Sabres should "Re-Open" themselves for the Holidays
By Richard W. Kozak, Jr.
Some of my fondest childhood memories revolved around my love of the Buffalo Sabres and those Holiday time presentations of Sabres "Open Practices."
With much anticipation, my younger brothers and I would wait for the advertisement in an early December edition of the Buffalo Evening News heralding the announcement of the Buffalo Sabres Open Practice.
Interested Sabres fans rushed to send into the News a self addressed stamped envelop in the hopes that you would receive your precious allotment of open practice tickets. The tickets were free for the asking, but acquiring the ducats was a race against time and the hopes of tens of thousands of other Sabres fanatics.
Truly, I don't know what event was anticipated more during the holidays at our house: Christmas morning or Open Practice morning. Mom and dad would wake the family up before 6 AM to a house smelling of a freshly cooked breakfast. Our parents kept the whip cracking as we dressed in Tom Jolls advised layer upon layer of clothing, with a Sabres jersey on top of course. We would rush through our preparation against the winter chill that was sure to face us on the walk from distant downtown parking lots and into our hockey mecca: THE AUD!
After a few years of trial and error, my mom became adept on knowing just when to arrive downtown to make sure we had great seats. With a stream of successive sellouts stretching from 1972 to 1980 acquiring a Sabres ticket by regular means was nearly impossible. For those of us who couldn't get a seat to Sabres game or couldn't afford one, the Open Practice was a chance to see our heroes up close. Believe me, when you're seven years old, the "nose-bleed" Orange Section 36 is still "up close."
The format of the actual practice was usually the same, and that was the shear beauty of the event. You knew what to expect and the Sabres organization delivered every time.
The original voice of the Sabres, Ted Darling, would introduce the Sabres one at a time with a flair for timing and the dramatic.
"At center...wearing the blue road jersey this year...Numbbbeeeeerrrrrr Eeeeeeel-heaven: GIL-BERT PERREAULT!!!!!!!!!! In the home white jersey...a fifty goal scorer....Numbeeeeeeeer Eighteeeeeeeeeen: Danny Garrrrrrrrrre!" What followed was screaming at a decibel level that I'm sure only the Beatles were accustomed.
The team would run through a series of drills, frolic with Darling and fans, play a scrimmage game against a local kids' team, and then give as special treat to their young fans. The Sabres would split the squad between the white and blue jerseys and divide the Aud in two with each side cheering for their respective color. Usually most kids kept their fingers crossed to make sure their favorite Sabres was on their side.
After the festivities, I can remember heading to the souvenir stands for discounted Sabres goods that I could buy with my Christmas money. When it was all over, my brothers and I would rush home to watch the replay in the afternoon on Channel 17.
When holiday time memories are rife with the Aud and coupled with the enjoyment of recent success the Sabres could do worse than recreating the event that was the Holiday Time Sabres Open Practice. The Arena is open for game day skates and the team schedules "viewings" throughout the area, but somehow it's not the same.
It may be too much to ask on such short notice, but the Christmas week works for me. I have my old blue and gold jersey waiting to see the light of day once again. Together with my own family, there's room for a few more lifetimes of Sabres memories to be made.