While attending the Buffalo Sabres game against the New Jersey Devils on Friday night, the reactions of the crowd made one thing abundantly clear, Sabres fans have embraced the idea of the Sabres finishing in last place in the NHL. Sure, we have heard this from Sabres fans on talk radio, on twitter, and in internet message boards all season long, but we really hadn’t heard fans actively cheering against their team, in the First Niagara Centre, at this level before this.
The game featured a sparse crowd, and while a sell out was announced, my guess is that a good 30% or more of the tickets that had been sold went unused. However for those in the building the majority where wearing Blue and Gold jerseys which made their reactions remarkable. Sure we have seen visiting teams, such as the Toronto Maple Leafs, or the Montreal Canadiens cheered loudly in the arena, but that was mainly due to the vast number of their fans who make the trip to Buffalo for games. Instead this was Sabres fans cheering against their team.
The first instance occurred early in the first period when it appeared as though Johan Larsson buried a rebound and would give the Sabres a 1-0 lead. There was some cheering in the building, but the support seemed lukewarm at best. However, when the play went for review, and the referee announced that Larsson’s apparent goal was being disallowed, a loud cheer went up in the crowd. This was far louder than the cheer given when it appeared the Sabres took the lead. Clearly the crowd was happy with the fact their team would not take the lead.
The next hour (real-time) would go by with the crowd largely silent. It seemed the play on the ice was just not exciting the fans in the stands. However, when Steve Bernier scored to give the Devils a 1-0 lead, a cheer that was at least as loud as the cheer for Larsson’s apparent goal went up. A second goal from Bernier recieved a similar reaction.
Now whether this is a good or bad thing, I leave that to you, the reader to decide. What I can’t ignore is that it happened, and I can honestly say I’ve never seen a hometown crowd inside an arena, ballpark or stadium, actually cheering for their team to lose. For that reason alone, its something the NHL and the Sabres should probably discuss internally as the issue of Tanking for draft picks seems to have become something that even the paying customers are now embracing.
Main Photo by Phillip MacCallum/Getty Images
