You love hockey and you live in a town that has a team with Brett Hull, Brendan Shanahan, and Curtis Joseph. You go to the Barn and get sucked into the same stuff that used to get you worked up for the Sabres. But the Barn is 8 miles away, and it's just great. You start jumping up and screaming for hockey. You cannot find the Sabres on the radio or on t.v. Your friends are Blues fans. You get caught up in it. You get sucked in. The Sabres come to town and you go to the game and root for the Sabres and the Blues win, so you're okay with that because you live here. Two years later you see the Sabres again. Blues win. You don't know who's on the Sabres team because the internet isn't fully developed yet. You buy the Sunday Buffalo News every Wednesday to try and keep up with the Sabres, but you just somehow become a St. Louis citizen and you are now a Blues fan. You wish the Sabres well, and hope they meet in the Finals. You watch the Stars play the Sabres in the Finals, and you root for the Sabres. But still you have a new team.
But you still have a love in your heart for the Sabres. They struggle for a few years, and you still pay attention to them, and want them to succeed. You buy a strip of playoff tickets for the Blues, and are offered season tickets for $7.50 a game. Yes, $7.50 a game. Less than a beer. So you go to 41 games, you're in a community that loves the team. You still root for the Sabres, but now you have a home town, home team.
Still a Sabres fan, but it's still a lot of work to keep up with them.
And now I hope they continue to win, and I may buy the NHL package and buy in 100%.
I don't know why I use 3rd person in this. But you lived in Charlotte. Carolina is in another city. If you had the same opportunity to buy season tickets in your home town, things might be different.
Go Buffalo.