I pretty much hate having to write about this right now. I hate that I felt strongly enough about Bucky Gleason’s flimsy take on the Ruff/Regier situation that I had to actually criticize him for it on this site. I hate that the playoffs are being played right now and I have to take time out of my day to actually address an unrelated column he wrote yesterday.
The thing is, no one has a bigger audience as a hockey commentator – print, radio, television, or otherwise – in Western New York than Bucky Gleason. I feel ridiculous asking this, but has he forgotten who his readership consists of? Why, as a columnist for the Buffalo News, would you want to provoke Buffalo sports fans? I don’t understand. I’m sure he’s working through the mountains of hate mail he’s surely accumulated over the past couple days. If you haven’t read this article yet, don’t.
Here’s the problem: He doesn’t seem to have a good perspective on the thoughts of Buffalo sports fans. He’s a columnist and obviously is paid to share his opinions. That’s fine; I’m a reader of the Buffalo News and a Sabres fan and I share my opinions in this space. Right now my opinion is that lately he’s not been very good at his job.
I don’t really want to get into the Buffalo Bills and the relationship they have with their fans, but the idea that someone in my hometown paper calling the fans of my beloved hockey team soft is both insulting and just plain ignorant.
I’m not quite sure how Bucky Gleason can say something like, “Buffalo fans have lowered their standards and settled for mediocrity,” based on season ticket renewal rate (80 percent). Every Sabres fan I’ve spoken with is upset over the current standing of the team. People want change. No one wants to go into next year’s season with the same group of people. Season ticket renewal rate has more to do with Sabres fan’s dedication to their team than their willingness to accept status quo.
I’ve used this comparison before, but hockey to Buffalo is like what basketball is to New York. It’s essential. The passion people in Buffalo have for hockey and the Sabres has always been strong (and could be growing but the truth is I’m not old enough to be able to suggest that). If you want to get technical though, comparing the fan attendance before and after the Arena was opened is, in my opinion, like comparing apples and oranges. The Aud was a dump and the Arena is a state of the art facility. Let’s face it, hockey games at the Arena have to be considered some of the best nighttime entertainment the area has to offer and that makes a difference. The Sabres have and always will sell out the Arena so long as management produces a decent team with marketable stars.
The exception was during the 2001-2004 stretch after Hasek was traded and the owner ran into legal troubles. The Sabres were financially handcuffed and as a result could no longer fully commit to winning. That period in the Sabres history can’t really be compared to any other era. That’s why I just laugh when people try and use the stat of Ruff and Regier missing the playoffs five of the last seven years to justify their firing. In my opinion, you can’t include those years on either Ruff or Regier’s resume when ownership (or in that case lack-there-of) was failing to give them the resources to succeed. Fans recognized that and although attendance suffered badly, we remained faithful to both Ruff and Regier because they already proved to be great at their jobs.
As for the fan attendance prior to the Ruff/Regier era, consider that the Sabres hadn’t reached the conference finals since 1979-1980 and finished better than 3rd in the division only five times during that same span (an 18 year period) before those two took over. That’s pathetic. It’s no wonder that attendence was sporadic. Those teams in the ‘80s and early ‘90s collectively stunk. Why would people want to pay to sit in a crummy building and watch a bad team with management that had proven to be inept at producing a winner?
But it is true that in this era, Sabres fans have more faith in their team than ever before. Fans have faith in Lindy Ruff’s ability to motivate and teach. Fans have faith in Darcy Regier’s ability to evaluate talent. Fans have faith in Ryan Miller and the honest players on this team.
The people of Buffalo seem to recognize that they have a better shot than ever before to be witness to a Stanley Cup winner. This is a new age and the Sabres have proven to consistently be a organization where talent emerges and success can be had. The Sabres have a couple things going for them aside from Ruff and Regier: The current Arena providing a terrific fan experience, the influx of youth leagues within the area raising the importance of the Sabres within the community, and the progress of the technology and the Internet helping to build a stronger more stable fan base.
Above it all is the fact that the people of Buffalo love hockey. Just wait until the television ratings for the playoffs become public. Buffalo is always one of the strongest markets in the country despite its smaller size. Is it that hard to see how the Sabres managed to get an 80 percent season ticket renewal rate? From my vantage point, it’s not that hard to understand. This management team hasn’t yet proved to be incompetent at building a winner. As it stands right now they’re only two seasons removed from the President Trophy and a trip to the Eastern Conference finals. Maybe if this were a town like Tampa Bay or Raleigh, the Arena would be empty. But this is Buffalo and I’m proud of the fact that this isn’t a community of bandwagon hockey fans. Things don’t always work out as managers and owners expect them to work out in sports. Mistakes have been made, fans know it and we’re upset about it, but there’s still plenty of reason to hope. And when it comes to season ticket renewal time in Buffalo, that’s all we need.