Profiling Saginaw’s Dow Events Center

It is Day One of the Ultimate Sports Road Trip’ journey to Notre Dame and back, and for the first leg of the trip, we paid a visit to Saginaw, Michigan, home of the Ontario Hockey League’s Saginaw Spirit.

Now Saginaw is one of just three U.S. based OHL franchises, the other two being the Erie Otters and the Plymouth Whalers, and we often joke that these junior hockey venues are pretty much a boilerplate experience – 6000 wine red colored seats, small lobby with local Sports Hall of Fame and exhibits just off to the right, showcasing people most never heard of nor do they care about. On the concession menu – Pizza Pizza, Tim Horton’s and poutine. Throw in a restaurant high above center ice and the ubiquitous mural of Queen Elizabeth hanging up above one end zone, and no need to drive all the way to Sault Ste. Marie. We just nailed it.

That being said, it is kind of refreshing to get the OHL experience from the American angle, and here in Saginaw game night does not disappoint. Fans here love their hockey and are passionate about their Spirit, a team they have had here for just a few seasons, after the franchise relocated from North Bay.

The Dow Events Center is a multi faceted entertainment and meeting facility located on the fringes of downtown Saginaw. The center city here is dreary and depressing, with many vacant storefronts and dank, dark streets. Save for this facility and a theatre one block away, there would be absolutely no reason to come downtown at all.

But the arena itself is a real charmer – just under 6000 seats, all upholstered and plenty wide, a sparkling rotunda style atrium lobby with flags of all 20 OHL teams ringing the pavilion. Video board, party decks at ice level on each corner, and a low enough ceiling so that the place can get really noisy when al the seats are filled. The arena underwent an extensive renovation back in 2003 costing upwards of $14-million, this after their former minor league team departed mid season in the dead of night, and disgusted fans were ready to bulldoze the place.

It has all worked out here in Saginaw. Team owner Richard Garber stood at one of the exits after the game, high fiving fans and patting them on the back as they departed. Fun seems to be the mantra here, with mascots and game day crew shooting t-shirts, in fact so many of them, that we had to switch sections to a less crowded area so we could watch the game with fewer distractions.

With scant little tradition here, there are no retired numbers hanging from the rafters, and the team has yet to win an OHL championship or appear in the Memorial Cup tournament despite playoff runs in recent years. But that may all change this year as the team is off to a fast start, and headlining the 2009-10 squad is 19 year old defenseman Nick Crawford, who is in his fourth season with the team, and was drafted by the Buffalo Sabres in 2008. On this night, Crawford netted two assists as the Spirit throttled the visiting Oshawa Generals 5-1.

Following the game we headed out to a local pub and eatery (not in scary scary downtown), and ran into Spirit play by play broadcaster Leigh Cunningham. Leigh was kind enough to spend a little time with us and shared his thoughts about the team and their fan base. Having worked with OHL teams for a number of years, including with the London Knights, Leigh was very deferential towards Saginaw, saying that fans here have been very quick to embrace their team and the OHL product.

Day One of this USRT adventure is in the books! Saturday we point the car south towards South Bend, and a 2:30 PM kickoff at Notre Dame Stadium as the Fighting Irish host Navy, a team they have beat at home for generations. For the nightcap, it’s then off to the United Center in Chicago for the Chicago Bulls. They are promising sunny skies and 63 degrees at game time, it should be a great day!

Above – the Blue Line Club is a gussied up banquet hall open to season ticket holders. Below – a birds eye view of the action from one of the corner party decks.

Props to Bill Konesko at the Saginaw Spirit for his assistance!

Yuri Khmylev Open Thread: Flyers at Sabres

Jiri Novotny, Vyacheslov Kozlov, or the EuroTrain?  An easy choice, thank you.

Khmylev’s career in the NHL may have been a relatively brief one, but he was blessed to play left wing with the most dynamic duo in Sabres history in their finest season.  In 1992-93, Pat LaFontaine centered the line of Alexander Mogilny on the right wing and Yuri Khmylev on the left.  To be fair, Dave Andreychuk spent some time at left wing that season as well, but he was traded to Toronto late in the season along with Darren Puppa for goaltender Grant Fuhr.  After that, Khmylev manned the left side exclusively.

Khmylev had 20 goals and 19 assists that season, and he bettered that mark the next year with 27 goals and 31 assists despite LaFontaine missing most of that season.

Things went downhill after that as LaFontaine never played another full season, they traded an unhappy Mogilny in 1995, and the Sabres went into a period of decline.  Khmylev was eventually shipped to the Blues in 1996 for a second-round pick that turned out to be Cory Sarich.

Still, 1992-93 was probably the most exciting season I can recall as a Sabres fan, and Yuri Khmylev was a big part of it.  Sorry, Yuri, for all those times I called you “The Eurotrash.”  It was all in good fun.

Drew Rosenhaus Not Fond of the Bills

Terrell Owens is having one of, it not the worst year of his career in Buffalo.  Surprisingly, he’s yet to verbally throw anyone in the organization under the bus.  Sure, he’s offered up excuses, mainly injuries, but he’s not attacked anyone via a tongue lashing.
His agent, Drew Rosenhaus is unwilling to be as kind.  In [...]

Forecast Friday

Thank you, NFL schedule makers, for giving us a weeks reprieve from the Bills.  If only these things rolled around more often.  When we meet again next week we’ll have nine weeks left in the Dick Jauron era, and the Trent Edwards watch will stand at nine weeks remaining to save his QB job (if it can be saved at this point).

May as well cut right to the chase.

Last week was my first loss on these hallowed BfloBlog pages, so we’re looking to bounce back strong this week.  Let’s see who might help us here.

Indianapolis* (-9) over Houston

Green Bay (-9.5) over Tampa Bay*

New Orleans* (-13) over Carolina

I honestly cannot wait to bet these games.  If you don’t like those, you can always go with New England* (-10.5) over Miami.  It’s another game that has like a 99% chance of going your way.

Philadelphia at Buffalo tonight

Last year was a tough one for Sabres fans, what with the Sabres missing the playoffs and all.  But one thing besides the playoffs that has stuck with me was the Sabres 0-4 record against the Flyers last year.  After the Leafs, which has really become a one-sided joke of a rivalry, there is no team in hockey I despise more than Philly.  So getting swept last year demands vengeance.

I mentioned yesterday that Danny Briere will miss tonight’s game, along with Ryan Parent.  Add to that the issues the Flyers are having combating the flu and the Sabres are dealing with a Philadelphia team that is at less than full strength.

Best of all should be the return of Ray Emery to HSBC Arena.  Emery has always fared well against Buffalo during the regular season, going 10-4 against them over his last three NHL seasons.  He’s been fairly solid this year with a .916 save percentage while everyone around the NHL waits for him to implode.  Still, it seems like every year we’re waiting for Emery to melt down and he never really does.

For Buffalo, Andrej Sekera is healthy enough to play while Toni Lydman will be out with a groin injury (or as Dick Jauron would say, Lydman is a groin).  Sounds like everybody else is good to go despite some players dealing with the flu this week.  Remember the good ol’ days when a player having the “flu” meant he was either too hung over to play or didn’t want to go against “Tiger” Williams.  Euphemisms – another casualty of H1N1.

7:30 start tonight.  Family commitments will be keeping me from attending, but I’ll be watching thanks to the miracle of DVR.

Physical Challenge

by Ryan

I wish I wanted to talk more about the Islanders, I really do. I wish I had something insightful to say about the last 120 minutes of hockey the Sabres have played, but they played the Islanders, and so I do not.

The 2009-10 season is over a month old, and by and large the Sabres have played a big mess of boring teams. New York is only the beginning: Phoenix, Atlanta, Nashville, Tampa Bay, Florida have all found their way into the schedule in the first few weeks. We even saw a comically bad Toronto team, which certainly kills a bit of the intensity if you ask me. No one is happier about the Sabres’ fast start than I, but it was interesting to catch myself looking past these early October games and into the next month.

Put it this way: the Sabres had a good start against some noticeably weak, or just plain boring teams. Sure we saw New Jersey at The Rock, but they laid an egg. Same goes for Detroit a few weeks before. The only real fun anyone had was against Montreal, and we still have no idea what they are made of.

All that changes starting tonight. As the Sabres enter the first week in November, they enter the obstacle course part of the track. Twelve games in 24 days. Philadelphia three times. Boston twice. Ottawa. A bit of Western Conference play in Edmonton and Calgary. Over the next few weeks, we are going to see a completely different set of uniforms in our building and on our tv screens; and I think it’s going to make for better hockey.

What we hope is that we still see the same Sabres. We’ve seen good starts from this team before, but they need to maintain the level of play they’ve had over the first few weeks to keep it going against better teams. I have no idea if they will do that, but I’m excited nonetheless. I’ll be honest, I want to see them slip a bit. I mean, this team is dying for adversity. Miller has been so good, and the opponents have been so… boring.

I want to see tough games. I want to see drama. Most of all, I want to see how this team responds. November is going to be a tough month, but at the end of it we will know a whole lot more about this team than we do right now. As the days get colder we get to see flashes of this team’s reality. I’m excited we will have the chance to see those flashes against the Flyers, Bruins, and Flames.

We’ve been playing for weeks, but tonight it feels like real hockey starts now.

Let’s go.

Faceoffs Coincide With Sabres Strong Start

The first six weeks of the season have been good to the Buffalo Sabres. After a 5-0 loss to the New York Islanders on Saturday, the club redeemed itself with a shutout of its own back at home. Now 9-2-1 on the season, the Sabres are leading the Northeast and have at least a game [...]

UB: Stephanie Velez Named to Two All-MAC Teams

The Mid-American Conference announced its 2009 women’s soccer All-MAC teams on Thursday night, with UB freshman Stephanie Velez being named to the All-MAC Second Team and the All-MAC Freshman team after a breakout rookie season. Velez was a key component of the Buffalo offense, leading the Bulls in goals, points and [...]

Bona: D’Lancy Carter selected Dakota Wizards in NBA D-League Draft

Former St. Bonaventure men’s basketball player D’Lancy Carter will get an opportunity to continue his dream of playing professional basketball, as the 6-foot-10 forward was selected by the Dakota Wizards on Thursday evening in the NBA Development League draft.
Carter was picked in the fourth round with the 54th overall pick. The [...]

Fantasy Friday: The All-”No Way” Teams

Do you all know how difficult it is to write a Bills-oriented fantasy column?
With the possible exception of IDP sensation Jairus Byrd, there is not one Buffalo Bill who can be considered a safe fantasy starter.
So maybe it’s actually an easy task. Just don’t start your Bills. Start players against the Bills. [...]