Ooh! Aah! Sabres on the warpath!

[UnionAMG]

Does anybody know the origin of this chant?

 

I used to go to Sabres games in the early 90's as a kid and haven't been to one since like 98... I don't remember the chant during those years.

 

Is this a chant that was done way back in the days of the French Connection or is this something that came about during the recent Stanley Cup years?

 

Just kind of curious where this think originated and the significance of it. It doesn't seem like its done at games and it's really a cool chant that I wish people could get going.

[jad1]

It's old-school. Old as the franchise.

[johnnychemo]

Man, that is from back in the days I had hair! :D

[BetweenThePipes00]

It may go back further, but my first memory of it was during the brief Billy Ingils Era in 1978-79 ... he took over as coach and they got hot for a while and i remember hearing it a lot as a kid ... but again, I was like 8 years old so it could go back further and I just don't remember ...

[Stoner]

MSG's intro has some fans chanting that, and it just reeks of 1972, the clothes, the hair. I think it not only goes back to the beginning of the franchise, but I don't think the chant was unique to Buffalo. Probably a common old-school chant.

 

And let's not forget the depressing variation heard late in regular seasons and in the playoffs: Ooh, ahh, Sabres on the golf course!

[lewport71]

I think this started the season after the loss in the finals in '75 to the *&%$ Flyers..I too had hair then...

Definitely old school....

 

The best chant is the "Thank You Sabres" chant in the 1972 playoffs...The Sabres were losing to the eventual champs Montreal and the Aud was filled with this chant of appreciation to the efoort the young Sabres made that year...

[Wacka]

I was in HS in the early 70s. It was a popular chant there and the Sabres fans used it too.

[gris]

Brings back memories of the "Sabre Jac" jacket.

 

Somewhere, someone made a record (you know the pressed vinyl disk and needle routine) of all the 70's Sabre songs. ...that be a good thing to put on eBay right now.

 

"We're gonna slap that puck" ..of course, the classic Sabre Dance.

 

A Sabre Jac would do well on eBay also. ...if one still exists. I googled and couldn't even find an image.

[Eleven]

MSG's intro has some fans chanting that, and it just reeks of 1972, the clothes, the hair. I think it not only goes back to the beginning of the franchise, but I don't think the chant was unique to Buffalo. Probably a common old-school chant.

 

And let's not forget the depressing variation heard late in regular seasons and in the playoffs: Ooh, ahh, Sabres on the golf course!

 

Maybe a common old-school chant, but not in the NHL. At least in pro hockey, it's unique to B-Lo. Never have I seen it anywhere else.

[ExiledInIllinois]

Brings back memories of the "Sabre Jac" jacket.

 

Somewhere, someone made a record (you know the pressed vinyl disk and needle routine) of all the 70's Sabre songs. ...that be a good thing to put on eBay right now.

 

"We're gonna slap that puck" ..of course, the classic Sabre Dance.

 

A Sabre Jac would do well on eBay also. ...if one still exists. I googled and couldn't even find an image.

 

It was during the cup year, I think... 1975... The warpath (pre-PC days... :D :D ) song... Along with "We're Gonna Win That Cup."

 

The Sabre Jac had to be one of the first team marketing ideas and it was a hit! You actually got to wear what the players wore... I think AM & A's sold them.

 

The record was released by Jim Schonfeld [spelling of Shonney, always eludes me].

 

Does anybody remember the Lablaws NHL team sticker books put out the year the Capitals and Scouts entered the league ('76)? A few relatives of mine worked at the Lablaws warehouse (on Bailey... Later to be PJ Schmidt)... And as kids would complete whole sets of books! :D :D

 

I wish I could still dig one of those up at my parents house...

[johnnychemo]

Talk about flashbacks!

 

Sabre Jac - Yeah, I think I remember having one--or at least wanting one very badly!

 

I remember the Loblaws sticker books, but Loblaws was only in Canada IIRC, and I could never understand why I couldn't get one......

 

I also remember the Cleveland Barons......

[altleg]

I believe the chant was "adopted" by Sabre fans during the first ever trip to the Stanley Cup playoffs against Montreal.

 

I use the word "adopted", as there was a Montreal chant "Ooh! Aah! Habs on the Warpath!" and, of course, a French version of the same. The fans adopted it initially as a kind of taunt to the Montreal fans, and it kind of stuck.

[Stoner]

Good call, alt. If you do a google search on the chant, you will see some references to the Habs. So the chant was almost certainly adopted, or adapted, from them. It's definitely not original to Buffalo.

 

Now, what about the 1... 2... 3... we want 4! chant? :)

 

Anyone remember the cardboard cutouts of players they put out in 1975? So cool. They fit into study bases so you could stand the players up. I used to have several of the players, but only my Perreault one survives, without the base. Good stuff.

[Eleven]

Good call, alt. If you do a google search on the chant, you will see some references to the Habs. So the chant was almost certainly adopted, or adapted, from them. It's definitely not original to Buffalo.

 

The history of this thing is fascinating, so I googled "habs on the warpath" (in quotes). Two references, neither of which suggest when the cheer was popular. Only one reference mentions it as a cheer in the Forum, and complains that it was "un-PC." (Huh? That's really oversensitive, unless it was performed with warpaint, feathers, and tomahawks.)

 

Searching without quotes gets me no closer to evidence that the cheer started in Montreal, but I will retract my earlier statement that it's unique to Buffalo. It obviously isn't, but how do we conclude that Sabres fans adopted it from Canadiens fans?

 

ON EDIT: I should also note that "sabres on the warpath," also in quotes, yields 36 hits.

[LALALALALALAFONTAINE]

I think this started the season after the loss in the finals in '75 to the *&%$ Flyers..I too had hair then...

Definitely old school....

 

The best chant is the "Thank You Sabres" chant in the 1972 playoffs...The Sabres were losing to the eventual champs Montreal and the Aud was filled with this chant of appreciation to the efoort the young Sabres made that year...

 

I can't disagree more...why should losing be thanked in any way?

 

It's old-school. Old as the franchise.

 

It seems to show up around the conference finals. It showed up in 1999. It did not show up in 2001.

 

It is a great cheer.

[Stoner]

LaLa, your deplorable attitude about "Thank you Sabres" is exactly why I don't think we'll ever hear it again, at least with the passion it was chanted in 1973 (there was a half-hearted version of it after Game 6 of the finals). Society has changed too much. Too bad. Actually, I was thinking recently that if it's to happen again, this is the team that probably will hear it. I hope I am wrong!

 

Here's another good chant mystery. Remember the discussion earlier this season about "Let's go Buffalo" vs. "Let's go Sabres"? People assume "Let's go Buffalo" is tradition, and "Let's go Sabres" is something the "kids" like. Well, I discovered recently on a 1975 highlight tape that the fans in the Aud were chanting loudly just before Rene Robert's overtime goal in Game 5 of the semifinals against Montreal. What were they chanting? "Let's go Sabres"

[Tony P]

Good call, alt. If you do a google search on the chant, you will see some references to the Habs. So the chant was almost certainly adopted, or adapted, from them. It's definitely not original to Buffalo.

 

Now, what about the 1... 2... 3... we want 4! chant? :)

 

Anyone remember the cardboard cutouts of players they put out in 1975? So cool. They fit into study bases so you could stand the players up. I used to have several of the players, but only my Perreault one survives, without the base. Good stuff.

 

Seems that every season, the Sabres have visited the Wild here in Minnesota and we usually get a nice group together to go to the game (50 or so of us all sitting together). Three years ago, the Sabres just crushed the Wild and after third goal, I stood up and yelled "one..." and the rest of our group immediately picked-up on it. The Wild fans looked at us like we were nuts but after the fifth goal, they were getting pretty tired of it. Have to say though, it was a lot of fun calling out that old cheer!

[LALALALALALAFONTAINE]

LaLa, your deplorable attitude about "Thank you Sabres" is exactly why I don't think we'll ever hear it again, at least with the passion it was chanted in 1973 (there was a half-hearted version of it after Game 6 of the finals). Society has changed too much. Too bad. Actually, I was thinking recently that if it's to happen again, this is the team that probably will hear it. I hope I am wrong!

 

Here's another good chant mystery. Remember the discussion earlier this season about "Let's go Buffalo" vs. "Let's go Sabres"? People assume "Let's go Buffalo" is tradition, and "Let's go Sabres" is something the "kids" like. Well, I discovered recently on a 1975 highlight tape that the fans in the Aud were chanting loudly just before Rene Robert's overtime goal in Game 5 of the semifinals against Montreal. What were they chanting? "Let's go Sabres"

 

I was chanting "Replay" "after" game 6. Perhaps if more people joined in, the NHL would have had to review the nogoal. But watching that game was so emotionally draining that nobody joined in. It isn't a deplorable attitude to eschew thanking losing. It's deplorable to thank someone for losing.

 

I will gladly chant "Thank You Sabres," but I'll save that for Delaware Avenue.

[Stoner]

They weren't being thanked for losing. Come on. Wow, you are a hardass, aren't you? :)

 

You must have great vision if you were at the arena and saw Hull's skate in the crease. I don't think the goal was ever replayed on the Jumbotron. Many fans didn't know there was a "problem" until they got out of the building. This is one of the reasons I can't get worked up (any more) over Hull's goal. First off, it was a goal that had been scored legally for decades in the NHL, until the league's bizarre crease rule. Second, no one seemed to have any problem with it when it happened, not Terry Gregson, not the Sabres on the ice, not the fans, not the media... no one. How bad could it have been? I've always said one of the blessings of that night is that there was no announcement of a review and no replay on the Jumbotron. If that had happened, and the goal had been allowed, I honestly believe there would have been riots in Buffalo that night. We can debate forever whether the league would have allowed the goal had the crowd been aware of it. By the way, the league always has maintained that they reviewed it, just without an announcement, albeit a very quick one. The refs did stand at the scorer's table that night for a minute or so before the goal was OKed.

[ExiledInIllinois]

Talk about flashbacks!

 

Sabre Jac - Yeah, I think I remember having one--or at least wanting one very badly!

 

I remember the Loblaws sticker books, but Loblaws was only in Canada IIRC, and I could never understand why I couldn't get one......

 

I also remember the Cleveland Barons......

 

I was born in '68... I am almost positive that Lablaws was in the states for a spell... Didn't they go on to be Bells?

 

 

Good call, alt. If you do a google search on the chant, you will see some references to the Habs. So the chant was almost certainly adopted, or adapted, from them. It's definitely not original to Buffalo.

 

Now, what about the 1... 2... 3... we want 4! chant? :)

 

Anyone remember the cardboard cutouts of players they put out in 1975? So cool. They fit into study bases so you could stand the players up. I used to have several of the players, but only my Perreault one survives, without the base. Good stuff.

 

Yes... I loved the Perreault one... My birthday is the 11th... I always took that number "under my wing" as a kid... Doesn't hurt to have a cool hockey player with it too!

 

:D

[JCBoston]

I was born in '68... I am almost positive that Lablaws was in the states for a spell... Didn't they go on to be Bells?

 

There was a Loblaws in the Northtown Plaza on Sheridan... I filled up volumes of those sticker books from there.

[All Along The Watchtower]

There was a Loblaws in the Northtown Plaza on Sheridan... I filled up volumes of those sticker books from there.

Sticker books that were preceeded by minature presidents...twice in th mid-to-late 60's, Loblaws had a promotion where you could buy minature presidents that stood on a pillared white strofoam stand. I picked up a set on E-bay a couple of years ago.

 

And the Sabre Jac, vintage 1974...was the first thing you saw when you walked in Pennys at Northgate Plaza in Rochester...err Greece. Alternated between that and my Amerks jacket during the winter months...so I guess I wore it 5 months out of the year. :D

[LALALALALALAFONTAINE]

They weren't being thanked for losing. Come on. Wow, you are a hardass, aren't you? :)

 

You must have great vision if you were at the arena and saw Hull's skate in the crease. I don't think the goal was ever replayed on the Jumbotron. Many fans didn't know there was a "problem" until they got out of the building. This is one of the reasons I can't get worked up (any more) over Hull's goal. First off, it was a goal that had been scored legally for decades in the NHL, until the league's bizarre crease rule. Second, no one seemed to have any problem with it when it happened, not Terry Gregson, not the Sabres on the ice, not the fans, not the media... no one. How bad could it have been? I've always said one of the blessings of that night is that there was no announcement of a review and no replay on the Jumbotron. If that had happened, and the goal had been allowed, I honestly believe there would have been riots in Buffalo that night. We can debate forever whether the league would have allowed the goal had the crowd been aware of it. By the way, the league always has maintained that they reviewed it, just without an announcement, albeit a very quick one. The refs did stand at the scorer's table that night for a minute or so before the goal was OKed.

 

Started chanting it right away, and then waited for them to announce it was being reviewed, but it never came. I then assumed it was okay until we hit the concourse. Then on the televisions inside....no goal.

 

First, how would you feel if a breakaway on an empty that would have been a two line pass for decades was called offsides, costing the Sabres a breakaway? No different. A rule is a rule.

 

Second, how did you feel about Leclair's nogoal? No one seemed to have a problem with it as well, none of the refs, not the Sabres on the ice, not the fans, or the media. Actually, the media did have a problem with both nogoals.

 

The refs stood by the scorer's table, but never picked up a phone. It wasn't reviewed. The NHL maintains they review every goal. Oh yeah? Then how did Leclair's nogoal come to be? They are simply covering their collective .

 

And their argument that Hull had possession is more CYA as well. We see this everytime someone puts themself offsides.

[Taro T]

Started chanting it right away, and then waited for them to announce it was being reviewed, but it never came. I then assumed it was okay until we hit the concourse. Then on the televisions inside....no goal.

 

First, how would you feel if a breakaway on an empty that would have been a two line pass for decades was called offsides, costing the Sabres a breakaway? No different. A rule is a rule.

 

Second, how did you feel about Leclair's nogoal? No one seemed to have a problem with it as well, none of the refs, not the Sabres on the ice, not the fans, or the media. Actually, the media did have a problem with both nogoals.

 

The refs stood by the scorer's table, but never picked up a phone. It wasn't reviewed. The NHL maintains they review every goal. Oh yeah? Then how did Leclair's nogoal come to be? They are simply covering their collective .

 

And their argument that Hull had possession is more CYA as well. We see this everytime someone puts themself offsides.

From where I was in the 300's on the Sabres side, I did not hear a chant begin. Had I, I would have joined in. Also, from where I was sitting, I could not tell that Hull was in the crease. I nearly crashed my car when I heard the post game show take a decided turn for the worse on my way home.

 

By the way, it was the LEAGUE'S call to not show the replay of the goal on the jumbotron. That was not rink management's decision. As was the decision to IMMEDIATELY open the Zamboni gates to reporters. Sabres officials had no say in either decision.

 

You are wrong about Schick not trying to find out if the goal was legit or not. He tried to find out. The people upstairs decided it was - which is contrary to how the rulebook in '99 said it should be decided.

 

Actually, it was the LeClair non-goal that caused the league to "upgrade" their reviews of potential goals. Prior to that, although all goals were supposed to be reviewed, "obvious" goals and "obvious" non-goals did not have to be reviewed. (Yes, we can pronounce "bush league".)

[LALALALALALAFONTAINE]

From where I was in the 300's on the Sabres side, I did not hear a chant begin. Had I, I would have joined in. Also, from where I was sitting, I could not tell that Hull was in the crease. I nearly crashed my car when I heard the post game show take a decided turn for the worse on my way home.

 

By the way, it was the LEAGUE'S call to not show the replay of the goal on the jumbotron. That was not rink management's decision. As was the decision to IMMEDIATELY open the Zamboni gates to reporters. Sabres officials had no say in either decision.

 

You are wrong about Schick not trying to find out if the goal was legit or not. He tried to find out. The people upstairs decided it was - which is contrary to how the rulebook in '99 said it should be decided.

 

Actually, it was the LeClair non-goal that caused the league to "upgrade" their reviews of potential goals. Prior to that, although all goals were supposed to be reviewed, "obvious" goals and "obvious" non-goals did not have to be reviewed. (Yes, we can pronounce "bush league".)

 

It was me and my friend....it didn't catch on after 15 seconds, so I quit. We were in 317. I thought there was a good chance he was in the crease.

 

The refs went over, but didn't receive a call. The people upstairs didn't do anything. And yes, it was contrary to the rulebook. And that's all that really matters.

 

The NHL did say that every goal was reviewed in their covering their ass in 1999.