Pre-Game Talk: Game 28 3/18 7:07 PM - GAME ON!!!! Finally we play Buffalo - NESN, ESPN+, SN, TVAS, 98.5 WBZ-FM

[OV]

Awesome!

Ive been to Buffalo a few times and have friends there. Although I don’t really care about the Sabres one way or another, I’d feel bad for my friends.

Also, the Sabres were part of two huge milestones for me. They were the opponent in the first Bruins game my dad ever took me to. Playoff game in 1988 - win. And the first game I ever took my wife to - Brad Marchand OT penalty shot win!

I hope the situation at the border gets better soon!

A guy that lived about three blocks over from me here in the Falls has SABRES license plates.
I think it was the year that Brad May scored (I can still hear Rick Jeanneret and that awful
"MAYDAY, MAYDAY, MAYDAY"call) and ended the Bruins playoff hopes and
the guy with the SABRE plates was driving around town with a stuffed Bruin uniform
hanging out of his tunk....kinda like the guys you see driving around with Elf legs in the
trunk at Christmas time. lol

 

[smithformeragent]

A guy that lived about three blocks over from me here in the Falls has SABRES license plates.
I think it was the year that Brad May scored (I can still hear Rick Jeanneret and that awful
"MAYDAY, MAYDAY, MAYDAY"call) and ended the Bruins playoff hopes and
the guy with the SABRE plates was driving around town with a stuffed Bruin uniform
hanging out of his tunk....kinda like the guys you see driving around with Elf legs in the
trunk at Christmas time. lol

My very first Bruins memory.

Sort of set the tone for the next 28 years or so...

 

[OV]

My very first Bruins memory.

Sort of set the tone for the next 28 years or so...

Does the thought still make you cringe? Kinda like the "Woweeee Housely" call.....

 

[Acie]

Does the thought still make you cringe? Kinda like the "Woweeee Housely" call.....

I'm in the Niagara Region.

This is still cringeworthy to me.

 

[OV]

I'm in the Niagara Region.

This is still cringeworthy to me.

Yeah....I was gonna post the La lalalalalala Fontaine thing....but it made my stomach upset.
See, now I have to go have some Pepto Bismol! THANKS A LOT!!!!

 

[Aeroforce]

...And to think this all goes back to Lucic's hit on Miller.

Either that or Brett Hull's toenail...

 

[BMC]

...And to think this all goes back to Lucic's hit on Miller.

Either that or Brett Hull's toenail...

Lucic in effect ended Miller's career, he was not the same goaltender after Lucic knocked him over. Which Lucic had every right to do- Miller had left his crease. If I've said it once I've said it a hundred times- if a goaltender leaves the protection of his crease he is fair game to be checked just like any other player.

 

[Blowfish]

Zachary back in?

 

[lopey]

For a while there was talk of moving the Sabres to Hamilton. An arena that wasn't
up to spec in the Hamilton downtown and adverse reaction from the Leafs finished
that thought off pretty quickly.

Quebec City??

 

[McGarnagle]

...And to think this all goes back to Lucic's hit on Miller.

Either that or Brett Hull's toenail...

Lucic 100% singlehandedly destroyed that franchise

 

[McGarnagle]

Quebec City??

I think we see Houston, Portland, and KC before Quebec

 

[OV]

Quebec City??

I've never heard that talk...but who knows.

 

[Bruinswillwin77]

The shame is that Buffalo is a tremendous NHL market. Whenever they release the numbers for ratings for Stanley Cup finals broadcasts, the Buffalo market usually pulls the highest share, often higher than the home markets of the teams playing.

Any threat of the Sabres leaving is not going to be the result of demand, but purely based on the mismanagement of the roster over ten years to be a complete disaster. Additionally the NHL is piss-poor at marketing its stars, people should recognize Jack Eichel's face, but I couldn't tell you what he looks like. He should be in commercials, billboards, etc. But nope.

I live in upstate NY and work in Buffalo about once every few weeks and there's literally nothing Sabres. You'd never know they were there aside seeing a few random Sabres winter hats hanging in gas stations.

 

[lopey]

I've never heard that talk...but who knows.

No it’s me hoping Quebec City gets a team. That city deserves one.

 

[Blowfish]

For a while there was talk of moving the Sabres to Hamilton. An arena that wasn't
up to spec in the Hamilton downtown and adverse reaction from the Leafs finished
that thought off pretty quickly.

I reside 30 minutes from Hamilton between Buffalo and Toronto and I have never heard that rumour. I can't see an NHL team ever leaving Buffalo. Too big a hockey market.

There was talk about having NHL team in Hamilton however never heard Buffalo would be moving to Hamilton.

The Sabres draw a big fanbase from Hamilton/Niagara region.

 

[Acie]

I honestly have known about 2 Sabres fans in my lifetime. One being my current boss.

Bills fans around here...that's another story.

 

[BruinsFanSince94]

Zachary back in?

I thought he’s out for a little bit.

 

[OV]

I reside 30 minutes from Hamilton between Buffalo and Toronto and I have never heard that rumour. I can't see an NHL team ever leaving Buffalo. Too big a hockey market.

There was talk about having NHL team in Hamilton however never heard Buffalo would be moving to Hamilton.

The Sabres draw a big fanbase from Hamilton/Niagara region.

This is going back to the early 2000's....maybe '02 or '03....Sabres were in a world of
financial hurt and there was talk about them moving to various cities.

 

[bwunderlich]

On the many trips to the Aud, we'd often take the bar car from Albany. Once, we got off the trolley and there was a rope to hang on to that got you to the entrance. It was snowing so hard you couldn't see the Arena.

In the game, I was taking a fair amount of heckling . . .then the drunkeness took over and they were throwing food . . .then when beer came our way I was ready. Bruins were up big and getting kicked out would have been worth it. But my friend, who played B-Ball at Purdue stood up, all 6'11" 270lbs of him, grabbed two guys by the neck and whispered something i don't remember. Next time we turned around, the entire row was empty.

Dam . . .haven't thought about that in 30+ years.

 

[RustyBruins72]

For 18 years I heard cries of "mayday, mayday, mayday" in my nightmares. At least 3 times a year.

I have the odd one but they haven't been consistent since June 2011. Funny how that works.

Go Bruins.

 

[Blowfish]

This is going back to the early 2000's....maybe '02 or '03....Sabres were in a world of
financial hurt and there was talk about them moving to various cities.

Okay...I wasn't in the area at that time...perhaps.

 

[Fenway]

Corned beef poutine in Buffalo

 

[Mione134]

We better not blow these games!
Let's throw it back to some good times.

 

[OV]

Okay...I wasn't in the area at that time...perhaps.

This is from 2011, long after the original chatter for the Sabres moving had died down.

"Frankly, I don't see another NHL franchise in southern Ontario's future; a more likely outcome would be the Sabres playing home games at Copps from time to time."

NHL: Potential Cities for Expansion or Relocation

 

[Fenway]

I reside 30 minutes from Hamilton between Buffalo and Toronto and I have never heard that rumour. I can't see an NHL team ever leaving Buffalo. Too big a hockey market.

There was talk about having NHL team in Hamilton however never heard Buffalo would be moving to Hamilton.

The Sabres draw a big fanbase from Hamilton/Niagara region.

Sabres now say only 15% of tickets sold are from Ontario.

Crossing the border has become a hassle and it can back up on game nights.

Buffalo is a great hockey market but it has lost a lot of population in the past 40 years and now as a market, it is the size of Providence. More pressing is very little in the way of corporate sponsors.