BUFFALO, N.Y. (WIVB) — The NHL schedule and celestial calendar have aligned to allow the Buffalo Sabres to experience the solar eclipse.
Departing Buffalo for Sunday’s game in Detroit, the Sabres' road trip arrived to another of the three NHL cities in the path of totality before Tuesday’s game in Dallas. With no practice on Monday, the Sabres will gather at the team’s hotel to witness the eclipse.
“It’s definitely something we want to see,” Sabres forward Alex Tuch said. “It will be a special moment with all of the guys.”
The totality path will cover North Texas starting at 1:40 p.m. CT, about a half hour before Western New York. Like at home, there are some clouds in the forecast but they won’t obscure the views entirely.
“At the end of the day, it’s a business trip,” defenseman Connor Clifton said. “We’ve got a job to do. But I’m excited to see it.”
Clifton said he tried out the safety glasses his wife purchased recently, and was surprised how difficult it was to see out of them. Tuch noted he had not obtained a pair of glasses yet, but Nicole Hendricks, the Sabres’ vice president for communication and hockey administration, packed a box of 50 glasses for the travel party.
The Sabres were originally scheduled to practice at 1 p.m. CT, with plans to pause during the eclipse peak. Tuch said he would be sprinting off the ice to see it.
“You’re not going to see one for another 100 years,” he said. “And I won’t be alive for that. So I want to see this one.”
While this will be the first total eclipse in Western New York since 1925, there has not been one over North Texas since 1878.
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Jonah Bronstein joined the WIVB squad in 2022 as a digital sports reporter. The Buffalonian has covered the Bills, Sabres, Bandits, Bisons, colleges, high schools and other notable sporting events in Western New York since 2005, for publications including The Associated Press, The Buffalo News, and Niagara Gazette. Read more of his work here.
