Jan 1st 2008 pre game for the Ice Bowl between Buffalo Sabres and Pittsburgh Penguins. Rob Ray, Rene Robert, Lindy Ruff, Larry Playfair, The Aud, Don Cherry
I went to 1 game at The Aud (I live in the Delaware Valley), it was on Halloween, 1990, vs. the Bruins. 3-3 tie and Clint Malarchuk & Reggie Lemelin were in the nets that night. The seats up top were EXTREMELY STEEP !!
As a youngster I would sell beer at the games...looked older then what I was and nobody asked my age must have been the long hair..lol. ..had my corner for intermissions and my regular customers..made great tips and watched the entire 3rd period of the game. Great times for me!
WOW does this bring back memories....growing up my mom would occasionally get tickets from one of her coworkers, and we excitedly drove down from our home in Niagara Falls, NY to the Aud. The tickets were in what was then known as the orange section (aka the nosebleed seats LOL) but still, we had a great view and an equally great time. Got to see the Sabres under Scotty Bowman's coaching. What a team they had. I also need to share this fun fact: In 1981 on my 16th birthday (February) a friend of mine from high school, my mom and I went to a Sabres game at the Aud. During the game we noticed 2 empty seats in the (then) red section, which was about 10 or more rows from the ice. By the 2nd intermission they were still empty. My friend & I decided we were going to sit in those seats, so we made our way down there and proceeded to sit down. As the 3rd period began, a few minutes in a man comes over and says "those are my seats." We said, "who are you?" He said, "I'm Gil Perreault." At first we thought he was kidding, but he said "you don't think so? It's really me Gil Perreault." By this time we were stunned, embarrassed and thrilled all at the same time! (NOTE: This occurred around the time when Perreault was injured.) He was VERY nice to us, asked us some questions and let us sit in the seats thru the end of the game. True story!!
Ahhhhhh, the Oranges. Just have to be part mountain goat to have seats up there and the angle degree wasn't overly compatible to drinking Labatt Blue. Trust me .......
Saw so many games at the Aud. Went to a charity night and got Shoenfeld, Perrault, Lindy ruff, Don Edwards and other Sabres autographs. What a great arena.
I was a season ticket holder for the last 7 years at the Aud. I wish I could buy my orange seats. Thanks so much for posting this video. I'm sure I could walk right to my seats today if they let me in the place. My favorite game I attended was the "MAYDAY" goal and the last night at the Aud. They had to kick me out more than an hour after the game ended. I met Larry Playfair in the lobby on the way out. What a cool way to leave the building.
I understood why they couldn’t sell the Gold and Red seats as they were considered condemned due to asbestos leakage throughout the building, but why the Oranges weren’t available for sale made little sense to me.
Just awesome. I can't believe I've never seen this. I have so many great memories in that building, not just Sabres games, but wrestling events, concerts, other sporting events etc.
Toe Blake's pro hockey coaching career started in the Aud as coach of the Buffalo Bisons before moving up to Montreal where he won 11 Cups (in fact, his goaltender was the great Jacques Plante)----and Eddie Shore ended his playing career in this bulding as well, and went on to coach the Bisons to a few Calder Cups. A lot of great hockey history at the Aud long before the Sabres arrived. Old Time Hockey!
My Dad took me to an old Bison game with my Cub Scout pack along with some other fathers when I was just a young kid, but I also went to MANY Sabre games in that hollowed place. Such good times and precious memories.
Got shut down for Bass Pro, and then Bass pro didn't even go through with the plans. What a fuckin' shame. Beautiful, nostalgic downtown landmark destroyed for nothing.
I was at the game Ruff scored the 4 goals. I remember standing on the yellow rail many times above the orange. Getting to see Perault at the end of his career. Was there when Malarchuk got his neck cut. The multi OT game against the Devils,etc. It was a great place to watch a game. The Poor Man's Aud club getting the Fried Bologna to the Beer Garden to the Earl of Bud.
The players smoked like chimneys and had a few beers after each game. I was inside of it after a game in 1973. LOL. It was like a teacher's lounge in high school only with beer and apparently, a rat.
I use to have season tickets to the Sabres from 1989-1999….the Aud is by far superior to the new arena….matter of fact the guy your channel is named after Dave snuggarud was one of the best penalty killers in history. At the Aud. I wish they woulda kept it around.
And now we are probably getting close to the time where key bank center is going to be considered outdated and the team will be demanding a new arena . And it would just feel like another day there is no history no banners in that arena no standout memories except brett hull scoring
They could have done something unique, like other cities do with their cherished sports stadiums and arenas, by keeping parts of it and incorporating it into a new structure. They could have kept center ice as a lobby or food court or something. Instead they just tore it all down. I heard the foundation was solid enough to last hundreds of years. Damn shame. Not on the same scale as tearing down Frank Lloyd Wright's Larkin Building (which bankrupted the demolition company, which was JUSTICE), but still pretty bad for tearing the AUD down. I'm surprised they didn't keep the decorative front entrance at least.
The same thing happened in Pittsburgh when they closed down Mellon Arena. I wish they would have kept it. Same with the aud. On the bright side I have a coffee mug that has part of mellon arenas roof on it.
The Sabres have yet to win a Cup but they have the 3rd highest winning percentage in the history of the NHL behind only Montreal and Philadelphia. It's too bad they couldn't get over the hump and win one at the Aud.
npnelsen , I know what you mean, when it was snowing and blowing outside, as a kid I would be huddled under a blanket, everybody was like family, HSBC does not have that same feeling
God I remeber during the Auds final days. The reffs coming out to pick up clumps of crap (asbestos ridden maybe) off the Ice. Me frightened to death as a child sittling in them Oranges. A Drunk Boston Bruin fan spilling his Beer on my jacket when I was 11and giving me $40 while appologizing to me and my dad. Meeting Brad May at the sabres fair day in the dressing room getting my program signed with a painting of him on the cover scorring the May DAY !.
I never saw a Sabres game at the Aud, though I had gone there for other things. I definitely got vertigo going up into the stands. Although I never saw the Sabres play there, it's still sad to see it go. Although Bass Pro is tearing it down, they did try to salvage it. It's just too far gone with 10+ years of no maintenance and people getting in and trashing the place. I just hope that Bass Pro finds an appropriate way to honor the site.
Rob Ray, gritty and likeable as he is, didn't help us win. I recently watched the 1976 Sabres play the Soviet Wings, winning 12-6. That team didn't win the Stanley Cup even though they were excellent for 9 years. They had the French Connection and Danny Gare. Gare was the #4 forward on the 1976 team. We now have Vanek and Pominville. Does anyone think they're better than Gare, the #4 forward on the 1976 team? We don't have enough talent, that's why we're going nowhere.
I must agree. I have to admit, and I'm typing this TEN years after you posted this, but I was never a Rob Ray fan. I won't say he wasn't a good and exciting player, but he was much more flash than substance, but I'm obviously in the minority because he is a fixture on the team's operations and broadcast team, even to this day.
@@wsbill14224 Exactly. I never saw the allure, but what do I know? He fought like hell, yea, but after they made him affix his jersey so he didn't have two hands free, things went downhill for him in the scrapping part. Also, full disclosure, and this coming from a Buffalo fan, this really bothers me a lot - just this past year he made some very insulting comments about Tie Domi and his brother who were being shown in the crowd of a game in Buffalo where Domi's son was playing for the opposing team. The media played it off as "good natured" and what "good friends" they are and all that, but the bottom line was Domi and his brother were totally unaware of it happening live and in real time to thousands upon thousands of viewers, and it was not a "funny" or "good natured" type of remark, or I should say, remarks. I think it's sour grapes because Domi would kick his ass unless the sweater came off. Call me whatever you want, but that was very low of Rob Ray. Want to make a comment or comments like that? Cool. Do it in front of the guy and not when he and his brother have NO CLUE they're even being shown on television while someone is critiquing their anatomies and also those of the family and also, again, coming from a post middle aged guy who has put on weight since being retired and in my mid sixties, Rob doesn't look like he passes on many meals these days either. Classless and almost cowardly - because again, it was done in stealth and on live television. Google it dude, it's on YT.
@@dyates6380 It's not a big deal and Rob Ray has a point. Domi is a goon's goon. If it makes you feel any better Rob Ray isn't a very big guy and they lie about player's height. I'm Mr. Average 5'9" since I was 17. I met Rob Ray and I'm a shade taller. I tower over Marcel Dionne.
it sucks, even though the building was rotting and abandoned, it was demoed just soo bass pro decided it wouldnt come here, id rather stare at the old aud then look at an empty fucking parking lot
You'd rather stare at the old aud "then" look at an empty f#cking parking lot. LOL. Dude, you're priceless. West side resident? Or East side? You clearly went to one of the government run schools.
I went to 1 game at The Aud (I live in the Delaware Valley), it was on Halloween, 1990, vs. the Bruins. 3-3 tie and Clint Malarchuk & Reggie Lemelin were in the nets that night. The seats up top were EXTREMELY STEEP !!
My first game at the Aud was a 14-4 win over the Maple Leafs.
As a youngster I would sell beer at the games...looked older then what I was and nobody asked my age must have been the long hair..lol. ..had my corner for intermissions and my regular customers..made great tips and watched the entire 3rd period of the game.
Great times for me!
WOW does this bring back memories....growing up my mom would occasionally get tickets from one of her coworkers, and we excitedly drove down from our home in Niagara Falls, NY to the Aud. The tickets were in what was then known as the orange section (aka the nosebleed seats LOL) but still, we had a great view and an equally great time. Got to see the Sabres under Scotty Bowman's coaching. What a team they had.
I also need to share this fun fact: In 1981 on my 16th birthday (February) a friend of mine from high school, my mom and I went to a Sabres game at the Aud. During the game we noticed 2 empty seats in the (then) red section, which was about 10 or more rows from the ice. By the 2nd intermission they were still empty. My friend & I decided we were going to sit in those seats, so we made our way down there and proceeded to sit down. As the 3rd period began, a few minutes in a man comes over and says "those are my seats." We said, "who are you?" He said, "I'm Gil Perreault." At first we thought he was kidding, but he said "you don't think so? It's really me Gil Perreault." By this time we were stunned, embarrassed and thrilled all at the same time! (NOTE: This occurred around the time when Perreault was injured.) He was VERY nice to us, asked us some questions and let us sit in the seats thru the end of the game. True story!!
Ahhhhhh, the Oranges. Just have to be part mountain goat to have seats up there and the angle degree wasn't overly compatible to drinking Labatt Blue. Trust me .......
So happy I was able to go to the aud for a few games and wrestling events. I miss all the old arenas. They had a personality to them.
Saw so many games at the Aud. Went to a charity night and got Shoenfeld, Perrault, Lindy ruff, Don Edwards and other Sabres autographs. What a great arena.
The skating rink at Canalside paints a dot on the ice ,exactly where center ice was at in the old Aud each year.
I was a season ticket holder for the last 7 years at the Aud. I wish I could buy my orange seats. Thanks so much for posting this video. I'm sure I could walk right to my seats today if they let me in the place. My favorite game I attended was the "MAYDAY" goal and the last night at the Aud. They had to kick me out more than an hour after the game ended. I met Larry Playfair in the lobby on the way out. What a cool way to leave the building.
I understood why they couldn’t sell the Gold and Red seats as they were considered condemned due to asbestos leakage throughout the building, but why the Oranges weren’t available for sale made little sense to me.
Just awesome. I can't believe I've never seen this. I have so many great memories in that building, not just Sabres games, but wrestling events, concerts, other sporting events etc.
this coming from a lifelong rangers fan at only 23 yrs old every time i think of buffalo i think of the aud!
Why??
HNIC did a great job for the Winter Classic, instead of blindly praising Crosby for 3 hours, they reported the game as it was.
A building with this much history shouldn't be torn down. What a shame.
Rob Ray earned that penalty box door.
THANKYOU SABRES
THANKYOU SABRES
THANKYOU SABRES
THANKYOU SABRES!!❤️❤️❤️❤️
Toe Blake's pro hockey coaching career started in the Aud as coach of the Buffalo Bisons before moving up to Montreal where he won 11 Cups (in fact, his goaltender was the great Jacques Plante)----and Eddie Shore ended his playing career in this bulding as well, and went on to coach the Bisons to a few Calder Cups. A lot of great hockey history at the Aud long before the Sabres arrived. Old Time Hockey!
My Dad took me to an old Bison game with my Cub Scout pack along with some other fathers when I was just a young kid, but I also went to MANY Sabre games in that hollowed place. Such good times and precious memories.
razor was given the penalty box door?!!! how freaking great!
God, does this bring back memories!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
2nd row orange, on blue line Sabres shot twice. Watching Gil and the boys was incredible. Many memories, good and some sad ones.
Tim Horton comes to mind, and yes, you're right.
Probably best seats in the place people would not understand
Got shut down for Bass Pro, and then Bass pro didn't even go through with the plans. What a fuckin' shame. Beautiful, nostalgic downtown landmark destroyed for nothing.
Miss that place
lol ruff with the hat catch, thats funny shit
Wow great video. I love the sabres
I was at the game Ruff scored the 4 goals. I remember standing on the yellow rail many times above the orange. Getting to see Perault at the end of his career. Was there when Malarchuk got his neck cut. The multi OT game against the Devils,etc. It was a great place to watch a game. The Poor Man's Aud club getting the Fried Bologna to the Beer Garden to the Earl of Bud.
Awesome! Thanks for uploading. Brings back great memories!
Beer cans and cigarettes, rats in the dressing rooms!. I miss the old days before all the pampering and flashy suits.
The players smoked like chimneys and had a few beers after each game. I was inside of it after a game in 1973. LOL. It was like a teacher's lounge in high school only with beer and apparently, a rat.
I use to have season tickets to the Sabres from 1989-1999….the Aud is by far superior to the new arena….matter of fact the guy your channel is named after Dave snuggarud was one of the best penalty killers in history. At the Aud. I wish they woulda kept it around.
And now we are probably getting close to the time where key bank center is going to be considered outdated and the team will be demanding a new arena . And it would just feel like another day there is no history no banners in that arena no standout memories except brett hull scoring
thank you!!!
They could have done something unique, like other cities do with their cherished sports stadiums and arenas, by keeping parts of it and incorporating it into a new structure. They could have kept center ice as a lobby or food court or something. Instead they just tore it all down. I heard the foundation was solid enough to last hundreds of years. Damn shame. Not on the same scale as tearing down Frank Lloyd Wright's Larkin Building (which bankrupted the demolition company, which was JUSTICE), but still pretty bad for tearing the AUD down. I'm surprised they didn't keep the decorative front entrance at least.
The same thing happened in Pittsburgh when they closed down Mellon Arena. I wish they would have kept it. Same with the aud. On the bright side I have a coffee mug that has part of mellon arenas roof on it.
I'll be back in Buffalo in October and I'll most likely be going to a Sabres game. It looks like one last visit to the Aud will be in order.
The Sabres have yet to win a Cup but they have the 3rd highest winning percentage in the history of the NHL behind only Montreal and Philadelphia. It's too bad they couldn't get over the hump and win one at the Aud.
still the best
You forgot......the Buffalo Stampede.........94' RHI Champions!!
Joseph Cuonze that was a fun summer
npnelsen , I know what you mean, when it was snowing and blowing outside, as a kid I would be huddled under a blanket, everybody was like family, HSBC does not have that same feeling
God I remeber during the Auds final days. The reffs coming out to pick up clumps of crap (asbestos ridden maybe) off the Ice. Me frightened to death as a child sittling in them Oranges. A Drunk Boston Bruin fan spilling his Beer on my jacket when I was 11and giving me $40 while appologizing to me and my dad. Meeting Brad May at the sabres fair day in the dressing room getting my program signed with a painting of him on the cover scorring the May DAY !.
man the fenced off the front doors that sucks poor aud R.I.P
I never saw a Sabres game at the Aud, though I had gone there for other things. I definitely got vertigo going up into the stands. Although I never saw the Sabres play there, it's still sad to see it go. Although Bass Pro is tearing it down, they did try to salvage it. It's just too far gone with 10+ years of no maintenance and people getting in and trashing the place. I just hope that Bass Pro finds an appropriate way to honor the site.
I absolutely hate that they are tearing down the Aud.
theyre putting up a memorial
pretty much every yr man
1:26 he's wrong, the Sabres defended that goal in the 1st and 3rd period. Only the 2nd period did Porky Palmer kick the boards there.
That was his name huh. I was there a few times and heard about the guy. So cool. That's such an old school hockey thing to have.
LOL. Porky Palmer. LOL!!!!!!!!
Rob Ray, gritty and likeable as he is, didn't help us win. I recently watched the 1976 Sabres play the Soviet Wings, winning 12-6. That team didn't win the Stanley Cup even though they were excellent for 9 years. They had the French Connection and Danny Gare. Gare was the #4 forward on the 1976 team. We now have Vanek and Pominville. Does anyone think they're better than Gare, the #4 forward on the 1976 team? We don't have enough talent, that's why we're going nowhere.
I must agree. I have to admit, and I'm typing this TEN years after you posted this, but I was never a Rob Ray fan. I won't say he wasn't a good and exciting player, but he was much more flash than substance, but I'm obviously in the minority because he is a fixture on the team's operations and broadcast team, even to this day.
@@dyates6380 10 years goes by fast. If Rob Ray wasn't a good fighter or if he played today he would be a career minor leaguer.
@@wsbill14224 Exactly. I never saw the allure, but what do I know? He fought like hell, yea, but after they made him affix his jersey so he didn't have two hands free, things went downhill for him in the scrapping part. Also, full disclosure, and this coming from a Buffalo fan, this really bothers me a lot - just this past year he made some very insulting comments about Tie Domi and his brother who were being shown in the crowd of a game in Buffalo where Domi's son was playing for the opposing team. The media played it off as "good natured" and what "good friends" they are and all that, but the bottom line was Domi and his brother were totally unaware of it happening live and in real time to thousands upon thousands of viewers, and it was not a "funny" or "good natured" type of remark, or I should say, remarks. I think it's sour grapes because Domi would kick his ass unless the sweater came off. Call me whatever you want, but that was very low of Rob Ray. Want to make a comment or comments like that? Cool. Do it in front of the guy and not when he and his brother have NO CLUE they're even being shown on television while someone is critiquing their anatomies and also those of the family and also, again, coming from a post middle aged guy who has put on weight since being retired and in my mid sixties, Rob doesn't look like he passes on many meals these days either. Classless and almost cowardly - because again, it was done in stealth and on live television. Google it dude, it's on YT.
@@dyates6380 It's not a big deal and Rob Ray has a point. Domi is a goon's goon. If it makes you feel any better Rob Ray isn't a very big guy and they lie about player's height. I'm Mr. Average 5'9" since I was 17. I met Rob Ray and I'm a shade taller. I tower over Marcel Dionne.
it sucks, even though the building was rotting and abandoned, it was demoed just soo bass pro decided it wouldnt come here, id rather stare at the old aud then look at an empty fucking parking lot
You'd rather stare at the old aud "then" look at an empty f#cking parking lot. LOL. Dude, you're priceless. West side resident? Or East side? You clearly went to one of the government run schools.
ohh soo i wonder if thye have started takeing it down on a different part now
English. Please ........
Hey guy why dont you name like 19 more arena's that you think were more important than the aud before you seguay into this bit!
😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂!!!!!!!!
That building was built like shit
😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂!!!!!!!!
yeah, really, nbc, espn, and verses suck at doing games, fucking horrible.