For many hockey fans in this part of Ontario, Buffalo Sabres are the hometown team

Montreal may be the last Canadian team standing in the second round of the NHL playoffs, but for many hockey fans in St. Catharines, Ont., the Buffalo Sabres are the local heroes.

At Kully's Original Sports Bar in downtown St. Catharines, fans wearing dark blue Sabres caps outnumbered those cheering on the Montreal Canadiens as the playoff rivals faced off in Game 1 of the second-round series on Wednesday night.

Bar owner Adrian Kulakowsky said it's a normal sight in this border region, where many Canadian fans see themselves represented in an American team.

"It's part of the culture here in Niagara — a lot of family and friends on both sides of the border," he said amid a backdrop of loud chatter and intermittent cheers.

As the Sabres took an early lead in the first period, half of the tables in the packed bar leapt to their feet and glum Habs fans sipped their beers. The cheers carried on as the Sabres defeated the Habs 4-2.

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Mal Romanin said Kully's bar has become the place for Sabres fans to congregate, and he came half an hour early on Wednesday to secure a seat.

"I grew up in Thorold and it's our hometown team," he said of the community near St. Catharines.

Romanin, a former communications director for the Toronto Blue Jays, said that for decades his family had Buffalo Sabres season tickets. "It's kind of a local team — it was easy to access from this area of Niagara Region."

Cheering for the Sabres in these playoffs is not un-Canadian, he said.

"I don't think hockey, in the NHL level, is about being nationalistic. It's about your local team and the team that you root for."

At another table, Carol Taylor, her daughter Shelley Brevitt