Buffalo, NY is Hockey Heaven. Other NHL cities can only hope to imitate Buffalo's passion and commerce as they relate to hockey.
The Sabres released new this morning that they sold 30,000+ tickets on the first day of training camp on Sunday 1/13/13.
Buffalo lives like its in a recession. Testament to the fans and their love affair with their Sabres, the fans are voting with their wallets.
Here's the amazing story:
The Buffalo Sabres today announced that 31,213 tickets for the 2012-13 season were sold on Sunday during a 24-hour presale period for current season-ticket holders and current mini-pack holders. The mark set a record for single-day ticket sales for the club –excluding the 2008 Winter Classic— with the general on-sale for individual game tickets to begin on Tuesday, Jan. 15.
“With the uncertainty surrounding the schedule and the timing of the start of hockey, we didn’t know what to expect. However, Sunday’s ticket sales took us by surprise and, frankly, blew us away,” said Buffalo Sabres President Ted Black. “Our box office staff is the best in the business and they worked tirelessly all day, fielding more than 800 phone calls, to keep up with the record volume of orders. The extraordinary fan response makes us humble, grateful and even more committed to our core mission. We can’t wait to drop the puck before a full house.”
Sunday’s sales bested the ticket sales pace of previous seasons by almost six-fold. In 2011-12, a season in which the Sabres set a franchise record for average game attendance (18,687 with a capacity of 18,690), the team sold 11,170 tickets over a two-day sales period. During similar sales windows in 2010 and 2009, the team sold 7,909 and 8,843 tickets, respectively.
CBC's Tim Wharnsby has tweeted that the NY Islanders have claimed Joe Finley off waivers from the Rochester Amerks.
The 6'8" 265 lb. Finely has been playing in Rochester for the past two seasons.
Might this be a precursor to the Sabres sending 6'4 D man Adam Pardy to Rochester after training camp ends in order to create a roster spot for TJ Brennan?
I like the way that Darcy is thinking. Pardy is a better D man than Finley is.
Brennan is ready for the NHL. 14 goals and 21 assists in 36 games says that he's ready for a tryout in Buffalo.
Brennan told me Sunday that he'll do whatever it takes to make the Sabres squad out of training camp. He's a four year pro who has blossomed before our very eyes. His solid service in Portland and Rochester will soon be rewarded.
The sky is the limit for Brennan. Marcus Foligno told me Sunday:
"TJ is the most all around D in the AHL this season, he's been THAT good. He's got a bomb for a shot and he plays in all situations".
The Sabres have called up the following Amerks for tonight's scrimmage:
Luke Adam, Nick Tarnasky,Kevin Porter, Mark Mancari, Brayden McNabb, Mark Pysyk, and Alex Biega.
Zemgus Girgensons would have been recalled, however, he was injured on this hit from behind by Richard Panik of Syracuse on Saturday night.
Panik is a gutless punk for hitting Girgensons the way that he did. I hope the AHL suspends him 20 games for his idiocy. Too bad he was tossed from the game in the second period. It would have been nice to see the Amerks even the score Saturday night.
Best belive Nick Tarnasky will pound Panik on the first shift of the game next time the two teams meet this season.
Sorry for the delay. Server problems prohibited me from posting these nuggets from day one of Sabres training camp.
The Sabres will scrimmage tonight at 5:30pm. I'll be most interested to see how Grigo and Brennan do for their respective teams. Lindy saud yesterday that he wants to see Grigo engaged in battles with grown men. The kid was impressive yesterday as he used his size, skating and strength to shield pucks from defenders in drills. Tonight, he'll get bumped and scraped by NHL vets. I like his chances of passing the tests thrown at him.
Here's Ruff's recap of day one of training camp, courtesy of sabres.com
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Here's Grigo's makeshift locker.
Here he meets the press
Russian Rifle
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@OtterN9NE:
“I’ve been looking for this day in Buffalo for a long time. Its finally here upon us. I had a lot of fun out there. It was a good skate and we put a lot of hard work into it. Its only Day One, and we have a lot of hard days ahead of us”
Ott’s locker is directly to the left of Patrick Kaleta. The chirps and cat calls have already begun in the room. You can assume the Ott and Kaleta are not choir boys in the room. Though Sunday was his first official day at work in Buffalo, he has gotten very close with his Buffalo boys.
“Prior to the lockout, we worked out and got ready for a good month here in Buffalo. During the lockout, guys were in Canada and the U.S, some overseas, but last week we all got together and had a really hard work week together . That’s where you gel early. You come back early, you get to hang out and you get familiar with each other”.
Last week’s pre-camp skates were intense, and Ott liked it that way.
“Everybody holds themselves accountable. We want to be ready to go,. No one wants to be left up in the press box or left behind. We’ve all committed to one another to be a playoff team and it starts early. We had to put that hard work in as early as we can. Now its finally here. It kind of set the tone for camp
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Ott says he likes riding shotgun with Grigorenko.
“I though it was pretty awesome to be on his wing. He obviously has a high skill level. I thought he was tremendous right away. For a kid to be only 18 years old and to be that good already, he’s going to be a super star in this league. Hopefully he adjusts. You know its going to be a bit of an adjustment, but he’s got the size, strength, and skill level. If you have all those things and you are only 18, you can only go up from there”
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Grigo on his game tying goal vs. Sweden in the WJC quarter finals:
“That was one of the most important goals of my life. I was very happy because it was a very tough game for us, but we stayed positive and in the end we tied it. For sure, one of the biggest goals I’ll ever score”
I asked Grigo to describe in his words his post-goal celebration, where he skated along the glass, gripping the Russian crest on his chest and screaming in jubilation.
“Circumtances like that, you get excited. I hadn’t been scoring any goal (in the tournament) and I was just so proud for my team”.
Grigo told me that he felt like he matured from the hockey boey to the hockey man as a result of his World Junior experiences
“I felt like I was growing my game and getting better while playing in big games”
So, are six days of training camp and five NHL games enough to prove to Lindy Ruff and Darcy Regier that he belongs on the roster of the Sabres?
“I want to make this team. But I don’t think it’s a bad thing if I don’t make it”. With a Cheshire Cat grin Grigo said: “I hope I make it”.
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Marcus Foligno will be sticking with #82, so don’t order a #71 or #17 sweater. Foligno likes his number just fine, thank you. Its not the number that makes the man, it’s the man that makes the number.
I pointed out to Marcus that wasn’t as gassed after the forst day of training camp as some of his teammates were.
“I feel good. it’s the first time that I’m ahead of the competition”. Foligno’s game is top notch right now. He’s been an all star for the Rochester Americans this season, and he enters Sabres camp while he is in peak physical condition.
“No easy games this season in Rochester. Every game is competitive, especially with all of the NHLers playing.”
Foligno, Hodgson and Brennan are flying high. All three have played well in Rochester and are looking to transition their best game to the NHL.
“All I want to do is make this team and win games. Just to pick up right where Stafford, Ennis and I left off last year”.
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Tyler Ennis had fun at camp.
“We had a great first day. I thought that the guys were focused and ready to compete. This week is going to fun.”.
Enzo wants to get the scrimmage started so that he can create plays for Stafford and Foligno.
“They make my job easy. Two big guys who can skate and hold onto pucks. We are at our best when we get our down-low cycle game going. Those two guys make it fun for me out there”.
Nathan Gerbe spoke about the spinal surgery that he had during the Summer.
Gerbe suffered the back injury vs. Philly last December on this nasty hit from behind by Marc Andre Bourdon.
He had an L5-S1surgery performed. He says that he's feeling good and that he is on schedule with his rehab and PT.
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TJ Brennan is locked and loaded. Fresh off his Gordie Howe hat trick in Syrcause on Saturday night, Brennan arrived in Buffalo at 5am on Sunday. He traveled home to Rochester with his Amerk teammates, aired out his gear, and then made the business trip to Buffalo. Brennan told me that as much as he’d love to be with his “babies” in Rochester, he’d rather be in Sabres camp.
“Its weird now, because the younger guys are like my little brothers. In here (the Sabres room), it’s a real wake-up call. I’m 23 and I’m still learning the ropes here, you know? Down there (Rochester), I’m the old man. I’m excited for this week. It looks good so far. Its good to see some guys that I haven’t seen in a while, so it should be fun”
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