The Buffalo Sabres have been, well, not great so far this season. The squad has a 6-8-1 record, which places them squarely in the cellar of the Northeast Division and tied for ninth in the Eastern Conference standings. Fans and sports columnists have been edgy, calling for the heads of Head Coach Lindy Ruff and General Manager Darcy Regier as fast as they can tweet. A bad shift or two can transform the First Niagara Center into the Roman Coliseum, with the mob showering a torrent of abuse on the hometown team. Things are a little stressful.

Friday night, however, offered some sweet relief—Buffalo knocked off the Northeast Division leader and hated rival Boston Bruins, 4-2, and a main contributor was the previously ice-cold Drew Stafford. Although the Sabres actually have posted goals with the best of them this season—Buffalo has 43 goals on the season, good for third in the conference—the winger and assistant captain’s offensive game had been suffering through a serious drought. Stafford’s first-period goal was his first since April, and his assist on Christian Ehrhoff’s game-winner in the third period gave him a two-point game that accounted for nearly a third of his scoring in his seven-point season.

For his efforts, Stafford was given Buffalo’s highest honor: a swank, logo-emblazoned fur coat awarded by teammates to be worn by the Sabres’  player of the game.

The image below is linked to The Buffalo News’ video interview with the sartorial Stafford:

Buffalo News beat reporter John Vogl described the scene:

During the postgame celebration, the right winger donned a dark brown fur coat emblazoned with a Sabres logo on the back. After being given the cold shoulder by many during his slump, he was the center of attention in the dressing room. As sweat poured off his face, he was ready to go back into the shadows.

“This jacket’s really hot, so I kind of want to get this over with,” he said with a smile to the pack of media personnel.

According to QueenCitySports.net, “...team’s brown fur coat (is) given to their MVP of the night.”

Stafford also opened the interview session by taking a poke at another member of The Buffalo News’ Sabres lineup:

When the 4-2 win over the Boston Bruins was complete, Drew Stafford (the elephant finally off his back after scoring his first goal), greeted the media in an outlandish fur coat with Sabres logo on the back. He then unleashed this gem as reporters encircled him: ‘Guys, I want to thank Mike Harrington for letting me borrow his coat.’

The source for the quote was Harrington himself, proving that the sometimes-cantankerous (at least on Twitter) reporter has a sense of humor, too.

Perhaps if Stafford picks up a hat trick tomorrow against the Pittsburgh Penguins,. he will be rewarded with a matching fedora and cane.