District News

Students in AP Psychology class at Lancaster High School had a chance to ask questions and think about the preparation needed to be at their best as they heard from former Buffalo Sabres goalie Martin Biron. 

Among the students' questions was about how to deal with the anxiety of a big moment, whether that was a big game during his playing career or now in his work in media. One key, Biron said, was taking the feeling of anxiety and reframing it as a feeling of excitement. Teacher Daniel Rossi said both emotions are expressed in similar ways in the human body. 

“It turns it into a fun thing instead of something you dread,” Biron said. 

Biron, whose 16-year NHL career as a goalie also included time with the Philadelphia Flyers, New York Islanders and New York Rangers, now serves as a hockey analyst for MSG Network and on the “Sabres Live” television and radio show and podcast. Other topics covered during the classroom discussions included building team bonds with fellow players with different languages and backgrounds, staying engaged through a long season, lessons he’s learned about conditioning and nutrition as a player and coach and overcoming setbacks.

“You learn and be better,” Biron said. “You fail, you try to be better the next time.”

Biron has been coming to teacher Daniel Rossi’s classes for about ten years, and Rossi said guest speakers like Biron are appreciated for giving students a fresh perspective to lessons in the classroom.

“I hope they take what we’re learning here and apply it to their own lives,” Rossi said.