Buffalo NY as The New Hockey town

Each  generation  has begun  to  embrace, more  and more, the iconic sleet, snow, blizzards, but especially the ice – of the downtown hockey rink.

“Wide  right.  No  goal.”  Buffalonians  know  that  bumper  sticker well.

Heck,  one  would  think  that  four straight Super bowl  losses would be more  than  enough  to  put  a  struggling population out of its misery for good.

The  funny  thing  is,  the  hope  for  a championship  only  grows  stronger along the rust belt. When Brett Hull scored the illegal goal that ended the Stanley Cup finals between the Stars and  Sabers  in  ’99  (ESPN  listed  it as the fifth worst call – in the entire history of sport ), people uttered the same mantra that they did after each Super bowl  debacle of  the  same  decade:

“There’s always next year.”But meanwhile,  in  the back of  their minds, undying love for the Bills and Sabers  and  hope  for Victory  never wavered,  even  with  the  purported looming,  growing  curse  on  Sport that seems to hover over the region.

For  Buffalo  fans,  it’s  Hope  versus Superstition when the puck drops on game one of the regular season. Like their  football  counterparts,  the  Sabers’ main “curse” goes back many years. In the infamous “fog game” in the 74-75 Stanley Cup finals against Philadelphia,  Sabers  center  Jim Lorentz  spotted a bat  that had been pestering the players throughout the already bizarre game. As the bat few above  his  head while  he  skated  up ice,  he  raised  his  stick,  and  killed it. Many superstitious fans regarded this  as  an  “evil  omen.” When  the Sabres lost the series, the curse was “confirmed.”

From  that  point,  fans  endured  ten years of first round playoff exits, “No Goal,”  the  arrest  and  imprisonment of  owner  John  Rigas,  bankruptcy, and an oddball uniform featuring an angry cashew nut/banana  slug  for a logo. Throughout all of this, though, the  support  and  hope  for  the  team and  a  Stanley  Cup  never  wavered, (and  banana  slug  jersey  sales  have gone through the roof).

The Sabers  sold and filled 109% of the  seats  for  their  home  games  in 2008.  That  year’s  Winter  Classic drew  an  NHL  record-breaking  attendance  of  71,217  –  figure  in  the 11  thousand members of  the  ticket less masses who watched  the game on the big screen at the HSBC arena, and  the  true  number  is  staggering. Those  in  attendance  experienced  a preview of what heaven must be like.

The fans were exuberant,  they were joyful, they were peaceful – and they were  overflowing  with  hope.  Even on  January  1st,  heaven  is  a  very warm place.

The  Sabers  were  dominating  the NHL  after  end  of  the  Dead  Puck Era  and  lockout,  especially  in  the 2007-07  season.  Coming  out  of  a playoff  victory,  fans  who  attended games were greeted by  the other 10 thousand fans on the plaza who had gathered  in  the  freezing  night  air to watch  the  game  on  a  big  screen mounted on the arena. Near the parking  lots  between Mississippi  Street and Columbia,  fans were  treated  to more local exuberance. On the roof of the Nicholson and Hall Boiler and Welding Company, there was a huge, white, illuminated buffalo that snorted white steam while giant speakers next to it blared out Rick Jeanneret’s calls of the goals.

How  can  it  possibly  get  any  better than  this?  Is  there  anywhere  else where anything close to this happens during the NHL playoffs?

Western  New  York  has  produced and continues to produce NHL stars (such  as  Todd  Marchant,  Kevyn Adams, The Orpik  brothers,  and  of course,  Patrick Kane,  among many others). Players  that  experience  life in Buffalo often opt to retire there for its laid-back, small town, passionate lifestyle. Even Scotty Bowman, who was  born  in  iconic Montreal,  calls Buffalo home these days.

One  can  bet  that  Lindy  Ruff  will always  call  Buffalo  home,  no matter where his career takes him in the coming years: in 2007, he was fined 10  thousand dollars  for putting Andrew Peters, Patrick Kaleta (another WNY native), and Adam Mair on the ice  to find  justice after a very questionable hit on Chris Drury by Chris Neil.  Pesci’s  Pizza,  a  local  eatery, responded by immediately donating 10%  of  its  sales  until  the  fine was paid  (the money was graciously accepted by the Sabers, and even more graciously handed over to charities).Relocated  Buffalonians  now  experiencing  the  hockey  “doldrums”  of Florida make  yearly  pilgrimages  to Tampa Bay  and Atlanta. The  literal invasion of Sabers  fans, decked out in  their  jerseys,  is  always  a  shock to  the  people  in  those  cities.  Restaurant,  hotel,  and  even  arena  staff make  remarks  of  worry,  really  of intimidation  before  the  game,  as they are surrounded more and more by  the chanting hoards of Blue and Gold. After  the game,  their remarks always change to friendly goodbyes, having  witnessed  how  hockey-savvy  and well-mannered  Sabers  fans, as  Buffalonians,  can  be.  It  always proves  that  other  towns  just  don’t get hockey, what the sport stands for, and what it can mean to a people and their town.