🚨WARNING🚨Cute babies!#LetsGoBuffalo pic.twitter.com/B0EehBcHRp
Carl Tuch watched from the bench while his son, Alex, took part in the skate. It was Carl who instilled Alex's love for both hockey and the Sabres, building a backyard rink at their home in Syracuse and taking Alex to Buffalo for games.
Carl and Alex were watching on Jan. 1, 2008, when the Sabres hosted the Pittsburgh Penguins in the inaugural Winter Classic, never dreaming Alex would wear the same crest in his own outdoor game.
"Never," Carl said. "It's like winning the lottery. Winning the lottery three times."
Tweet from @BuffaloSabres: Ready to get that dub! 👊#LetsGoBuffalo | @LabattUSA pic.twitter.com/FpomrKLUZN
Craig Anderson, the elder statesman on the Sabres at 40, has played in two outdoor games during his NHL career but was still moved by the energy on the ice.
"We're on the ice, ice cold, all bundled up," he said. "And just kind of the pure joy of hockey takes over. It's still the NHL. Like I said, it's the kids' game, true joy of the game with these types of experiences."
Tweet from @BuffaloSabres: Zero fun was had 😉#LetsGoBuffalo pic.twitter.com/fAxMKyFCFh
Granato echoed that sentiment.
"These games are special," he said. "They have family here, that's special. I know our team knows our opponent, knows the Leafs well enough that we have to dial in for the game tomorrow, but I want to make sure we all enjoy the moment today with family around, with the atmosphere going through the skate. … Great opportunity to really cherish this as a memory."
Granato announced that Anderson will start in goal. Mark Pysyk will re-enter the lineup in place of Casey Fitzgerald, who made the trip to Hamilton but did not practice due to an injury.
Here's how the group lined up:
| March 12 | | --- | | LW | C | RW | | 53 Jeff Skinner | 72 Tage Thompson | 89 Alex Tuch | | 19 Peyton Krebs | 24 Dylan Cozens | 29 Vinnie Hinostroza | | 71 Victor Olofsson | 37 Casey Mittelstadt | 21 Kyle Okposo | | 74 Rasmus Asplund | 20 Cody Eakin | 15 John Hayden | | 96 Anders Bjork | 17 Mark Jankowski | | | LD | RD | G | | 26 Rasmus Dahlin | 10 Henri Jokiharju | 41 Craig Anderson | | 8 Robert Hagg | 13 Mark Pysyk | 31 Dustin Tokarski | | 23 Mattias Samuelsson | 78 Jacob Bryson | | | 4 Will Butcher | 33 Colin Miller | |