Since 2005 the Fattey Hockey League has quietly been the place for Buffalo-area hockey players from high school all the way through the NHL to keep their legs fresh during the summer. It wasn’t so quiet on Monday when Sabres young stars Rasmus Dahlin and Casey Mittelstadt jumped in on the action for a night.

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For the second time in FHL history, an NHL No. 1 pick took the ice (the other being South Buffalo native, Chicago Blackhawks star, and former FHL regular Patrick Kane) when Dahlin dropped in along with Mittelstadt, the Sabres first-round pick from 2017.

But how does that happen out of the blue? After all, the FHL isn’t exactly like Minnesota’s Da Beauty League where it’s teeming with professional players. Heck, Mittelstadt plays there when he’s back home. Turns out, it’s a little bit of lucky timing and a gambit gone wrong by FHL founder Nik Fattey.

Those few surprises are named Casey Mittelstadt, Rasmus Dahlin, and they’ll join FHLers Alex Iafallo and Zemgus Girgensons in tonight’s 7:45 game on Rink 1! Cory Conacher will be here as well!

Get to HarborCenter now!

— FHL (@FatteyHockey) August 6, 2018

Fattey, a former Sabres amateur and pro scout and currently the GM of the NWHL Buffalo Beauts, was the captain of Team Cool Ranch (the theme for FHL team names this year is potato chips) and he already had Los Angeles Kings forward Alex Iafallo on his roster. But much like you’d see with Mr. Burns’ Springfield Nuclear Power Plant softball team, he loaded up Cool Ranch with ringers for their quarterfinal round playoff game against Team Ketchup.

Tampa Bay Lightning forward Cory Conacher and Sabres forward Zemgus Girgensons joined Cool Ranch even though Girgensons was already playing in FHL with Team Sour Cream. Transactions can be a bit fluid in summer hockey, apparently. Fattey even brought back FHL legend Vinny Scarsella, who starred at Canisius College and most recently played in the UK Elite Ice Hockey League after time in the ECHL and Germany.

“Nik texted me and told me he front-loaded his roster so then he told me to feel free to invite whoever you can get,” Team Ketchup captain Nolan Sheeran said.

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Sheeran, who just finished his senior season at Canisius and is headed to the SPHL where he’ll play for the Fayetteville Marksmen, did his job as captain and got Team Ketchup teammates, Sabres prospect Andrew Oglevie, Carolina Hurricanes prospect Andrew Poturalski, and Blackhawks prospect Dennis Gilbert, to hustle up and recruit some ringers of their own.

“I went to the pro skate in the morning and (Dahlin and Mittelstadt) were out there,” Poturalski said. “We’re good friends with Oglevie and Dennis Gilbert played at Notre Dame with him, so we just had him talk to them and they were all for it.”

Gilbert gave all the credit to pulling in Team Ketchup’s two biggest fish to Oglevie.

“(Oglevie)’s become friends with those guys through development camp and we had a skate in the morning with them and a few of the other pro guys in town,” Gilbert said. “So we saw them out there and… we just asked (Dahlin and Mittelstadt) as a joke and they said, ‘Yeah, it could be fun.’ So they came out and we apparently turned quite a few heads.”

As it turns out, Fattey leaving the door open to bring whoever helped put his opponents over the top. Team Ketchup took out Team Cool Ranch in three games with Ketchup winning the final two games 4-0 and 4-2 after it lost the first 6-5. Dahlin, in particular, did his damage including a goal against former Beauts goalie Kelsey Neumann that caught everyone’s attention.

Given that it wasn’t known publicly until shortly before the game that Dahlin and Mittelstadt were going to play and the fact the Fattey League isn’t exactly pulling in big crowds (it’s generally family and friends stopping by), having media frantically show up to get a glimpse made for a bit of a spectacle.

Rasmus Dahlin out there owning @FatteyHockey.

Kudos to @PhotogRobN for getting the goal #Sabres @WKBW

— Matthew Bové (@Matt_Bove) August 7, 2018

“That was just kind of the first FHL All-Star Game,” Sheeran said. “It was playoffs, but at the same time, it wasn’t our original rosters. So we’re kind of, ‘Ah, whatever happens, happens.’ It’s two really good teams. Even on our team, we have a ton of college, AHL, and then we got those guys as well. Each team had a lot of experience to bring so it was an FHL All-Star Game for a night.”

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Team Ketchup went on to beat Team Salt & Vinegar for the 2018 Fattey Hockey League title on Wednesday night after getting a lift from Dahlin and Mittelstadt on Monday in the quarterfinal.

“Guys were asking, ‘Do you feel bad about (adding them)’ and how are you going to say no to those two guys,” Poturalski said. “We’re glad to have them… If another team in this league is going to make those moves, we’re going to try and one-up ‘em and we want to win as well.”

and @CMittelstadt for another ….

— Dan Hickling (@DanHickling) August 7, 2018

As for who deserves the most credit for pulling in the two biggest ringers for a night, no one really wanted to take full credit for that, but Poturalski and Gilbert each pointed the finger at Sheeran and Oglevie.

“I’m the lineup guy,” Sheeran said. “When we need guys, I find guys. They like to say I’m the People’s Captain, so I just make friends and I make the connections so that if we ever need them, I say, ‘Hey you mind popping in for a game?’ I’ll give myself credit on that part.”

(Top photo of Rasmus Dahlin by Jerome Davis/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)