BUFFALO, N.Y. — As of a couple of days ago, Daniel Briere wasn’t familiar with Jenga. He was unaware the table-top game was the perfect metaphor for what happened to him and the Buffalo Sabres in real life.



A Jenga tower is built with wooden planks. The object is to remove each piece, one by one, and place it on top, making the tower increasingly wobbly until the loser pulls the plank that makes the whole thing topple.



That’s what happened to the 2005-06 Sabres, a magical team that collapsed in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Final under the weight of too many misplaced blocks.



“It was like someone was watching somewhere and said, I’m going to remove a defenseman,” Briere said. “But we kept winning. Well, I’m going to remove a second one and then a third one and then a fourth one.”



Dmitri Kalnin, broken left ankle. Teppo Numminen, hip flexor. Henrik Tallinder, broken left arm. Jay McKee, left...