Do you know any medicine men, asked [Zhitnik]? Other teams have gurus and Buddhas and such to help them, so maybe the Sabres could get some help from Aboriginal spirits, suggested the Russian player. [Ted Nolan] figured, why not? He invited a friend, Jake, to a practice, and Jake showed up in full buckskin regalia (instead of his regular T-shirt and jeans) to perform a solemn cleansing ceremony. He even blessed one player's stick. The player scored that night. So the player shows up at Nolan's hotel room before the next game to see if Nolan knew any of that "medicine man magic." Nolan figured, why not? He blessed the stick.