FN Arena atmosphere

[GrassValleyGreg]

Agree, but WPG is very high bar to set especially considering this is their first playoff game in so many years. FN arena will be rocking Game 1 or 3 of our next playoff series. 

 

Minnesota was also a fantastic crowd. The atmospheres have really been on display. I wouldn't put Buffalo in the group of WPG, MIN, MON, VAN, OTT, CGY, but we are very much in the second tier of mostly northern USA towns. We'll be rocking again, don't worry. It's just a shame the Sabres had the opportunity to lock in Buffalo in place of failing Bills and never truly delivered the big one. 

 

But like I said, we'll be back with the DETs and BOSs soon enough.

[SabresFanInRochester]

I'm finding it a little silly to think that a different anthem rendition is going to change the tone of a hockey game.

 

The only thing that would do that for me is knowing that as soon as the anthem is over, 20 something bad-ass muther funkers are going to step onto the ice and beat the piss out of the other team all while scoring more goals than them. Period.

I am with you. I think seeing a competitive team that has a winning tradition on their home ice would be awesome. That attitude and swagger has been lacking for too long.

[Claude_Verret]

I still say that more than anything, it's arena architecture and acoustics that set teams apart for in game atmosphere and decibel levels when all other things are equal in terms of having a good team to cheer for.  Sure some of the in game aspects can be tweaked at FNC to help, but I always use the Canes as an example of a very loud arena (once upon a time), and they likely have an even higher Chet and Muffy / kid friendly atmosphere than the Sabres do.

[CallawaySabres]

Simple solution, bring back the royal blue and the old Sabretooth and they will waken!

 

[SabresFanInRochester]

Simple solution, bring back the royal blue and the old Sabretooth and they will waken!

 

I guess an outdoor arena with 70,000 fans helps too.

[Huckleberry]

I guess an outdoor arena with 70,000 fans helps too.

 

Probably most of them had a few beers as well :D

Hard to remain cheerfull inside the arena if you watched this team last 5 years i guess.  The last two being just plain awefull.

Edited April 21, 2015 by Heimdall

[dudacek]

I have two words for you

 

"It's the product, Stupid!"

 

 

Give us a product to cheer for and we will. Even though Winny has been losing, they play some pretty exciting hockey games and it's not just their crowd.

I think this is likely the single biggest factor.

 

Can't talk about fans in Buffalo since I've never been to the FN arena.

But I've been to a ton of Canuck games and watched the crowds evolve.

When I was a kid it was all about the drunks bellowing at Harold Snepsts and the fear and disdain for the Oilers.

Most of the people in the building were hardcore fans who knew every player and bled with every shot.

 

Today, it seems like there isn't a person in the lower bowl who isn't there for any other reason than to be seen. They are either rich, or are pretending to be. It is about what is trendy, and God forbid if you yell when they are trying to talk on their cell phones. You yell when the scoreboard tells you to.

 

$120 seats breed a different kind of fan.

Edited April 21, 2015 by dudacek

[X. Benedict]

I have two words for you

 

"It's the product, Stupid!"

 

 

Give us a product to cheer for and we will. Even though Winny has been losing, they play some pretty exciting hockey games and it's not just their crowd.

I think a lot of it is the building itself. In The Aud the site lines were so good you felt like a participant. In FNC you feel like a spectator.

Acoustically it is a quiet building too.

[darksabre]

I think this is likely the single biggest factor.

 

Can't talk about fans in Buffalo since I've never been to the FN arena.

But I've been to a ton of Canuck games and watched the crowds evolve.

When I was a kid it was all about the drunks bellowing at Harold Snepsts and the fear and disdain for the Oilers.

Most of the people in the building were hardcore fans who knew every player and bled with every shot.

 

Today, it seems like there isn't a person in the lower bowl who isn't there for any other reason than to be seen. They are either rich, or are pretending to be. It is about what is trendy, and God forbid if you yell when they are trying to talk on their cell phones. You yell when the scoreboard tells you to.

 

$120 seats breed a different kind of fan.

This has been my experience at the FNC. Even when the team was good it was hard to cheer and get into the games without someone glaring at you like you're interrupting the opera. The upper levels are the only place where you can find real fans anymore. Something that used to be adult entertainment has been diluted into "family friendly" so that parents who don't like being parents can bring their f*cking toddlers to games.

[Samson's Flow]

This has been my experience at the FNC. Even when the team was good it was hard to cheer and get into the games without someone glaring at you like you're interrupting the opera. The upper levels are the only place where you can find real fans anymore. Something that used to be adult entertainment has been diluted into "family friendly" so that parents who don't like being parents can bring their f*cking toddlers to games.

Getting stares and vitrol for trying to start a chant will certainly dampen any fans enthusiasm. That and there is a growing trend of not even standing up when the Sabres score a goal. Seriously, FFS...

[SDS]

I think a lot of it is the building itself. In The Aud the site lines were so good you felt like a participant. In FNC you feel like a spectator.

Acoustically it is a quiet building too.

 

The last exciting player we had was Afinogenov. Fans always gasped when he roared up ice just prior to turning the puck over.

 

Years of Pommenstein, Vanek, Stafford, Myers... eh... Who gets your blood pumping there? The same old players, playing under the same old coach, put together by the same old GM led to years of having nothing interesting to watch or talk about.

Getting stares and vitrol for trying to start a chant will certainly dampen any fans enthusiasm. That and there is a growing trend of not even standing up when the Sabres score a goal. Seriously, FFS...

 

No offense, but this (and the others posts like it) all sounds like hyperbole to me.

[Stoner]

The Sabres should require an act of faith. STHs should be required to stand in line, outside, all night, to renew their tix. Each ticket holder must stand in line, including the toddlers and crotch turds. Positive ID required.

[X. Benedict]

The last exciting player we had was Afinogenov. Fans always gasped when he roared up ice just prior to turning the puck over.

 

Years of Pommenstein, Vanek, Stafford, Myers... eh... Who gets your blood pumping there? The same old players, playing under the same old coach, put together by the same old GM led to years of having nothing interesting to watch or talk about.

I didn't mean to imply the building is the sole reason.....I think the gentrification of the STH is true is well......not much more than a golf clap for clearing the zone on the PP these days.

[Stoner]

The last exciting player we had was Afinogenov. Fans always gasped when he roared up ice just prior to turning the puck over.

 

Years of Pommenstein, Vanek, Stafford, Myers... eh... Who gets your blood pumping there? The same old players, playing under the same old coach, put together by the same old GM led to years of having nothing interesting to watch or talk about.

 

No offense, but this (and the others posts like it) all sounds like hyperbole to me.

The not standing? It's very real. The looks? I've noticed it. It's either anger or shock that someone is yelling during a memorial service.

[Samson's Flow]

No offense, but this (and the others posts like it) all sounds like hyperbole to me.

None taken. Just relaying my experience from this year. I was given tickets for center ice 200's for the Predators weekend game late in the season. When the Sabres scored, there were maybe 5 people in my section who stood up with me. The rest were busy eating their snacks or playing on their phones.

 

Maybe it was an isolated incident due to the a. terrible season and b. sitting in the 200's.

 

I didn't mean to imply the building is the sole reason.....I think the gentrification of the STH is true is well......not much more than a golf clap for clearing the zone on the PP these days.

Didn't even think of the cheers for the PK zone clear. That has definitely lost its volume this year.

[SDS]

None taken. Just relaying my experience from this year. I was given tickets for center ice 200's for the Predators weekend game late in the season. When the Sabres scored, there were maybe 5 people in my section who stood up with me. The rest were busy eating their snacks or playing on their phones.

 

Maybe it was an isolated incident due to the a. terrible season and b. sitting in the 200's.

 

Didn't even think of the cheers for the PK zone clear. That has definitely lost its volume this year.

 

Sort of hard to take away any meaningful observations in a season where goals by the team were not openly welcomed by the many/most fans (especially late in the season against Nashville). I'm yawning just thinking about it.

[darksabre]

Sort of hard to take away any meaningful observations in a season where goals by the team were not openly welcomed by the many/most fans (especially late in the season against Nashville). I'm yawning just thinking about it.

This has been a problem for years. The place is a morgue. I bet this year was actually BETTER because of the tank. At least booing is something.

[Samson's Flow]

Sort of hard to take away any meaningful observations in a season where goals by the team were not openly welcomed by the many/most fans (especially late in the season against Nashville). I'm yawning just thinking about it.

No doubt. But this is the same conversation I was having in the thread on this topic a few years back. It wan't just a tank season thing. It was more apparent this year though, for obvious reasons.

[SabresFanInRochester]

I think this is likely the single biggest factor.

 

Can't talk about fans in Buffalo since I've never been to the FN arena.

But I've been to a ton of Canuck games and watched the crowds evolve.

When I was a kid it was all about the drunks bellowing at Harold Snepsts and the fear and disdain for the Oilers.

Most of the people in the building were hardcore fans who knew every player and bled with every shot.

 

Today, it seems like there isn't a person in the lower bowl who isn't there for any other reason than to be seen. They are either rich, or are pretending to be. It is about what is trendy, and God forbid if you yell when they are trying to talk on their cell phones. You yell when the scoreboard tells you to.

 

$120 seats breed a different kind of fan.

As someone who sits in the lower bowl -- row 4-- maybe some people down there are like that, but that doesn't speak to me. I sit there because although seeing the play develop is a little more challenging, seeing someone get jacked into the boards is incredible. The action is awesome! Don't get me wrong, I can still see the play develop, just not as easily as someone looking down on the play.

 

Now, I need to go so that I can make sure my landscaper is putting in the correct shrubs this year, and I need to call our nanny. I wish my Mercedes had a better hands-free device, but I will be at my mansion soon enough.

The last exciting player we had was Afinogenov. Fans always gasped when he roared up ice just prior to turning the puck over.

 

Years of Pommenstein, Vanek, Stafford, Myers... eh... Who gets your blood pumping there? The same old players, playing under the same old coach, put together by the same old GM led to years of having nothing interesting to watch or talk about.

 

No offense, but this (and the others posts like it) all sounds like hyperbole to me.

I will defend that this behavior exists. Pisses me off that it's even an issue. I mentioned the a-hole Sabres fan that was upset when the "Let's Go Buffalo" chant got going at the last game. The kicker is that if you continue to disrupt someone's game day experience, security views you as the problem, not the stiff who refuses to get out their seat and enjoy the game. 

[beerme1]

I am so happy to hear that. I sit in the 4th row by the Zamboni entrance and granted the glass blocks noise from the ice, there are a lot of fans beside and behind us. Our seats our great, I just wish we the atmosphere in our section was more like what you described. I didn't feel like I was at the game you described.

 

 

That's a little what I feel like. I sat in the 200 section once for a playoff game and it may as well have been a preseason game.

 

 

I agree, and that's why I bring it up. I knew there would be a lot of defending the fan base: the team sucks, why cheer? or it's a meaningless game, blah.

 

I would love to see a solution put into place. I don't know what the answer is, but I appreciate the fact that we can create a forum to try to suggest and figure it out instead of just say "wait until our next playoff game and you will see the fans magically come to life."

I hate when I hear the mainstream media or even the Buffalo media pump Buffalo's tires for being a good market because I think it feeds the ego and it is not justified.

 

 

Well if you're down by the Zamboni you may not have heard it then at the Pittsburgh game. I'm at the opposite end in a Chet and Muffy section. Most of my section is brutal and is company owned or Sabres owned seats so it does taint them. Employees in company seats, don't want to make a scene. Sabres guests aren't going to go crazy. But let me ask, did you hear much let's go pens?

 

Our best atmosphere is a playoff game or Philly or a Canadian team and that's due to their fans coming here.

I went to Tampa for a Sabres game and talked up some local born and raised STH sitting next to us and when I said this is like a Leaf game at home one guy said you don't understand, it's like this for every team due to all the transplants lol. Tamps is a great Sabres environment when we play there.

 

Been a while since I've lost my voice but it's been a long time since I felt it would be worth losing my voice for what I was experiencing. Worst hockey I've seen in my life the last two years.

 

As others have said it's the family environment, building design and acoustics, team performance all play into it. But don't go to far with thinking we're just lazy fans now.

I was in Montreal a couple of seasons ago and it's a great atmosphere and all but, some of that is strictly generated in the upper bowl in the end zones in the beer sections where they have chicks in tights leading cheers and tossing t shirts to the crowd all game.

You wouldn't think they need to do that in Montreal but they do. Our mausoleum will come back to life next year with a much more enjoyable product and I will help lead the charge with what I expect the team to be performing like.

[SabresFanInRochester]

None taken. Just relaying my experience from this year. I was given tickets for center ice 200's for the Predators weekend game late in the season. When the Sabres scored, there were maybe 5 people in my section who stood up with me. The rest were busy eating their snacks or playing on their phones.

 

Maybe it was an isolated incident due to the a. terrible season and b. sitting in the 200's.

 

Didn't even think of the cheers for the PK zone clear. That has definitely lost its volume this year.

That's the stuff that I referencing, and I really don't want to accept -- wait until the team is better. It's a changing culture and a switch is not going to be flipped when the Sabres start winning because the same fans will be attending the games. Complacency to sit without cheering has become commonplace and that environment is now a disease that needs to be eradicated. 

[SabresFanInRochester]

Well if you're down by the Zamboni you may not have heard it then at the Pittsburgh game. I'm at the opposite end in a Chet and Muffy section. Most of my section is brutal and is company owned or Sabres owned seats so it does taint them. Employees in company seats, don't want to make a scene. Sabres guests aren't going to go crazy. But let me ask, did you hear much let's go pens?

 

Our best atmosphere is a playoff game or Philly or a Canadian team and that's due to their fans coming here.

I went to Tampa for a Sabres game and talked up some local born and raised STH sitting next to us and when I said this is like a Leaf game at home one guy said you don't understand, it's like this for every team due to all the transplants lol. Tamps is a great Sabres environment when we play there.

 

Been a while since I've lost my voice but it's been a long time since I felt it would be worth losing my voice for what I was experiencing. Worst hockey I've seen in my life the last two years.

 

As others have said it's the family environment, building design and acoustics, team performance all play into it. But don't go to far with thinking we're just lazy fans now.

I was in Montreal a couple of seasons ago and it's a great atmosphere and all but, some of that is strictly generated in the upper bowl in the end zones in the beer sections where they have chicks in tights leading cheers and tossing t shirts to the crowd all game.

You wouldn't think they need to do that in Montreal but they do. Our mausoleum will come back to life next year with a much more enjoyable product and I will help lead the charge with what I expect the team to be performing like.

I don't want to be loud because I am trying to drown out the cheers of the opposing team. I didn't want to see Toronto win the draft lottery because it's already unbearable being at a game with their fans... if their team was good? Argh!

 

The hockey has been bad, but how quiet it has been is not a new thing. I will concede that it matters, but when there's a fight, a pretty goal, or the successful kill of a 5v3, you should hear a pretty substantial roar.

 

I brought my kids to a couple of games. They play hockey and I want them to experience a game to see the speed and the players. I do not attend many games with them because it's a long drive from Rochester and taking a 5 and 7 year old to a game with an hour-plus drive before and after gets us home late. Kids don't do well when the game basically starts at bedtime. So, maybe the solution is a couple of Saturday or Sunday matinees where the emphasis is family day, and the remainder are 7:30 starts, or even 8:00 to discourage young kids from going. Lastly, I will say my 5-year old was cheering loader than 95% of the people in our section.

 

And maybe instead of Sabretooth at the games pounding on a drum, it is an "ice girl" trying to fire up the team. I mean, Sabretooth appeals to the family, but aren't we trying to say that family environment is leading to quiet games? Tough one because I remember some debate on here years ago about ice girls and some people are adamantly against it.

[mjd1001]

I think a small part of the issue is the Arena itself.

 

Is FNC a good place to watch a game? Yes, Its clean, good sight lines, nothing wrong with it at all. But, on the other hand, there isn't much special about it either.  It isn't a "small" barn like Winnipeg has...or like the Aud was. And in terms of anything unique about it....once again, it is up to NHL standards, but in the past 15 years or so, a lot of the new arenas are really really nice (the 4-5 of the newer ones I have been to are really great.)  Does that make the crowd louder? maybe not...but some of them really out-shine the FNC now in terms of the gameday experience.

[Sabres Fan in NS]

SDS caught by his own auto-correct.

 

Unless, of course, his Pommenstein was on purpose.

 

:w00t:

[SDS]

SDS caught by his own auto-correct.

 

Unless, of course, his Pommenstein was on purpose.

 

:w00t:

 

On purpose. I'll never use his real name again.