Ray Slover of the Sporting News wrote a great piece declaring Buffalo the best hockey city. It is about time that people start to recognize the passionate fan base of the Buffalo Sabres. Slover shows us the television ratings but it goes way beyond that.
Here's how good the hockey fans are in Buffalo: While TV ratings in the rest of the U.S. pushed to reach numbers posted by drunken drivers, the citizens of this mid-market media area were watching the Stanley Cup finals at five times the national rating.
And the Sabres weren't even in the finals.
That really is impressive because the Sabres had huge expectations and they fell short but hockey fans in Buffalo continued watching (cheering for Anahiem I presume). The Stanley cup finals did have some interesting story lines in Buffalo with Ottawa being the most hated rival after the Neil hit on Drury,Ryan Miller's brother Drew playing for the Ducks, and Brad MAYDAY...MAYDAY playing for the Ducks as well.
It's not only the television ratings though, the city fell in love with the Sabres all over again like it was in the 70's. The days when the French Connection were thrilling people in The Aud. The big question is how will this off season affect that love, it depends on how well the team performs this season.