The Toronto Maple Leafs and Buffalo Sabres are battling for the Eastern Conference crown and a trip to the Stanley Cup finals, but their on-ice struggle is only a continuation of a fight for the hearts of fans that has been going on since the Sabres entered the NHL in 1970.
Sabres officials say about 15 percent of Buffalo's 10,000 season-ticket base is from Canada, down from the early years of the franchise. As the Leafs have struggled in recent years, the Sabres have strived to cultivate their following along the Ontario "Golden Horseshoe" from Fort Erie as far north and west as Hamilton. Marketing personnel have been added and the team has held practice sessions numerous times in southern Ontario.
Jack Gatecliff, a sports reporter with the St. Catharines Standard, has covered the Sabres since 1970. In the early years he was among a large throng regularly winding down the Queen Elizabeth Way to Buffalo for hockey games, but he has noticed less traffic in recent years.
"The majority of people in the Niagara Region are still with the Leafs," he said. "It's just inbred that the Leafs are the team, but Buffalo is definitely second in line and, I think, gaining."
The notion of these neighborhood teams clashing in the postseason is something Ken Dryden, the president of the Leafs, had in mind a few years ago when he persuaded NHL owners to shift Toronto back into the Eastern Conference.
Dryden was at Marine Midland Arena on May 18 getting a sneak preview of the Sabres and their home rink when the series showdown became official. Playing regular-season games, he said, is one thing but a playoff confrontation is what really establishes a rivalry.
"Even when you're in the same division, you don't play each other often enough and close enough from one game to another to make it feel like a real rivalry," he said as thousands of Buffalo fans chanted, "We want the Leafs!" after the Sabres eliminated the Boston Bruins. "When you get into a playoff series, that's when it starts to happen."
Sabres' management may not admit it, but efforts to lure fans from Ontario down to the arena became a double-edged sword. Hours before tickets went on sale in Buffalo for the Eastern Conference final, CJCL 590, the all-sports radio station in Toronto, was reciting the Sabres' toll-free number, encouraging Leafs' fans to buy early and often. Ticket prices for the third round range from $38 to $89, but 40 minutes after the windows opened, the 5,000 tickets available for each scheduled game at the arena (Games 3, 4 and, if needed, 6) were scooped up.
Bill Reid of North Buffalo waited in line more than an hour before plunking down $90 for two 300 level seats for Game 6 — the earlier games were already sold out.
"I've got a friend who moved to Arkansas who's a big Sabres fan. He's got a satellite dish and watches the games," Reid said. "I called him and left a message and said if he can get up here, I've got a ticket for him."
Not everyone, though, finds it easy choosing sides. Broadcaster Harry Neale, an Amherst resident who is the lead analyst on "Hockey Night In Canada" on the Canadian Broadcasting Corp., didn't give much thought to a Sabres-Maple Leafs series, especially this late.
"I never dreamt when the season started Toronto would be in the third round [of the playoffs] or that Buffalo would. But as the season progressed ... there was a possibility I could get a home playoff game," he said.
Neale knows many Buffalo fans will turn to CBC for TV coverage, and one of his concerns will be remaining objective, not showing favoritism to his hometown team or the one supported by an entire country.
"It doesn't bother me very much if I'm doing Dallas-Colorado, but now I know I'd better try a little harder than usual to be a neutral broadcaster," he said.
Rick Maloney writes for Business First in Buffalo.
