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What’s Your Favorite Aud Memory?


Brawndo

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2 hours ago, pi2000 said:

Running the ramps up and down from the blues.

My Dad buying tickets off scalpers after the game started.

Having a root beer in the Aud Club while my Dad and his buddies drank Labatts. 

Walking under the skyway through gail force winds because we'd park a mile away.

The earl of bud.

The cones hanging from the ceiling.   

Dale Hunter knocking out Mike Ramsey's teeth.

Trying to catch pucks with a baseball mitt behind the net during warmups.

I was there for Rammer getting his teeth knocked out. no penalty called either if I remember, The place went berserk.

I also remember going to a ton of Stallions games as a kid and the place was just a free for all, to roam around goof off, especially on weekends.

Amazing to to think my parent would drop a bunch of 13 year olds off there without a care in the world.

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12 minutes ago, mjd1001 said:

For me it wasn't an 'event', but what I remember most about it were things I saw, heard, and could smell...

-the cylinder shaped things hanging from the ceiling, and how they would always be swaying side by side a bit in motion

-the sound you could hear when you were in the ramps going to the upper levels..and as a little kid running down those ramps and jumping at the bottom of them and hearing the 'thud' it made echo

-the smell, right when you got through the turnstiles at the front entrance?  Was it popcorn? Other concessions?  A mixture of everything that everyone spilled that dried to the floor? Not sure, but it was distinct.

-Near the entrance, there was always a bulletin-board type sign that showed who was leading in the '3 star' points.  3 points for a first star, 2 for a second, 1 for a third...and they kept a running record.  Not sure if they even do that at the new Arena, but I remember it posted right near the entrance of the Aud and looked at it every game I went to there.

 

If I have to think of ONE memory...it was a game between the Amerks and someone else...before the game started there was a pretty vicious fight (both teams) on the ice..and with no refs or coaches there to break it up for a while...it went on for a while. The name "Andy Ristau" seems to be one I remember from that night/fight.

Now there is something that the arena should have, and I missed when they moved out of the Aud.  Signs in the aisles with league standings, leading scorers, and yes, the star points.  So many simple, fan-centric items that were lost to the new arena "experience".  It's like the entire league forgot that it is about the game.

And you are correct re: Andy Ristau.  Was a playoff game against Hershey IIRC.  Ristau got beaten pretty badly and was never the same.  I think he quit the league the next season.

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The first few years of the Bandits.  A group of us at work had season tickets right from year 1.  On game nights we'd hit the Spaghetti Factory for dinner, then off to......I don't remember the name of the bar anymore, right across from the entrance to Pilot Field (on Washington St I believe).... for beers pre-game.  Walk to the Aud.  Seats in the lower blues, center ice.  Then off to Carlos Garcia's or Lafayette Tap Room.  Those were some fun Friday nights.

Only championship I've seen won.

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I only remember a few things about the Aud as it closed when I hadn’t even turned 6.

The YMCA song

A Kendall Oil sponsor over one of the entries to the bowl that was near me

Parking under the skyway

The stars on the metro rail station

 

According to my father; my great-grandparents’ seats were very close to the bench and technically couldn’t be reached without crossing over where the players walked out. If need be an usher would actually stop the Sabres going to the bench so they could go to their seats. Supposedly they had brief conversations with many of the players in the 70s and 80s and when I was a toddler I was given many high-fives by the players. God do I wish I could actually remember that!

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1 hour ago, Weave said:

The first few years of the Bandits.  A group of us at work had season tickets right from year 1.  On game nights we'd hit the Spaghetti Factory for dinner, then off to......I don't remember the name of the bar anymore, right across from the entrance to Pilot Field (on Washington St I believe).... for beers pre-game.  Walk to the Aud.  Seats in the lower blues, center ice.  Then off to Carlos Garcia's or Lafayette Tap Room.  Those were some fun Friday nights.

Only championship I've seen won.

The bar across from Pilot field on Swan was Pat McInnty's (now, 2 ownership groups later, Union Pub).

Some memories of the Aud, in no particular order:

Open Practice - and the breakaway competition at the end.

Stepping on empty pop cups & beer cups popping them in the ramps heading back down from the blues after the game.

Paper airplanes getting launched from the oranges on 1 side of the ice actually making it to the Ted's on the other side a couple of times.

And, as already mentioned, the monstrously long escalators up to and down from the oranges and the incredibly steep steps down into the oranges.  And all the men standing around behind the oranges, every single 1 with a beer in hand or resting it top of the concrete.

Norm Wollum getting the crowd fired up at stoppages.

To the games themselves:

Rico 49; Rico 49; Gare 49; Gare 50

Seeing both the Scouts and the Barons in person.  (It seemed to be easier for my dad and uncle to get tix to games against teams like that rather than teams like the Bruins or Phlyers.)

Getting upgraded to front row for a Stallions game.

Being there the night Gretzky broke Esposito's and Hull's records with a natural hat trick after Perreault had tied the game at 3 with 1 of his own.

Bandits pregame parties in the Aud Club and being at the 2nd (3rd?) last event in the Aud - the Bandits 3rd championship and people breaking & taking seats out of the building during the celebration.

Seeing Eddie Murphy.  Seeing Clapton.  A few other good shows.

Getting $5 tix to the Blizzard in the oranges and sneaking down to the front row of the upper golds for the "beer rail.". And then mercilessly ragging on their horrible goalie "Skippy.". (No idea what his real name was, he looked (and played) like a Skippy.)

Going to Tux n Pucks.

LaFontaine's 1st game as a Sabre vs the Whalers.

Hearing all the catcalls Jacques Richard caught for (according to the detractors) being a drunk bum.

Being at the game 3 vs the Habs that gave Sauve and the Sabres the sweep 1 round before the infamous Brad Park game 7 series.

Getting to see Gordon Howe live.

 

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Don Luce's 1976 series clinching goal against St. Louis. I was up in the Oranges looking down between my knees.

John Shumate of the Braves landing on my lap while diving for a ball. 

Two seats next to the cameraman at center ice first row of the reds.

Seeing Bobby Orr play in person.

Having the best beef on weck in the Aud Club.

 

 

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Many Hockey games.

But I'll chose a very early one, Standing room only in the oranges for 1st round playoff in 1984 against Quebec Nordique and them Stasny brothers. We lost in that round.

Yeah the escalator ride up and the silly young man antics between periods of trying to run all the way down the up escalator before somebody else tried to come up. You had to give up and wait for next try.   

For Concerts, 2 of my first and all time favorites Summer 1973 because of the seats we were able to get, July Led Zeppelin floor seats, right center row 20 and June Pink Floyd Dark side of the moon tour, center row 15. 

yeah I'm that old....but still rocking

 

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Good stuff.

About that Aud smell. To my memory it will always be hot dogs and the ink/glossy paper of the programs.

My dad and I were at a game on March 30, 1981. A pall was understandably cast over the crowd before and during the early stages of the game against the Bruins. Then Uncle Milt announced that President Reagan was out of surgery and doing OK. I'm not terribly proud that back home after school I was much more concerned about whether the game was going to be canceled than about the health of the prez.

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17 minutes ago, R_Dudley said:

Many Hockey games.

But I'll chose a very early one, Standing room only in the oranges for 1st round playoff in 1984 against Quebec Nordique and them Stasny brothers. We lost in that round.

Yeah the escalator ride up and the silly young man antics between periods of trying to run all the way down the up escalator before somebody else tried to come up. You had to give up and wait for next try.   

For Concerts, 2 of my first and all time favorites Summer 1973 because of the seats we were able to get, July Led Zeppelin floor seats, right center row 20 and June Pink Floyd Dark side of the moon tour, center row 15. 

yeah I'm that old....but still rocking

 

I now hate you. Had Zepplin tickets when they canceled because of a Plant’s bike accident and had vouchers when JB died.

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10 hours ago, Brawndo said:

That really is incredible!

Not sure if it’s Exit Stage Left or All The World’s a Stage, but I think one or both of those of those album covers were shot there.

I honestly don’t have many Sabres memories, as my family didn’t have enough money to go to games growing up. Plus, we lived all the way up in NT. That was kinda far back then. I do have a memory of watching a 3-0 Sabres’ win when I was pretending to work for the TV crew shortly after college.

My memories are more of the concert variety. Moving Pictures, Signals, Grace Under Pressure tours. Supertramp.

Also, parading around with my soccer team at a Stallions halftime.

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Danny Gare scoring 4 goals while my friend and I (and his parents) sat in seats given to us by their neighbor in Lockport, Ted Darling. They were 2nd row, in the corner. 

Sweethome and Southpark getting into a fight during a sectional basketball game and fans of both teams jumping over rows of seats to get involved. 

Ray Hall and Mike Smrek for Canisius taking on the Reggie Lewis lead Northeastern squad in hoops. 

Joe Arlaukas led Niagara vs. Lionel Simmons lead LaSalle in the NIT.  

Tom Barrasso backstopping Team USA to a victory over the Czech's and he was so good the opposing team was tapping his pads in admiration of some of the saves. 

First ever rock concert...the supergroup Asia...with my Mom! (I was maybe 13)

Rush "Grace Under Pressure" tour with my friend (same as the Gare 4 goal game) and his older brother. Too many fumes in the blues and my friend yakked his guts out on the way home. 

Boston, Bon Jovi, Iron Maiden, Yes, The Moody Blues (with SRV opening!)....

Sitting the oranges trying to focus on a Braves game when I was probably 7 years old. 

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54 minutes ago, Sakman said:

Danny Gare scoring 4 goals while my friend and I (and his parents) sat in seats given to us by their neighbor in Lockport, Ted Darling. They were 2nd row, in the corner. 

Sweethome and Southpark getting into a fight during a sectional basketball game and fans of both teams jumping over rows of seats to get involved. 

Ray Hall and Mike Smrek for Canisius taking on the Reggie Lewis lead Northeastern squad in hoops. 

Joe Arlaukas led Niagara vs. Lionel Simmons lead LaSalle in the NIT.  

Tom Barrasso backstopping Team USA to a victory over the Czech's and he was so good the opposing team was tapping his pads in admiration of some of the saves. 

First ever rock concert...the supergroup Asia...with my Mom! (I was maybe 13)

Rush "Grace Under Pressure" tour with my friend (same as the Gare 4 goal game) and his older brother. Too many fumes in the blues and my friend yakked his guts out on the way home. 

Boston, Bon Jovi, Iron Maiden, Yes, The Moody Blues (with SRV opening!)....

Sitting the oranges trying to focus on a Braves game when I was probably 7 years old. 

Funny.  Asia was my first concert as well.  I was in the seventh grade and went with kids from my school.  No parents and an eye-opening experience with all the weed from the Yes fans who were much older.

Other great concerts:  U2 Joshua tree, Steely Dan, Rush, page/plant, Bush and No Doubt.

I remember in the 70s as a kid that the patrons in Lower Gold dressed much nicer than our family.   I was down to catch a puck then back to the orange.   Seeing Guy Lafluer with the flowing hair was impressive.   Sabres scoring 13 on the Cleveland Barons was a treat.

The afternoon games before the Superbowls were a blast.  Garcia’s for drinks before/after.  

Dressing up for the Halloween games.  Chatting up Ed Kilgore in the Blues a few times.  

I also remember Saturday afternoon family/ open ice skates.  I can’t fathom that idea these days.  

I remember the feeling the first time we had gold seats.  I scrapbooked the stub, thinking life couldn’t be much better.  

Great topic, thanks for starting this.

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Not sure if I'm remembering this correctly as it was a few years back, but it seems like the Sabres were going to have an Elvis night, and give out Elvis masks. Apparently they couldn't get permission from Elvis' people, so instead they gave out Wayne Presley masks.

My other great memories were seeing them play against the Soviet teams. Great battles against the Red Army, and Moscow Dynamo

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7 hours ago, PASabreFan said:

About that Aud smell. To my memory it will always be hot dogs and the ink/glossy paper of the programs.

Program ink?! That’s a new one on me. Interesting. Cigarettes were also a factor. As was the oil used to make the popcorn. The major driver was hot dogs, I think. Boiled meat!

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7 hours ago, Broken Ankles said:

Funny.  Asia was my first concert as well.  I was in the seventh grade and went with kids from my school.  No parents and an eye-opening experience with all the weed from the Yes fans who were much older.

Other great concerts:  U2 Joshua tree, Steely Dan, Rush, page/plant, Bush and No Doubt.

I remember in the 70s as a kid that the patrons in Lower Gold dressed much nicer than our family.   I was down to catch a puck then back to the orange.   Seeing Guy Lafluer with the flowing hair was impressive.   Sabres scoring 13 on the Cleveland Barons was a treat.

The afternoon games before the Superbowls were a blast.  Garcia’s for drinks before/after.  

Dressing up for the Halloween games.  Chatting up Ed Kilgore in the Blues a few times.  

I also remember Saturday afternoon family/ open ice skates.  I can’t fathom that idea these days.  

I remember the feeling the first time we had gold seats.  I scrapbooked the stub, thinking life couldn’t be much better.  

Great topic, thanks for starting this.

Crazy that was your first concert too. Asia gets a lot of sh*t from critics but I'm sorry that first album still holds up well today. RIP John Wetton. 

BTW I saw the same lineup reunited almost exactly 30 years later in Tokyo. They were fantastic. 

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First memory I have is going when I was 7 years old and sitting by the penalty box.  I got a puck from Gilbert Perreault during warm- ups.

After every game being able to go down by the locker room and get autographs as the players walked to their cars.

Loudest I ever heard it was when Bandits won their first championship in 92.

Of course watching the Stallions play was always a good time.

Edited by sweetlou
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As a young kid, I think I went to just a few Sabres games - like, maybe 3. Hockey tickets just didn't make it into a tight budget. A friend's mom worked for Cablevision early on, and we did get to sit in the suite for an Oilers game in or around '83 or '84. I don't ever recall being happier as a kid.**

Once high school hit and I got toward my college years, there were more games. I can't say I have any really clear memory of any of those.

My clearest memories of the old place are from Stallions games. A crew of us from the neighbourhood would take public transportation down to the Aud (the 8?), get tickets for the oranges (or maybe we had them in hand from our soccer clubs), and then move down to the reds. We usually had candy we'd bought at a Wilson Farms. The greatest achievement of those days was when my older brother managed to land a Lemon Head *squarely* in the middle of one of the red re-start (faceoff) dots in front of Jim May.

** In trying to reconstruct which game I attended, I looked back at the Sabres/Oilers historical record. It was interesting and comforting to see how, as predictable as the path of migratory birds, the Sabres and Oilers would reliably play a game in Buffalo at some time in March.

Edited by That Aud Smell
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10 hours ago, R_Dudley said:

For Concerts, 2 of my first and all time favorites Summer 1973 because of the seats we were able to get, July Led Zeppelin floor seats, right center row 20 and June Pink Floyd Dark side of the moon tour, center row 15. 

My man...

pee wee herman wow GIF

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1 minute ago, SwampD said:

My reaction as well.

I forgot about U2 Joshua Tree. Great concert with Bono in a cast.

Also, the cement cube prison cel that was called the Beer Garden.

I remember my first trip to the Aud after I hit legal drinking age.  Having a beer with my dad at the Beer Garden between the 1st and 2nd period.  Molson Golden never tasted so good.

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