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Buffalo to Host World Juniors in 2018


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Wawrow: Per AP Source: #Sabres are petitioning NHL to host Winter Classic on Jan. 1, 2018, to coincide with World Jr. Tournament outdoor game.

 

I have it in good authority that Bettman absolutely loves the Pegulas.

 

I'm not saying he's more fond of Mrs. Pegula than I am, but maybe he's getting there. Maybe.

 

More seriously, Bettman apparently flipped his sh!t when he saw the completed Harbor Center, and thinks the league needs a few more Pegula families in it in order to progress.

 

Which is to say, if the Sabres want the 2018 New Years Day game, I bet they get it.

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Yeah I can't wait to sit 3000 feet from the ice in the freezing cold to see players I can't recognize playing against other players I can't recognize. I'm sure this is fun for some, I just can't wrap my head around watching hockey in a football stadium.

Let me tell you, RWS was the best Winter Classic venue of them all. At least 80% of the seats had full view of the ice surface. Holding hockey in a baseball stadium is the ultimate in futility. I went to Frozen Fenway with local college teams a few years back. I walked around the entire stadium and could not find a single place where the sight lines were good.

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I don't think the announcement will have anything to do with the Sabres hosting another outdoor game, it's about the Juniors and adding an outdoor game to it. If I was one of the teams picked to play outdoors I wouldn't want to do it, especially in a tournament situation where all games have some meaning. If it's an exhibition game for the tournament, sure, but not a game that's going to count for something playing outside where the conditions could affect the game.

 

Does seem likely that the upcoming announcement will be limited to the World Juniors. 

 

That's an interesting take on not wanting to play in the outdoor game. They cleared that hurdle in the NHL. Granted, there's 81 other games to balance out an outdoor game.

 

Still. The super-cool factor has to count for quite a bit here.

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I suppose to make it fair to all teams they should each play 1 game outdoors... right?  I mean the ice surface will be there!

 

No matter what this is awesome and I know I will be attending games next year with my son.  I cannot wait.

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I suppose to make it fair to all teams they should each play 1 game outdoors... right?  I mean the ice surface will be there!

 

No matter what this is awesome and I know I will be attending games next year with my son.  I cannot wait.

Especially since by then the Bills will be playing in a fancy new stadium downtown and the Ralph can be available for outdoor games all winter. Right?!

 

<ducks>

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Yeah I can't wait to sit 3000 feet from the ice in the freezing cold to see players I can't recognize playing against other players I can't recognize. I'm sure this is fun for some, I just can't wrap my head around watching hockey in a football stadium.

 

In my 49 years which includes seeing more than 300 NHL games in Buffalo, Toronto, Montreal, New York and Tampa I can tell you the Winter Classic at the Ralph is far and away my most memorable hockey experience.

 

I hope you'll reconsider and come join the party. Buffalo style!  :beer:

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Especially since by then the Bills will be playing in a fancy new stadium downtown and the Ralph can be available for outdoor games all winter. Right?!

 

<ducks>

 

 

Are we sure this will be at the Ralph?  Or the new downtown stadium adjacent to the Harbor Center.

 

Could they have that stadium built in time?  If so, then could you imagine if the announcement was both the WJC, outdoor games, and that they will be held at the new stadium that will be built by then?

 

I don't think they could get it build by then...  Levi's Stadium broke ground April 2012 and opened July 2014.  They would have to start now and beat that timeline to have it done in time.

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Are we sure this will be at the Ralph?  Or the new downtown stadium adjacent to the Harbor Center.

Could they have that stadium built in time?  If so, then could you imagine if the announcement was both the WJC, outdoor games, and that they will be held at the new stadium that will be built by then?

 

I don't think they could get it build by then...  Levi's Stadium broke ground April 2012 and opened July 2014.  They would have to start now and beat that timeline to have it done in time.

 

A thrilling thought, but it seems unlikely that the stadium announcement would be a piece of it. If they were that far along with a new stadium process, there would have been leaks by now. 

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Could they have that stadium built in time?  If so, then could you imagine if the announcement was both the WJC, outdoor games, and that they will be held at the new stadium that will be built by then?

 

I don't think they could get it build by then...  Levi's Stadium broke ground April 2012 and opened July 2014.  They would have to start now and beat that timeline to have it done in time.

 

 

Buffalo Winter..

 

Add a year.

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Could they have that stadium built in time?  If so, then could you imagine if the announcement was both the WJC, outdoor games, and that they will be held at the new stadium that will be built by then?

 

I don't think they could get it build by then...  Levi's Stadium broke ground April 2012 and opened July 2014.  They would have to start now and beat that timeline to have it done in time.

My comment was totally tongue in cheek, but a more realistic timeline would be by 2020 in time for the 50th anniversary for the Sabres. Based on my reading of the tea leaves, there is certainly a plan in place by Pegulas they just have not revealed it yet. 

 

FWIW - the current headquarters of PSE would be right in between the First Niagara Center and the proposed Perry/Ohio St. location for the new Bills stadium. They didn't choose that location for nothing...

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Hosting the World Junoirs once was very cool.  When you've done well enough to have them come back a second time (and hopefully more after that), you're really doing well.  Hats off to Buffalo and the Pegulas - Center of the Hockey Universe!

 

Ted Black said it. Hockey Heaven.

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