Speaking of the Aud . . .

[Stoner]

My first time in the Aud was for a Braves game. I really wanted it to be a Sabres game.

[Weave]

First game at the Aud when I was maybe 8 or 9.  St. Louis Blues.  I recall the game being a tie, but I'm not 100% convinced my memory on this is solid.

Saw Malarchuck's life change from the gold's just a handful of rows up in the section next to the zamboni doors.  Talk about sobering.

First legal beer was at the poor man's Aud club on the blue level. 

Had seasons for several years, 1st row oranges in the corner down by that cylindrical shaped wall.  Don't remember the section number.

Gave up my seasons when they moved to the new arena.  Equivalent seats were almost 3x the price.  Too rich for my blood.

Haven't seen a live sabres game in 7-8 years.  The entertainment value went south and I had no interest in paying to see them.  That will change soon enough.

[Cheektorado]

3 hours ago, North Buffalo said:

Steep no chair partially in front felt like you were climbing up just to get out.

 

My first time in the Oranges I was scared. 

[Frieda]

4 hours ago, Cheektorado said:

Started going to the Sabres/Braves games in 72-73 seasons.  I remember getting discounted orange tickets but don't remember how.

I do remember, "That's 2 for McAdooooooooooooo"!

I was /am a Celtics fan and remember going to games with Havliceck scoring then McAdoo. Then Cowens then McAdoo. Then JoJo then McAdoo!

 

Standing up top for a Canadiens game. Watching the Sabres lose to Toronto, getting on a bus and an old grandma getting on and bitching about Jim Shoenfield! ?

Edited November 22, 2018 by Frieda

[pkwwjd]

My first game was Rick Martin's hat trick against Atlanta in 1979 ... I think we won 6-2.

I was also at the 14-4 game in the Aud.

[BagBoy]

Oh boy.

I wasn't at the first game, but did attend a few games that first year as a 6-year old.  My family had 3rd row oranges right on the blue line.  Dad also had occasional seats from work in the first row of the blues near center ice.  There was an older English couple in the gold seats right in front of those seats who were hilarious.  

Announcer: "2 minute penalty to Buffalo number two Jim Watson for holding."

English woman in front of us:  stands up and yells in a cockney accent, "You can 'old me anytime Jimmy, baby!"

If there was a game where the Sabres were up comfortably near the end, there was some guy who would wait for a really quiet time and then wail into the most perfect and loud Tarzan yell.  It actually got to the point where the crowd would hopefully anticipate it and you could tell people were just piping down intentionally trying to encourage the guy.  He got a huge ovation every time he did it and rightly so.

You know when the refs hit the ice before any players at the start of each period?  In that first season the Sabres had 2 figure skating ladies that would hit the ice with them before the players got out there.  The figure skaters wore all silver and had actual sabres (plastic I'm sure).  They would hurl their sabres into the nets right after the refs skated by them.  I'm sure the refs really looked forward to that!

Back then beer cups were made of paper, but they were waxed.  If you set the empties upside down and stomped on them it made a wonderful popping sound that I will never forget in those narrow walkways as everyone exited the building.

The last game I saw at The Aud was a Boxing Day game where Housley scored both goals in a 2-1 win over Boston.

My brother gave me a brick from The Aud after the demolition.  It is a prized possession.

[JJFIVEOH]

I was there for Perreault's 500th goal. 

5 hours ago, bobs0108 said:

I also loved watching the Bandits play there. I fell in love with Lacrosse watching the Bandits and the Original and better John Tavares. I am so happy that the CT Blackwolfes are a team now 15 minutes from me at the Mohegan Sun Casino. 

Man, those early Bandits games were a blast! I had season tickets for the first three seasons. That was back when these guys had regular jobs and they were getting paid $150 per game. Their very first game, they had closed off the upper level not expecting a huge turnout. It turned out to be so popular that they opened up the upper level for the rest of the season and sold out every single game. 

[SwampD]

6 hours ago, Cheektorado said:

I think those were my seats for a Rush concert when I was 11. Yep, my parents let me go with my 16 year old brother. Different time.

6 hours ago, pi2000 said:

Actually played some high school games there too 1988-90, Super Sunday!   But I'll never forget the first time I played there, I was 7 or 8 years old I think, 1980'ish.     Played in one of those between period games that lasted just a few minutes, with the entire team on the ice at the same time.    Still remember it like yesterday, was probably the most thrilling moment of my playing career haha.

That’s awesome.

CountLess Sabres games. Three Rush concerts, Supertramp, Stallions.

[Jacque Richard]

Punch sitting with his wife in the corner golds.

[Broken Ankles]

My first game was against the Cleveland Barons circa ‘78.    Sabres drilled them 9-2.  They beat them 13-3 later that year.   Not a coincidence they folded soon after. 

[Stoner]

3 hours ago, pkwwjd said:

My first game was Rick Martin's hat trick against Atlanta in 1979 ... I think we won 6-2.

I was also at the 14-4 game in the Aud.

Me too. Remember the We Want 15 chant? It's seared into my brain.

[TheAud]

A great memory I have shared on here in the past; sitting in the corner 2nd row in Ted Darling's seats (my friend's family were his neighbors in Lockport) and watching Danny Gare score 4. 

Another one was seeing Team USA with still-a-Sabres Tom Barrasso in net beating I believe it was the Czech Republic. 

Went to a few Braves games as a kid before they moved. 

Saw some good concerts there too...Boston, Rush, Iron Maiden...even saw The Moody Blues with Steve Ray Vaughn opening up. 

The orange seats were so intimidating to sit in with the incline. 

I loved walking up those large concrete ramps, in the bowels of the building, in anticipation of seeing that bright white ice below. 

Edited November 22, 2018 by Sakman

[Neo]

Too many words for me to sort them, now.  I posted once about the magic that was both the Aud and an era, but can’t find it in search!  I can’t shake “wistful” ... I can’t shake “intimate”.

The Aud was more than a building or a place where an event took place.  The Aud was a participant in the event.  I watched hockey games with the Aud, not at the Aud.  I felt her.  I remember her.

A few years back, my kids visited the Aud after it’d closed but before it was torn down.  They sent me a piece of the facade and a framed drawing.  They told of a pilgrimage they made based on my stories.  They grew up in Florida, and knew her only through my stories.  Imagine the power of that.  I had no idea the impression I’d made with them in my lap, telling stories.  Wide eyes, wide eyes ...

OP, any time you wanna lean over and ask me “do you remember”, feel free!  Boy, do I!

Edited November 22, 2018 by Neo

[Frieda]

9 hours ago, Sakman said:

 

The orange seats were so intimidating to sit in with the incline. 

 

Standing for the anthems were a flirt with death! 

 

Uppers in the Carrier Dome not much better! 

[R_Dudley]

Hah, yeah I remember. Started with rock concerts Jethro Tull, Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, Stones, Deep Purple, then moved on to my girl friends Dads season tickets in golds when Punch Imlach and his wife used to sit in the corner of the golds where sabres shot at 2x a game. Those seats were 2 rows up to the left of Punch's right on the actual goal line. Later split season tics 6 ways(85-89). The 2nd to last row of Blues(just before Greys) with my Brother-in law, almost center ice.  Maybe saw almost as many rock shows there as hockey games.

From Season tics, to SRO in oranges during Hockey playoffs and concerts I agree with NEO.

The AUD was not just a place. It had its own aura, left over energy from all the people, things, and events done and emoted there and you could feel it .           

[Kruppstahl]

The overwhelming majority of all Sabres games I have been to were in the Aud.

Love that building and miss it greatly.  The new era of Sabres fans don't know how much better a hockey auditorium can be.

There was nothing like the Aud rocking when things were going right for the Sabres, and all those "Sandbag" noise absorption things hanging form the ceiling would be whipping back and forth, being moved purely by sound energy.

Remember going to a game in the oranges as a teenager, probably...looked over at the press box "hanging platform" thing they hard back then, and saw a relatively young RJ (by today's standards at least) smoking a butt and nursing a large beer out of a plastic cup, like 15 minutes before game time.

The good old days.

 

 

[Kruppstahl]

If you love the Aud and miss it, you'll enjoy checking this out.  Pretty cool photographs.

Brings back many memories. 

http://www.roadwolf.ca/node/5

 

Edited November 22, 2018 by Kruppstahl

[Formerly Allan in MD]

It was a wonderful place.  Between periods of Bisons games, used to love to go down to the little concourses where the ramps connected, squash a paper cup, and play foot hockey with friends.  But the main attraction were the great Bison teams parented by the Canadians, Black Hawks, and Rangers.

[grinreaper]

Th Aud provided numerous wonderful experiences:

Watching from the Oranges (looking down through my knees) Don Luce clinch a playoff series against the Blues with an OT goal.

Getting a pair of tickets to a Sabres game (when there were 10,000 people on a season ticket waiting list) next to the cameraman at center ice, 1st row of the reds.

Having John Shumate land on me. The owner of my company was on the Board for the old Braves and had floor tickets whenever we wanted---free too.

Seeing Danny Gare have a hattrick to reach 50 goals on the last day of the regular season.

Being introduced to Beef on Weck in the old Aud Club.

Good times.

[Stoner]

2 hours ago, grinreaper said:

Th Aud provided numerous wonderful experiences:

Watching from the Oranges (looking down through my knees) Don Luce clinch a playoff series against the Blues with an OT goal.

Getting a pair of tickets to a Sabres game (when there were 10,000 people on a season ticket waiting list) next to the cameraman at center ice, 1st row of the reds.

Having John Shumate land on me. The owner of my company was on the Board for the old Braves and had floor tickets whenever we wanted---free too.

Seeing Danny Gare have a hattrick to reach 50 goals on the last day of the regular season.

Being introduced to Beef on Weck in the old Aud Club.

Good times.

This is one of those big franchise goals that I've never seen video/heard audio of.

[grinreaper]

27 minutes ago, PASabreFan said:

This is one of those big franchise goals that I've never seen video/heard audio of.

I tried to find it but to no avail. I went to a site that was actually called something like "Sabres Playoff Overtime Goals". It was listed but it stated that there was no video. As I remember it Luce was in the GT's left faceoff circle and snapped a one timer. I used to live in Erie back in the Peca era and the Sabres played a preseason game there. They had a reception and I got to meet the brass which included Luce at the time. I told him I was there for that goal and you could tell that it brought back some pretty powerful memories.

[tmac8]

Hey everyone. Long time lurker. Rarely post, but this one was too good. I remember countless games in the oranges, and standing room behind. The first game I sat  below the oranges (in the blues) was the night John Tucker scored 4 in the playoffs vs Boston during a brawl filled 6-2 win. 

This is why I hate the Bruins

Also remember driving through a white out on pearl street to see the Islanders in 1985. NYI was leading 3-1 when the lights went out with a few minutes left in the 2nd. They tacked the remaining time onto the 3rd, and played the rest of the game under less than full lighting. Sabres came back and won 4-3. Billy smith threw a fit..We left the building through pitch dark ramps & halls.. To this day I dunno how they got a way with it..

Edited November 23, 2018 by tmac8

[RJforPrez]

When I was maybe 12 or 13, my mom worked with a doctor who had seasons in the lower golds; he knew that her girls liked hockey, so my sister and I sometimes ended up there for a game. I also remember being with her at a playoff game against Montreal, sitting in the blues a few rows down from a group of Canadiens fans, and being scared to death that there'd be a fight (up there, not on the ice) and I'd somehow have to keep her - and myself! - safe. All that happened was some singing of "Na Na Hey Hey Goodbye," first by them when they were winning, and then by us when the boys came back and took that game.

Once I went down to the ice during the pregame skate and yelled for Mike Foligno until he came over and gave me an autograph. I still have that amongst my cherished childhood possessions...

I saw Cheap Trick there at around the same time in my life; Sammy Hagar opened, and I very clearly remember his hollering "LET'S TURN THIS F'N PLACE RED" at some point and thinking, "Mom will never take me to another concert again ever."

The last time I was there for a game was with my college roommate, probably sophomore year (mid-'80s), up in the oranges; I was intently watching the game, of course, but she had brought a pair of opera glasses and was just as enthusiastically people-watching. She got caught by surprise by one of the Sabres' goals when everyone jumped up to cheer; she'd probably been checking someone out in the next section over...

[Eleven]

2 hours ago, tmac8 said:

Hey everyone. Long time lurker. Rarely post, but this one was too good. I remember countless games in the oranges, and standing room behind. The first game I sat  below the oranges (in the blues) was the night John Tucker scored 4 in the playoffs vs Boston during a brawl filled 6-2 win. 

This is why I hate the Bruins

Also remember driving through a white out on pearl street to see the Islanders in 1985. NYI was leading 3-1 when the lights went out with a few minutes left in the 2nd. They tacked the remaining time onto the 3rd, and played the rest of the game under less than full lighting. Sabres came back and won 4-3. Billy smith threw a fit..We left the building through pitch dark ramps & halls.. To this day I dunno how they got a way with it..

Post more often if you can.

[Eleven]

On 11/21/2018 at 2:03 PM, I Remember Imlach said:

I'm just curious as someone who attended the first Sabre home game in '70 (we lost to Montreal):  how many posters here in the Aud Club remember going to a game in the Aud?

Many, many games.  Sabres, Stallions, Bandits.  My first big concert was R.E.M.'s Green tour.  

When the company my dad worked for had tickets it couldn't use, like a weird Tuesday night against the North Stars or the Red Wings or something (today's equivalent might be a Wednesday night against Arizona or something, and please remember how much the Wings sucked then), he was allowed to take me or my sis or sometimes the whole family. 

I also got to see Gordie Howe play, with his sons, when he was with the Whalers.  I'll never forget it.