Sabres fandom—What hooked you?

[Norcal]

No *****. RJ and to a lesser extent Ted Darling. 

I listened to games before I watched them growing up in the city of Buffalo.

I was....

Gilbert Perrault with the shaaaaaught

Bob Sauve/Don Edwards saaaaaave

Schoenfeld with the bloooooock

On my kitchen floor with a ball of socks and Rick Jeanneret cheering me on. 

 

[thewookie1]

My Great-grandparents had 4 season tickets and my father would take them and myself for a few games each year. In 2000-2001 I went to 23 games, went to a few playoff games and as a 8 year old it was incredible. The 05-06 team got me into the Sabres as a teenager. Then after high school and the half-season lockout I began watching most to all the games because I hated being unable to watch hockey for that half year. Oddly enough, I have watched about 90% of the games since the 12-13 season even with me being tortured by their losing. 

RJ calls have always stuck in my brain; specifically the Drury tie goal against the Rangers because I had to miss the game to "work" my 8th grade dance. (I manned the snack shop so I could listen to the game) I just remember listening to that game and when the Sabres tied it my ears did that sound limiting effect because how loud everyone got. (A bunch of my classmates joined me when it was late in the 3rd as the dance had been finishing up.

Interestingly enough, the 7th grade dance occurred the night of that absurd Sabres vs Ottawa playoff game where the score changed so much that the DJ got confused by the updates.

[JoeSchmoe]

23 hours ago, FiXCzeR said:

The Sabres acquiring LaFontaine towards the start of the 1991-92 season was what first made me notice the team (the Bills garnered all my attention up until that point). But what really hooked me was in November 1992, when we first got cable. Suddenly I was able to watch Sabres games on Empire, and that 1992-93 roster is still my favorite sports team of all time.

Boy was I spoiled, the first season I was able to watch the team they had that incredible Mogilny, LaFontaine, and Andreychuk line.

I'm still bitter we traded Andreychuk for Fuhr (we already had Hasek on the roster!). It would've been the first time in NHL history all three linemates had 50 goals.

We win the cup if it wasn't for that stupid trade. Unbelievable.

[steveoath]

Nothing romantic here. I am a recent convert. All sports teams I follow tended to being underdogswhen I started supporting.  Sabres were dead last, right before the Dahlin draft, so I decided they were the team for me! 

[French Collection]

3 hours ago, steveoath said:

Nothing romantic here. I am a recent convert. All sports teams I follow tended to being underdogswhen I started supporting.  Sabres were dead last, right before the Dahlin draft, so I decided they were the team for me! 

Please don’t leave when they start winning!

[JustOneParade]

I was in high school when the Sabres came into being. (Thereby revealing that I am older than most of you). Grew up watching HNIC as a kid every Saturday evening. Sabres fan from the beginning but lost track periodically as I moved around the country for work and before the internet. (in case you didn't get my age reference the first time 😁). Watched the Fog Game while away at college. 

[The Big Lebowski]

14 hours ago, JoeSchmoe said:

We win the cup if it wasn't for that stupid trade. Unbelievable.

I met Dale Hawerchuk at an autograph signing years ago and told him he had a great Adams Division Final in 1993. He said thanks, and told me of all the teams he played on, that one had the best chance to win the cup.

Even with the injuries in that series, we only lost each game 4-3 (three of those games went into OT) to Montreal who would eventually win the cup.

I always felt with Hasek in goal and a 640 goal scorer in Andreychuck that we would've taken that series and the Cup.

[JoeSchmoe]

1 hour ago, FiXCzeR said:

I met Dale Hawerchuk at an autograph signing years ago and told him he had a great Adams Division Final in 1993. He said thanks, and told me of all the teams he played on, that one had the best chance to win the cup.

Even with the injuries in that series, we only lost each game 4-3 (three of those games went into OT) to Montreal who would eventually win the cup.

I always felt with Hasek in goal and a 640 goal scorer in Andreychuck that we would've taken that series and the Cup.

100% my thought too. I feel that doesn't get as much play among the fanbase though. It's worse than no goal, because effectively Muckler put the puck in our own net.

[Slack_in_MA]

The French Connection when I was about 6 or 7 in the early 70s. Playing street hockey, we would be Perreault, Martin, and Robert. 

[Marvin]

On 4/23/2022 at 2:10 AM, FiXCzeR said:

The Sabres acquiring LaFontaine towards the start of the 1991-92 season was what first made me notice the team (the Bills garnered all my attention up until that point). But what really hooked me was in November 1992, when we first got cable. Suddenly I was able to watch Sabres games on Empire, and that 1992-93 roster is still my favorite sports team of all time.

Boy was I spoiled, the first season I was able to watch the team they had that incredible Mogilny, LaFontaine, and Andreychuk line.

I'm still bitter we traded Andreychuk for Fuhr (we already had Hasek on the roster!). It would've been the first time in NHL history all three linemates had 50 goals.

We had a LONG discussion about the Grant Fuhr trade.  It was one of the most unnecessary trades in franchise history.

Addendum: Welcome back!

Edited April 25, 2022 by Marvin, Sabres Fan

[FLYNNSanity]

Some of my oldest memories are being on the ground as a toddler playing while my father watched the Sabres game on TV haha. I thought RJ's voice/calls were hilarious and my dad would then give his best version. 

[Marvin]

50 minutes ago, FLYNNSanity said:

Some of my oldest memories are being on the ground as a toddler playing while my father watched the Sabres game on TV haha. I thought RJ's voice/calls were hilarious and my dad would then give his best version. 

Welcome back!

[Amaru523]

I was born and raised in Las Vegas (everyone else in my family is from Buffalo), but I always followed the Sabres as closely as I could. Which wasn't easy back then in the desert. When I was little my parents divorced and my Dad eventually moved back to N. Tonawanda, where my Sis and I joined him in 91.

The first Sabres game I went to was vs Calgary in the 91-92 season. It was the first meeting since Jamie Macoun broke Pat LaFontaine's jaw. When that brawl erupted and the crowd was going crazy, as a 13 year old I was thinking "this is the coolest thing I have ever seen", I was hooked at that point. I've watched almost every Sabres game since. I'll admit that the fighting was what initially got me hooked, but the following season, watching LaFontaine and Mogilny do their thing was magical.

[Crusader1969]

On 4/23/2022 at 12:29 AM, Doohickie said:

/thread.... at least for those of us of a certain age.

100%

[Crusader1969]

as a 5 or 6 year old growing up in Burlington (20 mins outside Toronto) it was the jersey that intrigued me - a buffalo and swords compared to a leaf.

It was Gilbert Perreault that hooked me. Lucky that I was able to watch them on Chanel 2 in the mid 70s and listen to their games on the radio, so I  had an alterative to just watching the Leafs.

 

[Stoner]

3 hours ago, Crusader1969 said:

as a 5 or 6 year old growing up in Burlington (20 mins outside Toronto) it was the jersey that intrigued me - a buffalo and swords compared to a leaf.

It was Gilbert Perreault that hooked me. Lucky that I was able to watch them on Chanel 2 in the mid 70s and listen to their games on the radio, so I  had an alterative to just watching the Leafs.

 

My alternative was a snowy CHCH. Those few times they showed the Leafs at the Aud... oh man. Amazing.

[Weave]

17 minutes ago, PASabreFan said:

My alternative was a snowy CHCH. Those few times they showed the Leafs at the Aud... oh man. Amazing.

My dad was a Toronto and Montreal fan before the Sabres came into the league.  HNIC was every bit as important to watch as the Sabres. But once ‘71 hit, Toronto and Montreal were back seat teams.