Sabres 2023-24 Schedule Release

[Brawndo]

Per Craig Rivet the Sabres opener is October 12th vs NYR. 
 

Full Schedule release on Tuesday 

[Marvin]

1 hour ago, Brawndo said:

Per Craig Rivet the Sabres opener is October 12th vs NYR. 
 

Full Schedule release on Tuesday 

The NHL needs to open on 1 October at the latest.

[Taro T]

27 minutes ago, Marvin said:

The NHL needs to open on 1 October at the latest.

It traditionally opened ~October 5.  They like avoiding a bit more of football season and the baseball stretch/playoffs.

Even when Buffalo was an actual NHL team but before the waiting list formed, weeknight October games were hard sells.  Imagine how much tougher a sell they are in non-traditional markets.

Am expecting mid-October starts are here to stay.

[Pimlach]

11 hours ago, Taro T said:

It traditionally opened ~October 5.  They like avoiding a bit more of football season and the baseball stretch/playoffs.

Even when Buffalo was an actual NHL team but before the waiting list formed, weeknight October games were hard sells.  Imagine how much tougher a sell they are in non-traditional markets.

Am expecting mid-October starts are here to stay.

The best hockey that the NHL has to offer, the Stanley Cup playoffs, is hardly watched in the US because of baseball season.  
 

Start earlier, end sooner.  

[Taro T]

1 hour ago, Pimlach said:

The best hockey that the NHL has to offer, the Stanley Cup playoffs, is hardly watched in the US because of baseball season.  
 

Start earlier, end sooner.  

They aren't getting to a point where the NHL's playoffs end in March.  Which is the only way the NHL is avoiding playing games during the baseball season.

Football pulls way more viewers / attendees away from hockey than does baseball.  They aren't going to go up against 4 months of football + a month of NFL playoffs when they already hate going up against 3 months of football + playoffs.

[Pimlach]

1 minute ago, Taro T said:

They aren't getting to a point where the NHL's playoffs end in March.  Which is the only way the NHL is avoiding playing games during the baseball season.

Football pulls way more viewers / attendees away from hockey than does baseball.  They aren't going to go up against 4 months of football + a month of NFL playoffs when they already hate going up against 3 months of football + playoffs.

There is no easy solution.  My point is not many fans in the US watch the Stanley Cup playoffs.   Once their team is out, they switch to baseball.  

I was in Boston a few weeks ago and with the Bruins done they were focused on the Sox.   In St Louis, Blues out, it was all Cardinals.    In Buffalo with no MLB, lots of people were following the SC. 

SC playoff hockey is far better than regular season and very few watch it compared to the Super Bowl and World Series. This a problem that the NHL faces.  

[French Collection]

1 hour ago, Pimlach said:

There is no easy solution.  My point is not many fans in the US watch the Stanley Cup playoffs.   Once their team is out, they switch to baseball.  

I was in Boston a few weeks ago and with the Bruins done they were focused on the Sox.   In St Louis, Blues out, it was all Cardinals.    In Buffalo with no MLB, lots of people were following the SC. 

SC playoff hockey is far better than regular season and very few watch it compared to the Super Bowl and World Series. This a problem that the NHL faces.  

Sounds like the majority of people love their local sports teams and casually follow the sport when the teams are out.

I think Canada might be different because hockey is a big part of the culture. I would expect the numbers to be dropping because of the changing demographics. The young people I know also don’t sit down to watch an entire game, just want the highlights.

Vegas vs Florida wasn’t the best draw for a national audience but HNIC highlighted the 18 or so Canadians on the Vegas roster.

[Thorner]

5 hours ago, Pimlach said:

There is no easy solution.  My point is not many fans in the US watch the Stanley Cup playoffs.   Once their team is out, they switch to baseball.  

I was in Boston a few weeks ago and with the Bruins done they were focused on the Sox.   In St Louis, Blues out, it was all Cardinals.    In Buffalo with no MLB, lots of people were following the SC. 

SC playoff hockey is far better than regular season and very few watch it compared to the Super Bowl and World Series. This a problem that the NHL faces.  

I think the first round is the best, better than the regular season, but as the long gruelling playoffs wear on and more players begin to battle through injuries, I find the quality of the product rather dips over the course of the two month home stretch 

[Taro T]

52 minutes ago, Thorny said:

I think the first round is the best, better than the regular season, but as the long gruelling playoffs wear on and more players begin to battle through injuries, I find the quality of the product rather dips over the course of the two month home stretch 

This year it was.  But IMHO the 2nd round is usually the best of the 4.  You have 2 fairly closely matched teams typically and you've only begun the stocking the walking wounded brigade.  

Getting further out, you start having attrition and exhaustion take their tolls; and the final can be excellent (Boston Chicago) or more likely it'll be a mismatch.

[Brawndo]

 

[PromoTheRobot]

Not many Bills/Sabres weekends, sadly.

[pastajoe]

On 6/25/2023 at 8:51 AM, Pimlach said:

The best hockey that the NHL has to offer, the Stanley Cup playoffs, is hardly watched in the US because of baseball season.  
 

Start earlier, end sooner.  

Hockey fans aren’t watching mid-season snoozer baseball games instead of playoff hockey.

[pastajoe]

What kind of crap road trips are that? Single game flights out west for Calgary, Arizona, then Seattle-Ottawa-Vancouver in the same week, Anaheim, and Edmonton. That’s ridiculous.

[Taro T]

5 of the 1st 6 are at home.  Don't like that.  The Sabres will be flying out of the gate regardless of where they're playing.  Would like to sop up some extra road wins before the rest of the league realizes the season's started.

(Of course, the way the team played at home last year, maybe this is a good thing.  Get those extra home wins before the rest of the league realizes the season's started.  😉)

1 minute ago, pastajoe said:

What kind of crap road trips are that? Single game flights out west for Calgary, Arizona, then Seattle-Ottawa-Vancouver in the same week, Anaheim, and Edmonton. That’s ridiculous.

Da'faq you talkin' 'bout?

[Taro T]

@pastajoe

White are HOME games.

 

[Pimlach]

Just now, pastajoe said:

Hockey fans aren’t watching mid-season snoozer baseball games instead of playoff hockey.

In Canada you are correct.   In the US you are wrong.  

First of all, they are early season games when almost every baseball team has some hope. Secondly, most American Hockey fans switch to baseball (or golf) once their hockey team is eliminated.   

If the Rangers are not in the playoffs then NY hockey fans watch the Yankees or Mets.  I was in Boston for a week during the finals, the Bruins were out of it and the hotel bars and sports bars were tuned to the the Red Sox, not the Stanley Cup.  I had to ask the hotel bartender to put it on and it was the finals.  The Red Sox were in last place at the time.  

Ditto for Chicago, St Louis, LA and every other big baseball town.  No question about it.  

Ever wonder why Buffalo has very high Stanley Cup TV ratings, higher than most markets, while their team has not sniffed a Cup since 2007-08?   

[Randall Flagg]

Can't wait to sit down and split up the games with my season ticket frens

[Buffalonill]

4 minutes ago, Randall Flagg said:

Can't wait to sit down and split up the games with my season ticket frens

 

[Taro T]

6 minutes ago, Randall Flagg said:

Can't wait to sit down and split up the games with my season ticket frens

Remember, they usually give out t-shirts on home opener and fan appreciation (last home game) nights.

[tom webster]

3 minutes ago, Taro T said:

Remember, they usually give out t-shirts on home opener and fan appreciation (last home game) nights.

Should I post something about another get together or just private message those from last year?

Also, I do have about ten other games available

[pastajoe]

17 minutes ago, Taro T said:

@pastajoe

White are HOME games.

 

[Taro T]

I'm in.

My thought is to tell people now that we'll be doing one again and if they want in to PM you (or me if you don't want the "flood" of PMs).  And if people haven't indicated they want in by say end of July (or August, not sure how far out your group is doing its ticket draft) we just get as many tix as we have interest for by then.

[tom webster]

2 minutes ago, Taro T said:

I'm in.

My thought is to tell people now that we'll be doing one again and if they want in to PM you (or me if you don't want the "flood" of PMs).  And if people haven't indicated they want in by say end of July (or August, not sure how far out your group is doing its ticket draft) we just get as many tix as we have interest for by then.

I’ll post something tonight or tomorrow 

[Eli Cash]

No home game the night before Thanksgiving.  That’s unusual.

Edited June 27, 2023 by Eli Cash

[Eleven]

On 6/25/2023 at 8:51 AM, Pimlach said:

The best hockey that the NHL has to offer, the Stanley Cup playoffs, is hardly watched in the US because of baseball season.  

You have to be kidding.  

There might be correlation, but there can't be cause-and-effect.  I don't think people aren't watching second-round NHL playoff games because they're concentrating on a Pittsburgh Pirates series against the Cincinnati Reds in early May.