My frist Sabres game was against Ottawa on Friday the 26th, and it was one I won't forget.
I went with my friend and his family, they were kind enough to bring me along for my birthday. It was with Bodine Unlimited Tours. We were supposed to meet in a park and ride in Leroy around 4pm so I offered to drive everyone since I don't drink. So we crammed five people into my Saab 9000 and headed off for Leroy.
We got to the park and ride and found we were the only ones waiting in a car. We kept seeing cars come, but only to drop off people and leave. 4:15 rolled around (the pickup time) and still nobody was there. We got a bit worried that we were at the wrong place until a white Ford Freestar pulled up. We all thought that we'd be taking a bus with a bunch of other Sabres fans, but apperently we were the only ones for the Ottawa game. Chris, the owner of Bodine Tours, was our driver. He was the nicest and funniest guy we could have asked for to take us on the trip. We talked about how he's met players over the years, the stadiums he's been to, etc. He knew all the shortcuts and backways to get us into Buffalo and to the arena.
We stopped at a Mexican restaurant/bar for dinner before the game. I can't remember the name of it, but it was almost like a Chipotle. I got a burrito and watched some sportscenter and relaxed before the game.
After dinner he took us on a mini tour of Buffalo, starting at the roundabout in the center of the city. We then went to the Navy museum by the lake, and he told us about the ships and vehicles that were there. I was able to get a few pictures too.
(Sorry for the poor quality it was my cell phone)
Then we went to the arena and after getting crammed into a parking space near the exit, we went to our seats. Our seats were in 319, top row. Walking out and looking down was a bit shocking at first (I'm somewhat scared of heights). The view was great, you could see everything up there perfectly. I almost would prefer them to lower seats.
Watching the game was great, it was nice to see Kaleta beat some ass in the first. Not hearing Rick's voice during the game took some getting used to. I liked being able to see everything while the game was happening, not just what the camera showed on TV. I did get to see the population on Pominvile increase on the wall, and joined in with everyone yelling "GOOSE". During the game I notice three things:
-The arena was quieter than I imagined until we scored.
-The TV timeouts suck the life out of the game. It killed our momentum after the first and second goals.
-The one ref, I believe it was Kerry Fraser, was going to be doing his last game with the Sabres before he retires, and the fans boo'd. I thought that wasn't classy to do at all.
(sorry for the bad pics again)
Even though they lost I got to see a great game. Afterwards, Chris took us down to the club area where we got to see Rob Ray and Kevin Silvester doing the post game show. Rob just looked funny, he was texting and posing for the camera during commercials. The producer was texting too and could give two craps about what was going on. Kevin looked annoyed for some reason.
(security guard is on the left and you can barely make out Rob and Kevin)
The game was a lot of fun. We ended up getting out of the arena quickly and avoided a lot of traffic with some of Chris's driving "moves". I ended up getting an awful migraine right before the game but still had a great time. Hopefully next year I can go back with my friend (who's a big Canadiens fan) for a gave against Montreal.
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