Eichel draws on NFL Bills’ success to motivate Sabres

BUFFALO, N.Y. » Jack Eichel doesn’t have to search far back or long to see what it’s like to win in Buffalo.

The Sabres captain need only look to members of the NFL’s Buffalo Bills — owners Terry and Kim Pegula’s other major sports franchise — to draw inspiration.

“It’s been pretty cool to see the city get behind them and be excited about their group and what they’re doing and the potential they have,” Eichel said on a video conference call Wednesday, a day before the Sabres report for the start of training camp. “I think it’s definitely motivation for us. We want to be successful. We want to produce a winning team and be in the playoffs.”

The tables have most definitely turned in Buffalo, where the Bills were once considered the city’s weak link during a 17-year postseason drought spanning 200016.

While the Bills have won their

first AFC East title since 1995 and preparing to make their their third playoff appearance in four seasons, the Sabres are in the midst of a nine- year postseason drought — the NHL’s longest active streak and one short of matching the league record.

Eichel has been with the Sabres for five of those seasons since being selected with the No. 2 pick in the 2015 draft. And he’s driven on doing his best to make sure this upcoming coronavirus pandemic-altered, 56-game, division-play only season ends with a different result.

“Yeah, I think I’m for sure still fed up with losing,” Eichel said, repeating the frustrations he voiced in May when the Sabres (30-31-8) fell less than one winning percentage point short of qualifying for the Eastern Conference’s 12th and final expanded playoff berth.

“I think I’ve tried to harness that as much as I can use that in a productive manner to try to get better prepared for the season and obviously try to change that.”

He and the Sabres have had plenty of time to prepare since they last took the ice on March 9, when Dominik Kahun scored the decisive shootout goal in a 3-2 win over Washington. It just so happens, Buffalo will open the season with consecutive home games against the Capitals starting on Jan. 14.