Tamara and Caroline vs. AAC

My class got out early, and I have to stick around for my radio show at 10, so I thought why not update! Another good reason would be that Caroline and I had a rather successful adventure to Toronto on Sunday, and aren't blogs for sharing? Yes, they are!

So, we left Buffalo around 4:30 (we aimed for four because we knew it was probably going to be late) and had smooth sailing to Toronto, except of course until you hit downtown. And since the Air Canada Centre blends in with other downtown buildings (unlike the Rogers Centre, which you can almost see from Buffalo) we drove up and down random streets winging it.

Everytime we saw Leafs fans, we assumed we were in the right general area. We pulled over on one street for Caroline- already in her Miller jersey- to ask for directions. How many people live in Toronto? And we ask the only non-English speaking couple on that street who went ' uhhhh' and pointed in a random direction. Fantastic.

We parked on a random street since it was Sunday and thus, free and headed off- Caroline in Ryans jersey, and me in Patty Cakes (goalies represent!). We were walking targets and felt like it. We kept trying to follow Leafs fans and had to ask for directions in a subway station when the Leafs fans mislead us. We did see a few Sabres fans on the way, so I started feeling a bit better.

Finally, we made it! Ten minutes before puck drop, we were in the security line. Somehow, in those ten minutes, we managed to make it from the underground entrance, up to our seats, and got Caroline beer along the way (she was far too excited to be drinking, haha). Our seats were row 18, which is NOT the row 18 it is at HSBC. It's the last row, right below the standing section, and we were so high up that we were BEHIND the press box, and had a little TV because you might not have been able to see the top of the scoreboard. Don't get me wrong, they had a great view, and you take what you can get when you buy tickets that afternoon.

It was already such a culture shock. They announced the Leafs starting line up with names and numbers we were not use to hearing, and Caroline and I had to scream extra loud for our starting line up.

One of the downfalls to the AAC being bigger than HSBC is that when the Leafs score, coma patients know about it. They arena was definatley not sold out, especially since it was preseason, but you still heard it (I actually got a video of one of the Leafs goals while TRYING to film something else!).

The first time we were actually heckled, other than people yelling ' BUFFALO SUCKS!' as we walked around, was during the first intermission. We were down by 2, as we all know, and when passing by other people in our row to go get something to eat, an old man said " oh, are you coming back?" I guess it looked like we were bailing, but it was an intermission! Not to mention the first period. But Caroline was like ' oh yeah, we're coming back!'

Along with Caroline and I returning to our seats for the second period, the Sabres came back. Similar to the Montreal game the night before, Gerbe and Clarkie scored a little over a minute apart. A few minutes later, Thomas scored...right after Caroline asked " have the Sabres scored on the power play this pre-season?" He was kind enough to answer her question.

Then the Leafs scored two blah blah blah, we never went down after that! I must say, it was very weird cheering when they scored. I know we weren't the only Sabres fans there, we weren't even the only ones in the section. But when you're so use to 17,000+ people cheering with you, sometimes it took a second to realize it was a goal (kind of like when you think they score at HSBC, then realize they didn't, but you're thrilled for that small period of time). Even in the Wachovia Center, there's more people cheering when the Sabres score. Odd.

Despite not admitting it, the Leafs fans loved when we cheered for the little guy, and Kennedy scoring, just because we had the tendency to sound like we hated the Sabres more than they did for a moment. The woman a few seats over from us was laughing so hard when Caroline yelled ' THE LITTLE BITCH DID SOMETHING RIGHT!' when we thought Roy scored (but it was really Vanek).

But, that game was intense! If they scored, we scored, and so on. And I'm very upset that so many are dissing Patty and his performance that night. I'm not saying he was stellar, I'm sure there were some soft goals in there, but there were also amazing saves. Half the people bashing him, didn't even watch the game! I understand he let in six goals, but Toskala- a starter- let in seven. In high scoring, and close scoring not to mention, games I rarely blame either goaltender. Patty was on his A-game, unlike our defensemen. I love Hank, I love Craig...I don't love them together. However, everyone killed that 6 on 4 at the end of the third, so shove it haters (sorry)!

...by the way, HAD the Leafs scored on that 6 on 4, it wouldn't have been Goose's fault. Somehow, we would have made it Dereks.

So, the game ended, Caroline and I were screaming (I finally got her to work WITH the Sabres, haha) and what not. People yelled ' Buffalo sucks!' but we were oh-so-lame and yelled ' WE WON!' We had to make a pit stop at the bathroom, and I felt SO awkward standing there in my jersey when waiting for Caroline. But, women usually aren't as nasty. One woman even rubbed my shoulder and said ' you're a brave girl.'

While leaving the AAC- not even being off the property- we saw two MAJOR fan fights. One was actually inside, and we didn't see anything more than shoving, but when we walked away from it, a lot of security guys were running that way. And outside, we saw a guy get jumped (well, he didn't seem to be doing anything) and shoved around by some angry/drunk Leafs fans. He was kicked in the face, poor guy. If I hadn't been a girl, I probably would have jumped in to help him.

We wandered off in search of the car. On our way (in the wrong direction) a guy on a corner stopped us. He was maybe in his 50's or so, and immediatley started raving Buffalo, saying how his first game was in the Aud when he was about 9 (or six?). He went on about the French Connection, and how the fans were great, and the Leafs fans were not. He was so sweet, Caroline just adored him, and got my picture with him haha. Definatley a nice way to end the last walk through the city.

...actually, it really ended when a homeless guy had to point us in the right direction. For that, we gave him some money (he tried to woo us by saying he loved Buffalo, haha).

All in all, very awesome trip. It was Caroline's first away game, and first time seeing a game this (pre)season. I LOVE the AAC, I think its a gorgeous building...and that's about it. We survived a night of rivarly (during the game, they talked about a DVD that was going on sale of the Leafs greatest games, to which I yelled " SHORTEST DVD EVER!" so I was going a little outside of the somewhat safety zone).

I would like to personally thank the Sabres for winning, and making the trip back to the car a little less dangerous (at one point, I thought my car died, and was ready to run after their bus).

I have a good amount of pictures from that night. I'll do a picture post with a few of them later today, but my radio show starts in about 13 minutes.

Be cool and listen in. www.medaille.edu/wmcb <--- click on the lizard and listen, folks!