ORSabre

Neuvirth gone!

This is probably the key point of the discussion. The city of Detroit is not a shining light to the rest of the world either, but players will sign with a well run franchise committed to winning. The real question is whether the Sabres can work to overcome their shortcomings with leadership over the next two or three years. If they can manage that, the state of the city will be a non-factor for FA's.

Seth Jones is a Portland Winterhawk and our local radio guys interviewed him the other day. He said he got into hockey watching the Avs in the early 2000's while his dad played for the Nuggets. Said he would love to play for Colorado, but "will be happy wherever he goes."

Slow start, but quite possibly the best game of the season.

What is Kaleta doing on the ice with two minutes left?

I attended the opener and I was surprised by how quiet the arena was. Aside from the occasional "let's go Buffalo" chant, my sonic recollection of the first period was the vibrant clarity of tape-to-tape passes and some guy mocking the silence every five minutes or so with his own "let's go Flyers" chant. That was one guy, but I'm sure many people who were there could hear him. While it might not speak to Buffalo specifically, the economic demographics of sports fans attending games at arenas and stadiums nationwide are changing as average fans are priced out of the market. The nature of in-game entertainment can also contribute. The Cowboys no longer enjoy home field advantage due to ticket prices that mostly favor corporate buyers over your average fan who is probably more likely to cheer. Add to that the giant television that distracts the audience from the actual game and their new stadium is not a place that opposing teams fear. I predict a similar phenomenon in San Francisco when the 49ers move into their new stadium. As it stands right now, season ticket holders will have to pay for the right to purchase their tickets, in the same way that rights to purchase tickets are sold at Churchill Downs for the Kentucky Derby. I believe that buy-in price will be somewhere in the neighborhood of $20,000 - $30,000. This will effectively price average fans out of the market, and the place will get much quieter. The minimum ticket price for this year's super bowl is just north of $2,000. At those prices, what average Buffalo fan could afford to attend the game if and when the Bills make it back? There a lot of factors of which price is just one. As for aging musicians like Gabriel, it is my experience that the energy level at a concert directly correlates with the age of the audience.