I won't rip you apart, but SHK and NRK are beloved in this town for getting the franchise here to begin with.
LaFontaine and Gare have numbers in the rafters. That's enough justification right there.
I brain farted on Northop. I meant to say Milt Ellis. PA announcer for 25+ years at the Aud.
If you've only been a fan since 1999, there's 29 years of history that came before you. You may not know some of these names from years past, but they deserve to be honored still.
@Beechsack: Your points are fairly taken, but I'll add that I recall some reluctance on the part of the fan base when Gare had his number risen. And I would concur with that dissent.
I think that a statue is a more serious honor than having your number retired. When I think of statues, I think of people who are either so great or so iconic of the franchise that pretty much every fan can not only identify them, but could give you a little shpiel about why they were great.
I understand that the past is important, but the test of how important it was is often in how its remembered. I know more about Ryan Miller than you can shake a stick at, but barring any significant forthcoming career accomplishments, I wouldn't expect my kids to remember him or for a statue to be built for him in 2040. I think some of these guys are in that ballpark. All-stars, maybe, maybe an odd award winner. But statues suggest immortality.
If kids in the future know the player just because it's the guy they see on the statute whenever they go into the arena, that for me is an example of a bad statue. Statues should be for players who are remembered regardless.
I love stuff like this. I think the Bills will also do something like this with that 200-300 million they are using to upgrade The Ralph's fan experience.
I'm not trying just to show off my ignorance (although I'm perfectly prepared for a deluge of smug put downs), but if I don't know this stuff, the casual fan doesn't know this stuff, and if the casual fan can't tell you why the guy in bronze outside the arena is there, you've got a problem.
What?! That's why they have statues and museums, so people that don't know can learn and those people/things can always be remembered.
@Beechsack: Your points are fairly taken, but I'll add that I recall some reluctance on the part of the fan base when Gare had his number risen. And I would concur with that dissent.
Anyone who disagrees with Gare being in the rafters doesn't really know much about this team from the 70s and early 80s.
What?! That's why they have statues and museums, so people that don't know can learn and those people/things can always be remembered.
I guess, but that just seems to be so far outside of the culture of sports statues in general and the NHL in particular. I think the more likely perception of us immortalizing Gare and Mogilny et al, especially from around the league, will be that we're flouting our mediocrity. Which is a kind of tactlessness I don't have a taste for.
The Yankees have 27 people in Monument Park, including managers, owners, and their old PA announcer.
The idea is to celebrate the history of the franchise, not the entire sport of hockey. If you want that, go drive up the QEW.
The Sabres don't have nearly that kind of history though. If we're including non-players, I guess RJ and Punch Imlach could be candidates, but really, I'd rather they keep it to true icons of the franchise. Which, to me, would be the French Connection and Hasek.
The Sabres don't have nearly that kind of history though. If we're including non-players, I guess RJ and Punch Imlach could be candidates, but really, I'd rather they keep it to true icons of the franchise. Which, to me, would be the French Connection and Hasek.
Yankees have 27 individuals in Monument Park from 111 years of history.
Using my example, the Sabres would have 11 individuals from 50 years of history.
Anyone who disagrees with Gare being in the rafters doesn't really know much about this team from the 70s and early 80s.
Well, he scored 267 goals as a Sabre, fewer than Dave Andreychuk. Vanek can pass him with a 37 goal season this year (in a much lower scoring NHL era), and the same number of seasons. His identity was as a goal scorer, I'm pretty sure, so I'm thinking he's basically Thomas Vanek.
Oh, so only franchises that have won championships in their sports are allowed to honor their history?
Ok.
I don't care if you are the New York Yankees, or Kansas City Royals. Honoring those that were important to the history of your franchise is the right thing to do. Even if your franchise has sucked performance wise.
Oh, so only franchises that have won championships in their sports are allowed to honor their history?
Ok.
I don't care if you are the New York Yankees, or Kansas City Royals. Honoring those that were important to the history of your franchise is the right thing to do. Even if your franchise has sucked performance wise.
That's fine, but just be aware that, you know....nobody else in sports is really doing this, and a lot of people will think it's kind of tacky and flouting our mediocrity.
Again: NO PROBLEM with one statue, maybe even two, of people who are just iconic of the franchise. NO PROBLEM with statues of players who are so great that they're remembered by new generations of fans even without a statue. It's when you start reaching for guys who the casual fan couldn't tell you much about that you're bucking the trend in pro sports, and inviting the criticism I stated above.
Oh, so only franchises that have won championships in their sports are allowed to honor their history?
Ok.
I don't care if you are the New York Yankees, or Kansas City Royals. Honoring those that were important to the history of your franchise is the right thing to do. Even if your franchise has sucked performance wise.
The Sabres have only been around 40 years. Is there history? Sure. But let's be real...teams that have been around longer--championships or not--have a ton more.
We shouldn't honor people with statues just for the sake of honoring people. It should truly be merited, with the highest of the highest standards. And that's the problem...if you start doing one a year those standards are inevitably going to start coming down.
Well, he scored 267 goals as a Sabre, fewer than Dave Andreychuk. Vanek can pass him with a 37 goal season this year (in a much lower scoring NHL era), and the same number of seasons. His identity was as a goal scorer, I'm pretty sure, so I'm thinking he's basically Thomas Vanek.
Fewer than Andreychuk, sure, but only Andreychuk, Martin and Perreault have scored more goals in franchise history. Gare is also 9th in points (500 in 503 games), has two of the franchise's six 50-goal seasons and is tied for 7th in PP goals and is 6th in GW goals.
He was before my time so I make no claim about whether his jersey retirement was justified or not but he was definitely one of the top offensive players in franchise history, FWIW.
Although it's possible Vanek passes him in goals next year, probably will in points and is already past him in PP and GW goals. All this really says to me is that there is probably an argument to be made about retiring Andreychuk and Vanek's jerseys as well.
Fewer than Andreychuk, sure, but only Andreychuk, Martin and Perreault have scored more goals in franchise history. Gare is also 9th in points (500 in 503 games), has two of the franchise's six 50-goal seasons and is tied for 7th in PP goals and is 6th in GW goals.
He was before my time so I make no claim about whether his jersey retirement was justified or not but he was definitely one of the top offensive players in franchise history, FWIW.
Although it's possible Vanek passes him in goals next year, probably will in points and is already past him in PP and GW goals. All this really says to me is that there is probably an argument to be made about retiring Andreychuk and Vanek's jerseys as well.
Yeah, that's just too low of a bar for me. I want the jersey retirement to be truly special, and the statue to be truly rare and iconic. If pretty much everybody who can stay on your top line for 5 years or makes a couple all-star games gets a jersey retirement or a statue in the lobby, I find it tasteless.
Having lived through this era of Sabres hockey, I can't say I would find anything inspiring about a Thomas Vanek statue in ten years.
Inspiration for the statue came from a photograph taken during a playoff game in April 1975 and features all three members of the French Connection. The photograph, which was taken by Ron Moscati, is considered extremely rare because so few pictures exist with all three players in the same shot. During the game in which the photograph was taken, all three players scored a goal to clinch a playoff win against the Montreal Canadiens.
“When the project was in its conceptual stage, Mr. Pegula made it very clear he wanted the statue to be based on an actual image as opposed to a fictional pose,” said Sabres’ Director of Creative Services Frank Cravotta. “We were lucky to come across such a great photo that provided a great visual to work with.”
Beginning this summer, the plaza will be transformed into a shrine to all the Sabres players that have dazzled the hockey-crazed people of Buffalo for years. Plaques featuring the names of every player in Sabres history will be placed on brick columns across the plaza to forever immortalize their contribution to the team.
Fans who wish to have their names listed among Sabres legends will have the opportunity to purchase customized plaques to be hung along with the Sabres alumni plaques throughout the plaza. The alumni plaques listing the names of hundreds of Sabres players, in concert with the names of the fans who have cheered them for decades, will be a lasting testament and tribute of a strong hockey franchise for years to come. Fans can purchase bricks for $100.
