Sabres Lose Winter Classic, Fans Are the Winners
The NHL got just about everything they wanted. A packed house, some wild weather, a rabid fanbase both inside the stadium and out, and a shootout winner scored by the young man the league wants to make the new face of the NHL.
In short, it was a dream-day for the NHL.
It was a perfect day for Buffalo as well. The city was on the semi-big (well, OK, decidedly small) stage as the capital city of the NHL for one day, and came through with shining colors. From the moment we pulled into Drive 5 at 8:50 am, you knew there was something special happening. As the lot filled up, we probably had thirty-some people at our tailgate, and the lot seemed full by around 11:00. The weather was pretty mild as 30 degrees with some wet snow isn’t exactly the kind of stuff that alarms a Buffalonian.
As it got closer to game time the precip started to change to a more powdery snow, and I imagine it looked pretty cool on television. The Canadian National Anthem and God Bless America were enough to give goosebumps, but really everyone was just building up to the faceoff. I know it wasn’t a game for the hockey purists to love, but it really was about much more than that. To me, the game was a culmination of a five-year process during which Buffalo fell back in love with hockey. Many outsiders may not realize the seriously depressed period Sabres fans endured both during and after the years of the Rigas family’s ownership of the team. For a team that once sold out every single game between October 15, 1972 through November 12, 1980, you knew something was seriously wrong when Buffalo fell to 27th in league attendance in 2003.
Thanks to committed ownership in the form of Tom Golisano, and the hard work of the Sabres front office and marketing people, the Sabres have won back Buffalonians. Honestly, it doesn’t take much to get our loyalty. Buffalo fans sold out the football season at The Ralph this year for a team that was, yet again, 7-9.
But the Sabres have meant much to this area over the past three seasons, and yesterday was our chance to show them exactly how much. So we did.
It may seem stupid to outsiders. To many, yesterday was just one big, NHL PR event that could have gone horribly wrong. To some, it was an event that set the NHL’s image back 30 years. I’ve yet to read anyone else who wrote that, but there’s one in every crowd, isn’t there? Bucky is right. Yesterday was about “celebrating hockey in Buffalo”. I’m sure that wasn’t what the league wanted to accomplish, or why Penguin fans made the trip here, but it’s exactly what played out with Buffalonians. I saw few Penguins fans there, and I know it seems anecdotal, but something tells me about 65,000 of the 71,000-plus fans in attendance were pulling for the home team.
As a fan of the NHL and as someone who wants to see the league be more successful in America, you couldn’t help but love how things unfolded yesterday. Sure, there probably aren’t a lot of people in Tennessee who suddenly became hockey fans, but I suspect there are a lot of casual fans, or fans who had given up on hockey, who may just be re-thinking that decision after watching yesterday’s game.
So let’s take yesterday for what it was worth. After the puck dropped, I’m not so sure that there was any one moment that I’ll remember in a couple weeks. Because, no, it was not the best of hockey games. But yesterday was not just about the game being played on the ice, but the totality of the event instead. That’s something we will all remember for a long time.
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Too bad for Bucky, that Dicesare won the coin toss on who would write the negative article on the Winter Classic.
The truth lies somewhere between Bucky and Bob. The game, as televised, appealed primarily to people who were already fans of the game. The interminable amount of time spent repairing the ice did a lot to drive away the casual fans who stopped by to watch. The pre-game and intermissions could have been better spent focused on the love affair fans have with their teams rather than Bob Costas retelling personal anecdotes…
Why no camera shots from HSBC Arena? Why not more of a focus on the crazed Buffalo fan and the tailgating scene? It would have made the broadcast more intriguing.
All of that is nitpicking…I will always regret not being at the stadium for what was an awesome event. Too bad some of us have crap jobs which require working on holidays.
In the end, it was a great day for the NHL and a great day for hockey fans.
Mark it down in blogging history…the day “Bucky was right.” And Kevin is right, the snow did look pretty cool on TV, although I agree with Christopher that camera shots from HSBC would have probably been great and showed the TV audience how crazy Buffalo is about their hockey team.
It couldve been worse….
You couldve not gotten totally hammered on New Years Eve, tailgated for a few hours and just as you think you are going to see the biggest event in buffalo in a long while or in the NHL, you realize that you dont have tickets for you and your wife.
And then when it seems like there may be a slight glimmer of light that you get to watch this in person, you talk to scalpers only to hear that they want $150 for one $10 ticket, but yet you only have about $75 in your pocket.
Then you get the lovely drive home hearing from your partner how much this whole day sucked and how upset she is.
Happy New Year
The only guy on the entire planet that didn’t get it was Bob Dicesare. What a tool. Way to piss in my cornflakes this morning Bob. I am envious of all you folks that got to attend the event live. As far as I was concerned, the game and event surrounding it came off exactly as planned. The NHL got it right and my former home town as usual got it right with it’s support.
It was amazing.
Having elected not to tailgate, and therefore being stuck in traffic for a significant period of time (picked the wrong lane, naturally), I can say with certainty that there were vehicles with license plates from all over the US and Canada going towards the stadium.
My section was a totally diverse mix, and with the exception of a few boos for Sid being answered with a few yays (understandably), everyone was on the same page (including Santa Claus), which was to have a good time.
It was awesome.
As a Pens fan living in Tennessee, I thought it was great for the game of hockey and talking to friends of mine who aren’t neccesarily hockey fans, the response has been overwhelmingly positive. The good thing is, most people that dont watch hockey still could have thought the flow of the game wasn’t bad since they are used to watching sports where all people do is stand around. Great day for hockey, great day for Buffalo, and a great day for hockey fans of any team.
I pooped a small rhino the next day. The horn part hurt!
My Dad came out to see the game with me… and I made the exact same comments as Bob DiCesare to him. True hockey fans should have loved it… but anyone with a passing interest would flip the channel during the slow play and the ice fixing breaks.
I wish I was there but the casual fan would be more excited to watch an American car make left turns 500 times.
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