I'm definitely a Miller fan and an ROR fan, though I fear ROR's back is shot, Miller could be very good. He could also be grossly average. Hasek spoiled us rotten. We'd see Miller make a very good save and go "meh, Hasek would've done 'X'". He had huge shoes to fill and I think he did an admirable job. Miller certainly didn't hold the Sabres back. Outside of a small handful of goalies Hasek, Roy, Brodeur, Price, Lundqvist at his peak goalies are rarely the reason why a team succeeds. And people held that against Miller, still do, the fact that he wasn't Dom 2.0.
- Wetbandit1

This is not true. Biron had to deal with that more than Miller.

People were generally happy with Miller and I've rarely heard him compared to Hasek.

The two finest Saturday morning cartoons of all time were: 1) the Flintstones and 2) the original Scooby Doo. I am too old and lazy to figure out how to insert a pic of these gems.
- SabreWest

agreed

jetsons and old spiderman are right behind

This is not true. Biron had to deal with that more than Miller.

People were generally happy with Miller and I've rarely heard him compared to Hasek.
- BeadyEyedDouche

marty had to deal with the bankrupt teams


nothing worse than robie blaming marty for a loss when the team lost 4-1 and marty faced 48 shots a game

I can see how it can seem disrespectful, but when asked if he was happy with the silver he said hell no. I respect the fact that he was pissed that they loss, and didn't want a participation award. He hates to lose...
- adambuffalo

Yeah, I said last night, I have almost no problem with it.

IF they handed out a bronze Stanley Cup to all the losers and put their name on it, you can be sure as anything that someone would huck it down on the ice and storm off.

Especially if they had to go through some ceremony to get it and skate around with it.

Look ma! We got the loser Stanley Cup just for participating!

I personally think team sports shouldn't have a 3 medal reward system, or, alternatively, have 3 medal games, instead of two, where the loser doesn't get SH!T and the winner takes the medal.

marty had to deal with the bankrupt teams


nothing worse than robie blaming marty for a loss when the team lost 4-1 and marty faced 48 shots a game
- homiedclown

It's ironic, too, because once the lockout ended, Biron had better stats and a better record than Miller... IIRC, he was the starter for that 10-game win streak we had that season we traded him.

Three maligned Sabres scored last nighr in
- Scandella
- Larssons
- Wilson

Eventually, I would hope our 4th line looks something like
Player X - Josefson - ERod
Or flip ERod and Player X
Wouldn't necessarily mind Girgenson to be Player X
- IonSabres

I like E-Rod, but he has the weakest shot I have ever seen at the NHL level.

On the attendance issue for the Juniors, there were a few issues I would have addressed. First and foremost is the raping of the attendees by concessions. This is a junior hockey tournament and they were charging professional championship prices. I spend probably $30-$50 a game on concessions for the Sabres and Bills games and have accepted that as the way it works nowadays. However, if I was going to a minor league game or in this case a junior hockey tournament, I would expect to pay less than half of that. This is a tweet from the Cincinnati Cyclones:

TONIGHT IS THE NIGHT!!! 🐻🐻🐻 Toss, $1 🍕, 🌭, 🍺, and soda, AND the #CincyCyclones will be wearing specialty jerseys that will be auctioned off following the game! Get your 🎫 at (513) 421-PUCK! https://t.co/MzBsWlKIse

$1 pizza, beer and soda. I would go to every game I could.


Next, I think that they should have had cheap package deals for youth hockey teams to go to games. There are thousands of kids playing in the WNY area and they are the ones that could fill the seats and make it a loud atmosphere. A lot of time they wouldn't even care who's playing. They are the ones who are dreaming of playing in a tournament like this someday.

The biggest issue is everyone is looking to turn everything into a big payday rather than making it a great event. If you sell 4000 tickets for $40/piece it equals 16,000 tickets for $10/piece. Which would look better? Not to mention the concession totals for 4000 people versus 16,000 people.
- adambuffalo

Capitalism is a b!tch.

The two finest Saturday morning cartoons of all time were: 1) the Flintstones and 2) the original Scooby Doo. I am too old and lazy to figure out how to insert a pic of these gems.
- SabreWest

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
Captain Planet
X-Men
Reboot
Recess
Bobby's World
Pepper Ann
Gargoyles
Sonic the Hedgehog (the ABC one)
Hey Arnold!
Beetlejuice
Darkwing Duck
Duck Tales
Muppet Babies
Ahh! Real Monsters
Garfield and Friends
Animaniacs
SpongeBob
Batman: The Animated Series

On the attendance issue for the Juniors, there were a few issues I would have addressed. First and foremost is the raping of the attendees by concessions. This is a junior hockey tournament and they were charging professional championship prices. I spend probably $30-$50 a game on concessions for the Sabres and Bills games and have accepted that as the way it works nowadays. However, if I was going to a minor league game or in this case a junior hockey tournament, I would expect to pay less than half of that. This is a tweet from the Cincinnati Cyclones:

TONIGHT IS THE NIGHT!!! 🐻🐻🐻 Toss, $1 🍕, 🌭, 🍺, and soda, AND the #CincyCyclones will be wearing specialty jerseys that will be auctioned off following the game! Get your 🎫 at (513) 421-PUCK! https://t.co/MzBsWlKIse

$1 pizza, beer and soda. I would go to every game I could.


Next, I think that they should have had cheap package deals for youth hockey teams to go to games. There are thousands of kids playing in the WNY area and they are the ones that could fill the seats and make it a loud atmosphere. A lot of time they wouldn't even care who's playing. They are the ones who are dreaming of playing in a tournament like this someday.

The biggest issue is everyone is looking to turn everything into a big payday rather than making it a great event. If you sell 4000 tickets for $40/piece it equals 16,000 tickets for $10/piece. Which would look better? Not to mention the concession totals for 4000 people versus 16,000 people.
- adambuffalo

How about the fact that the majority of these games were scheduled mid afternoon during the week. When everyone is working?

I dont see why its that hard to understand why people didnt go.

Why would Wisconsin do that?
- Atomic Wedgie

Wedge,

This is not the Leafs blog. Humor and wit are discouraged around here.

On the attendance issue for the Juniors, there were a few issues I would have addressed. First and foremost is the raping of the attendees by concessions. This is a junior hockey tournament and they were charging professional championship prices. I spend probably $30-$50 a game on concessions for the Sabres and Bills games and have accepted that as the way it works nowadays. However, if I was going to a minor league game or in this case a junior hockey tournament, I would expect to pay less than half of that. This is a tweet from the Cincinnati Cyclones:

TONIGHT IS THE NIGHT!!! 🐻🐻🐻 Toss, $1 🍕, 🌭, 🍺, and soda, AND the #CincyCyclones will be wearing specialty jerseys that will be auctioned off following the game! Get your 🎫 at (513) 421-PUCK! https://t.co/MzBsWlKIse

$1 pizza, beer and soda. I would go to every game I could.


Next, I think that they should have had cheap package deals for youth hockey teams to go to games. There are thousands of kids playing in the WNY area and they are the ones that could fill the seats and make it a loud atmosphere. A lot of time they wouldn't even care who's playing. They are the ones who are dreaming of playing in a tournament like this someday.

The biggest issue is everyone is looking to turn everything into a big payday rather than making it a great event. If you sell 4000 tickets for $40/piece it equals 16,000 tickets for $10/piece. Which would look better? Not to mention the concession totals for 4000 people versus 16,000 people.
- adambuffalo

The concessions point is valid. The pricing is not. As I stated last night, you could get into just about any game for between $10 and $25 using the "Onebuffalo" promo code, which was advertised. I did it multiple times. The tickets were affordable.

How about the fact that the majority of these games were scheduled mid afternoon during the week. When everyone is working?

I dont see why its that hard to understand why people didnt go.
- MCGUIZZY

Maybe they should have made it a 'Code Blue' spot this past week.

How about the fact that the majority of these games were scheduled mid afternoon during the week. When everyone is working?

I dont see why its that hard to understand why people didnt go.
- MCGUIZZY

Every US game except for 2 (the semi final, and the outdoor game, which was the best one attended), were scheduled at 7 or 8pm. These are the games we are talking about. Of course the CZE-SUI games at noon weren't going to be well attended. They never are no matter where they are at in North America.

There was no excuse not to go to the US games other than the supposed hockey-rabid fanbase simply didn't want to.

Every US game except for 2 (the semi final, and the outdoor game, which was the best one attended), were scheduled at 7 or 8pm. These are the games we are talking about. Of course the CZE-SUI games at noon weren't going to be well attended. They never are no matter where they are at in North America.

There was no excuse not to go to the US games other than the supposed hockey-rabid fanbase simply didn't want to.
- buffalofan19

How many games total were held after 5pm?

It's ironic, too, because once the lockout ended, Biron had better stats and a better record than Miller... IIRC, he was the starter for that 10-game win streak we had that season we traded him.
- BeadyEyedDouche

Biron would have like 5 awesome games with 2 shutouts and then implode for 2 or 3 games. Miller was way more consistent

How many games total were held after 5pm?
- MCGUIZZY

http://www.buffaloworldjuniors.com/schedule


10.

Plus there were 6 more played on a Saturday and a Sunday. It's a two week tournament. You have to play games during the day to fit them all in.

I misspoke. The USA-Finland game was at 4pm on New Year's Eve. That was understandable due to the Bills game being flexed to 4:30. However, the other two US round robin games, and the quarter-final game was actually worse attended...and Canada didn't even play that day.

This was also a problem in 2011, when every US game was played at night.

There was no excuse not to go to the US games other than the supposed hockey-rabid fanbase simply didn't want to.
- buffalofan19

I pretty much think this is true.

If someone would have paid for a 15-second commercial calling out on the locals, they would have stormed the WJC games in droves just to prove it wrong.

That's most fanbases, actually. Most people who root for sports teams are bandwagon fans who don't care about the sport, just the team.

I pretty much think this is true.

If someone would have paid for a 15-second commercial calling out on the locals, they would have stormed the WJC games in droves just to prove it wrong.

That's most fanbases, actually. Most people who root for sports teams are bandwagon fans who don't care about the sport, just the team.
- BeadyEyedDouche

I was actually hoping TSN or somebody would do that, and that it would reach the Buffalo News. If there is one group of people that outdoes Buffalonians when it comes to exploiting inferiority complexes, it's Canadians.

http://www.buffaloworldjuniors.com/schedule


10.

Plus there were 6 more played on a Saturday and a Sunday. It's a two week tournament. You have to play games during the day to fit them all in.

I misspoke. The USA-Finland game was at 4pm on New Year's Eve. That was understandable due to the Bills game being flexed to 4:30. However, the other two US round robin games, and the quarter-final game was actually worse attended...and Canada didn't even play that day.

This was also a problem in 2011, when every US game was played at night.
- buffalofan19

Interesting. I still blame timing and the fact that this was scheduled mainly during the week and in between Christmas and New years. Lots of penny pinching going on during these times.

Every US game except for 2 (the semi final, and the outdoor game, which was the best one attended), were scheduled at 7 or 8pm. These are the games we are talking about. Of course the CZE-SUI games at noon weren't going to be well attended. They never are no matter where they are at in North America.

There was no excuse not to go to the US games other than the supposed hockey-rabid fanbase simply didn't want to.
- buffalofan19

I think that is right but it's more too

Prices
Times
Bills hype
Sabres suck
Concessions
Parking
Weather
Oversaturation

It's all these things

Interesting. I still blame timing and the fact that this was scheduled mainly during the week and in between Christmas and New years. Lots of penny pinching going on during these times.
- MCGUIZZY

The fact of the matter is that there are markets in North America where this is well attended, mostly in Canada, but places like North Dakota also did very well. The self-proclaimed American hockey mecca of Buffalo isn't one of them.

Biron would have like 5 awesome games with 2 shutouts and then implode for 2 or 3 games. Miller was way more consistent
- jcragcrumple

But we never got to see Biron play for a really good team like Miller got to. Like I said, Biron had that one season when we traded him and he was absolutely light-out that year, and then he went to a Philadelphia team that was still a few years away from contending and got ousted before they got better, too.

Biron's career is victim to circumstance, unfortunately, because 90% of his career, he played on absolutely awful to mediocre-at-best teams. He's not an elite goalie, so he would never have carried a team.... But he isn't too far removed from a Corey Crawford-type, who has won multiple cups playing for a great team and yet still isn't considered to be a good goalie, just "fits the system" and gets the job done.

I was actually hoping TSN or somebody would do that, and that it would reach the Buffalo News. If there is one group of people that outdoes Buffalonians when it comes to exploiting inferiority complexes, it's Canadians.
- buffalofan19

Ahahahahaha, this is so damn true

I honestly said to someone just last week that if it's one thing a Buffalonian has, it's an inferiority complex... And my proof in it is that when you make a statement like that to a Buffalonian, the immediate response is: "NO I DON'T!!!!" and a puffing up of the chest like a bullfrog during mating season.

But we never got to see Biron play for a really good team like Miller got to. Like I said, Biron had that one season when we traded him and he was absolutely light-out that year, and then he went to a Philadelphia team that was still a few years away from contending and got ousted before they got better, too.

Biron's career is victim to circumstance, unfortunately, because 90% of his career, he played on absolutely awful to mediocre-at-best teams. He's not an elite goalie, so he would never have carried a team.... But he isn't too far removed from a Corey Crawford-type, who has won multiple cups playing for a great team and yet still isn't considered to be a good goalie, just "fits the system" and gets the job done.
- BeadyEyedDouche

I don't really buy that he was a victim of circumstance. I think he was who he was, an excellent backup who could play well for stretches but had a tendency to be erratic over the course of more than 5-10 games

Interesting. I still blame timing and the fact that this was scheduled mainly during the week and in between Christmas and New years. Lots of penny pinching going on during these times.
- MCGUIZZY

Alternatively, our hockey-rabid fanbase could have used holiday gift money to attend these games, ask for tickets as presents or their parents could have done right as a consumer in "Hockey Heaven" and bought the tickets for their kids.

The "Buffalo is poor" rhetoric is a valid reason, but the "penny-pinching during the holidays" reason doesn't hold true, IMO.