Buftex Posted June 18, 2006 Posted June 18, 2006 Real hockey town? How'd the Sabres franchise look about 5 years ago? Just wondering. 710099[/snapback] The reasons the Sabres were "nearly defunct" five years ago, had nothing to do with fan support, and everything to do with their criminal owner, and his pending legal problems. The Sabres have always enjoyed strong fan support. Given the economic climate of WNY over the last 30 years, and the dwindling population, it is amazing that they do as well as they do. Not to take anything away from you Hurricanes. I picked them to win this series in six. I can't say I hate being wrong in this instance. If I were a Canes fan, I would be a little alarmed by their performance last night. They were dreadful. Eric Cole and Cam Ward were their best player last night, which is not saying much about their leadership. Your point about Lindy Ruff being one of the biggest whiners in all of the NHL is well taken (it is the only criticism I have of Ruff, I wish he would just keep his mouth shut at times) but come on! Peter Laviolette gives Ruff some pretty stiff competition. When Ruff whines, it comes off more as the "old school" NHL former player-coach, trying to motivate his team, trying to create a bunker mentality. You rarely, if ever, heard Buffalo Sabres players making excuses for their bad play, even when they were there. The Canes, on they other hand, seem to have been priming themselves for a choke throughout the last two series. They (Laviollette, Brindamour, Weight) always say that they are going to "take the high road", and then proceed to cry their hearts out, like little kids. I think you make some valid points about the Canes relative newness to the area, in defending their "front-running" fans. Keep in mind though, the Sabres captured the hearts of Buffalo with one losing finals appearence in their first 30 years of existence. One can't help but wonder how much of the Canes fan success has come about, because of their relative success on the ice, in their short time of existence. It is only natural. I remember when the Nashville Predators came into existence. They were a very hottest ticket in the NHL for their firt two or three years...now, they give tickets away. Before Dallas won a cup, they had a very small, but loyal, fan base. Now, they are a tough ticket. Either way, despite the pain of the Sabres loss to the Canes (a team I now have a ton of good old fashioned sports hatred for!), this has been a great finals. I will stick to my prediction that the Hurricanes will win the whole thing, but I would be delighted to be wrong! I forsee a good rivalry developing between the Sabres and Hurricanes, much like the strong hatred shared by the Dallas, Colorado and Detroit franchises over the last decade or so...I am looking forward to it!
MadBuffaloDisease Posted June 19, 2006 Posted June 19, 2006 So losing Doug Weight is "adversity?" Please! What's happening is is Markannen is playing great, whereas he was shaky before. If Roloson hadn't been injured, this series probably would have been over in game 5.
Catholic Guilt Posted June 19, 2006 Posted June 19, 2006 Hey Lv_bills, I live in Charlotte Nort Carolina and have for the past 15 years. I work for a division of NASCAR. I attended the ECF game one in Raleigh. You are wrong on all points of your arguements. Canicas are pretty lame hockey fans. I don't know why OLN has a hard-on for them and that arena. Go Oilers!
rockpile Posted June 19, 2006 Posted June 19, 2006 Did someone twist your arm and force you to type on your keyboard in response to this thread? Do you really think you're going to change my mind -- particularly when you pull bogus "facts" out of your arse? 710102[/snapback] 59.7% of facts presented in a chatroom are bogus. 88% of the bogus facts are pulled from the arse. My arm is being twisted right now as I type these stats I just fabricated. I type better with one hand anyway, as long as it is the one with six fingers. hyuck - hyuck.
RayFinkle Posted June 19, 2006 Posted June 19, 2006 The guys on OLN said it the other night, that there hasn't been a louder arena than Raleigh that they experienced all year.
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