LEWISTON, N.Y. (WBEN) - For the past eight years, Lewiston craftsman Dan Buttery has been creating signs and other special items for the Buffalo Sabres.
But, when he got a call from the team on March 30, it was for something he never could have imagined.
Buttery was commissioned to make a ceremonial Stanley Cup puck holder that now graces the Sabres' KeyBank Center locker room, but is also mobile enough to travel with the team on the round.
From the time of the initial call, Buttery had less than three weeks to design and create the puck holder.
"I was doing that while I was doing a lot of other things," Buttery said. "But, because it was for the Sabres' players, I knew it had to be something special."
The Sabres' inspiration came from a similar Stanley Cup puck holder the Florida Panthers used last season en route to their second consecutive NHL championship.
"I wanted to create something unique to Buffalo,." Buttery said.
What he created was a 3-D circular piece with a Stanley Cup and two swords in the center surrounded by a gold circle with 16 puck holders - one for each victory needed to win the Stanley Cup.
Jim Fink - WBEN
The entire puck holder was designed and created well before the first Sabres' playoff game on April 19.
"I wasn't going to let the team down," Buttery said.
The puck holder is made from pieces of welded steel, some wood and aluminum. It is 32 inches in diameter and weighs under 20 pounds.
Weight was a factor because not only does the puck holder hang in the Sabres' locker room, it is designed to sit on a locker room table when the Sabres are on the road. Yes, it travels with the team.
"That makes it even more special,": said Buttery, a life-long Sabres' fan.
Buttery has yet to meet Lindy Ruff or the Sabres' players - he is saving that moment for when "not if, we win the Cup."
"I feel honored to have created something that will always be part of Sabres' history," Buttery said.
