Buffalo Sabres and NHL 2022-2023

[Buffalo716]

On 2/1/2023 at 3:59 PM, Nextmanup said:

It feels like Dahlin has been around a long time because he has!  Dude was starting in the National league as an 18 year old, and has now played 325 games! 

 

What I get excited about is Owen Power, who is WAY ahead of Dahlin's development level at a similar stage, though the team he is working with is much better than the one Dahlin had and we have eternally better coaching now too.

 

 

 

 

I am hoping the building will be full tonight as it's the last game for quite a long time.

 

I have no idea why people living in WNY are still staying away from the building.

 

We have one of the most exciting teams in the league and play a wildly exciting brand of hockey.

 

Avoiding that place made all the sense in the world for the last decade, but not now!

 

Because people are hurting for money … There’s about 50% less people going out than there was pre-Covid

 

It’s clear to see when you’re around the city and downtown all day… Not as many people even go out

Edited February 2, 2023 by Buffalo716

[BADOLBILZ]

16 hours ago, Buffalo Super Fan said:

Horrible Buffalo Sabres loss tonight against the Carolina Hurricanes on TNT national television. The Buffalo Sabres week night attendance issues the Sabres organization are going to really have to give that some thought this offseason. Buffalo Sabres fans are treating week night games like Buffalo Bisons games. Meaning Buffalo fans only go on the weekends for Buffalo Bisons games for the most part. I wonder if the Buffalo Sabres need to look at going back to Sunday night games especially when the Buffalo Bills season is over because Buffalo just doesn’t go to week night games on work and school nights anymore. Also part of it is the economic realities of the limits of the Western New York market place. Sure Buffalo fans will pay more for the Buffalo Bills games but that money has to come from somewhere and it sure looks like it is at the expense of the Buffalo Sabres. I don’t buy the Sabres aren’t good excuse anymore nor do I buy that it is Key Bank Center is dirty fill in the blank excuse why Buffalo Sabres fans have stopped going to week night games. 
 

The same so called dirty Key Bank Center isn’t stopping Buffalo fans from going to Buffalo Bandits games. Buffalo fans just refuse to pay the Sabres prices for week night games anymore. It is a problem that the Sabres are going to have to look at. Again Sabres fans are asking a lot for the Sabres organization to max contract young Sabres players with as many empty Sabres seats on weekdays games at Key Bank Center not sold out. I think when the Buffalo Sabres get around to renovating Key Bank Center. I would go back to 16,500 max number of seats like Buffalo Memorial Auditorium days. There are too many seats for this market size and it’s economic constraints of today. I think the Buffalo Sabres financial losses are real and I wouldn’t be at all surprised if things don’t change by the end of this decade if this Sabres team could be potentially in Houston, Texas.
 

Houston is a growing market and too big not to have a NHL team. Terry Pegula is 71 years old and also once I believe lived in Houston, Texas. So could I see Houston Sabres by 2030 when Terry Pegula would be almost 80 years old if Buffalo Sabres attendance numbers don’t change? Yes I could because some NHL team is going to Houston by 2030. Phoenix, Florida, Ottawa, Columbus and Buffalo are the possible NHL moving candidates to Houston. I hope it’s not Buffalo but there are too many lower bowl seats at Key Bank Center empty I believe the Western New York business community dropped a lot of those high end lower bowl seats at Sabres games. Again I hope it doesn’t happen but as a Buffalo Sabres fan it could if things don’t change with Sabres attendance. Again I hope I am wrong in my opinion. Go Sabres! Let’s Go Buffalo 

 

 

You can not buy "the Sabres aren't good excuse anymore" all you want.........but they have been so bad for so long that a lot of fans aren't going to hurry back to see a fringy potential 1 and done playoff team.    Their poor performance drought dwarfs the Bills 17 year run of futility because it's hard not to be competitive in the NHL.     The Golden Knights enter the league and are quickly in the SCF.........the Kraken joined last year and are a top 10 team already and wipe their assiz with the Sabres every time they play.   The distrust turns to disinterest when you are as pathetic as the Sabres have been.  I know fans who used to drag me to mid-week games with them as recently as 5-6 years ago that aren't even back watching them on TV again yet.    

[Nextmanup]

16 hours ago, BADOLBILZ said:

 

 

You can not buy "the Sabres aren't good excuse anymore" all you want.........but they have been so bad for so long that a lot of fans aren't going to hurry back to see a fringy potential 1 and done playoff team.    Their poor performance drought dwarfs the Bills 17 year run of futility because it's hard not to be competitive in the NHL.     The Golden Knights enter the league and are quickly in the SCF.........the Kraken joined last year and are a top 10 team already and wipe their assiz with the Sabres every time they play.   The distrust turns to disinterest when you are as pathetic as the Sabres have been.  I know fans who used to drag me to mid-week games with them as recently as 5-6 years ago that aren't even back watching them on TV again yet.    

Sounds like your "Sabres fan friends" aren't really Sabres fans.

 

Which is perfectly fine!  But I think almost everyone actually interested in NHL hockey and the Sabres are back and have been so for a long time.  Some of us never left, as ugly as it was! 

 

 

17 hours ago, Buffalo716 said:

Because people are hurting for money … There’s about 50% less people going out than there was pre-Covid

 

It’s clear to see when you’re around the city and downtown all day… Not as many people even go out

Downtown Buffalo was a ghost town at noon on work days when I was down there wandering around every day working in the mid '90s.  And it was nothing new then.

 

WNY is a community of little rural towns and suburbs.

 

Amherst has been bigger than Buffalo for a long time.

 

I'm sure some are hurting, others are not; I don't think it's a money problem.  It's an interest problem and a trust problem.

 

Pegula has been the most inept owner in the NHL for a very long time and that has done a lot of damage.

 

 

 

[May Day 10]

On 2/2/2023 at 1:59 AM, Buffalo Super Fan said:

Buffalo fans just refuse to pay the Sabres prices for week night games anymore. It is a problem that the Sabres are going to have to look at. 

 

This is the biggest factor IMO.

 

The team fell into an artificial demand trap.  Golisano slashed STH pricing at the perfect time.  The team went on 2 deep runs and the ticket pricing was a huge value.  In 2007 they sold out of STH because you could literally sell only the Leafs games and finance the rest of the season.

 

They slowly but surely (some increases were somewhat aggressive) increased the pricing.  People did not want to miss out as there was a 2-5K person waiting list for season tickets, and the box-office pricing was oppressive.  There was a FOMO for the STH.

 

People were ready to start bailing at a few junctures, but there were massive moments and the STH continued with FOMO.  First was when Pegula bought the team.  People were fed up with status quo and he came in promising resources we never were able to enjoy.  Huge hooplah.  Then, people got sick of it again with Regier/Ruff and we had the master plan of getting McDavid and building a Chicago/Pittsburgh type dynasty.  Eichel came along, with a few other splashes and we were energized.  People got sick of it, then the promise of Eichel and Dahlin.... cant miss!  However, this last juncture, there was no hope left to sell.  Just before Covid, STH finally started to bail and it was clear the STH waiting list were electing NOT to buy season tickets.  

 

All along, the Sabres aggressively increased the pricing based on a sold out STH base.  Once that bubble burst, it is a huge challenge to get it back at these prices in this area.  Ticket prices are actually higher here in many price levels than they are in many large markets, including teams who have won recent Stanley Cups.

 

 

I think the Sabres need to slash pricing, at least in some categories to get the base built, fill the building, make it fun, then build on that, again increase pricing.... and this time, act like they value their STH (I bailed in 2019 due to being neglected since Ted Black was sent packing for that snake Russ Brandon, I returned this season and it is a completely different animal).

 

 

 

 

[May Day 10]

17 minutes ago, Nextmanup said:

Sounds like your "Sabres fan friends" aren't really Sabres fans.

 

Which is perfectly fine!  But I think almost everyone actually interested in NHL hockey and the Sabres are back and have been so for a long time.  Some of us never left, as ugly as it was! 

 

 

I strongly disagree with this.  

I probably watched about 98% of every minute of every Sabres game from about 1987-maybe 2013.  Win or lose, bankruptcy, even eliminated from the playoffs.  Long time multiple-decade season ticket holder too.

 

There was a time that it was not worth it to watch anymore.  Through the slog of some of the end of the Ruff/Regier era.  Boring uncompetitive hockey, and then the tank.  Why bother.  I began to miss a lot of games, and I didn't miss watching...  Mind you, this coincided with having kids too.  In the Phil Housley and Kruger time, I think I missed entire seasons other than attending a few games.  I was a very early adopter of knowing who Jack Eichel really is and it bled into the entire organization, and no manager knew how to handle it or step up to him. 

 

The 3-hour time commitment of watching an irrelevant hockey team in an irrelevant game where nothing interesting will happen just wasn't worth it.  Going to the game was even worse, even for free and I got rid of my season tickets. 

 

 

I like this team and direction, however, it is still hard for me to get back into that habit of watching entire games 82 times at 3 hours/pop.  I have issues with the NHL product as a whole too.  I tend to follow how they are doing on the ESPN app... and if its close in the 3rd I will tune in.  I have been to about 6 games this season (and also jumped in as a STH because a great location was available and the Sabres wined and dined me)

Edited February 3, 2023 by May Day 10

[BADOLBILZ]

6 minutes ago, Nextmanup said:

Sounds like your "Sabres fan friends" aren't really Sabres fans.

 

Which is perfectly fine!  But I think almost everyone actually interested in NHL hockey and the Sabres are back and have been so for a long time.  Some of us never left, as ugly as it was! 

 

 

Downtown Buffalo was a ghost town at noon on work days when I was down there wandering around every day working in the mid '90s.  And it was nothing new then.

 

WNY is a community of little rural towns and suburbs.

 

Amherst has been bigger than Buffalo for a long time.

 

I'm sure some are hurting, others are not; I don't think it's a money problem.  It's an interest problem and a trust problem.

 

Pegula has been the most inept owner in the NHL for a very long time and that has done a lot of damage.

 

 

 

 

 

Well you are wrong about that.    A lot of people aren't bought back in yet..........and if you think anyone outside of a 25 mile radius of the arena takes issue with being called not a "real" Sabres fan........they do not.    The Sabres are still in easily the worst stretch of hockey in NHL history.   They are again on the outside of the playoffs looking in at this point and have a difficult schedule.   So I am not surprised when I walk into a sports themed restaurant/bar an hour from the arena and the Sabres game is not on anywhere.   They have been a complete embarrassment to their fans and WNY in general and as such are largely irrelevant still.   But you aren't here and going to games either so I guess you wouldn't know.    You are a New England sports fan first and foremost.   If you think having your co-favorite team be the Bruins doesn't keep you from being a "real" Sabres fan.......well, I disagree. 😆   

[PromoTheRobot]

58 minutes ago, Nextmanup said:

 

Pegula has been the most inept owner in the NHL for a very long time and that has done a lot of damage.

 

 

 

 

He has competition in Vancouver for that honor.

 

I worry about the Sabres long term prospects if attendance doesn't pick up. Economic hardship is a real factor but there are half a dozen cities an NHL team could thrive in. I never take either the Bills or Sabres for granted staying in WNY.

 

What's it like for Canadians crossing the border for games these days? The Sabres rely on that Canadian fanbase even more than the Bills. They need fans from the Niagara Peninsula to cross and go to games, especially midweek.

[Jauronimo]

11 minutes ago, May Day 10 said:

 

I strongly disagree with this.  

I probably watched about 98% of every minute of every Sabres game from about 1987-maybe 2013.  Win or lose, bankruptcy, even eliminated from the playoffs.  Long time multiple-decade season ticket holder too.

 

There was a time that it was not worth it to watch anymore.  Through the slog of some of the end of the Ruff/Regier era.  Boring uncompetitive hockey, and then the tank.  Why bother.  I began to miss a lot of games, and I didn't miss watching...  Mind you, this coincided with having kids too.  In the Phil Housley and Kruger time, I think I missed entire seasons other than attending a few games.  I was a very early adopter of knowing who Jack Eichel really is and it bled into the entire organization, and no manager knew how to handle it or step up to him. 

 

The 3-hour time commitment of watching an irrelevant hockey team in an irrelevant game where nothing interesting will happen just wasn't worth it.  Going to the game was even worse, even for free and I got rid of my season tickets. 

 

 

I like this team and direction, however, it is still hard for me to get back into that habit of watching entire games 82 times at 3 hours/pop.  I have issues with the NHL product as a whole too.  I tend to follow how they are doing on the ESPN app... and if its close in the 3rd I will tune in.  I have been to about 6 games this season (and also jumped in as a STH because a great location was available and the Sabres wined and dined me)

Watching even 90% of an NHL season is an incredible commitment.  I don't know how you ever did that.  

 

I took a few years off of watching anything other than playoff hockey.  6PM puck drops here in the CST, work, and a social life was not conducive to watching a ton of puck.  I bought into the Dahlin hype and sprung for the NHL package in 2018 after the Sabres were the November Eastern Conference Champs riding a 10 game heater.  Even those games were tough to watch but I thought maybe I was just out of practice on what regular season NHL play looked like. As everyone remembers, the boring hockey continued but the winning stopped and a month later the games were unbearable to watch.  I pledged to watch more hockey each season but the same pattern occurred and I was tuned out before the All Star break.

 

Being a real fan doesn't mean I need to commit to watching the sporting equivalent of paint drying 50 times a year. 

 

Last year, the team still managed to lose a ton but I found myself actually wanting to watch them play and that has continued into this year.  Unfortunately they like to lose when I watch as I witnessed every single second of that 10 game slide early in the year and they got hot as I was out of the country but I'm sticking with it.  Just not on most Friday and Saturday nights.

[Simon]

18 minutes ago, Jauronimo said:

they like to lose when I watch as I witnessed every single second of that 10 game slide early in the year and they got hot as I was out of the country

Are you setting us up to GoFund your next trip abroad?

[Jauronimo]

1 minute ago, Simon said:

Are you setting us up to GoFund your next trip abroad?

If we are in the hunt in March and I need to go back to Bali to get us into the playoffs, its a sacrifice I'm willing to make.  Pass the collection plate and dig deep brothers and sisters!  

[US Egg]

2 hours ago, Nextmanup said:

Pegula has been the most inept owner in the NHL for a very long time and that has done a lot of damage.

Think the fanboy in him clouded his vision out of the gate as new owner of a Thomas Vanek led team, Vanek was never a leader.

 

Pegula’s keep trying but it’s been a mess too long. This season has some twinkle and awaken some longtime slumbering fans.

[Buffalo716]

2 hours ago, Nextmanup said:

Sounds like your "Sabres fan friends" aren't really Sabres fans.

 

Which is perfectly fine!  But I think almost everyone actually interested in NHL hockey and the Sabres are back and have been so for a long time.  Some of us never left, as ugly as it was! 

 

 

Downtown Buffalo was a ghost town at noon on work days when I was down there wandering around every day working in the mid '90s.  And it was nothing new then.

 

WNY is a community of little rural towns and suburbs.

 

Amherst has been bigger than Buffalo for a long time.

 

I'm sure some are hurting, others are not; I don't think it's a money problem.  It's an interest problem and a trust problem.

 

Pegula has been the most inept owner in the NHL for a very long time and that has done a lot of damage.

 

 

 

Downtown Buffalo is a ghost town at noon on workdays because most people are working 

 

Downtown livens up more at night … Especially sheas district and elmwood and Allentown… even parts of west side and south Buffalo are nite places

 

Also Amherst is not bigger than Buffalo… You can take the population of Amherst Cheektowaga and Lancaster And the city of Buffalo still has a larger population

 

And I know economics Is not a straight line thing… Some people are doing better than others

 

But A lot of people in the city of Buffalo are really struggling for money… It has the highest child poverty rate in the country

 

And the Buffalo Sabres fans are all not suburbanites… Lots of city fans… Hence buffalo in the Sabres part… They do represent the city

 

 

 

Edited February 3, 2023 by Buffalo716

[Johnny Hammersticks]

We got 4 tickets 2 rows up in 308 for ~$220 for the 2/11 Calgary game.  Those same seats at TD Garden would be around $525-550 easy for a Saturday night game.  Sabres tix are still a very good deal.

[PromoTheRobot]

5 hours ago, Johnny Hammersticks said:

We got 4 tickets 2 rows up in 308 for ~$220 for the 2/11 Calgary game.  Those same seats at TD Garden would be around $525-550 easy for a Saturday night game.  Sabres tix are still a very good deal.

 

You'd never know reading Twitter. 

[Jrb1979]

On 2/3/2023 at 12:25 PM, PromoTheRobot said:

 

He has competition in Vancouver for that honor.

 

I worry about the Sabres long term prospects if attendance doesn't pick up. Economic hardship is a real factor but there are half a dozen cities an NHL team could thrive in. I never take either the Bills or Sabres for granted staying in WNY.

 

What's it like for Canadians crossing the border for games these days? The Sabres rely on that Canadian fanbase even more than the Bills. They need fans from the Niagara Peninsula to cross and go to games, especially midweek.

It's back to the way it used to be in terms of crossing the border. 

 

I've been to 2 games this season already and likely going to the Calgary game next Saturday. I never expected playoffs this season but to be in the mix til the end of the season. They are fun to watch. Was hoping now that the Bills are done the Sabres would get more focus. I'm not just talking about here but even media coverage. 

[BillsFan4]

That all star skills competition was so stupid. I was cringing half the night.

[Johnny Hammersticks]

5 hours ago, BillsFan4 said:

That all star skills competition was so stupid. I was cringing half the night.

Most of it was very dumb, yes.  The shootout thing was brutal.  I was waiting for the Nickelodeon slime to start spraying everywhere.

[DD4Bills]

Am in Dallas this week and went to the Stars-Ducks game last night...had this "no goal" atrocity of a banner to look at all night.

 

 

[Draconator]

Sabres extend Cozens

 

 

[Bray Wyatt]

36 minutes ago, Draconator said:

Sabres extend Cozens

 

 

 

He has been really good and should only be getting better, one of my faves on the team so glad they locked him in