To view this site you need Adobe Flash Player and your browser must allow javaScripts. Go here to get the latest Flash Player. Farewell, Old Friend “I was one of the last ones off the ice after the last game,” recalls Cliff Smith, awash in nostalgia. “In fact, [my son] Cliffy took a picture of me at center ice. When Pat LaFontaine put the puck in the net, I had Seymour and Norty standing right alongside me. They were very class people. They were great people for the community. Rick Jeanneret had tears in his eyes, that’s how emotional it was. When I talk about it, I get goose bumps.” The Sabres have a bad habit of choking on Fan Appreciation Night. You could always pick up extra souvenirs once they were turned into projectiles. That’s why it is all the more significant that, on the Sabres’ last night playing in The Aud, they did everything right. The Hartford Whalers were our guests. After the ceremonial puck drop by Seymour H. Knox III and Sabres’ original captain Floyd Smith, Henry Pendleton sang the national anthems. Pat LaFontaine started at center. With not a seat to be had, SRO filled in. You could feel the energy of the building from the sidewalk outside. Everyone had a camera, and most had some kind of tools. “Rock and Roll, Part 1” was played when we scored. And we did score, and even scored more than the other team. The Sabres got the last goal of the game–of The Aud–courtesy of Mike Peca. Popular beer vendor “The Earl of Bud” gave one last PeeWee Herman imitation to the song, Tequila, dancing on the rails of The Aud the way everyone tells their children not to. There was even a final fight halfway through the third period between Garry Galley and Jason Muzzatti, the Whalers’ goaltender. Who doesn’t love a good goalie fight? In the last minute of the game the fans were on their feet cheering in a salute to their Aud. The goal horn sounded: the Sabres had won, 4-1. The entire crowd remained for the post-game ceremony, emceed by Barry Beutel. Doug Moss said a few words, then introduced Seymour Knox, who was visibly emotional as he addressed the cheering crowd. Smith then introduced favorite former players: René Robert, Don Luce, Richard Martin, Danny Gare, Craig Ramsey, and Larry Playfair. Current Sabres Mike Wilson, Brad May, and Pat LaFontaine and then the rest of the team took the ice to assist the alumni in lowering the divisional and conference championship banners and retired numbers from the rafters of The Aud. Everything seemed to take forever, and be over in a second. Play-by-play announcer Rick Jeanneret welled up as he expressed his wish that Ted Darling could be standing next to him at the podium, but he regained his characteristic enthusiasm as he began to talk about the “new digs.” “See you in September, one block in that direction!” he concluded, pointing south. When everything that could be said had been said, the Sabres alumni were joined again by Wilson, May, and LaFontaine for a last skate around the ice with the puck, to “Sabre Dance,” of course. The crowd roared when Martin faked a shot on goal. They cheered as each player finished his lap and left the ice for the last time. And finally, Pat LaFontaine, alone on the ice, completed his lap with a salute to the crowd and an empty net goal. Fans heard that goal horn for the last time and started to chant “Let’s go, Buffalo!” as the Sabres’ original logo and “Thank You, Fans” were projected onto the darkened ice. And then some went home. But many did not. Some stayed to do shots of vodka at center ice and to referee fake fights in the corner. Some had brought screwdrivers and took souvenirs home. Some took souvenirs from The Aud Club–souvenirs with pour spouts. Some stayed until the guy with the key finally wanted to go home at 2:00 a.m. Because it was hard to believe it was over. 4 8