Kyle Okposo: Thank you for a special Opening Night

It's a bit early to discuss expectations.
The season is 82 games. We played one. There are going to be ups and downs, and we know that.
But there are two things I want Sabres fans to know they can expect from us moving forward.

Number one: We are going to work. You should see our effort every single night.
Number two: We are going to play a brand of hockey that's exciting to watch. Hopefully, we showed that last night.
I'll be honest, winning on opening night meant a lot to me. There has been a lot said about our team over the last five months. I just wanted to come out on the right foot and show people the way we know we're capable of playing.

It's been apparent since the start of training camp that we have a hungry group here. We go out and practice for over an hour and guys ask to keep going. We hang out in the locker room afterward and shoot the breeze.
It reminds me of when I was a young player, even before I was in the NHL. Guys just want to play. That's all that matters here.
It's the same way outside of the rink. We enjoy each other's company. All of us who were in town went to the Bills opener against Pittsburgh. Guys came over to my house to play basketball. I know Mittsy's place has become the hangout spot for the young guys.
At the front of it all is Donny. A lot of what you saw last night is because of the way he's prepared us. His philosophy is to practice harder than you play. That hard work translated to our effort as the game went on.
The entertaining brand of hockey I mentioned? That's Donny too. It's not that he's telling us to go out there and be exciting. The style he preaches just makes it that way. Make small passes. Be confident. Pressure the puck. Support each other.
He's telling us to play like we did when we were 12 years old, essentially. It really is a ton of fun for us.

Let's just call a spade a spade. We knew the building wouldn't be packed for opening night. But we wanted to leave an impression on the people who were there and who we knew were at home watching on TV. I know we were able to do that by the reactions of the people in the building. They were loud, electric and enthusiastic. That's the kind of hockey we want to play also. The kind that brings people out of their seats like it did on night one.
I know the opportunity we have here. I made Buffalo my full-time home three years ago. My family and I spend summers exploring the area and getting to know people around town. My kids have grown up here. This Minnesota guy can even call himself a Bills fan now.
I know how much what we do means to you. I saw it again last night. It was amazing to hear the way people reacted to the subtleties of the game.
Hagger blocks a shot. Andy makes a big save on the PK. I beat a guy in the neutral zone. The crowd just went crazy, every single time.
And we fed off it. Something I'll remember from last night is how midway through the game, you could just feel the momentum shifting to our side. And we just kept pushing and pushing.
We were having fun. The fans were having fun. Everybody in the building meshed, I think, for the first time in a long time.
We expect to earn more of those nights going forward.