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Stigma stigma stigma - The Sabres

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heartsabres*

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I am very curious to know what people think about The Buffalo Sabres AS a franchise.

I used to live in the Niagara region but now in Europe. I don´t know what people are saying about The Buffalo Sabres but when I did live there the stigma was Buffalo was NOT the place to play. Many players hated the sabres, many players hated being in Buffalo just for an away game. They were known to be cheap, players talked about Buffalo not treating their players, ex players and alumni properly.

What brings me to this is on WGR today I heard Pegula wants this place to be where young guys dream about playing and being drafted. That players are treated right and respected and free agents will want to come here.

My question is, is this really possible? Will players ever want to come here becuase Buffalo is a great hockey city? Or will Buffalo always have that stigma that was produced back in the 90s that seemed to stick even now.

I think Buffalo will always have trouble creating that image that New York, Montreal and Toronto has where guys want to go play, where kids grow up dreaming about playing for "their" team. Can Pegula change that image? Should Buffalo target guys who grew up in Buffalo or grew up being a sabres fan? I think Couture is a sabres fan and Kane is from Buffalo.


Thoughts on all of this? Is it changing for the better? Thanks....
 
Pegula is trying to make Buffalo a desirable place yes. He's doing it I think. Ehrhoff and Regehr came, and the French Connection, especially Gil, had very nice things to say about it.
 
Sure they can turn it around, just look at Detroit. ****** city, team with a long history of losing, but it was built into a perennial contender and a place where players wanted to play. Not saying it's going to be easy for Buffalo though.
 
I think it's always been the same story for both the Sabres and the Bills. Players in both the NFL and NHL trash talk Buffalo because it's not a hip city with a top-shelf nightlife scene. It's a rust belt city with boarded up buildings and ugly suburban sprawl.

However, even players who are mortified to be sent to Buffalo via trade or draft end up falling in love with it because it's more of a close-knit community than most of the big-market towns. The neighbors are nice, the traffic is manageable, and everything is more laid back than a place like NYC or Boston. Many athletes end up settling in Buffalo after their playing days are over, and many players go out of their way to recruit free agents by explaining why they love it there so much. Buffalo has always been particularly attractive to the more mature players with families, etc., who just want a quiet home life away from the game.

Pegula's money has obviously made the Sabres a more attractive option to any free agent, but Buffalo always has been a draw for players looking to focus on hockey and family over partying and womanizing.
 
There's always been bad things said about Buffalo as a place to live really. It's widely referred to by players as their least favourite place to play. As a fan who has never even been to the city it always made me a little disappointed to hear these things.

If you look at it though it wasn't even just the 90s. Most of our good players we have had in the past 15-20 years barely ever re-sign with Buffalo after their contracts are up.

Drury and Briere leaving is a great example because they had the best team in the league in the prior season and that couldn't even get the players to stick around.

It's frustrating but it's just the way things are. It doesn't seem like a desirable place to live or play, there are things you can do about it but you can only take it so far really because a lot of it probably has to do with the city of Buffalo itself. Not to insult anyone who lives there of course, this is just my opinion as an outsider.
 
Its always possible to change what people say. I think Pegula will try his best to do that. For now I think we are starting to see some success, at least on the hockey side of it. The Arena is getting upgrades, along with the area around it. With the new mentality that Pegula brings to this team, a few years down the road, buffalo may be what detroit is now.
 
I’ll try to be short… I was born in 1950 and grew up with the Sabres…. Let’s not forget the Buffalo Sabres are over 40 years old and the Buffalo area is a hockey mecca with many professional players growing up and playing here in their youth.

If one wants to know how the NHL league feels about the Buffalo Sabres just ask anyone from Philly; they toss darts at the Crossed Swords, they hate us and the reason is… the Sabres have a storied history and generally play well.

As for the city, I remember a time when Buffalo was the star on the lake and Toronto was a dump…. , but that was a long time ago..

Pegula is changing not only the Sabres but Buffalo as well; there are plans for new hotels and rinks across from the Niagara Center… There is even talk of a downtown stadium for the Buffalo Bills… Also, thanks to global warming Buffalo’s winters are not much of a winter at all; business people are looking to Buffalo as a future city with tons of potential…

Oh, the best American football tailgate in NA happens every time the Buffalo Bills play at home… nowhere in the world can one find 30,000 fans in parking lots 3 hours before a game for a team that sucks… ;)
 
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Robert said:
I’ll try to be short… I was born in 1950 and grew up with the Sabres…. Let’s not forget the Buffalo Sabres are over 40 years old and the Buffalo area is a hockey mecca with many professional players growing up and playing here in their youth.

If one wants to know how the NHL league feels about the Buffalo Sabres just ask anyone from Philly; they toss darts at the Crossed Swords, they hate us and the reason is… the Sabres have a storied history and generally play well.

As for the city, I remember a time when Buffalo was the star on the lake and Toronto was a dump…. , but that was a long time ago..

Pegula is changing not only the Sabres but Buffalo as well; there are plans for new hotels and rinks across from the Niagara Center… There is even talk of a downtown stadium for the Buffalo Bills… Also, thanks to global warming Buffalo’s winters are not much of a winter at all; business people are looking to Buffalo as a future city with tons of potential…

Oh, the best American football tailgate in NA happens every time the Buffalo Bills play at home… nowhere in the world can one find 30,000 fans in parking lots 3 hours before a game for a team that sucks… ;)
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:handclap: Things really seem to be looking up for wny as a hole. I love this global warming thing, buffalo the new florida 2060? lol
 
Most of the positivity is fluff from people with personal ties to the area. Charming anecdotes aside, Buffalo is a Rust Belt city, suffering from corrupt city officials, a severe lack of capital resources, and domination of state government by the interests of New York City. It seems like Pegula is well-intentioned, but forgive me if I don't think building a silly hockey rink is going to spark a market revolution.
 
Takeo said:
Most of the positivity is fluff from people with personal ties to the area. Charming anecdotes aside, Buffalo is a Rust Belt city, suffering from corrupt city officials, a severe lack of capital resources, and domination of state government by the interests of New York City. It seems like Pegula is well-intentioned, but forgive me if I don't think building a silly hockey rink is going to spark a market revolution.
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Turning around the franchise and making it place players want to go is one thing, turning around the area is another.

Turning around the franchise and making it a destination is very doable. Detroit was in worse shape (hockey-wise) and it took awhile but they became a desired place to play.

We already have a large amount of former players and former NHLers with no ties to the team living in this area. Due to our location (near where a good chunk of NHLers come from) and lower taxes than Ontario, its a desirable place for former players to live. The sales job will not be as hard as some think. It will rest primarily on Pegula's continued good treatment of the current players and alumni, which I can't see changing. That will change over time how the franchise is perceived league wide. If they start having success on the ice, we should see Buffalo become more desirable place to NHLers.

Turning around the area will have little to do with whether or not we become a destination for players. Becoming known as a franchise that treats its players great and has built a winning brand is what will make us a destination.
 
wilson1379 said:
There's always been bad things said about Buffalo as a place to live really. It's widely referred to by players as their least favourite place to play. As a fan who has never even been to the city it always made me a little disappointed to hear these things.

If you look at it though it wasn't even just the 90s. Most of our good players we have had in the past 15-20 years barely ever re-sign with Buffalo after their contracts are up.

Drury and Briere leaving is a great example because they had the best team in the league in the prior season and that couldn't even get the players to stick around.

It's frustrating but it's just the way things are. It doesn't seem like a desirable place to live or play, there are things you can do about it but you can only take it so far really because a lot of it probably has to do with the city of Buffalo itself. Not to insult anyone who lives there of course, this is just my opinion as an outsider.
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You're ignoring the financial issues that cause much of that player exodus in that time frame. Assuming the region was the problem is pretty far off base.

Also, saying 'your city sucks' when you've never been here won't endear you to many around these parts.
 
HiddenInLight said:
There's a reason why NYC is located on the area of our state that looks like a turd coming out of the larger portion of the state. :laugh:
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That's cute and all, but I suspect you'd be singing a different tune if upstate had to do without the tax revenues that nyc generates that benefit the whole state.
 
machpo said:
That's cute and all, but I suspect you'd be singing a different tune if upstate had to do without the tax revenues that nyc generates that benefit the whole state.
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I think NYC benefits far more than Upstate does with their subsidized utilities, and the fact that a lion's share of government spending goes straight to NYC. Without the city, NY state would probably be more akin to Wisconsin and turning a profit yearly as its primarily agriculture.
 
Old Navy Goat said:
I think NYC benefits far more than Upstate does with their subsidized utilities, and the fact that a lion's share of government spending goes straight to NYC. Without the city, NY state would probably be more akin to Wisconsin and turning a profit yearly as its primarily agriculture.
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This pretty much. Upstate, WNY barely get anything.
 
lilpix33 said:
Sure they can turn it around, just look at Detroit. ****** city, team with a long history of losing, but it was built into a perennial contender and a place where players wanted to play. Not saying it's going to be easy for Buffalo though.
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This. Detroit turned it around with great ownership, great team management, excellent drafting, and the creation of a winning culture.

Absolutely no reason it can't happen in Buffalo as well.
 
Reddawg said:
This. Detroit turned it around with great ownership, great team management, excellent drafting, and the creation of a winning culture.

Absolutely no reason it can't happen in Buffalo as well.
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A worry that always irked me was that a reason why the Wings got players was because of the cups they have, I feel like players are turned away from here because we don't have copious amounts.
 
Guess What said:
A worry that always irked me was that a reason why the Wings got players was because of the cups they have, I feel like players are turned away from here because we don't have copious amounts.
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I'm of the opinion that the big thing players want is to play in a good environment where they can be successful and not somewhere they'll hate life at work. Look at it this way, the Islanders have 4 Cups in their history, and basically no one wants to be there.
 
Reddawg said:
This. Detroit turned it around with great ownership, great team management, excellent drafting, and the creation of a winning culture.

Absolutely no reason it can't happen in Buffalo as well.
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And that took a dozen years to come to fruition. Pegula's in year two. It will take time, but so far, he's doing things that are getting noticed by the players.

As for the regional stuff, NYC generates more tax income than Upstate per resident. With the regional corruption/inefficiency among the elected officials, Downstate being part of the whole has no bearing on how the place would be governed (likely badly) but would hurt government revenue. Find the Politics Forum, jump in and have fun.
 
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