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NBA refugee


cfinklea50

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Posted

I am man raised on basketball, being from Indiana. But the lockout is really pissing me off, so I gave up on the NBA. And giving that I am from Indiana we have zero local teams to root for. So somehow based on extensive research I ended picking the good ole sabres. and being a new fan I know very little about the history, major rivalries, and overall greatness of the game.

I would just like to know a few things.

1. A summary on the history of the sabres

2. Painful/ happy memories

3. And lastly I would love to know what I have to look forward to.

 

Thank you,

From an NBA refugee

Posted

I am man raised on basketball, being from Indiana. But the lockout is really pissing me off, so I gave up on the NBA. And giving that I am from Indiana we have zero local teams to root for. So somehow based on extensive research I ended picking the good ole sabres. and being a new fan I know very little about the history, major rivalries, and overall greatness of the game.

I would just like to know a few things.

1. A summary on the history of the sabres

2. Painful/ happy memories

3. And lastly I would love to know what I have to look forward to.

 

Thank you,

From an NBA refugee

 

AWESOME. Welcome aboard!

 

1. There's a LOT of history to summarize, from a fateful spin of a wheel that landed the Sabres the No. 1 pick in 1970, to the appearance of a new owner on the scene last February. There was a thread a couple of years ago (maybe it was as recent as summer 2010) where we summarized a season every day; if someone can find that and link to it, it will give you a great idea of the history of the team.

 

2. The painful ones are more memorable to a Buffalo fan. There was a Cup run in 2006 that was thwarted only because of injuries. Another one in 1999 that was killed by an illegal goal in Game 6 of the finals. And then there was 1975, when a very young team lost in 6 to Filly's goaltending. But there have been happy ones, too: Maxim Afinogenov's goal against the Rangers in 2007. Alexander Mogilny scoring 76 goals in a season. Numerous Vezina Trophies (that's for the best goaltender): Miller, Hasek (6x), Barrasso, Edwards/Sauve. A number of Hart (MVP) trophies, Calder (best rookie) trophies, and Adams (best coach) awards. Jim Schoenfeld crushing Cashman through the Zamboni gate. Jim Lorentz taking out a bat (the animal, not the baseball kind) that was disrupting play. And many, many other great memories. Stick around, and you'll read the stories.

 

3. In Terry Pegula's words, a number of Stanley Cups.

 

Again, welcome to the Sabre world. Hopefully, you'll come into town and see a game, and our city, sometime. (And I can say that I've been to Indiana a number of times, and I think it's greatly underrated. Beautiful country.)

Posted

I am man raised on basketball, being from Indiana. But the lockout is really pissing me off, so I gave up on the NBA. And giving that I am from Indiana we have zero local teams to root for. So somehow based on extensive research I ended picking the good ole sabres. and being a new fan I know very little about the history, major rivalries, and overall greatness of the game.

I would just like to know a few things.

1. A summary on the history of the sabres

2. Painful/ happy memories

3. And lastly I would love to know what I have to look forward to.

 

Thank you,

From an NBA refugee

 

I picked stuff up by asking questions in threads, picking up on what people are saying and, well, NHL games are a good start for positions, systems and team names. Also good with remembering awards. At least for me.

Posted

given your questions... what did your research actually consist of? :unsure:

Perhaps he is a sadist just fishing for sports most beleaguered fans. Should have went to TBD. ;-)

Posted

Two inspiring sabres google searches:

 

"Clint Malarchuk"

 

"Richard Zednik"

 

 

Dudes literally died on the ice from the same circumstances like 20 years apart. Freaky coincidence, both guys stories exemplifies the love of Buffalonians towards their players.

 

 

 

As far as painful memories go, our first owner, Seymour Knox III was a life long Buffalo guy. He passed away from cancer between the closing of the Aud (old WPA project) and the opening of the new building. He was able to put his hands in the concrete under the ice at the First Niagara Center though, but never saw a game there. You can search for "last game at aud" and see a video of a great speech by Seymour. We all knew he was dead man walking at that point. Very sad.

 

Our next owner was John Rigas, who is best known for being one of the first guys arrested and prosecuted for corporate fraud. We lost arguably the best goalie in NHL history due to that guy. At the time, Dominik Hasek (and our captain, Mike Peca) left the team on sour notes. Hindsight allows us to forgive them. They just saw the writing on the wall of the sinking ship. A few years later, after bounced paychecks, bankruptcy, and a possible relocation, the franchise was saved by Tom Golisano, who ran the team very well financially. We have a team now and a future due to Tom.

 

Other google searches:

 

"French Connection"

 

"May Day"

 

"Dave Hannan OT"

 

"Fog Game"

 

"Jim Lorentz Bat"

Posted

Two inspiring sabres google searches:

 

"Clint Malarchuk"

 

"Richard Zednik"

 

 

Dudes literally died on the ice from the same circumstances like 20 years apart. Freaky coincidence, both guys stories exemplifies the love of Buffalonians towards their players.

 

 

 

As far as painful memories go, our first owner, Seymour Knox III was a life long Buffalo guy. He passed away from cancer between the closing of the Aud (old WPA project) and the opening of the new building. He was able to put his hands in the concrete under the ice at the First Niagara Center though, but never saw a game there. You can search for "last game at aud" and see a video of a great speech by Seymour. We all knew he was dead man walking at that point. Very sad.

 

Our next owner was John Rigas, who is best known for being one of the first guys arrested and prosecuted for corporate fraud. We lost arguably the best goalie in NHL history due to that guy. At the time, Dominik Hasek (and our captain, Mike Peca) left the team on sour notes. Hindsight allows us to forgive them. They just saw the writing on the wall of the sinking ship. A few years later, after bounced paychecks, bankruptcy, and a possible relocation, the franchise was saved by Tom Golisano, who ran the team very well financially. We have a team now and a future due to Tom.

 

Other google searches:

 

"French Connection"

 

"May Day"

 

"Dave Hannan OT"

 

"Fog Game"

 

"Jim Lorentz Bat"

 

if i may add to this, read up on the story of the alexander mogilny defection from the soviet union. that one is one of my faves. also google "rick jeanneret." the man is a legend in the hockey broadcasting community.

Posted

Two inspiring sabres google searches:

 

"Clint Malarchuk"

 

"Richard Zednik"

 

Just stay away from any youtube links, especially of Malarchuk. No one should be watching that.

Posted

Just stay away from any youtube links, especially of Malarchuk. No one should be watching that.

 

 

This.

 

I saw it live from ~7 rows up, lower golds, in the corner on that side of the ice. I don't ever want to see it again.

Posted

Two inspiring sabres google searches:

 

"Clint Malarchuk"

 

"Richard Zednik"

 

 

Dudes literally died on the ice

 

 

Ummm, no they didn't. :unsure:

 

This.

 

I saw it live from ~7 rows up, lower golds, in the corner on that side of the ice. I don't ever want to see it again.

 

I was there as well - in the corner of the oranges with my father at that end of the ice. We left after they took him off the ice - listened to the radio on the way home to see if he lived. I can still see that pool of blood that spread so fast when he flipped that mask back.

Posted

This.

 

I saw it live from ~7 rows up, lower golds, in the corner on that side of the ice. I don't ever want to see it again.

 

Ditto that - saw it on TV and the memory of it still haunts me. Mike Robitaille was giving his analysis between periods and when the mention of the Malarchuk injury came up, he blanched visibly and looked like he was about to pass out. The Zednick one was almost as bad. Fortunately, the medical staff had prior experience and handled it well. So happy both players came out OK...

Posted

Two inspiring sabres google searches:

 

"Clint Malarchuk"

 

"Richard Zednik"

 

 

Dudes literally died on the ice from the same circumstances like 20 years apart. Freaky coincidence, both guys stories exemplifies the love of Buffalonians towards their players.

 

What?

Posted

I was there as well - in the corner of the oranges with my father at that end of the ice. We left after they took him off the ice - listened to the radio on the way home to see if he lived. I can still see that pool of blood that spread so fast when he flipped that mask back.

 

I was there with a buddy. Got the tix from his Mom (she worked in sales for Blue Cross at the time). It was a very Chet and Muffy kind of section. When Malarchuck went off the ice several men from our section ran down and headed for the hallway. I presumed they were medical professionals of some sort. While they were cleaning up the ice anyone in our section with a wife or GF with them left and never came back. I had a half-finished beer next to me that never did get finished. My buddy and I talked about leaving because we just weren't interested in the game anymore. We both just kind of assumed that Malarchuck didn't make it. It didn't seem possible for someone bleeding that badly to live long enough to get to the hospital. We stuck it out and watched the most emotionless game ever and raced to our car after the game so we could turn on the post-game show and get Malarchuck's stauts. You could've bowled me over with a feather when we found out that he was alive and in stable condition.

 

Other than the obvious blood and gore, the image that sticks most in my head was seeing Grant Ledyard come flying across the ice and slamming himself into the doors at full speed to get it open. He was yelling at the top of his lungs as he crashed into the door. Sends chills down my spine today.

 

Scariest (and most disgusting) thing I've ever personally witnessed.

Posted

TV was bad enough, but I can't even imagine what it would be like to be at either of those games, especially with what you just said Weave. After Zednik, I went out and bought a new neck guard to wear while I played (mandatory for me back in the Malarchuk days). People gave me a bit of crap, but I had no problem wearing it. I got a skate to the shoulder at one point and that was more than close enough to freak me out.

Posted

TV was bad enough, but I can't even imagine what it would be like to be at either of those games, especially with what you just said Weave. After Zednik, I went out and bought a new neck guard to wear while I played (mandatory for me back in the Malarchuk days). People gave me a bit of crap, but I had no problem wearing it. I got a skate to the shoulder at one point and that was more than close enough to freak me out.

 

The memory I will always have is the pool of blood spreading faster than anything should on that ice.

 

The Zednick incident may have been worse. They showed a shot on TV after he got off the ice from behind the far goal. The trail of blood he left looked like it was sprayed from a fire hose.

Posted

While we are on the subject of incidents on Sabres home ice, any of you older posters remember Billy Hajt putting Eddie Beers into the zamboni doors headfirst? If my memory isn't fooling me I recall Beers going into convulsions on the ice. That was pretty scary even without any gore.

Posted

If you're into the fights look up Rob Ray vs. Tie Domi,

They had some really great ones.

 

 

Also, look up patrick kaleta's hits. He can really put the hurt on some people.

 

 

 

Top Ten RJ calls are good too.

Posted

So, a random poster asks about memories and history of our favorite team, and we give him pools of blood and convulsions.

 

 

..and we wonder why ESPN only shows illegal hits to the head...

 

 

 

 

 

;)

Posted

So, a random poster asks about memories and history of our favorite team, and we give him pools of blood and convulsions.

 

..and we wonder why ESPN only shows illegal hits to the head...

 

;)

 

 

I went throught the 80's as a hard core Sabres fan. You'll have to excuse the lack of bright spots in my memory. :P :devil:

Posted

How about Craig Rivet's Goal with 4 seconds left to tie the game against the Sharks(I think?)

 

That was one of my personal favorites. Very emotional day as it was the day after Flight 3407 crashed just outside of Buffalo NY. They were playing for the city that night and captain Craig Rivet scored with time expiring to force overtime and an eventual win.

 

One of the few moments that made my eyes water a little bit. :thumbsup:

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