We're all Sabres fans, but...

[Taro T]

When the Sabres are out, I root for teams in this order:

 

Canadian teams not from Ontario.

 

Original Six teams not from New York, Mass., or Michigan (that leaves one, yes, I know).

 

Certain cities with serious interest in hockey--not lately, but historically--like Saint Louis, Saint Paul, Denver (the Avs are recent, but remember UD).

 

The Devils. Something about Schony still sticks with me, and I do like Brodeur.

 

The Leaves. Yes, the Leaves. It's better than what follows.

 

Then Boston. Same deal.

 

Teams from Michigan that realize that their fans are bandwagoners who didn't give a damn until the mid-90s. Oh. There aren't any.

 

Teams that will I never root for, and therefore are excluded, are listed below:

 

--Teams from the capital of Canada

 

--Any team below the Mason-Dixon and not identified above (yes, I know this includes the Caps, the 2000 fans they had in 1998, and the 200,000 fans they have now)

 

--Teams in Pennsylvania and Ohio. (Really, do we need separate states for these?)

 

--Teams in New York State other than the Sabs.

 

--Teams from Michigan that really think that fans cared in the 70s, 80s, and early 90s.

Well, I actually usually like the Habs, so that is the team I tend to watch if the Sabres have been eliminated. Other than that, I usually cheer for the team that is playing a team I like less.

 

So, I can't think of any team I would prefer to see lose to the Phlyers. The Otters could be close.

 

After those 2, we have the Loafs and Candy Canes. Joisey just plays such painfully dull games, they can't get out of the show soon enough. The Bruins bring a lot of disdain too, but so do the other 2 NYS teams.

 

There is something annoying about the Threshers, and I'm not just referring to #13. The Eulers, Ducks, and No Stars can be annoying when they have strong squads, but if they are just eeking in they are innocuous.

 

If I have to listen to their announcers, or the Vs announcers, or the NBC announcers the Pens are painful to watch. Otherwise they can be entertaining. Same goes for the Wings.

 

Teams I really don't care one way or the other for, but they rarely do anything in the playoffs so I guess it doesn't really matter: Cats, Bolts, Yotes, Wild, Preds, and Jackets.

 

Team I don't really have anything against but don't really like either: the Nucks.

 

The Avs and Calgary can be entertaining.

 

The Caps are a team I liked when they were the NHL's version of the Cubs, couldn't stand w/ Wilson coaching them, and now enjoy watching. I like to watch the Sharks, Kings, Blues, and Hawks.

 

Other than Sabres, and to an extent the Habs, no teams that I cheer for. It's kind of entertaining when 2 teams that I don't really care about are playing because I often find myself rooting for someone that I'd have expected I'd go for the other guy. Example: I ended up cheering for the Hawks when I caught a few minutes of the 3rd in the Caps/Hawks game but I'd have expected I'd be rooting for the Caps.

[PASabreFan]

Oh what the Dante's Inferno, I like the Sabres but a very close second are the Penguins, Flyers, Devils and Predators and I REALLY like the Thrashers, Stars, Flames, Oilers and Hawks. It also wouldn't take much for me to become a diehard of the Coyotes, Islanders, Blue Jackets, Canucks or Panthers. And the Blues rock.

[Claude_Verret]

I've posted this a few times before, but I follow the misery loves company doctrine when the Sabres are out of the playoffs. I root against any team that has never won a cup before. Who cares if Pittsburgh or Detroit wins another cup at this point? I certainly don't want San Jose, Washington, Vancouver etc. getting one before the Sabres though. As Labbatt mentioned above this is exactly why I was rooting for the Colts over the Saints in the Super Bowl this year as well.

[elcrusho]

Whatever team Spongebob and Patrick are on

[henysgol]

It depends on who's left. I might hate both teams in the finals.

[Trey]

Once the Sabres are out I lose interest. Don't get me wrong, I'm a fan of hockey. However, the Sabres dictate my life from October to the playoffs. That time goes to my family after that.

 

With that being said, I pretty much hate every team in the East (they're all the enemy) so I'll pull for Chicago. They're an original six team and they haven't won anything in quite a while. It doesn't hurt that they have Kane and Campbell with Buffalo ties (just wish Campbell could heal quick enough to make the playoffs).

[NNYSABRESMAN]

The first pro hockey game I ever saw was an exhibition game in Kingston, ONT. The California Golden Seals vs. Blackhawks. I was 10 yeras old and had to have a Blackhawks jersey. That was in 1970 Buffalo's first year in the league, I've had a soft spot for Chicago ever since then.

[LabattBlue]

I certainly don't want San Jose, Washington, Vancouver etc. getting one before the Sabres though. As Labbatt mentioned above this is exactly why I was rooting for the Colts over the Saints in the Super Bowl this year as well.

I am glad that I am not alone in my feelings of bitterness. :)

[wjag]

I will root for no other team, but if I had to watch with some interest, it would be Washington. Being that Hershey is so close to here, and I see a ton of their games, it's kind of neat to see a lot of the guys we watch in the AHL make it in the NHL.

 

 

Since I just move from DC a year ago, I'd like the Caps to win. They are what the Sabres tried to be in 05-06 and 06-07. All offense. It works for them.

It's clearly the Capitals for me. I was at the game at Florida this week. They were coming down the ice in waves. They are the 05-07 Sabres on steroids. They're amazing fast, good passers, and they crash the net like no one else. Teams just back up when they get it rolling. Florida made the mistake of trying to skate with them. If the Caps go down in the playoffs, it's because (1) they're goal tending is highly suspect and (2) they run into a trapping team that just clamps down the neutral zone. Any team that tries to skate with them, better have the guns.

 

I've seen them score 14 goals in two games with OV this year. Must be nice to bench 45 goals and not even notice it.

 

There is something about those Yotes, I like too...

[shrader]

I've posted this a few times before, but I follow the misery loves company doctrine when the Sabres are out of the playoffs. I root against any team that has never won a cup before. Who cares if Pittsburgh or Detroit wins another cup at this point? I certainly don't want San Jose, Washington, Vancouver etc. getting one before the Sabres though. As Labbatt mentioned above this is exactly why I was rooting for the Colts over the Saints in the Super Bowl this year as well.

 

I'm the exact same way. If they haven't won one, I don't want to see them win. I'm not actively rooting for anyone though. I'd love to see simultaneous jumbotron crashes at every game after teh Sabres have been eliminated. I could live with winning a Cup by default. ######, we all know Dallas had no problem with that.

[inkman]

You mean the season continues after Buffalo is eliminated?

[wonderbread]

It depends on who's left. I might hate both teams in the finals.

Hey man I was wondering if you still were alive. How's things going for you?

[Calvin]

Sabres out, season done.

 

After that all the other teams might as well be playing pre-season exhibition hockey for all I care. But I will watch, playoffs do raise the game of hockey to a different level altogether (cliched, i know)!!

[weehawk]

Sabres

Canes

Sharks

 

I'm 50 yrs old.

 

28 yrs in BUF

19 in SJ

3 in CAR (current home)

 

I had no problem standing up and cheering for the Sabres at RBC Center Sunday night. However, this is where I live now and for every other game, I'm a Canes fan. If they meet in the playoffs again, I'm a Sabres fan. I have no problem cheering for teams other than BUF, when BUF is not involved. I want to see NHL hockey and I live in CAR now. What am I supposed to do, sit on my hands and do nothing when CAR scores or wins against teams other than BUF?

[Doohickie]

My hockey odyssey: I was born & raised in Cheektowaga, so naturally the Sabres are Number 1. There was a time, though, when I didn't follow hockey at all; my life was busy with other things. After college I moved to Los Angeles, then the Dallas area (when the Stars were still in Minnesota), then Detroit.

 

At that time (moved there in '91), Detroit was a mediocre team. Original Six, but other than that, not very noteworthy. I started watching hockey again, but the only team I got to see regularly was the Red Wings, and that was the team I got to know. (I basically missed the whole Mogilny/LaFontaine era in Buffalo. I missed the May Day! May Day! goal.) We lived in Detroit six years and watched the Wings rise to their first Cup in over 40 years, and moved back to the Dallas area two weeks after that. So my family had pretty much become Red Wings fans.

 

By the time we moved back to the Dallas market in '97, the Stars had moved there. I had no special love for them; we were still pretty much Red Wings fans. And I started to become aware of the Sabres again; somethng to do with that guy Hasek. By the time the '99 Finals came around, the ember of my Sabres fandom had re-erupted into flame and I was a Sabres fan once more.

 

Given all that, then, the Sabres are #1. The Red Wings are #2. After that, I really like where the Blackhawks are going, so they're probably #3. At this point, the Stars that beat the Sabres are gone except for the ageless Modano (who started his career as a Minnesota North Star and has been with the franchise right along). I don't have the seething hate for them that I once did and since we hear a lot about them here, I guess they're my #4, but it's more of a fair weather fandom. If they do well, great (as long as it's not against one of my other favorites), if not, I'm not going to die with them.

 

So....

 

1. Sabres

 

2. Red Wings

3. Blackhawks

 

 

 

 

4. Stars

...then everyone else.

[Claude_Verret]

I want to see NHL hockey and I live in CAR now. What am I supposed to do, sit on my hands and do nothing when CAR scores or wins against teams other than BUF?

 

 

Why not? That's what I do when I go to Canes games and the Sabres aren't involved. I can enjoy watching live NHL hockey without having a rooting interest. I get invited to go a lot with friends that have season tickets, but I only go if the Sabres aren't playing that night on TV. I know we've gone through this before, but the notion of rooting for the team in the city that I currently call home just seems fake and contrived to me.

[Eleven]

Why not? That's what I do when I go to Canes games and the Sabres aren't involved. I can enjoy watching live NHL hockey without having a rooting interest. I get invited to go a lot with friends that have season tickets, but I only go if the Sabres aren't playing that night on TV. I know we've gone through this before, but the notion of rooting for the team in the city that I currently call home just seems fake and contrived to me.

 

Same story here--I spent 7 years in Washington, went to many Caps games, but never really rooted for them; just wanted to see some live hockey. Rooted against them when the Sabres were in town, of course.

 

I did become a DC United fan, but I think that's different--the league was relatively new, and Buffalo doesn't have a team, anyway. I didn't suddenly become an Orioles fan, either, but I liked going to their games. I tried to avoid Bullets/Wizards games.

 

But on the other hand, if someone wants to get into the teams that are local to them, that's cool too. I have plenty of friends from out of state who are Sabres fans now.

[frisky]

For me, once we're done, season's over. Next is UFA season and the June draft then training camp.

[weehawk]

Why not? Because I like live hockey, the Canes have been and will be a decent team to watch, and it's a perfectly natural thing to do when you have a newly adopted home team (of course not in your case). I lived here for two years before buying season tix. I left BUF because the area could not support my family with a decent job and wage. The CAR area does that for me. So what if I root for the team when they dont play BUF? It makes perfect sense to me and it's anything but fake and contrived. It's simple Claude. Always root for the Sabres, but root for your adopted home team all other times. It's not rocket science and it's not phony.

 

 

 

Why not? That's what I do when I go to Canes games and the Sabres aren't involved. I can enjoy watching live NHL hockey without having a rooting interest. I get invited to go a lot with friends that have season tickets, but I only go if the Sabres aren't playing that night on TV. I know we've gone through this before, but the notion of rooting for the team in the city that I currently call home just seems fake and contrived to me.

[Cereal]

Why not? Because I like live hockey, the Canes have been and will be a decent team to watch, and it's a perfectly natural thing to do when you have a newly adopted home team (of course not in your case). I lived here for two years before buying season tix. I left BUF because the area could not support my family with a decent job and wage. The CAR area does that for me. So what if I root for the team when they dont play BUF? It makes perfect sense to me and it's anything but fake and contrived. It's simple Claude. Always root for the Sabres, but root for your adopted home team all other times. It's not rocket science and it's not phony.

 

 

Some interesting thoughts... For me, when I was in Pittsburgh for five years, I could NOT bring myself to root for the Pens as a "second team" for many reasons -- moron bandwagon fans, moron announcers, Cindy.. -- even though I REALLY like a lot of their players, and enjoyed attending games at Mellon. So don't get me wrong, it was phenomenal to still be living in an NHL city and be able to attend games now and again (not the case where I am now), but that does not inherently lead to rooting that team on as a "second team".

 

For what it's worth, I DID root for the Steelers when it didn't involve the Bills (not that it mattered.....expect this one time in Week 17...) because it's a very likable team/fanbase/tradition IN MY OPINION. So, sure, in YOUR opinion and situation, having the Canes as a "second team" may work. Personally, if I moved down to Triangle, I know I couldn't bring myself to adopt the Canes as a second team. :thumbdown:

 

For now... Go Sabres! :beer:

[weehawk]

That's funny. Because in all the years I've been away from BUF, I could never root for another football team. It was always the Bills. I live 2.5 hrs away from the Panthers, but I doubt I would even go to a game if they were local.

 

Trust me, it's been a tough ride rooting for the team that took the Sabres out of the SCFs in 2006. It's a love/hate thing. I like going to games, but unlike Claude, I require some level of emotional attachment in order to fully enjoy it.

 

My first choice would be to live in WNY and not even have to deal with this, but that's not possible. I'll just have to deal with the Sabres fans who think I'm a traitor and the Canes fans who know that BUF is *really* my team.

 

 

 

Some interesting thoughts... For me, when I was in Pittsburgh for five years, I could NOT bring myself to root for the Pens as a "second team" for many reasons -- moron bandwagon fans, moron announcers, Cindy.. -- even though I REALLY like a lot of their players, and enjoyed attending games at Mellon. So don't get me wrong, it was phenomenal to still be living in an NHL city and be able to attend games now and again (not the case where I am now), but that does not inherently lead to rooting that team on as a "second team".

 

For what it's worth, I DID root for the Steelers when it didn't involve the Bills (not that it mattered.....expect this one time in Week 17...) because it's a very likable team/fanbase/tradition IN MY OPINION. So, sure, in YOUR opinion and situation, having the Canes as a "second team" may work. Personally, if I moved down to Triangle, I know I couldn't bring myself to adopt the Canes as a second team. :thumbdown:

 

For now... Go Sabres! :beer:

[Claude_Verret]

Why not? Because I like live hockey, the Canes have been and will be a decent team to watch, and it's a perfectly natural thing to do when you have a newly adopted home team (of course not in your case). I lived here for two years before buying season tix. I left BUF because the area could not support my family with a decent job and wage. The CAR area does that for me. So what if I root for the team when they dont play BUF? It makes perfect sense to me and it's anything but fake and contrived. It's simple Claude. Always root for the Sabres, but root for your adopted home team all other times. It's not rocket science and it's not phony.

 

Hey whatever works for you, I left Buffalo for the same reasons as you just like most everyone else. I'm just trying to explain where I'm coming from. I didn't move away from Buffalo until I was 30. So that's probably about 25 years of religiously following the Sabres that I had under my belt. With that many years of mostly heartache invested in the Sabres I just don't have it in me to root for anyone else. Ever. I simply don't care if the Canes win or lose and I never will even if the Sabres fold. I have been attending Canes games since I moved here in 2002, I even went a few times when they played in Greensboro. My history with the Canes pre-dates the great Sabre fan horde invasion of 2006. I used to be indifferent towards them, but now I hate them due to their whiny, thin skinned and prone to hyperbole fan base.

[dundy249]

I always hate when you hear I like this team..but I also like this team...

 

if you are a true die hard fan of your team you like no one else. You want no one else to be good, no one else to win and you cheer for no one else.

 

When your favorite player leaves the team you boo him, you dont wish him luck, you dont wish him well..you wish a plague on him and any team he may be on thereafter.

 

That is die hard....In all sports...I only like the Bills, Sabres, Pirates and PSU....all other teams can crash and burn and lose every time they play for all I care.

 

Loved Thurman but when he went to the Dolphins wished he get clobbered every time he touched the ball..

[Corp000085]

I'll watch a good hockey game, an intense playoff series, and the cup finals. But, I'll only watch for pure entertainment value. My love starts and ends with the Buffalo Sabres. This is a moot point anyways since we're gonna win that cup, we're gonna win that Stanley Cup...

[Xray]

We are all Sabre fans (natch), but if the Sabres tank down the stretch OR if they bow out of the playoffs early:

 

What team do you like for the Cup?

 

What team would you support in place of the Sabres?

 

 

Yeah, I know we're all hoping the Sabres put it all together and go deep in the playoffs, but it doesn't hurt to have a backup plan....

I root against the Canadian teams.

Not because of nationality but because those hosers are way way over the top when it comes to hockey.

So naturally I like to see them lose.

 

I'll be keeping a watching Phoenix because I think the Vegas odds on them winning the cup is good value.

 

Outside of just the playoffs I like watching Atlanta, they're a young team that's made a lot of changes it's interesting watching that rebuild.

Plus they'll never resort to the trap in a southern market where it's hard enough to draw fans already.