The Buffalo Sabres famed French Connection played their entire career at the Memorial Auditorium, which was located across the street from the KeyBank Center. [https://deweb-519a7.b-cdn.net/post-images/04945ddf-1f18-419d-ad2d-3206e4131ee3.jpeg] The Buffalo Sabres famed French Connection played their entire career at the Memorial Auditorium, which was located across the street from the KeyBank Center. It is common to romanticize the past, and when it comes to hockey, fans of my generation in Toronto, Boston, Chicago, Detroit, Montreal, and New York would tell tales about going to Maple Leaf Gardens, Boston Garden, Chicago Stadium, the Olympia, the Montreal Forum or Madison Square Garden. For fans in Buffalo, the same can be said about Memorial Auditorium. “The Aud", as it was lovingly nicknamed, was built in 1940 and remodeled after the Sabres inaugural season in 1970. It served as the club’s home until this day in 1996, when the last NHL game against the Hartford Whalers was played. The club's original home had oddities, but that gave it some charm. Unlike modern-day arenas that are required to have a 200 x 85 ice surface, the Aud was one of three NHL arenas that had slightly smaller sheet due to their older construction and smaller size. Other Sabres Stories Is Peterka In Prime Position For Big Payday? [https://deweb-519a7.b-cdn.net/post-images/88df8c5e-1e24-4f56-90c3-aa32c588384a.jpeg] Is Peterka In Prime Position For Big Payday? The <a href="https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/buffalo-sabres">Buffalo Sabres</a> are currently focused on finishing off the 2024-25 season on a positive note after most of the campaign being dominated by the negative. The club is looking to win their third game in a row in Utah on Thursday after a shootout win over Vegas on Saturday and an overtime victory in Boston on Monday. Barring an incredibly successful final 16 games, the Sabres are likely to finish in the bottom five of the NHL standings, and with a number of questions that will need to be addressed in the offseason. [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/buffalo-sabres/latest-news/is-peterka-in-prime-position-for-big-payday] Sabres Ownership Ranked Worst In NHL By Survey In The Athletic [https://deweb-519a7.b-cdn.net/post-images/88dfc4b3-858a-4580-ad6f-0962a5e44ffe.jpeg] Sabres Ownership Ranked Worst In NHL By Survey In The Athletic The <a href="https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/buffalo-sabres">Buffalo Sabres</a> season began with the hope of ending their long playoff drought and will end on April 17th with a 14th consecutive year outside of the postseason. There are a number of contributing factors to the club’s struggles, but <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/6195557/2025/03/17/nhl-owner-rankings-2025-mirtle/">according to an article in the Athletic</a> that surveyed fans from every NHL club, Sabres owner Terry Pegula is ranked last among the 32 owners. [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/buffalo-sabres/latest-news/sabres-ownership-ranked-worst-in-nhl-by-survey-in-the-athletic] Dahlin Refutes Assertion Of Wanting Out Of Buffalo [https://firebasestorage.googleapis.com/v0/b/deweb-519a7.appspot.com/o/posts%2FNHLBUFF%2Fcontent-images%2F6ffb6ce1-9743-46e9-828f-6dea55726d42.webp?alt=media] Dahlin Refutes Assertion Of Wanting Out Of Buffalo As if the Buffalo Sabres do not have enough drama with the club heading for their 14th consecutive season outside of the playoffs, defenseman Rasmus Dahlin refuted a report from <a href="https://x.com/lookathtmango/status/1899519290488832081">TNT panelist and Spittin Chiclets co-host Paul Bissonette</a> that the Sabres team captain met with GM Kevyn Adams and wants out of Buffalo if the club does not improve quickly. [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/buffalo-sabres/latest-news/dahlin-refutes-assertion-of-wanting-out-of-buffalo] Renovations to the building raised the roof to put an upper deck on it and increased the seating capacity to 16,433. However, unlike the evenly balanced bowl of the Key Bank Center, the Aud was oddly arranged, with one end having a small number of rows because of the suites located there and the other end consisting of over 20 rows. The upper deck was incredibly steep and hung over the ice, giving fans an incredible view, while others seated in the highest level of the lower bowl — known as the “upper blues” — could not see the scoreboard and had to view the game on TV screens. One of the best features of the old barn is one of the worst features of the Sabres' current home: the sound. The low roof and hundreds of sound cones helped trap and evenly distribute the noise in the building, making it an especially great venue for concerts and a raucous hockey crowd, which gave the Sabres a distinct home-ice advantage. There have been very few times over nearly 30 years (and not for a lack of fans trying) that KeyBank Center has echoed as the Aud did on many nights. Follow Michael on X, Instagram, and Bluesky @MikeInBuffalo
