Brawndo Posted June 24, 2023 Report Share Posted June 24, 2023 Per Craig Rivet the Sabres opener is October 12th vs NYR. Full Schedule release on Tuesday 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marvin Posted June 25, 2023 Report Share Posted June 25, 2023 1 hour ago, Brawndo said: Per Craig Rivet the Sabres opener is October 12th vs NYR. Full Schedule release on Tuesday The NHL needs to open on 1 October at the latest. 1 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Taro T Posted June 25, 2023 Report Share Posted June 25, 2023 27 minutes ago, Marvin said: The NHL needs to open on 1 October at the latest. It traditionally opened ~October 5. They like avoiding a bit more of football season and the baseball stretch/playoffs. Even when Buffalo was an actual NHL team but before the waiting list formed, weeknight October games were hard sells. Imagine how much tougher a sell they are in non-traditional markets. Am expecting mid-October starts are here to stay. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pimlach Posted June 25, 2023 Report Share Posted June 25, 2023 11 hours ago, Taro T said: It traditionally opened ~October 5. They like avoiding a bit more of football season and the baseball stretch/playoffs. Even when Buffalo was an actual NHL team but before the waiting list formed, weeknight October games were hard sells. Imagine how much tougher a sell they are in non-traditional markets. Am expecting mid-October starts are here to stay. The best hockey that the NHL has to offer, the Stanley Cup playoffs, is hardly watched in the US because of baseball season. Start earlier, end sooner. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Taro T Posted June 25, 2023 Report Share Posted June 25, 2023 1 hour ago, Pimlach said: The best hockey that the NHL has to offer, the Stanley Cup playoffs, is hardly watched in the US because of baseball season. Start earlier, end sooner. They aren't getting to a point where the NHL's playoffs end in March. Which is the only way the NHL is avoiding playing games during the baseball season. Football pulls way more viewers / attendees away from hockey than does baseball. They aren't going to go up against 4 months of football + a month of NFL playoffs when they already hate going up against 3 months of football + playoffs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pimlach Posted June 25, 2023 Report Share Posted June 25, 2023 1 minute ago, Taro T said: They aren't getting to a point where the NHL's playoffs end in March. Which is the only way the NHL is avoiding playing games during the baseball season. Football pulls way more viewers / attendees away from hockey than does baseball. They aren't going to go up against 4 months of football + a month of NFL playoffs when they already hate going up against 3 months of football + playoffs. There is no easy solution. My point is not many fans in the US watch the Stanley Cup playoffs. Once their team is out, they switch to baseball. I was in Boston a few weeks ago and with the Bruins done they were focused on the Sox. In St Louis, Blues out, it was all Cardinals. In Buffalo with no MLB, lots of people were following the SC. SC playoff hockey is far better than regular season and very few watch it compared to the Super Bowl and World Series. This a problem that the NHL faces. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
French Collection Posted June 25, 2023 Report Share Posted June 25, 2023 1 hour ago, Pimlach said: There is no easy solution. My point is not many fans in the US watch the Stanley Cup playoffs. Once their team is out, they switch to baseball. I was in Boston a few weeks ago and with the Bruins done they were focused on the Sox. In St Louis, Blues out, it was all Cardinals. In Buffalo with no MLB, lots of people were following the SC. SC playoff hockey is far better than regular season and very few watch it compared to the Super Bowl and World Series. This a problem that the NHL faces. Sounds like the majority of people love their local sports teams and casually follow the sport when the teams are out. I think Canada might be different because hockey is a big part of the culture. I would expect the numbers to be dropping because of the changing demographics. The young people I know also don’t sit down to watch an entire game, just want the highlights. Vegas vs Florida wasn’t the best draw for a national audience but HNIC highlighted the 18 or so Canadians on the Vegas roster. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thorny Posted June 25, 2023 Report Share Posted June 25, 2023 5 hours ago, Pimlach said: There is no easy solution. My point is not many fans in the US watch the Stanley Cup playoffs. Once their team is out, they switch to baseball. I was in Boston a few weeks ago and with the Bruins done they were focused on the Sox. In St Louis, Blues out, it was all Cardinals. In Buffalo with no MLB, lots of people were following the SC. SC playoff hockey is far better than regular season and very few watch it compared to the Super Bowl and World Series. This a problem that the NHL faces. I think the first round is the best, better than the regular season, but as the long gruelling playoffs wear on and more players begin to battle through injuries, I find the quality of the product rather dips over the course of the two month home stretch 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Taro T Posted June 25, 2023 Report Share Posted June 25, 2023 52 minutes ago, Thorny said: I think the first round is the best, better than the regular season, but as the long gruelling playoffs wear on and more players begin to battle through injuries, I find the quality of the product rather dips over the course of the two month home stretch This year it was. But IMHO the 2nd round is usually the best of the 4. You have 2 fairly closely matched teams typically and you've only begun the stocking the walking wounded brigade. Getting further out, you start having attrition and exhaustion take their tolls; and the final can be excellent (Boston Chicago) or more likely it'll be a mismatch. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brawndo Posted June 27, 2023 Author Report Share Posted June 27, 2023 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PromoTheRobot Posted June 27, 2023 Report Share Posted June 27, 2023 Not many Bills/Sabres weekends, sadly. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pastajoe Posted June 27, 2023 Report Share Posted June 27, 2023 On 6/25/2023 at 8:51 AM, Pimlach said: The best hockey that the NHL has to offer, the Stanley Cup playoffs, is hardly watched in the US because of baseball season. Start earlier, end sooner. Hockey fans aren’t watching mid-season snoozer baseball games instead of playoff hockey. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pastajoe Posted June 27, 2023 Report Share Posted June 27, 2023 What kind of crap road trips are that? Single game flights out west for Calgary, Arizona, then Seattle-Ottawa-Vancouver in the same week, Anaheim, and Edmonton. That’s ridiculous. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Taro T Posted June 27, 2023 Report Share Posted June 27, 2023 5 of the 1st 6 are at home. Don't like that. The Sabres will be flying out of the gate regardless of where they're playing. Would like to sop up some extra road wins before the rest of the league realizes the season's started. (Of course, the way the team played at home last year, maybe this is a good thing. Get those extra home wins before the rest of the league realizes the season's started. 😉) 1 minute ago, pastajoe said: What kind of crap road trips are that? Single game flights out west for Calgary, Arizona, then Seattle-Ottawa-Vancouver in the same week, Anaheim, and Edmonton. That’s ridiculous. Da'faq you talkin' 'bout? 1 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Taro T Posted June 27, 2023 Report Share Posted June 27, 2023 @pastajoe White are HOME games. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pimlach Posted June 27, 2023 Report Share Posted June 27, 2023 Just now, pastajoe said: Hockey fans aren’t watching mid-season snoozer baseball games instead of playoff hockey. In Canada you are correct. In the US you are wrong. First of all, they are early season games when almost every baseball team has some hope. Secondly, most American Hockey fans switch to baseball (or golf) once their hockey team is eliminated. If the Rangers are not in the playoffs then NY hockey fans watch the Yankees or Mets. I was in Boston for a week during the finals, the Bruins were out of it and the hotel bars and sports bars were tuned to the the Red Sox, not the Stanley Cup. I had to ask the hotel bartender to put it on and it was the finals. The Red Sox were in last place at the time. Ditto for Chicago, St Louis, LA and every other big baseball town. No question about it. Ever wonder why Buffalo has very high Stanley Cup TV ratings, higher than most markets, while their team has not sniffed a Cup since 2007-08? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Randall Flagg Posted June 27, 2023 Report Share Posted June 27, 2023 Can't wait to sit down and split up the games with my season ticket frens 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Buffalonill Posted June 27, 2023 Report Share Posted June 27, 2023 4 minutes ago, Randall Flagg said: Can't wait to sit down and split up the games with my season ticket frens Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Taro T Posted June 27, 2023 Report Share Posted June 27, 2023 6 minutes ago, Randall Flagg said: Can't wait to sit down and split up the games with my season ticket frens Remember, they usually give out t-shirts on home opener and fan appreciation (last home game) nights. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tom webster Posted June 27, 2023 Report Share Posted June 27, 2023 3 minutes ago, Taro T said: Remember, they usually give out t-shirts on home opener and fan appreciation (last home game) nights. Should I post something about another get together or just private message those from last year? Also, I do have about ten other games available Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pastajoe Posted June 27, 2023 Report Share Posted June 27, 2023 17 minutes ago, Taro T said: @pastajoe White are HOME games. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Taro T Posted June 27, 2023 Report Share Posted June 27, 2023 I'm in. My thought is to tell people now that we'll be doing one again and if they want in to PM you (or me if you don't want the "flood" of PMs). And if people haven't indicated they want in by say end of July (or August, not sure how far out your group is doing its ticket draft) we just get as many tix as we have interest for by then. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tom webster Posted June 27, 2023 Report Share Posted June 27, 2023 2 minutes ago, Taro T said: I'm in. My thought is to tell people now that we'll be doing one again and if they want in to PM you (or me if you don't want the "flood" of PMs). And if people haven't indicated they want in by say end of July (or August, not sure how far out your group is doing its ticket draft) we just get as many tix as we have interest for by then. I’ll post something tonight or tomorrow 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eli Cash Posted June 27, 2023 Report Share Posted June 27, 2023 (edited) No home game the night before Thanksgiving. That’s unusual. Edited June 27, 2023 by Eli Cash Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eleven Posted June 27, 2023 Report Share Posted June 27, 2023 On 6/25/2023 at 8:51 AM, Pimlach said: The best hockey that the NHL has to offer, the Stanley Cup playoffs, is hardly watched in the US because of baseball season. You have to be kidding. There might be correlation, but there can't be cause-and-effect. I don't think people aren't watching second-round NHL playoff games because they're concentrating on a Pittsburgh Pirates series against the Cincinnati Reds in early May. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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