Robviously

Are we going just by what they did as Sabres? If so, then maybe? If not, Grant Fuhr won the Cup before he came here and Tom Barrasso won it after he left.

So we've established that booing is bad in that it alienates the players (especially the new ones like Ott and Grigorenko) and probably makes Buffalo seem less attractive to potential free agents. Can anyone tell me what the upside is? Does booing make the game more fun? Does it make people happier? Has a team ever gone from bad to good thanks to this booing? There must be some appeal that I'm missing.

I don't think this board represents the broader fan base at all. The people on this board are talking about hockey in July. Everyone on this board knows who Dan Catenacci is (at least all the regulars do). This board is where we delve into minutiae like Lindy's relationship with Luke Adam.

Wait, are they sick of Darcy or of "Darcy and his band of softies" (ie the players on the ice)? The other problem with this is that Regier is definitely not on the ice. The players are. I doubt they're thinking "Oh, that can't be directed at us. That's for the GM.... who put us out here."

So far your explanations have been terrible analogies and "facts" from alternate dimensions where the team has made "NO attempt" to get better since Pegula took over. I have contempt for people who go to games and act like a-holes. You're the one who turned this into "who's the best fan" a few posts back.

Either that or it's a terrible analogy.

They are. They're a lousy team that's trying their best and actually winning some games now. Again, none of this explains booing when the team is winning and playing games where they never trail. That's just on the fans. Huge difference between "hasn't panned out" and "NO attempt." But I guess when you're a "real" fan, it's important to get angry first and figure out why later, right?

There have been "NO attempts" to make any improvements to the team since Pegula took over? I see we've finally entered an alternate universe.

They have a right to be miserable, but why choose to be miserable? You already know what you're getting so just enjoy it for what it is. It wasn't an awful game at all either. But it's still important to boo when the team is winning by two goals and drop F-bombs when you're surrounded by kids? This is smart now? And I can't stand "oh but our city is so poor." We use that for why our "blue collar" city has such great fans but then it's an excuse to act like idiots too.

If you went to a game in late March this year, what did you think you were going to see? And how would swearing and booing and heckling the players make that better? Again, people booed the Sabres that night when they were up 3-1. That's insane.

It's hard to go to gameS when you don't live in the area. I only made it to one game this season because it's a short season and I was only home for a few days. Also, by this (terrible) logic, would I be a bad fan if I could only afford to go to one game per season? 1. "Campaigning" on here for them to lose out has zero effect on if they do or do not lose out. 2. The highest draft pick would give them a better shot at winning later IMO so doesn't that mean I'm rooting for them to contend someday instead of staying stuck the way they have been? 3. As far as "several MORE seasons", tell that to Montreal. They drafted 3rd last year and they're no.2 in the conference right now. Toronto drafted fifth overall.

Of all the things to be 100% certain about..... :P

Basically you have a ton of season ticket holders who don't want to be season ticket holders, but won't give them up because they know there's a waiting list. So you have miserable people in the stands and tons of seats sold to out of towners.

I want the team to bottom out and get a high draft pick this year (they won't) and when they scored that night I still jumped up and cheered because that's what you do. I didn't boo or heckle the players or drop 300 F-bombs (which I'm sure the parents with the small kids around me appreciated). When Enroth made an amazing save in OT, I was one of the people giving him a standing ovation while the "die hards" were still glued to their seats and swearing at every player under their breath. This is a game where the team was booed while leading 3-1. Was that because of "heightened expectations"? If you want to be miserable, you will be. That's most of the arena right now, or at least it was the night I went.

WHY????

And yet I went to my one game this year two weeks ago (the Washington game) and it was the "die hard" fans who made me miserable. It was so eerily quiet one minute into the game that only sounds I remember hearing were the skates on the ice and the puck hitting the sticks. If you want to be negative (see also: realistic), a message board is the place for that. If you're going to the game, don't pout and/or have a temper tantrum.

Internet message board =/= Live sporting event. Thanks for playing.

Who's talking about the whiner line? I'm talking about my experience in the arena this year versus every other sport event I've ever been to anywhere. It's possible that some other places are this bad, but I guess I missed those. You'd expect it on a message board though, not people leaving their home to attend an event (presumably to have fun).

Buffalo fans want all the credit in the world for being great fans, but it's never their fault if they create a crappy atmosphere and players notice? I've never been to any other city where the fans fill the stadium just to hate the team.

Isn't his kid like a week old? And in this scenario, is he saying the fans are the parents and the team/management should be treated like an infant? :unsure:

The atmosphere in the FNA is probably the worst of any sport in any city that I've ever been to. Usually the worst case scenario in other cities is apathy and empty seats. The FNA is an arena full of fans who are pretty much there to be miserable and hate the team. And, no, I don't put all the blame on the players and management. The fans in Buffalo are responsible for their own crappy atmosphere. Don't go to games just to pout and have temper tantrums.

Yeah, Ryan O'Reilly helped the Avalanche enter the "No Win Zone"! Thanks, I'll be here all week. Tip your waitress.

Can you post this in the Stafford Must Go thread so that I can be livid about it in there?

Sorry, I never believed we'd finish in the bottom 3. I always thought drafting 10th overall was a lot more plausible and, unfortunately, it looks like I was right.

Pittsburgh is still better than us without Crosby and the last two teams that beat us in the first round of the playoffs had terrible goaltending (e.g. we faced five different goaltenders in our last two playoff series and lost both of them). I'm tired of hoping for a one in a million fluke chance at a championship. Build a contender. We're nowhere right now. So far the best free agents (Richards, Parise, Suter) have shown zero interest, and building through free agents isn't a great strategy anyway. Regier said this in his most recent WGR interview. We'll see if they make more big trades and what they end up getting.