Buffalo Sabres fans are crazy negative, but it’s earned

Buffalo Sabres fans are crazy negative, but it’s earned

Sabres weirdly made a big big deal about new naming rights agreements with Key Bank today. I want to talk about what comes with that an agreement maybe on a lease in the future and what the Sabres plans are there. The memeability of the Sabres and a couple of other things to get to all coming up here on the Lockdown Sabres podcast. Your Locked On Sabers, your daily podcast on the Buffalo Sabres, part of the Locked On podcast network, your team every day. What is up everybody and welcome in to this Wednesday edition of the Locked On Sabers podcast. Thanks for making us your first listen every day. We are free and available wherever you get your podcast. You can check us out on YouTube. Hit the like and subscribe button. You could also be a part of our locked sabers text club. If you would like to sign up for that, you could head over to joinsubttext.comlocked on sabers to sign up there. It’s the price of a cup of coffee uh a month. Uh one single cup of coffee. In fact, uh one month on our uh text club is less than the cup of coffee that I normally get, but I got to have my fancy coffee. So that that would make sense why. Lot to get to today on the Lockdown Savers podcast. Sneaky Joe Debbiosi here. Today’s episode is presented by Game Time. Download the Game Time app, create an account, and use code lockdown NHL for $20 off your first purchase. The Buffalo Sabres had a news conference this morning, a big press conference. Terry Pagula was on hand, and I saw pictures of Rob Ray and Marty Baron and um the CEO of Key Bank, Pete Kowelli. A lot of people on hand. And weirdly, it was an announcement that I think they probably could have accomplished with a simple email, but instead they made this big extravaganza out of a naming rights agreement. And we’ll get to that and we’ll get to the arena because there was some interesting things that Pete Guelli, the COO of the team, had to say a little bit earlier on this morning. Um, and I do really want to ask the question today. Are we too negative? Not not too negative, but are we too snarky when it comes to this hockey team? Because I definitely believe they deserve it. But it’s like overthe-top every time something happens that everyone is ready to bury them. But again, like I kind of feel like they also deserve that. So wanted to get to that a little bit later on because there’s a couple of meme memeable things that everyone’s running with today on the Sabers. So that’s all coming up on today’s show. got a couple of text questions that I want to get to as well, but we will start with the the I guess the news. It it was news. The Sabres, I think again could have just dropped a press release or an email. Um, but instead we had this big press conference with props and a giant red key that opened a door that opened up news that we had heard two hours earlier and not even news that was like reported by media. It was news that they announced on Twitter hours before the Sabres announced on Twitter and social media that they extended with Key Bank the naming rights of the arena for an additional 10 years which takes that now through 20 the 203536 season. So they told us that and then a couple hours later I I’m wondering like oh is there something else here? Is there something with the lease because the lease is up in October? Are they announcing some sort of special event? I saw a report yesterday that Key Bank Center will be hosting college basketball between uh Syracuse and UB. Is this like going to be a limited ownership stake maybe that he has somehow with the Sabres? I don’t even know what the rules of that are. Like what else is this going to be? So there are there’s Terry Pagoula and the representative from from Key Bank that are standing. And by the way, the other thing is that the the Key Bank logo is going to be on the helmets for away games. That’ll be their away game helmet sponsor. So then they go over to these big doors and they’re they they put the big red key in the big doors to open the doors to reveal something behind it. And I’m thinking, “Oh, this is the other thing, whatever it is.” And then Terry Pagula and his company there open the doors and it says naming rights extended through 2036. And I’m thinking, what? We already knew that. You told us. It’s not like it was even again a rumor. You told us this was happening and then you had this big reveal about something that you already ah just again like this is one of those areas where I try to check myself like am I do I have to go this far? Do I have to blast them for this? No. The answer is probably no. But again a little strange I think the way that the whole thing really went down because I don’t really think it’s that big a deal. the name of the arena. It changed. It changed a few times in our lives. And you know, do fans really care about the name of the arena? I think they do to some extent, but not I don’t think they care that much which bank name is on the arena. It’s good for the team. It gives them more money, which you hope they spend on players, but otherwise, I just don’t think your fans really care about it. And there was again this big deal made out of it. So, I don’t know. The thing that is more interesting to me about today is Pete Guwelli and his comments about the arena and kind of where the state of the arena leases because we’ve done a couple of shows about that. Not many, but the lease is up in October and Erie County Mark Poland Cars has said they want out of that business. He actually reiterated that today and I expect that I I said this on our last time we talked about it. I expect that he and the county will still be a part of the arena business and will still be a part of this lease on their next deal. But and that’s kind of what Poland cars even had to say today that they want to get out of the business but they don’t anticipate that that’ll be possible in October where you know they can extend the lease maybe that happens but really I think the vibe you got today is an admission from Guelli which I man give me that give me that honesty like when you know something is true just say it and Pete Guwelli and the team said today they’ve been to other arenas in the league and they know that we have by far the worst seats in the league. And like good an admission of that because you know it’s true. It’s just sometimes you like hearing it said out loud because that shows you a internal strife with somebody who works there that like I yeah I want to change these but and then there was a reasoning came after for why they haven’t been changed out yet. And it’s basically because they’re trying to figure out right now the long-term plan for the arena. The arena is the long-term plan. But what is the long-term plan? And that is both financial how that will get paid for. Whether that’s the team, what percentage of it is the team, what percentage of it is the city, the state, talks with the state have happened. If the county stays involved, they’d be a slice of that pie as well. And then after that it gets to well what do you want to do? And number one on the list it sounds like from Pete today and the team overall number one on that checklist when it’s time to actually start doing stuff is to replace the seats because they’ve never been replaced. It is embarrassing. They are the dirtiest seats I’ve ever seen in a sports arena because they’re that old and the team knows it and they know that that’s got to change. I’d hope by October we have resolution on what the the next iteration of the lease looks like and then they could get moving on seats because that’s got to be next. But maybe that could be other things. That could be, you know, that could be different bar areas presented in the arena. That could be upgrades to the concourse, different amenities, different options that happen. But start bringing your arena up to code. Not legal code, but code of the NHL. start being competitive. Start looking like other arenas and not an arena that looks like a glorified or a bigger version of like an OHL building. I mean, I’ve been to the arena in Eerie to watch the Otter. I’ve watched games in Rochester at Blue Cross Arena and sadly it feels like Keybank Center is closer to those ranks than it is to, you know, Scotia Bank Arena in Toronto. So, that’s next. And I think the sooner that lease gets done and the quicker that le more efficiently that lease gets done, the quicker they can move on to some of the things that are necessary and then honestly start adding stuff that could be seen as pretty cool. How about some standing room areas? How about some different, you know, things to bring to the arena to make it a better viewing atmosphere. But again, the season ticket base, the numbers, the people that go to the games, like all of that is deserved. Fans deserve all of that. They deserve upgraded seats. They deserve upgraded amenities. But they all more than that, it’s about the team. The team playing well on the ice is what will inevitably bring people back. And today, Guelli said that the season ticket base right now is around 9,000 fans. Said it would love to get to 10,000 and called 12,000 a sweet spot. So, but right now they’re around 9,000. And um they expect to be around that number when the season begins in October. That number is a little bit lower than even I thought it was. I thought they were right now around like 11,000. So to hear that they are at nine. I mean it’s not surprising, right? Like it’s what you it’s what happens when this many years of missing the playoffs occurs. One thing that I think could be a little different about the Sabres and I’m I’m trying to talk myself into a positive thought here. When the Bills were going through their drought, fans kept showing up. We had blackouts. You know, there were games where it wasn’t completely full, but for the most part, Bills fans showed up during the playoff drought. Bills Mafia, that’s how they arrive, right? Jumping through tables. Let’s have fun in other ways. I think when Ralph was the owner, it’s so tough because he was at an elderly age, but I think when Ralph was the owner, maybe you have less desperation to make the team better when your customers are going to show up no matter what. And that is kind of where the Bills fell. I kind of feel like it’s a good thing that Saber fans have with their with their wallets said, “Enough’s enough. I’m not coming anymore. call me back when you’re good and then maybe I’ll think about getting season tickets. Then maybe I’ll start thinking about buying more jerseys and going to individual games, mini packs, whatnot. speaking with your with your with your money because if the team isn’t desperate enough to make the team better because they want to win, one thing that could help push them there is desperation to want to get good because of the business being viable. And that can only help to me for the long term of the team. It can only help, you know, as a wakeup call, as a shock to ownership to say, “Hey, you got to start doing things right here because fans aren’t just going to show up for you no matter what.” It’s happened during the drought for a lot of it, 14 years. Like, it’s only been three, four, five maybe, where fans really stop showing up. And, you know, maybe in 2019, you’re less inclined to go all in for something because you know people are going to show up anyway. But now when they’re not, you know, again, I’m I’m trying to talk myself into that being a good thing. Um, the season ticket number being lower because the team is going to want to be desperate to get that number back up to, as you heard Quali say, about 12,000. So, we’ll see when the lease gets done. I did ask a text question today about what the one thing in the new arena you would want to have happen is and I thought maybe get some creative answers and it was all the same just better seats new every in fact I’ve gotten like 20 texts from listeners so far and every single one of them is better seats not kidding like one one is a playoff game and everything else is better seats when we come back the memeability of the Sabres two new Saber memes dropped today and I’m just wondering if we really should run with that or maybe we should let it slide I I think we probably should run with it, but talk about when we come back. You’re in lockdown sabers. Today’s episode of the Locked On Sabres podcast is presented by Game Time. 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Um, you get big deals going right up to the start of the event. You can save as much up as 60% off with last minute deals. There’s zone deals that, you know, pick the best seats in your section for you. You get a panoramic seat view so you know exactly what your angle is going to be. And um with Game Time, the price you see is the price you pay. There’s no hidden fees. It’s all right there up front. So take the guesswork out of buying concert and show tickets and baseball tickets, all the above. With Game Time, download the Game Time app, create an account, and use code locked on NHL. How about we give you another $20 off your first purchase? Terms apply, but again, you got to create that account and redeem code locked on NHL for $20 off. Download the game time app today. Last minute tickets, lowest price guaranteed. Sneaky Job Aussie back here on the Locked On Sabres podcast. All right, so really, are we being too hard on the Buffalo Sabres? Like I almost hate asking the question because I do tend to think they’ve earned every ounce of the the mean what what’s the meanness is the word but that’s not that’s not the word I want to use. I don’t know if there’s a word the cruelty that fans can show to them. But again, they have robbed a hockey city of a generation of hockey memories with the team being bad year after year after year. So, they have earned it. But today there’s Terry Pagula at the press conference and there’s two moments that are getting me’d on social media and I I have to think they’re going to be staples of Savers Twitter for the entire season and then years beyond that. One is Terry Pagula wearing the hockey helmet. And if you haven’t seen that one, you can find it, I’m sure. And I get it, right? Like it’s a it’s an older man wearing a hockey helmet in a suit. That’s you know matter who that is. that’s probably going to look funny. Um, so that one’s getting tossed around right now. And then the other one, and this one is more creative, and I think this one, this is the one to have fun with, you know, like I I’m not to say that you can’t have fun with the with the Terry one wearing the helmet, but I will be more likely to participate in the other one, which is the two doors opening to reveal blank. Uh I I had Crossing Swords podcast had a really funny one which was uh the amount of days since the last playoff game which I believe is 5,209 and there’s the big number when they reveal it and they open up the doors. But I have one friend actually have a couple friends that are hardcore Saber fans and they are the eternal optimists and those people exist. the the guys that you know are thinking g guys and gals that are thinking like hey well this will be the year you know like they always find a way to work themselves into this will be the year that’s not me I I take it from a very objective stance I try to when I think about the Bills and Sabres I try to check my fandom at the door when I’m trying to figure out how good I think they’re going to be and that’s why I’m pretty pessimistic right now about this team, but there’s a lot of fans and I I can honestly respect this and you know wish I was the same way. Just you work yourself into this is the year and I have a couple buddies that are like that and they want to fight you every time it’s just being a Debbie Downer or just drilling them for every little thing. And that is where I’m trying to live in a in a place where I’m not drilling them for every little thing cuz every little thing isn’t deserving of it. But at the same time, I see an event like today and I think you’re having this giant press conference for naming rights that you already announced and you got these props and you’ve got the owner wearing the helmet and you’ve got the doors opening. It’s just like, don’t you guys realize the life you’re living that you probably should avoid things like that if you care? Maybe they don’t care about it. you know, getting bullied on social media by a portion of their fans. But doesn’t that just seem like an easy thing to avoid? And yet you’re you’re just you’re kind of it’s almost like you’re you’re kind of asking for it here. You’re asking for the blowback. asking for the mocking if you are going to, you know, put a helmet on the owner or have the big doors opening to reveal news that we already knew and have make a big deal about naming rights at like did the Bills have a press conference about naming rights? Maybe they did and I I actually don’t know and I probably should know that. Um, in fact, I’ll look very quickly here because it feels like one of those things they just announced and that is it. Um, I’m looking right now. Oh, I don’t think they did. Even when they announced new naming rights for the new stadium. Um, I don’t think they did. I don’t think the Bills did it. Sabres did. I I don’t know. It’s a very weird one. So, you I’ll I’ll put that question up on Twitter and on the on the poll. Are we too Have we gone Are we too too hard on them? As much as they deserve fans being hard on them, is it too much? That’s a question for you today in the middle of the offseason here. Uh when we come back, couple other text questions including my thoughts. One texter asked about my thoughts on the group of players from Hockey Canada from the 2018 World Junior team that were just recently found not guilty of um I want to get the exact charger. I think it was sexual assault. They were accused of sexual assault and they were just all found not guilty. And I got asked about whether I would sign one of those players, Carter Hart specifically. And I want to speak to that when we come back here in the Locked On Sabres podcast. Stinky Jody Biosi back here on Locked on Sabres. Happy July 30th as we get to August and then that’s the final month before training camp. Hockey gets quick gets gets going quick here. So I got one text question. Um, by the way, joins subtext.comlockdowns if you want to sign up. In light of the verdict in Ontario, would you take a flyer on a one-year contract for Dylan Dubet or Carter Hart? So, it’s one of those where this verdict came in and it immediately is what a good portion of the hockey world wants to talk about and wants to ask the question of. I saw Michael Russo from The Athletic and this one I couldn’t I kind of couldn’t believe. It felt like an hour after the verdict. I think it was that day at least with an article that almost looked like it was pre-written about what the path back for these players are to the National Hockey League. And I think that was kind of gross. But when I I I read a lot about this situation and I was following this a little bit as it was ongoing. It’s different the way they do trials in Ontario versus how they do it here in the United States. This was not a jury trial. This was one judge who threw out the or or found the defendants not guilty because she did not believe the in the cons she believed that the the victim’s testimony was inconsistent and the the crown if you will the government in Canada can appeal and I think there’s an expectation that they will appeal. There’s also there’s already been a settlement with Hockey Canada and the victim. Um the police had enough evidence obviously to bring charges in the first place. And some of that evidence that the little bit that I know of is that that the the five men knew that the victim was was drunk, that they all um had got together afterwards to kind of get their story straight. They got her to film a video asserting her consent. There was pressure, you know, to her in that area. Um, I don’t want to say they’re guilty. I also don’t want to say they’re not guilty. Uh, I have my own thoughts on it. For me, there is enough evidence and there is enough for sure enough of a thought that they did this to say I would not go near any of these players with a 100 ft pole. No thank you. So, if I get that question, my immediate response is going to be, “No, I don’t want to see the Buffalo Sabres sign any of these players.” And honestly, I almost don’t even want to make this argument because to me, it shouldn’t matter. Like if you think there’s even a chance that these guys did this, I don’t want them on my on my hockey team. And again, this is the part of the argument I don’t feel like needs to be made after that. But if you want to make it, what were these guys as hockey players? Do they help me? They help me win. Carter Hart’s the one I want to focus on for this. Carter Hart is the biggest name amongst the players that went to trial and he’s a goalender and the Sabres need goalending. They signed Alex Lion but and I like that but it was Carter Hart an upgrade off of that and to me statistically you can’t definitively make that case. Carter Hart has been a giant letdown in Philadelphia as a goalender. He started really well his first two seasons there as um a 20 and 21 year old, but pedestrian below average even almost bad numbers since then. So I no there’s no competitive reason that I would do it. And to me morally I wouldn’t want to add these players onto my roster. So I’m good. I don’t need it. Um that’s my stance on it. It’s it’s a question that I expected to get and I know a lot of people are wondering about and asking right now. A lot of these players are signing in Europe. I think I I saw a couple of them already have signed in Europe. Jake Foran maybe was one of them and I don’t know what the other guys are going to do. I expect hockey will bring them back in though, right? Like listen, there there was I think mo more evidence on the Chicago Blackhawks sexual assault investig investigation with Kyle Beach a couple of years ago. And these guys did not do that, but they kind of helped cover it up andor didn’t care enough to do anything about it where to where the coach that had done those things was back in charge of young hockey players later like which is to me black. You should be black ballalled for that. you did not protect the world of hockey when you let that person stay in the world of hockey. That happened with the Chicago Blackhawks. And the two gentlemen that helped keep helped that happen were Stan Bowman and and Joel Quenville. And today they’re both employed in the National Hockey League, which to me is disgusting that they both are employed in the National Hockey League after the details of that story in Chicago. these players. Not as much evidence I think if again if I’m reading it right as that situation, but still like I just I wouldn’t go near it. But I do think they will get back in the league. I would expect Carter Hart is going to sign with somebody. I would expect that Dylan Dubet is going to sign with somebody. I personally hope the Sabres are not one of those teams. Um, and I also think their off seasonason is probably wrapped up. So, I don’t think that they will. And I I will say this about those players. I don’t think the NHL acts on it. Well, I don’t think that teams act on it until there is resolution on a potential appeal and then the league has to do something. Right now, I read this morning that like Carter Hart, this is the case for, and I believe it’s the others, too. They’re not even eligible to sign right now because they are technically still under league suspension. So, that’s indefinite, I guess. So, they have to figure that out. Um, and we’ll see what Bman hands down. I mean, the NHL is a little different than the NFL, right? Like, the NFL Roger Goodell player um the person the um the personal conduct policy that the National Football League has, they do not need a player to be convicted for them to suspend. They’ve done it a lot. Ezekiel Elliott never convicted. Got a six-game suspension. Von Miller of the Bills wasn’t convicted. Wasn’t didn’t even have charges brought against him. He was suspended by the NFL when he was a Buffalo Bill. It’s because the NFL launches their own investigation. And if they feel that this happened and it just didn’t get to court because of maybe the victim is not, you know, cooperating for whatever the reasons of that are. They’re going to make their own determination and they will suspend players no matter what the legal parameters are. The NHL doesn’t really do that. And I think this is a really interesting test for Gary Bman and Bill Dailyaly. Will they decide to act and suspend these players doing it? Will they do their own lengthy investigation and make a decision different than this judge made? That’s what I wonder because you have one other major sports league that does do that. The NHL, again, this would kind of be new territory for them on that front. I that’s my biggest question right now. What does the league do? Do they suspend these players? Because I think there’s a chance that that could happen, but again, because they haven’t done it yet. They haven’t done something like that yet. I kind of think they um it’s more likely that they won’t, but we don’t know yet. We don’t know what the NHL is going to do. It’s a test for them. So, that’s my thoughts on that whole situation. Again, like you could find more um I mean there’s people that I follow on Twitter that watched like every second of the trial and you know read all the transcripts and whatnot. So if you really do want to get more on why these players were found not guilty, you can read about that. Um but there’s nobody in that group that is to me even worth having the conversation in the uh in the first place. So there’s a little text question conversation for you. Anything else that I want to mention? Um, oh yeah, there was one other thing which is that um, oh, this is about the arena that the food in the club level would be the one thing that they would improve. And I think the club level food is fine, but I think that’s maybe when you’re comparing it to the overall food at the arena, which has improved, by the way. It’s gotten better in the last couple of years, but in the club level, sure. You would probably want, you know, the sweets. There you go. In the sweets, the sweet food should get 10 times better, hundred times better for the amount of money that those things cost. So, I I would hope that, too, that they improve that. And I think that’s more about the distributor, but, you know, we’ll see. All right, that’s going to do it for us today here on the Lockdown Savers podcast. Thanks everybody for listening to today’s show. Um, if you are looking for more on the league and what’s going on with some of the remaining free agents, you can head over to Lockdown NHL. You can find them on YouTube or wherever you listen to your podcast. And we will talk to you on Friday. You’re on the Lockdown Savers podcast, part of the Lockdown Podcast Network, your team every day.

Terry Pegula and the Buffalo Sabres had a big press conference to announce extended naming writes with KeyBank for the arena. Why did the Sabres make such a big deal out of such a small story? And why can’t the Sabres stay out of their own way with memeability?

Sneaky Joe talks how negative and sarcastic Sabres’ fans are towards their team, but also why fans have earned the right to be that way after 14 seasons of missing the playoffs.

Plus, whether the Sabres should even think about brining in Carter Hart (no, they shouldn’t).

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