Sabres fans interested in their team's future:
Without dispute, the controversy, scandal and ensuing uncertainty regarding ownership is a primary cause for this year's demise of the Buffalo Sabres. It is my contention, however, that any decision made by the National Hockey League to contract or relocate the franchise - an increasingly possible result - will be made with several factors in mind, among the most notable being the sharp decline in ticket sales this season and the logical inference from that that fans are no longer able or interested in supporting the Sabres.
Therefore, considering that fans can still play a vital role in determining the future of the franchise, I advocate the following demonstration, one intended to show the league you exist and you care about the Sabres' future:
Attend Saturday's game against the New York Rangers and spend the entire second period and only the second period in the concourses and hallways of the arena.
I believe a massive cooperation would accomplish the following:
? The NHL and national hockey media would notice that Sabres fans can still be counted on to support their team. The New York media's presence in Buffalo will assist this. Our support must be on our terms however, including nothing short of a salary cap that allows for a market the size of Buffalo to have a chance of being competitive.
? The NHL would feel further urgency to reconfigure its economic structure, thereby providing the Sabres and small-market teams like them hope for future seasons.
? Send a message to prospective Sabres owners that fans are still passionate and loyal to the Sabres, assuming fans believe the team has a chance of being competitive, which presently is not the case.
Cooperating in this manner for a game against the Rangers - whose economic superiority was magnified to an alarming degree in their acquisition of Alexei Kovalev earlier this week - would further enlighten the league to our awareness of the little hope we have in competing with New York.
Some fans have expressed concern over asking fans that have bought tickets to skip out on one-third of their purchase. However, sacrificing the entertainment value - a term used very loosely in a last-place season within a low-scoring, no-hitting, watered-down league - of one period's play is, I believe, a small price to pay to make a statement of this magnitude. Further, the game can be watched in the halls on one of the many monitors around the arena.
Please contribute further suggestions or support by spreading the word among ticket-holders, posting comments on our online message board, or calling radio shows - on WGR and all stations - throughout each day this week. Time is short to rally thousands of people together, and only an implicit understanding of the cause and the confidence that many people are united in it can give this plan a chance of success.
Thank you for considering this effort.
Without dispute, the controversy, scandal and ensuing uncertainty regarding ownership is a primary cause for this year's demise of the Buffalo Sabres. It is my contention, however, that any decision made by the National Hockey League to contract or relocate the franchise - an increasingly possible result - will be made with several factors in mind, among the most notable being the sharp decline in ticket sales this season and the logical inference from that that fans are no longer able or interested in supporting the Sabres.
Therefore, considering that fans can still play a vital role in determining the future of the franchise, I advocate the following demonstration, one intended to show the league you exist and you care about the Sabres' future:
Attend Saturday's game against the New York Rangers and spend the entire second period and only the second period in the concourses and hallways of the arena.
I believe a massive cooperation would accomplish the following:
? The NHL and national hockey media would notice that Sabres fans can still be counted on to support their team. The New York media's presence in Buffalo will assist this. Our support must be on our terms however, including nothing short of a salary cap that allows for a market the size of Buffalo to have a chance of being competitive.
? The NHL would feel further urgency to reconfigure its economic structure, thereby providing the Sabres and small-market teams like them hope for future seasons.
? Send a message to prospective Sabres owners that fans are still passionate and loyal to the Sabres, assuming fans believe the team has a chance of being competitive, which presently is not the case.
Cooperating in this manner for a game against the Rangers - whose economic superiority was magnified to an alarming degree in their acquisition of Alexei Kovalev earlier this week - would further enlighten the league to our awareness of the little hope we have in competing with New York.
Some fans have expressed concern over asking fans that have bought tickets to skip out on one-third of their purchase. However, sacrificing the entertainment value - a term used very loosely in a last-place season within a low-scoring, no-hitting, watered-down league - of one period's play is, I believe, a small price to pay to make a statement of this magnitude. Further, the game can be watched in the halls on one of the many monitors around the arena.
Please contribute further suggestions or support by spreading the word among ticket-holders, posting comments on our online message board, or calling radio shows - on WGR and all stations - throughout each day this week. Time is short to rally thousands of people together, and only an implicit understanding of the cause and the confidence that many people are united in it can give this plan a chance of success.
Thank you for considering this effort.
