Introduction and Hello

[Pimlach]

I have been reading The Aud Club for about as long as it existed.  Thanks for all of the interesting discussions.   

My first exposure to hockey was the AHL Bisons as far back as 66-67.  My first hockey stick was acquired on a Bisons game stick night in the original Aud (pre balcony) when they handed a 3rd grader a real wood full sized CCM stick.  All wood and way to big for me.  When it broke I did the right thing, I put a plastic end on it for street hockey   

My family had season tickets for AHL and NHL games, quite a few tickets actually.   I saw the Bisons (with Guy Trottier and Gilles Villemuere) win it all and then saw the Sabres rise from an expansion team to a powerhouse.    Punch, Gil, The Schoeny Game, Thank You Sabres game, the Batman fog game  ... I was there for all of it.  Then the Bowman era and I moved away in 81.  I have seen them on the road at least 30 times.   I’ve have had cheater cable to watch them, satilite TV, and streaming NHL.TV today.  Plus I catch a few games every years on trips back.  

Love the team and looking forward to sharing my thoughts as the season progresses.   Great to see the development of talent after a much too long drought and rebuild  

Punch 

[Taro T]

16 minutes ago, Pimlach said:

I have been reading The Aud Club for about as long as it existed.  Thanks for all of the interesting discussions.   

My first exposure to hockey was the AHL Bisons as far back as 66-67.  My first hockey stick was acquired on a Bisons game stick night in the original Aud (pre balcony) when they handed a 3rd grader a real wood full sized CCM stick.  All wood and way to big for me.  When it broke I did the right thing, I put a plastic end on it for street hockey   

My family had season tickets for AHL and NHL games, quite a few tickets actually.   I saw the Bisons (with Guy Trottier and Gilles Villemuere) win it all and then saw the Sabres rise from an expansion team to a powerhouse.    Punch, Gil, The Schoeny Game, Thank You Sabres game, the Batman fog game  ... I was there for all of it.  Then the Bowman era and I moved away in 81.  I have seen them on the road at least 30 times.   I’ve have had cheater cable to watch them, satilite TV, and streaming NHL.TV today.  Plus I catch a few games every years on trips back.  

Love the team and looking forward to sharing my thoughts as the season progresses.   Great to see the development of talent after a much too long drought and rebuild  

Punch 

Welcome to the board!  :beer:

[Pimlach]

1 minute ago, Taro T said:

Welcome to the board! ?

Thanks.  Since your call sign is Taro, where you a Phantom Sign Maker? 

[Ho-Chi-Sock]

Welcome. I should state off the bat that I've only been watching hockey since the last game of the Eichel Tank year, I don't know jack about analytics and advanced fancy stats, and I still have to remind myself from time to time what an offsides is.

That being said, you can't go wrong with any of my posts. Raw, feelings-hurting insight without the corporate spin, baby.

[Taro T]

7 minutes ago, Pimlach said:

Thanks.  Since your call sign is Taro, where you a Phantom Sign Maker? 

Can't say that I was.

[Pimlach]

Just now, Taro T said:

Can't say that I was.

Ok.  They used to preface many of their signs with “Taro Says...” , so I thought you may have been in that group.  

lots of inside jokes.  I heard Don Cherry, whom the Phantoms called “Grapes”, say that he liked their signs.  Cherry said “they are not just a bunch of dumb jerks”.  There were a lot of characters back then.   

At some point fans signs were banned/stopped although  I never knew why? 

[Eleven]

Hi!  Welcome to the board.

Don't mind Taro.  He's like the kind good uncle of the board.

[Cheektorado]

28 minutes ago, Pimlach said:

I have been reading The Aud Club for about as long as it existed.  Thanks for all of the interesting discussions.   

My first exposure to hockey was the AHL Bisons as far back as 66-67.  My first hockey stick was acquired on a Bisons game stick night in the original Aud (pre balcony) when they handed a 3rd grader a real wood full sized CCM stick.  All wood and way to big for me.  When it broke I did the right thing, I put a plastic end on it for street hockey   

My family had season tickets for AHL and NHL games, quite a few tickets actually.   I saw the Bisons (with Guy Trottier and Gilles Villemuere) win it all and then saw the Sabres rise from an expansion team to a powerhouse.    Punch, Gil, The Schoeny Game, Thank You Sabres game, the Batman fog game  ... I was there for all of it.  Then the Bowman era and I moved away in 81.  I have seen them on the road at least 30 times.   I’ve have had cheater cable to watch them, satilite TV, and streaming NHL.TV today.  Plus I catch a few games every years on trips back.  

Love the team and looking forward to sharing my thoughts as the season progresses.   Great to see the development of talent after a much too long drought and rebuild  

Punch 

Had an older brother that got a Bison stick back around 68-69.  I ended up breaking it and then made a street hockey stick out of it too.

I wish now I would of kept it.

Welcome aboard!

[Pimlach]

24 minutes ago, Eleven said:

Hi!  Welcome to the board.

Don't mind Taro.  He's like the kind good uncle of the board.

I like his posts and I  was hoping he was a former Phantom because I know them.  

[PromoTheRobot]

58 minutes ago, Pimlach said:

I have been reading The Aud Club for about as long as it existed.  Thanks for all of the interesting discussions.   

My first exposure to hockey was the AHL Bisons as far back as 66-67.  My first hockey stick was acquired on a Bisons game stick night in the original Aud (pre balcony) when they handed a 3rd grader a real wood full sized CCM stick.  All wood and way to big for me.  When it broke I did the right thing, I put a plastic end on it for street hockey   

My family had season tickets for AHL and NHL games, quite a few tickets actually.   I saw the Bisons (with Guy Trottier and Gilles Villemuere) win it all and then saw the Sabres rise from an expansion team to a powerhouse.    Punch, Gil, The Schoeny Game, Thank You Sabres game, the Batman fog game  ... I was there for all of it.  Then the Bowman era and I moved away in 81.  I have seen them on the road at least 30 times.   I’ve have had cheater cable to watch them, satilite TV, and streaming NHL.TV today.  Plus I catch a few games every years on trips back.  

Love the team and looking forward to sharing my thoughts as the season progresses.   Great to see the development of talent after a much too long drought and rebuild  

Punch 

Welcome. I go back to the final Bisons season, myself. No season tickets tho.

Edited December 16, 2018 by PromoTheRobot

[Stoner]

Paul Wieland in his book told the story of why the signs disappeared. I'll have to look it up later.

[Pimlach]

1 minute ago, PromoTheRobot said:

Welcome. I go back to the final Bisons season, myself. No seasons tho.

I wonder how that team would hold up in today’s NHL?

They were great and fun to watch. 

[Eleven]

7 minutes ago, Pimlach said:

I like his posts and I  was hoping he was a former Phantom because I know them.  

@Taro T is a big problem around here.  I would avoid him. 

[PromoTheRobot]

Just now, Pimlach said:

I wonder how that team would hold up in today’s NHL?

They were great and fun to watch. 

My dream is for the Sabres to wear the red Pepsi caps once. 2019 would have been the perfect year to do it, 50th anniversary of winning the Calder Cup. I wonder how many of that team are still alive?

[Pimlach]

5 hours ago, PASabreFan said:

Paul Wieland in his book told the story of why the signs disappeared. I'll have to look it up later.

Thanks.  In today’s world I could see someone getting offended by something sooner or later. 

The Aud balcony was perfect for signs. 

Edited December 16, 2018 by Pimlach

[Eleven]

5 minutes ago, PASabreFan said:

Paul Wieland in his book told the story of why the signs disappeared. I'll have to look it up later.

There came a time when arenas/stadiums started to regulate.  It's unfortunate.  The "Batavia Party Zone" banner never will hang at Rich again, either.

But I do think that the Taro Sez signs were from the Sabres booster club, and I'm not sure that exists anymore.

Edited December 16, 2018 by Eleven

[shrader]

3 hours ago, Eleven said:

Hi!  Welcome to the board.

Don't mind Taro.  He's like the kind good uncle of the board.

So who’s the bad uncle? I was going to say PA, but he’s more like the board’s great grand father. 

[SwampD]

Welcome!

ROCK'EM SABRES!!!!

[Formerly Allan in MD]

5 hours ago, Pimlach said:

I have been reading The Aud Club for about as long as it existed.  Thanks for all of the interesting discussions.   

My first exposure to hockey was the AHL Bisons as far back as 66-67.  My first hockey stick was acquired on a Bisons game stick night in the original Aud (pre balcony) when they handed a 3rd grader a real wood full sized CCM stick.  All wood and way to big for me.  When it broke I did the right thing, I put a plastic end on it for street hockey   

My family had season tickets for AHL and NHL games, quite a few tickets actually.   I saw the Bisons (with Guy Trottier and Gilles Villemuere) win it all and then saw the Sabres rise from an expansion team to a powerhouse.    Punch, Gil, The Schoeny Game, Thank You Sabres game, the Batman fog game  ... I was there for all of it.  Then the Bowman era and I moved away in 81.  I have seen them on the road at least 30 times.   I’ve have had cheater cable to watch them, satilite TV, and streaming NHL.TV today.  Plus I catch a few games every years on trips back.  

Love the team and looking forward to sharing my thoughts as the season progresses.   Great to see the development of talent after a much too long drought and rebuild  

Punch 

Did your parents have season tickets in the '50s.  If so, did they ever tell you about the early '50s Bison team, under the Canadians, that had EIGHT players score over 20 goals in one season?  They were something to behold.

[Pimlach]

8 hours ago, Formerly Allan in MD said:

Did your parents have season tickets in the '50s.  If so, did they ever tell you about the early '50s Bison team, under the Canadians, that had EIGHT players score over 20 goals in one season?  They were something to behold.

No.  Not that far back. My Uncle started buying them in the mid 60’s.  Then more and more of the family joined in.  We had a business to, so tickets were bought for that. 

When the  69-70 Bison team won the AHL, the NHL had 12 teams.  Now they have 31. 

The game is different now. More speed, skill, and much better conditioning.  American and Europeans make up over half the league.   Still, most of that Bisons team would be in the  NHL today. 

Edited December 16, 2018 by Pimlach

[Stoner]

13 hours ago, Pimlach said:

Thanks.  In today’s world I could see someone getting offended by something sooner or later. 

The Aud balcony was perfect for signs. 

Actually, according to Paul Wieland, it was the Sabres' Directory of Security who got offended by some of the signs and had his "rent a cops" tear them down. Wieland would argue with the guy and one of the Sabres' brass, Dave Forman, would settle things down. Wieland says he had to remind the signmakers to watch the double entendres.

Wieland says it was a group of season ticket holders who made the signs. He mentioned Dave Hyzy and Steve Hill. He also wrote that the pair vowed to bring the signs back if the Sabres returned to their original uniforms (book was written in 2008). Obviously the signs were never hung as promised. You don't see any banners being hung in the arena. Even the Pominville Population sign is gone. Probably too edgy for the scrubbed, buttoned-down, conservative PSE folks. You'd think they'd be anti- birth control.

[Pimlach]

1 minute ago, PASabreFan said:

Actually, according to Paul Wieland, it was the Sabres' Directory of Security who got offended by some of the signs and had his "rent a cops" tear them down. Wieland would argue with the guy and one of the Sabres' brass, Dave Forman, would settle things down. Wieland says he had to remind the signmakers to watch the double entendres.

Wieland says it was a group of season ticket holders who made the signs. He mentioned Dave Hyzy and Steve Hill. He also wrote that the pair vowed to bring the signs back if the Sabres returned to their original uniforms (book was written in 2008). Obviously the signs were never hung as promised. You don't see any banners being hung in the arena. Even the Pominville Population sign is gone. Probably too edgy for the scrubbed, buttoned-down, conservative PSE folks. You'd think they'd be anti- birth control.

Thanks for the research.  Yes those are two of the guys.  Kenmore East grads like me. 

 

Some of the signs were very clever, I would have thought most people were not in on the joke.   Hey, Don Cherry liked them and “Grapes” was a topic for every Bruins game. 

[LTS]

5 hours ago, Pimlach said:

Thanks for the research.  Yes those are two of the guys.  Kenmore East grads like me. 

 

Some of the signs were very clever, I would have thought most people were not in on the joke.   Hey, Don Cherry liked them and “Grapes” was a topic for every Bruins game. 

There are even some of those here.... like me.

[R_Dudley]

Welcome,

Love the pic.

IMHO, Best GM they have had to date especially for an expansion club at the time. 

He was in Hockey Central Toronto like it still is today and loved sticking his nose to the Hockey establishment taking an expansion team to the top of the league and SC finals in first first 4-5 years. 

  

[Sabres Fan in NS]

Another long time admirer of mine joined up.  This is great news.

Welcome!!

This place is fantastic.  My go to source for all the Sabre info and Bills without all the baggage at the sister site, although I have never been over there, but have heard all about her.