Best Fans in the NHL? Try Buffalo: How One Hockey Region finds Joy while Enduring the Pains of Losing

Buffalo was a city forged of brick and steel – and when the steel left town, the “gridiron” kept the heart of the city beating. But football is not the only sport that continues to heat the blood through the hopeful hearts of this wintry 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 Superbowl 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 Sabres 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 Superbowl debacle of the same decade:

But meanwhile, in the back of their minds, undying love for the Bills and Sabres 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 Sabres’ main “curse” goes back many years. In the infamous “fog game” in the 74-75 Stanley Cup finals against Philadelphia, Sabres center Jim Lorentz spotted a bat that had been pestering the players throughout the already bizarre game. As the bat flew 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 Sabres 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 Sabres were dominating the NHL after end of the Dead Puck Era and lockout, especially in the 2006-07 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 exhuberance. 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 Sabres, 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 Sabres 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 Sabres 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.

As for passion: many Sabres fans abroad heard that the old “Aud” (the original home of the Sabres) is finally being torn down. 600 pairs and triples of seats were salvaged for auction, and many that attended the sale in the Buffalo Convention Center actually flew in for the chance to snatch up a piece of treasured history.

And as for lore: the recent on-ice biting of Andrew Peter's thumb by Ottawa's Jarkko Ruutu may just break the negative karma instigated by Jim Lorentz.

Sabres fans will certainly add that to their list of hopes, as they don their jerseys ready to go to see what other new hockey lore and extraordinary events unfold this season, and in those to come, in the “New Hockeytown.”

Jan 12, 2009 12:07 PM

Guest :

Sorry Scott, but there already is a Hockeytown and nobody needs a new one. I'm pretty sure an article like this already appeared in Sports Illustrated as several cities were proposed as deserving to hold the crown. That article, like yours, was terribly misguided. O.K., Buffalo is in love with there mediocre Sabres. But Detroit is hockey town past, present and future.

We have history in Detroit, that we proudly display, decorating the rafters with Conference Champion and Stanley Cup banners. We retire numbers from players like Sawchuk, Abel, Lindsey, Howe, and Yzerman. We provide clinics for developing teams like the Pittsburgh Penguins, Chicago Blackhawks, and San Jose Sharks. (You might have seen the latest one at this year's Winter Classic) You mentioned a few NHL players hailing from Buffalo, Detroit has produced more, with names like LaFontaine (you should remember him), Modano, and Hatcher (Derrian and Kevin), and we were at one time the home to three different NHL owners, Illich, Karmanos, and Davidson.

You mentioned the NHL attendence record from first Winter Classic, but neglected to mention the Cold War, where Michigan played Michigan State in college hockey setting the World record for ice hockey attendence at 74,544. That was 103% of capacity for the stadium. I seem to remember some empty seats watching the game on TV in Buffalo. That was the game that gave the NHL the idea to take their product outdoors.

You mentioned Sabre fans flocking south and routing for their team even when they are on the road in Florida. Ask a Nashville or Columbus player what it's like when they play the Red Wings, even at their home rinks. You see it's much cheaper to see the Wings play at those venues so Detroiters buy their tickets early.

Detroit is Hockeytown, we grow up on the sport. Michigan is second only to Minnesota in the number of youth players at are registered with USA Hockey. Mike Illich and Little Cesaer's sponsor's a lot of those youth leagues in the Detroit area. The final games for those leagues are played at Joe Louis Arena, which makes those kids fans for life. We live all over the country, and we explain the sport to the people who don't get it. My own kids played street hockey with Justin Williams of the Carolina Hurricanes, who boarded next store while he played his Junior hockey for the Plymouth Whalers. We live in Wisconsin now, but I hear them telling their friends that they know an NHL player. Of course they do, they're from Hockeytown.