![]() ![]() Subsequent owners of the Braves, in a series of convoluted transactions tied to the ABA–NBA merger, moved the team out of Buffalo. Between the Braves and the Sabres, the Sabres would prove to be by far the more successful of the two Paul Snyder, the nouveau riche Braves owner, publicly feuded with the old money Knoxes and the local college basketball scene, eventually losing those feuds and being forced to sell his team in 1976. The city of Buffalo went from having no teams in the established major professional sports leagues to three in one off-season, a situation that proved to be unsustainable. In addition to the Sabres' debut, the Buffalo Bills officially joined the National Football League, and the National Basketball Association's Buffalo Braves also began to play, sharing Memorial Auditorium with the Sabres. The year the Sabres debuted (1970) was an important year for major league sports in Buffalo. Former Toronto Maple Leafs general manager and head coach Punch Imlach was hired in the same capacity with the Sabres. At the time of their creation, the Sabres exercised their option to create their own AHL farm team, the Cincinnati Swords. Louis at the time) from the rest of the NHL entirely. Their first attempt was thwarted when Pittsburgh Steelers owner Art Rooney persuaded his horse racing friends James and Bruce Norris to select Pittsburgh over Buffalo, while the second attempt was due to the NHL not wanting an expansion market to give up on a team so soon, nor isolate the Los Angeles Kings (the only NHL team other than the Seals west of St. The Knoxes tried twice before to get an NHL team, first when the NHL expanded in 1967, and again when they attempted to purchase the Oakland Seals with the intent of moving them to Buffalo. With names like "Mugwumps", "Buzzing Bees" and "Flying Zeppelins" being entered, the winning choice, "Sabres", was chosen because Seymour Knox felt a sabre, a weapon carried by a leader, could be effective on offense and defense. Wanting a name other than " bison" (a generic stock name used by Buffalo sports teams for decades), the Knoxes commissioned a name-the-team contest. Buffalo had a history of professional hockey immediately prior to the Sabres' establishment, the Buffalo Bisons were a pillar of the American Hockey League (AHL), having existed since 1940 (and before that, another Bisons hockey team played from 1928 to 1936), winning the Calder Cup in their final season. Strawbridge Jr., an heir to the Campbell Soup Company fortune. Rich Jr., later the owner of the Buffalo Bisons minor league baseball team and George W. On the team's inaugural board of directors were Robert E. Knox III and Northrup Knox, scions of a family long prominent in Western New York and grandsons of the co-founders of the Woolworth's variety store chain along with Robert O. The Sabres, along with the Vancouver Canucks, joined the NHL in the 1970–71 season. History Early years and the French Connection (1970–1981) Adams/Northeast Division rivalries (1981–1996).Early years and the French Connection (1970–1981).The Sabres have the longest active playoff drought in the NHL, at eleven seasons, which stands as an NHL record. The Sabres, along with the Canucks, are the longest continuously running active NHL franchises to have never won the Stanley Cup. The team has twice advanced to the Stanley Cup Finals, losing to the Philadelphia Flyers in 1975 and to the Dallas Stars in 1999. The Sabres are owned by Terry Pegula, who purchased the club in 2011 from Tom Golisano. The Sabres have played their home games at KeyBank Center since 1996, having previously played at the Buffalo Memorial Auditorium since their inception. The team was established in 1970, along with the Vancouver Canucks, when the league expanded to 14 teams. The Sabres compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Division in the Eastern Conference. The Buffalo Sabres are a professional ice hockey team based in Buffalo, New York. ![]()
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