In light of Levi starting tomorrow for the Sabres I wanted to share some pics from a Northeastern at UVM game I attended to watch him in action. He ended up getting a shutout, but what I found amazing was his quirky meditation ritual between plays.
I’m sure some of you already knew this, but at every stoppage in play the guy gets down on his knees and centers himself – even with ice girls cleaning up the ice around him:
The Athletic wrote an [article](https://theathletic.com/3437934/2022/07/21/sabres-goalie-prospect-devon-levi-preparation/?amp=1) about it that’s paywalled but the important bit is here:
“But Levi’s routine is one borne out of his wisdom and molded by his childlike joy. He said it is derived from his and his father’s shared love of “Star Wars”. There is a scene in which Qui Gon is dueling Darth Maul. A force field appears around Qui Gon, and he sits down, closes his eyes, and starts meditating.
“My dad loves that scene and he kind of got me on it and I thought it was pretty cool,” Levi said. “There’s nothing else to do during a TV timeout that will stop the puck in the next shift, so might as well take it as an opportunity to recenter and focus.
“I had my first TV timeout ever during the World Juniors. I didn’t know what to do. I was like do I go to the bench? Do I stay here? I just sat down and started breathing and it became a routine and I loved it. It made me feel good going into the next shift and engaged, so I kept doing it.”
So ya. Devon Levi…a new hope for the Sabres.
by code_moose
17 Comments
lol I love this so much
goalies are fucking weird, man. voodoo.
Saw him play in Maine while I was there. It drove the home fans NUTS which I thought was hilarious, interested to see this guy play, love quirky shit like this.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M7Hvi0UiWY4
Love this video from the Beanpot final. This is the shootout where Levi saved 3 but his `get the puck outta here` after the 2nd is just badass. Can’t freaking wait.
I saw a video on the 99 cup finals, a fan had a sign that said “hasek is a jedi master” probably because phantom menace coming out that year had put star wars back into the cultural sphere
I was at that game as well and he was fascinating to watch. Really hope he is a major part of our future!
I know that plenty of people are going to think this is nerdy/cringey in the hockey world.
But as a cringey nerd myself, this is the coolest fucking thing ever!
I prefer Devon “Qui-Gon” Levi
“He shall be Devon, and he shall be a good man…he shall be Leeeeee-vvvvviiiiii”
Poor kid has to start his NHL career out against Sabres legend Jaroslav Halak. I don’t envy him.
(you can get around the athletic paywall on Apple mobile by going into “reader mode” or on desktop by saving to a reader service like Pocket, fwiw)
I don’t want to be the one to tell him, but Qui Gon died right after that. Hopefully that doesn’t bode poorly for the Sabres…or for Devon.
I will share this here. I’m contemplating picking up Levi in my fantasy as my 6th keeper. I’ve been really bad at that position for years. I’m not even a Buffalo fan, so there’s that. My other options are Morrissey, Chychrun, Laine, and I’ll probably pick up Kotchekov. Thoughts? I’m getting some strong Makar vibes from Levi.
That meditation pose Levi does definitely reminds me of Miller, that meditation, both guys so in their heads.
This is the way
The hype on this kid is absolutely insane. Win or lose tomorrow, I can’t wait to read the overreactions
Save us Devon Levi, you’re our only hope.