Buffalo Sabres to limit ticket sales

The Buffalo Sabres have an excellent pool of prospects, and I’m weighing my words carefully.

They already have several established young players in the line-up, such as Tage Thompson, Dylan Cozens, Rasmus Dahlin and Owen Power.

But they also have some high-quality prospects still at junior level, or in the minors, with the likes of Zach Benson, Matthew Savoie, Noah Ostlund and company.

Everything seems to be going well in Buffalo, and the future looks very bright.

However, several current players have complained about one thing.

Since Buffalo is less than two hours from Toronto, many Maple Leafs fans gather and “pollute” the Sabres’ arena.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Breakers (@nhlbreakers)

Other fans from other cities also come to Buffalo to see their favorite team, but it’s really the Maple Leafs fans who are causing the problem.

Former Sabres player and Leafs member Ryan O’Reilly played in Buffalo in front of his former fans on February 21 and spoiled himself with a hat trick.

Maple Leafs fans were hysterical and threw a multitude of hats and caps onto the ice… in Buffalo.

It was the last straw for many Sabres players.

Many observers noted that the crowd could be as much as 80% Toronto fans… in Buffalo.

It should be pointed out that Toronto fans will not be banned from the KeyBank Center, but that the first waves of available tickets will be reserved for Buffalo residents.

They will be based on the ticket buyer’s “ZIP” code, more commonly known as the postal code in our region.

Ticket resale is also possible, and may reach some Toronto fans.

Sventes vice-president Frank Batres-Landaeta mentioned that the phenomenon is also observed when the Sabres host the Pittsburgh Penguins, the Philadelphia Flyers and even the Montreal Canadiens.

There are even many fans from Michigan and New York State.

Remember that last May, during the playoffs, the Florida Panthers banned the sale of tickets to Maple Leafs fans.

Just goes to show that Leafs fans are troublemakers.

If Toronto fans continue in this vein, they may no longer be welcomed in any nearby arena.

In gusto

– Interesting.

– He’s closing in on a return to action.

– He’ll be one to watch.