Daren Puppa’s career could not have started any better as he pitched a 2-0 shutout in his first start for the Buffalo Sabres in Edmonton on November 1, 1985.  It was a game I listened to on the radio, and I of course became immediately convinced that Daren Puppa was going to be, like, the best goalie EVAR!

He only received six more starts that year because he had this guy named Tom Barrasso in front of him, and was his understudy for three more years before Buffalo dealt Barrasso to Pittsburgh.  Puppa’s first year on his own was a success, as he started 56 games and won 31 of them while posting a .903 save percentage (which was pretty good back in the day).  The 1989-90 Sabres were a damn good team that finished second in the Adams and lost four games to two to Montreal in the playoffs in a series that featured Phil Housley getting toasted more than a bag of marshmallows (and he was as soft as one, too!)

Seriously, I liked Housley and all, but that series led directly to the trade that sent him to Winnipeg for Dale Hawerchuk.

But success was fleeting for Puppa.  There always seemed to be someone else deemed more capable of manning the pipes or who was the next big thing.  From Malarchuk to Darcy Wakaluk to Tom Draper to David Littman to the man who sealed his fate, Grant Fuhr, when he was traded to Toronto for him, Puppa just couldn’t sieze control and take the job away from those guys.

Still, he was a big part of my prime Sabres viewing years and has earned the open thread designation.

Alas, success was fleeting.