\GoBillsInDallas/ Posted April 13, 2011 Report Posted April 13, 2011 http://www.democratandchronicle.com/article/20110413/SPORTS02/104130329
inkman Posted April 13, 2011 Report Posted April 13, 2011 Just depressing. After being literally raised at Amerk games for a decade because my parents had season tickets, I have not been able to bring myself to see this Sabreless team.
SMIRNOFF Posted April 13, 2011 Report Posted April 13, 2011 I live in Rochester, but my family is from Buffalo (Lancaster, NY) and the only reason I was interested in the Amerks is because they were affiliated with the Sabres. I went to the game last year against Portland and the BCA was 3/4 filled with those rooting for the Pirates (me and my family included). I couldn't even bring myself to go for free earlier this year. It is a sad state. You can thank Steve Donner and his lackey (sorry, I forgot his name) for that.
Two or less Posted April 13, 2011 Report Posted April 13, 2011 They get what they deserve, shady organization. Doubt they remain in Rochester for long.
Dude Posted April 13, 2011 Report Posted April 13, 2011 So that's where Ted Nolan went. And the Sabres and Amerks together makes sense (Anaheim and Syracuse :blink:). I wonder if Pegs was a fan of the Amerks?
X. Benedict Posted April 13, 2011 Report Posted April 13, 2011 http://www.democratandchronicle.com/article/20110413/SPORTS02/104130329 Â This is a bummer.
Taro T Posted April 13, 2011 Report Posted April 13, 2011 They get what they deserve, shady organization. Doubt they remain in Rochester for long. I'm assuming you are referring to the ownership when you refer to the 1st 'they.' They might deserve it, but the fans certainly don't. Â I hope they stay and honestly don't see them finding a better market than Ra-cha-cha. Yes, nobody goes to watch them play but there aren't many cities (or any to be technical, I don't even think the people in TO would pay to watch the worst team in the AHL play) where this lousy of a product would get support. Throw on the hard feelings local Sabres' fans have towards Donner's decision to run the Sabres out of town and attendance is probably better than it should be. Â The team can partially repair the screwup of choosing the Panthers (for crying out loud, is there a worse run organization from top to bottom than the Panthers?) this season by signing up with anybody BUT the Panthers. But until the Sabres are the parent, I don't see the team fully getting the support from the community that it used to get. (I'm talking prior to Donner trying to go cheap and bring in the Cats as co-parent.) (I'm too disinterested to check now, but I hope Amerk6's posts weren't lost in the great crash. That guy clearly was either Donner or a paid Donner spokesperson. And they were very entertaining in a Toddkaz sort of way.) Â I'd sooner expect to see the Kn-ig-hit Hawks head to Hamilton than the Amerks pick up stakes. The only game that drew a good crowd this year was the last Bandits game and 1/2 the crowd was Bandits fans.
Knightrider Posted April 13, 2011 Report Posted April 13, 2011 Lowell, MA is vacant after most recently being the Lowell Devils, and could probably draw 4000. Maybe. They were moved to Albany, where the Devils used to have their farm team. The River Rats were moved south closer to North Carolina.
Wayne VanDorp Posted April 13, 2011 Report Posted April 13, 2011 They get what they deserve, shady organization. Doubt they remain in Rochester for long. Â Yeah, I mean it's only been 51 years they've been here. Â Current ownership is looking for an affiliate that will allow the Amerks some control over their roster, a la the Hershey Bears' arrangement with the Caps. This will allow for the Amerks to sign a number of minor league veterans and hopefully lead to greater success on the ice. Winning will mean butts in the seats, Sabres or no Sabres. Â The rumors I have heard about possible affiliation include Tampa Bay, the Rangers, or (in the case of relocation of either in the off-season) Phoenix or Atlanta.
Taro T Posted April 13, 2011 Report Posted April 13, 2011 Yeah, I mean it's only been 51 years they've been here. Â Current ownership is looking for an affiliate that will allow the Amerks some control over their roster, a la the Hershey Bears' arrangement with the Caps. This will allow for the Amerks to sign a number of minor league veterans and hopefully lead to greater success on the ice. Winning will mean butts in the seats, Sabres or no Sabres. Â The rumors I have heard about possible affiliation include Tampa Bay, the Rangers, or (in the case of relocation of either in the off-season) Phoenix or Atlanta. Why would the Rangers be interested in breaking up w/ the Whale? Â It's a short commute from Hartford down to NYC, a lot of the local fans are Stranger fans (though the majority would be B's fans), and the team doesn't travel nearly as much as teams in the Western Conference travel. That one just doesn't make any sense IMHO. Â Funny how, now that the Amerks have an owner who isn't flat broke, they would like to find a parent club that wants them to sign some minor league vets (which is exactly what the Sabres hoped/expected Donner to do when he ran the team). Had Donner not been significantly undercapitalized, he wouldn't have been making ridiculous requests of the Sabres and the affiliation would now be heading towards its 33rd year. Â TB, while not having any sort of a fan base in Ra-cha-cha, does at least ice reasonable teams in Norfolk. I can see why the Amerks would prefer them as a parent to status quo, but I'm not sure how it benefits TB from a playing/logistics standpoint.
Knightrider Posted April 13, 2011 Report Posted April 13, 2011 Hartford? Really? Â Funny, if they had stuck with the Sabres, they'd have won they last three years. Â (Sorry. Someone had to say it.) :death:
PromoTheRobot Posted April 13, 2011 Report Posted April 13, 2011 Lowell, MA is vacant after most recently being the Lowell Devils, and could probably draw 4000. Maybe. They were moved to Albany, where the Devils used to have their farm team. The River Rats were moved south closer to North Carolina. The Lock Monsters often had crowds numbering in the hundreds. I know because I've been in Tsongas Arena able to count individual fans by eye...on a Friday night! Worcester isn't much better with the Sharks. Even the Manchester Monarchs who used to sell out their 10K arena on weekends draws pathetic crowds now. Â Seriously, I could see the AHL send more franchises west of the Mississippi to place them closer to west coast NHL teams. How about a Sharks AHL team in Sacramento, in a soon-to-be-vacant arena? Cities like San Diego, Las Vegas, or Salt Lake City already have ECHL AA teams and draw reasonable well. Why not bump them up? Â PTR
Knightrider Posted April 13, 2011 Report Posted April 13, 2011 You're killing me Promo! I'm halfway between Worcester and Lowell! Â FWIW, the games I have been to in Lowell have been against the Pirates, and they were significantly bigger crowds. Â This year, money and time has been a little tighter, so I haven't tried Worcester.
IKnowPhysics Posted April 13, 2011 Report Posted April 13, 2011 Seriously, I could see the AHL send more franchises west of the Mississippi to place them closer to west coast NHL teams. How about a Sharks AHL team in Sacramento, in a soon-to-be-vacant arena? Cities like San Diego, Las Vegas, or Salt Lake City already have ECHL AA teams and draw reasonable well. Why not bump them up? Â Travel costs come to mind, but if Abbotsford BC's team, which has lesser average attendance than the Amerks, then I suppose it's possible. Â Four of the bottom six AHL teams are four of the five the teams from New York State (Albany, Bingo, Glens Falls, Rochester, but not Syracuse). Over-saturation of NYS? Improbable- the AHL has historically succeeded in NYS. Economic influences?
R_Dudley Posted April 13, 2011 Report Posted April 13, 2011 What really compounds this travesty is the fact the Sabres finally have an owner that is embracing and celebrating the Sabres history and tradition and the Rochester Americans are not currently part of it.
PromoTheRobot Posted April 13, 2011 Report Posted April 13, 2011 What really compounds this travesty is the fact the Sabres finally have an owner that is embracing and celebrating the Sabres history and tradition and the Rochester Americans are not currently part of it. Considering Terry's wife's connection to Rochester I'm sure the Amerks are on his radar. But he did say (on Feb 22, I believe) that Portland is a damn fine city and good hockey operation, and changing affiliations just because Rochester is closer didn't make much sense. Â PTR
Miss_The_Amerks Posted April 13, 2011 Report Posted April 13, 2011 Being from Rochester, and realllllyy missing the Buffalo/ Rochester affiliation, I see it both ways. For the sake of the Amerks, it'd be nice to see the Sabres come back, it would bring attendance up. But also, with Ennis, Gerbe, McCormick, Myers, etc all coming out of Portland, it's hard to say break up with them. Â But the big thing is, the Amerks really are decent hockey. I went to probably 10 games or so this season, and the games are always fun, and if you go with a good group of friends, even the rough games aren't so hard to bare. Even though they lose more then they win, it's not like all the games are ######. My father who held season tickets for the better part of the 70's and 80's always said that they sold out close to every game, and even if they weren't winning, they were always fighting, and very physical, so there was always something there for the fans. I think it couldn't hurt to get back to that in a sense.
thesportsbuff Posted May 12, 2011 Report Posted May 12, 2011 Might be a dumb question... and I know it's likely not the case, but it just brought the question to mind: Is it legal/possible for a team to have two farm teams in the AHL? I know some teams have like an AHL team AND an ECHL or something, but what if Pegula just wanted to stock two AHL rosters with prospects?
inkman Posted May 12, 2011 Report Posted May 12, 2011 I can't imagine they would have enough prospects and I'm sure it's not possible
carpandean Posted May 12, 2011 Report Posted May 12, 2011 But also, with Ennis, Gerbe, McCormick, Myers, etc all coming out of Portland Myers didn't qualify to play in Portland until this season. It was NHL or juniors last year, and as shaky as his start was this season, it wasn't that shaky. ;)
BuffaloFansR_Crazy Posted May 12, 2011 Report Posted May 12, 2011 I apologizw in advance, but can someone explain to me why the Sabres organization left Rochester?
Taro T Posted May 12, 2011 Report Posted May 12, 2011 I apologizw in advance, but can someone explain to me why the Sabres organization left Rochester? Donner.
inkman Posted May 12, 2011 Report Posted May 12, 2011 I apologizw in advance, but can someone explain to me why the Sabres organization left Rochester? Two words: steve Donner or as taro would like say under capitalized. Donner never had enough cash to run a pro sports franchise. He was a semi successful front office guy with the lightnn(?) I believe, but never had the cash to run a minor league team. Anywho, he made too many cheapo demands of the sabers and they finally said f u.
inkman Posted May 12, 2011 Report Posted May 12, 2011 Donner. I punch that fat man right in the face for ruining that franchise.
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