I think it's fair to say that the success of the Buffalo Sabres was not guaranteed in those early days. Punch near-miraculously got them to elite status in five years, and that was huge.
But even in a good hockey town that had had the AHL Bisons, creating affinity for an expansion team was no small feat. H/t to Ted, Paul and Chuck Burris (TIL Paul was not the director at first) and others including Rick* of course. Dave Forman got the Aud roof raised.
The rest is history.
*Not sure how to estimate Rick's value in promoting the team in the very early days. He would have called only a few games his first season.