The irony being that the throngs of Sabres fans in attendance at Florida Panthers' (or Tampa Bay and Carolina, as well) games are so raucous and lively they can clearly be heard via the TV broadcast. I've experienced some truly dead crowds at HSBC over the last 150 or so games I've attended since the lockout and there was clearly a shift starting around the time of the 2006-07 season to a crowd that considered a Sabres game a social event, worth more as an anecdote than an actual living hockey experience.
About 2 years ago I recall seeing a very well manicured young dude, replete with designer jeans, leather jacket, and silk scarf, with a large group that looked more at home at Shea's than a sporting event, seated in the row in front of me--- this dandy fop actually wiped off his seat before he sat in it, and, to prove chivalry is truly dead, refused to do likewise for his girlfriend. Later, after a Buffalo goal, someone accidentally spilled beer on him in celebration, and he spent the next 10 minutes or so glaring back at our row in disgust. Seriously? Upset that beer was obviously accidentally spilled on you at a hockey game in the heat of the moment following a goal celebration? If it were intentional--- sure, that's worthy of getting upset. But if you don't want to be in the sightline of potential beer spillage, then the last place to go is a hockey game.
It certainly varies from night to night, but overall the wrong kind of crowd has invaded HSBC. Game 5 against Ottawa in 2007 was the single most electric and involved crowd I've ever been a part of, but that was probably the last time the crowd felt like a living breathing organism--- that we could almost will the team to victory (sadly of course, it didn't happen that night). The metrosexuals in the crowd are merely mimicking the metrosexuals on the ice.
