msw2112

I moved out of Buffalo a long time ago, but from my childhood, the 3 "Mexican" restaurants that I remember were Grandma Mora's (I think on Niagara Street), some place in a plaza on Maple and N. Forest in Amherst up the street from the UB Campus, and Chi Chi's chain restaurant near the Boulevard Mall at Bailey and Maple. I recall liking all of them, for different reasons. I recall the bar at Chi Chi's being a good happy hour place and fun bar scene, although I was a little too young to participate. The free chips and salsa were good and they'd bring you the "extra hot" if you asked for it specifically. I'm not going to count Mighty Taco, which has its own place in our hearts and lives...Obviously, I'm in no position to comment on the scene today, but it's nice to reminisce. I've since lived in Chicago, which has a huge Mexican population and now live in the Southwest which has an even greater Mexican population, so I have had access to a lot of great Mexican food over the years. From this thread, it looks like there are some good options in the Buffalo area today and a lot more than from my time there.

Not sure how he fits in with Bales, but Bales is full-time and Anderson is only part-time, so he's probably more of a sounding board than a day-to-day coach. In any event, this looks like a smart move for the organization and I agree that it lessens the need to allocate a roster spot to a veteran backup goalie.

Everyone is too quick to judge a trade that involves "future assets" such as draft picks and young players, me included. I thought the trade was a bust and one of the worst in team history. Years later, the ROR trade is a great one for both franchises. St. Louis got O'Reilly in his prime and won a Cup. While the veteran players thrown in didn't amount to much, Tage has developed into one of the top goal scorers in the league, he's still young with many good years ahead of him (he could even get better), and I don't think he's being paid any more than O'Reilly was making as a Sabre. On top of it, Ryan Johnson (who the Sabres drafted with the pick acquired in the trade) looks to be on the development path to becoming a starting NHL defenseman (probably a top-6 and maybe even a top-4 guy) within the next couple of seasons. That Sabres team was not going anywhere with O'Reilly and badly needed a reset, so acquiring future assets was the right move. And although O'Reilly was an excellent player, his tank is running out of gas. Tage and Johnson will likely be productive NHL players on a winning Sabres team long after O'Reilly retires from the game.

Great to see the guys having fun together. It builds camaraderie and hopefully pays off on the ice. If guys like each other, they are more likely to play unselfish, good team hockey.

Thanks for posting. Just watched while eating lunch at my desk at work. Nice 20 minute video that tells Thompson's story very well.

There are often negatives stated about playing professional sports in Buffalo. Buffalo is a great town, but if you are in your 20's single, fit, rich and somewhat famous, there are more opportunities for fun in major markets than there are in Buffalo. That's the reason why this is pretty cool. In very few markets would the entire NHL team be able to be on the field in front of 70,000 fans at a NFL game and meet a major celebrity (which Josh Allen has become). The Bills-Fins game was the national TV game that the whole country wanted to see and the guys were right there on the field before kickoff (and presumably either in great seats or a luxury box during the game itself). It's one of the plusses of the Pegula dual-ownership situation and something the teams are wise to take advantage of. It adds to Buffalo being a desirable place to play.

I think they start with 3 goalies. UPL is still an asset, even though he's clearly not there yet. Some goalies take many years to develop and don't hit their potential until their late 20s. It's hard to give up on a guy you drafted, developed, and invested in. Comrie is what he is. If UPL plays better with the improved defensive corps, he's your guy and you move on from Comrie. If he doesn't, then a difficult decision needs to be made. I'm also not counting on much from Quinn this year. He's recovering from a very serious injury and although he'll be back and able play in the spring (most likely), I just don't see him being 100% at any point this season. As to VO, I don't see how you waive a guy that scored 28 goals in the NHL. He's an imperfect player, but he has trade value, so he may stick around until the deadline. I also don't think Savoie is ready. He was not effective against grown men in the AHL playoffs last year. He has talent and will be a very good player, but he needs to mature as a person (get older and stronger) and as a player (learn how to play at the professional level). Benson seems to be ready as a player, but he, too, needs to grow up physically. As such, I see a spot for VO on this team. VO also knows that this is his last opportunity with this team, so maybe he has it within him to improve defensively. I do think his offensive play was better last year - he showed some offensive game beyond 1 timers on the right circle on the PP - but he needs to round out his entire game more. Should be an interesting year.

A couple that are a little bit more uplifting: Lunatic Fringe for Vision Quest: And of course, the well-known Rocky movies: Gonna Fly Now for Rocky 1 and Eye of The Tiger for Rocky 3 Not going to bother posting those, as those are pretty well known. At least to folks of a certain age....

Not sure how many will know or remember this one: Just Once, at the end of "The Last American Virgin"

Not that there's anything wrong with that. And I'm taller than Levi.

You are correct that I haven't been in the building on a Tuesday or Wednesday against a lesser opponent in a very long time, although I most likely have seen the Whalers on a weeknight a long time ago. I live out of state and usually only get to games when I visit, which is typically over a weekend. This website (https://www.hockeydb.com/nhl-attendance/att_graph.php?tmi=5054) shows the "Buffalo Sabres Yearly Attendance Graph" and indicates that in only 12 seasons out of 51 (COVID season is excluded) has the Sabres' average attendance been below 15,000. I have lived in other NHL markets that DO draw (Detroit) and others that do not during lean years (Chicago) or during any years (Phoenix). Outside out the last couple of years (2021-22 was 9,998, the lowest since the Sabres' first season) Buffalo has drawn pretty well. This compares well to NBA attendance too. I realize that some numbers are inflated, but I've been to many pro sports venues around the country for various sports and other than recent times (and a couple of outlier seasons during their history), the Sabres have drawn well. But to get back to my main points, if the Sabres put a playoff team on the ice, the attendance will increase substantially, particularly after football season. EDIT: the post above mine cited to the same link, but I did not see it until after I posted.

When I said "lower," I was referring to the historical context, not comparing last season to this upcoming season. When I grew up in Buffalo and my family had season tickets, the Aud was sold out (or damn near close to it) EVERY NIGHT. Other than a few down seasons, the Sabres have drawn very well prior to the drought of the last decade. And although they are currently higher than last season, they are still nowhere close (hence "lower") to where they were when the Sabres were a perennial winning/playoff team. If the team again becomes a winning/playoff team, the ticket sales will reflect that and the building will be substantally full. I should add the caveat that attendance is down across pro sports in general because of the advent of big screen high definition TVs, streaming, etc. There's a lot of competition for the stadium experience, especially given the cost of tickets, parking and food & drink.

I think the two biggest reasons ticket sales are lower are a) it's still football season and the Bills are contenders again; and 2) the Sabres, although much better last season, are still not a playoff team. If they can play consistently at a playoff level, the fans will come back. These two reasons have been stated multiple times above in this thread. If the Sabres are playing well and on the right side of the playoff race after the Super Bowl in early February, they will be filling up the house most nights. Maybe not on a random Tuesday against Calgary (or another "unexciting" opponent), but weekend games and games against rivals will be sellouts or close to it. Even the random Tuesday games will have a decent crowd - larger than what we've been seeing in the recent past. I believe that the Sabres will play to that level and the attendance will increase substantially.

In other words, a major minor?

I'd say Bills, just because NFL football is king and is the most expensive and difficult franchise for a city to get. If Buffalo lost the Sabres, I could see another team coming in the future, with Buffalo being such a great hockey market. If Buffalo lost the Bills, it would never get another NFL franchise. The market is simply too small and the demand and money is too great in other much larger markets. All this aside, I played hockey from a young age (started at age 4) and the Sabres were a great team during my youth; the Bills not so much. I didn't play football until my teenage years. My family shared Sabres season tickets since I was a kid and I used to go to games without a ticket, sitting on my parents' lap, whereas the family didn't get Bills tickets until after I was grown up, off to college, and moved out of the city. So my first love was hockey, but, objectively, if the city had to choose, keeping the Bills would be a higher priority. I'm fairly certain that thanks to the Pegula family, the city won't have to choose. I think that they will keep ownership of both teams. Even if they do sell the Sabres, I believe that they would only sell to a local interest with a commitment to keeping the team in Buffalo.

I did not like the goatheads at the time they originally came out. I still don't like them in and of themselves, but I like the nostalgia associated with them, so I'm good with the Sabres wearing them a few times each season. I'm no math whiz, but I believe that wearing them 15 times amounts to a little more than 18% of their games. For me, that's too much. But I won't lose any sleep over it. It's just a uniform.

I assume that ESPN+ without Hulu will have all of the MSG games - basically all of the games that are not on TNT - which is how you calculated 74. Last season, I had NHL Center Ice through DirecTV, but I cut the cord this year and have moved to YouTubeTV. Thus, I believe that I need to get ESPN+ in order to get the lions share of the games. So my current Plan A is to get ESPN+ which would get me those 74 games when combined with the national games. Plan B is if the wife and kids nag me to get Disney+, in which case I'll get the "bundle" with Hulu and then I should get all 82. I think it's only an extra $4 (from $9.99 to $13.99) if I get the version with ads, but goes up to $19.99 to go ad free. Having never had the service in the past, I don't now how intrusive the ads would be. Live hockey games have commercials anyway, but I could see the kids getting upset if Encanto or Frozen is interrupted with ads. If ad-free means I could watch an entire Sabres game without commercials and intermission (because I'm in the west and watch games hours after they've been played), I'm all in for that. Any insight from someone out-of-market who used it last year?

For what it's worth, I thought he was a decent bottom-pairing defenseman. A serviceable veteran who brought a little physicality to a team that lacks it. I would have preferred to see him remain on the roster, or, if traded, for a high 3rd or a 2nd of some kind. That said, it's not a move that I'll lose sleep over. I hope he does well with his new team and that the Sabres don't have so many injuries on defense that they'll regret this move.

I remember the name for sure. RIP.

I can't argue with this list, although RJ never did national broadcasts (in the US or Canada), so although he's well-known and beloved to Buffalo fans, he's not as well known as some of the other names mentioned (Dan Kelly, Foster Hewitt, Doc Emerick, etc.) Despite my disdain for New England sports, Tommy Heinshon has to be up there along with Marv Albert (who I also really like) for basketball. For football, Dick Enberg was one of my all-time favorites (paired with Merlin Olsen), and although he's starting to slow down, Al Michaels has to be considered one of the all-time best. I'm old, but not old enough to remember hearing much Curt Gowdy. I did love his Genesee Beer commercials when I was growing up....Finally, for baseball I love Vin Scully, but was also a big Joe Garagiola fan. I think that Joe worked WITH Scully at one point, and maybe Tony Kubek too, who was also a favorite of mine. Great thread!

I did the same in the 70's as a little kid. I remember listening to Rick when the Sabres played in time zones west of Buffalo and I wasn't allowed to stay up late and watch. I had a little transistor radio with an earpiece that I hid under the pillow. His calls are the stuff of legend and he was truly beloved by the Sabres community in and outside of Buffalo, and really all those in the NHL family that knew him. I'm usually not terribly sad when someone 80+ that I have never met passes away, but my heart is very heavy right now. Although I never met the man, I know how great it would have been. Despite the fact that he was truly a superstar in his field, he was a humble regular guy. Rest in peace RJ!

I like Rousek and definitely see him as a bottom-6 forward with a future home on the Sabres roster. I don't think he has the shot or scoring ability that Oloffson has. With Quinn out, the team needs to replace that scoring ability, so I don't see Rousek displacing Oloffson. After Quinn returns and regains his form, Rousek's grit and two-way play may be more needed on the ice than Oloffson's scoring. The previous comment makes a lot of sense - I could see Oloffson staying in the lineup, but if he goes cold, and/or the offense (outside of Oloffson) is producing and defense is lacking, Rousek could get that ice time.

They've had some success with gritty former players in these roles.

Upthread there was discussion about the Sabres rebuild taking 7-10 years and selling the fans a bill of goods indicating the the future is more important than the present. Keep in mind that the Sabres have rebuilt TWICE. First it was the Eichel/Reinhart/Risto rebuild, which failed, so there's now a 2nd rebuild, which is nearly complete. The first rebuild was short-circuited by Tim Murray, who tried to accelerate the process too quickly by trading away too many young assets, and then by Jason Botterill who made poor coaching choices. Adams seems to have the correct approach at this point. A good coach is in place and a lot of young talent on the roster, with ton more in the pipeline. I agree that the goaltending situation is precarious, but if Levi can be a good NHL goalie, and UPL can be an average NHL goalie, neither of which are crazy notions, the team should be fine.

This is off-the-cuff, but the Avalanche team that won the Stanley Cup two years ago was built along the lines that the Sabres are being built. I don't know if their prospect pool was rated #1, but I suspect it was somewhere near the top. In contrast, the Vegas that won this past season was built around veterans from other franchises. Of course, they were an expansion team, so there was no pre-existing prospect pool from which to build. Either method could be successful - it's more about properly executing it.