Rivet gets over shock of trade to Sabres
Craig Rivet was just being honest Wednesday as the landscapers put the finishing touches outside the 5,200-square-foot house he built for his family and sold to someone else. He was crushed upon hearing he was traded to the Buffalo Sabres and spent weeks overcoming the disappointment.
Rivet didn’t really have a problem with Buffalo itself, although he was like many who rolled into town for one-night stays. He thought the place was, well, a dump with its old, vacant buildings and sleepy downtown. You can’t blame the guy. His opinion was based on what he saw while riding down the Kensington Expressway from the airport.
He didn’t really have a beef with the Sabres, either, although he need not look very far to see how their mistakes in short order transformed a Stanley Cup contender into an Eastern Conference mediocrity. It’s understandable. He shared a dressing room with Mike Grier for two years and was Brian Campbell’s defense partner late last season.
Rivet was upset because he loved San Jose. He liked the team. He liked the town. He was living in a multimillion- dollar house in the heart of the prettiest suburb in the area. By all accounts, it was a great place to work and raise his three kids.
In no time, his professional and private lives were flipped upside down.
“I’m not going to lie. I wasn’t happy about being moved,” Rivet said by telephone. “It wasn’t the point of me going to Buffalo. I didn’t care where I would have gone. I was leaving a place that I really enjoyed. I had a great setup, and now that’s done. Now, I have to start over. We’ve heard great things about Buffalo. We’re excited.”
At first, it sounded like Rivet was sincere about the trade before backing off with lip service about the town. Actually, he’s been doing his homework. He sees the Sabres going in the right direction with a core of young players. Along the way, he’s learning that his perception of Buffalo was actually a misperception.
Campbell assured him that this is a terrific place to play and raise a family. He heard more of the same through the grapevine about other ex-Sabres who felt the same way. He remembered a conversation he had years ago with a teammate in Montreal who raved about Buffalo.
The teammate: Doug Gilmour.
“I constantly heard that Buffalo was one of their favorite places to play,” Rivet said. “You know, you go play in Buffalo, and you see the downtown, where half the stores are boarded up, and you stay in the hotel and, you know . . .”
Yeah, Craig, we know. Over the past couple of weeks, Rivet began finding all the great things about Buffalo that outsiders ignore and the natives take for granted. He’s already experienced reverse sticker shock. When he told the real estate agent in Buffalo that he was looking for a 5,000-square-foot home in the $2 million range, she darned near laughed him off the phone.
Cheap housing is only the beginning. Buffalo has its flaws, but it’s a passionate hockey town with a Canadian feel. Western New York has a way of growing on people. Ask Scotty Bowman, who stuck around for 25 years. Ask all the NHL players, coaches and general managers who could live anywhere but stay here.
The only uncertainty is whether Rivet will fall for Buffalo before Buffalo falls for him. Fans will soon see he’s a good fit with his simple blue-collar style, his competitiveness, his toughness, his edge. No, he’ll never be the prettiest player on the ice. Then again, as this town knows, it’s a matter of perception.
“You know, I’ve heard from too many guys to not think that this could be a great thing,” Rivet said. “Now, we’re closing the books [on San Jose]. Everything seems to be coming into place. We’re really excited about coming to Buffalo.”
Honest.
