Kevin Oklobzija

@kevinoDandC

They met a little over seven years ago, not because of some common interest in superheroes or Legos, but through teammates/neighbors in Buffalo.

One was just becoming a full-time NHLer with the Buffalo Sabres; the other was establishing himself as an every-down NFL running back with the Bills.

Nowadays, Patrick Kaleta and Fred Jackson are at the tail ends of their careers — and neither is playing in Buffalo anymore — but they remain best of friends and confidants.

Their friendship is so strong that Jackson made the trek from Buffalo, where he still makes his offseason home, to Blue Cross Arena at the Community War Memorial on Friday night to watch the Kaleta and the Rochester Americans play the Binghamton Senators.

Earlier Friday, Jackson sent out via his Twitter account: "Looking forward to watching my dude @patrick_kaleta and the @AmerksHockey tonight! I'm expecting big things Homie!! #NoPressure Haha"

Turns out the game didn't go all that well. The Amerks lost 5-2. Goalie Nathan Lieuwen couldn't make saves, the Amerks made a month's worth of poor passes and turnovers in the 60 minutes, and Kaleta was called for a penalty that wasn't a penalty. The interference penalty for a check on a player in possession of the puck cost the Amerks a goal, too.

And to add the injury to insult, Kaleta somehow pinched the very tip of his finger on his right hand on the game's last shift. It essentially ruptured and required stitches.

"There go my hands," he joked afterward. "I'll still be able to play with Legos though (his hobby)."

Even amidst the little lingering pain, he had his sense of humor. He spoke only with reverence when discussing Jackson, however.

"What he's done in the community and where he's come as a professional athlete, he's someone I look up to," said Kaleta, who has one goal and 20 penalty minutes in 14 games. "You don't find many guys like him."

The two met through Kaleta's old neighbors, former Bills linebackers Kawika Mitchell and Paul Posluszny.

"He's got a great family and we just became friends," Kaleta said. "He's into the Avengers; we're kind of just kids.

"When I broke my jaw last year, Fred stopped by the house every day and brought me a milkshake. We'd go out for lunch so I could have the only two foods I could eat, french fries and milkshakes."

Though Jackson was cut by the Bills late in the preseason and ended up with the Seattle Seahawks, Kaleta said they talked nearly every day.

"You need to have a guy you can talk to, especially in situations like this," Kaleta said. "He didn't play a lot with the Seahawks, I'm not playing a lot here."

KEVINO@gannett.com

Kevin's 3 stars

1. Cole Schneider, RW, Senators ... Scored one goal, assisted on another, had 5 shots and was prominent from start to finish.

2. Max McCormick, LW, Senators ... 1 goal, 1 assist.

3. Fredrik Claesson, D, Senators ... plus-2 and just steady in the D-zone.

Binghamton 5, Amerks 2

Binghamton 2 1 2 -- 5

Rochester 1 1 0 -- 2

First period: 1, Rochester, O'Reilly 5 (Varone, Donovan) 2:31 (pp). 2, Binghamton, Kostka 4 (Dzingel, Schneider) 6:14. 3, Binghamton, Lepine 3 (Penny, Sdao) 15:30. Penalties: Paul, Bing (hooking) 2:17; Stortini, Bing major (fighting) 2:33; Nevins, Roch major (fighting) 2:33; Kaleta, Roch (interference) 6:08; McCormick, Bing (interference) 11:16.

Second period: 4, Binghamton, Schneider 14 (Lindberg, Paul) 2:36. 5, Rochester, Schaller 7 (Catenacci, Robak) 5:04. Penalty: Schneider, Bing (high sticking) 10:43.

Third period: 6, Binghamton, Flanagan 3 (McCormick, Dziurzynski) :30. 7, Binghamton, McCormick 8, 19:44 (en). Penalties: Schaller, Roch (holding) :48; Penny, Bing (tripping) 9:03.

Shots on goal: Binghamton 8-12-8--28. Rochester 13-10-11--34.

Goalies: Binghamton, Driedger 10-10-1 (34 shots, 32 saves). Rochester, Lieuwen 11-8-1 (10, 7); Ullmark (2:36 2nd, 17, 16).

Power-play conversions: Binghamton 1 of 1. Rochester 1 of 5.

Penalties/minutes: Binghamton 6/15. Rochester 2/7.

Attendance: 7,990.

Referees: Terry Koharski. Linesmen: Tim Kotyra, Rick Lembo.