When the mailman came yesterday he brought an unexpected gift to Buffalo Sabres season ticket holders, it was invoice day for the season ticket holders.  What was inside was an increase in ticket prices for everyone involved.  The Buffalo Sabres missed the playoffs last year but they are also in the bottom half of the league in ticket prices.  On the surface it seems like a ticket hike isn't such a big deal, besides it's only $3-$6 per game.  Gas prices are going to break the bank before the ticket hike will.

The problem is that the Buffalo Sabres management chose not to tell anyone about the price hike.  Not only did they not tell anyone in advance but they didn't even tell them in the invoice, people had to figure it out for themselves.  If you don't believe me than read this and this.  I guess Larry Quinn and company thought they could pull a fast one on the fans but it's failing miserably.  I have been an avid supporter of management and I have defended them with every opportunity but come on Larry, how do you expect me to defend you on this one?  The Sabres organization was losing popularity already but this should drop it to the lowest it's been in years.

Tomorrow afternoon is the Preakness Stakes, the second race in horse racings triple crown.  The event will once again be televised by NBC after the conclusion of game five of the Western Conference Finals.  I think you know what I'm getting at, or maybe you need to refresh your memory.  It was this time last year that both the NHL and NBC issued numerous apologies regarding the Sabres-Senators game being preempted by the Preakness pre-race coverage.  I vividly remember hearing them say "that the same thing would not happen again".  I guess they meant that people would know where the game is being aired, even if you can't see it.

The contingency plan for Saturday's 1:30 p.m. ET DAL@DET NBC broadcast is as follows:

If the game goes into overtime, the local Dallas and Detroit NBC affiliates will stay with the game until it's conclusion

In markets outside Dallas and Detroit, the game will shift from NBC to VERSUS after completion of the 1st OT

There are some markets that may pre-empt the game but at this time we don't know the alternative channel plans.

That came directly from the NHL website and is listed as the contingency plan.  Was I the only one who thought the league and network meant that they would not preempt a game again?  I guess I was a fool to ever believe that NBC would do the right thing or the league would try at all costs to avoid this situation happening again.

NHL commissioner Gary Bettman is always preaching that hockey has the smartest fans yet his organization(NHL), affiliates(NBC) and teams(Sabres) all think we are too dumb to figure out when we are being bamboozled.