'I cared more than they did': Fed-up Sabres fans drop season tickets amid playoff drought
With a lagging team performance and an aging KeyBank Center, convincing Sabres fans to re-up or buy season tickets is one of the hardest jobs in Buffalo.
Springtime means new beginnings and playoff hockey, when fans in 16 NHL markets get to feel all the joy and despair that comes with watching their favorite team chase the Stanley Cup.
Then there are the supporters of the Buffalo Sabres, who haven’t made the playoffs for 14 years and counting.
As the latest season ended Thursday with the team outside the postseason, The Buffalo News checked in with some of the Sabres’ most dedicated fans: their season ticket holders.
They invest many hours − and thousands of dollars − to attend up to 41 regular-season games, year after year, without a playoff payoff at the end.
Despite enduring yet another disappointing Sabres campaign, some season ticket holders say they’re not going anywhere.
“I want to be there at the first playoff game, whenever that is, and I know I definitely will regret it if I don’t have tickets,” said Charles Killian, who just wrapped his 19th year as a season ticket holder.
This past year was finally too much for others who say they are giving up their seats. Kim Windschitl said she has come to believe the organization lacks urgency.
“I feel bad for even saying this, but it just didn’t seem like they really cared. So, if they really didn’t seem to care, why should I really care? Why should I be investing this money and paying for parking and paying for food?” said the East Amherst resident, who had season tickets with her husband, Brian, the past three years. “Why am I doing that? I felt like I cared more than they did.”
Hockey fans walk the concourse at KeyBank Center prior to the Sabres-Maple Leafs contest on Tuesday.
Many Sabres fans complain about being outnumbered at games against certain opponents, like the Leafs.
But some season ticket holders sell those games to help pay for their seats for the year.
Harry Scull Jr./Buffalo News
Sabres owner Terry Pegula, the one constant through the playoff drought, didn’t directly address fans as this season wound down.
However, Pete Guelli, the chief operating officer, in a February email told season ticket holders that the Sabres are listening to their fans and will make every effort to improve the on- and off-ice products.
“It is our hope that by listening to your feedback, you understand the value we place and the appreciation we have for the financial and emotional commitment you have made to our organization,” Guelli wrote.
But with a lagging team performance and an aging KeyBank Center, convincing Sabres fans to re-up or buy season tickets is one of the hardest jobs in Buffalo.
Tickets since 1970
One year ago, The News interviewed Sabres season ticket holders as the team’s streak of missing the playoffs reached 13 years.As the drought hits a 14th season − extending the team’s dubious league record − we’re returning to ask this bottom-line question:
Are you staying married to the Sabres or getting a divorce?
Joe Hejaily is holding onto his season tickets, which his family has held since the Sabres began play in 1970.
Ticket stubs from some of the Sabres games Joe Hejaily has attended. His family has had season tickets at Memorial Auditorium and, later,
KeyBank Center since the team was founded. Joed Viera/Buffalo News
The seats moved from Memorial Auditorium to KeyBank Center as they passed over the decades from Hejaily’s grandfather and father to Hejaily.
They now cost around $8,000 for two seats in Section 105, 16 rows up from the ice, in an arena that Hejaily said pales when compared to those he has seen in Columbus and Pittsburgh.
But hockey binds the family, and the bug has now spread to Hejaily’s children, including a son the same age as the drought.
“I am an assistant coach on his travel team,” Hejaily said. “And I said to these other coaches, many times, I’m like, ‘It’s a wonder our boys, who are 2010 birth year − it’s a wonder these boys are so into hockey since they’ve never seen a playoff game.’”
Their love of hockey, and the promise of a future playoff run, are bringing them back for another season.
“We enjoy the sport that much,” Hejaily said. “And it’s unfortunate to say I’m doing it for that, and not, ‘Hey, this team’s good.’”
Owns 67 jerseys
How big of a Sabres fan is Killian? Well, start with the 67 jerseys he owns, including less-notable Sabres Joe Juneau and Steve Heinze.One year ago, Killian told The News he thought the Sabres needed to make some big moves in the offseason to improve the team.
“I really thought we were going to make the playoffs this year,” he said.
The 13-game losing streak in November and December that killed the team’s postseason chances was a low point for Killian.
“Really, I was embarrassed to be a season ticket holder. It’s like, people just make fun of you. And it’s tough,” he said. “I remember when the Sabres were the talk of the town. And now no one really cares. It’s been 14 years of the same stuff, and it’s frustrating.”
Killian said he attends about 25 games and resells other tickets, some at a premium, but many at a loss. He moved his seats before this season, to save money, but he is still spending $3,000 minimum on the two seats he has in the 300s, not counting parking or concessions.
“This year, I was actually thinking about giving my seats up,” Killian said. “But at the end of the day, I love hockey. And it’s a night out. And I do enjoy going to games, as much as it’s frustrating some nights.”
Giving up tickets
Kim Windschitl said she has eagerly followed the Sabres since childhood.“When I was in fifth grade, I wrote a book about the Buffalo Sabres,” she said. “So that’s what kind of fan I was.”
With their children out of the house, and the Windschitls seeking something for themselves, they got season tickets with friends two seasons ago.
The group went from eight seats initially to six total tickets for the 2023-24 season and, as interest faded further, down to four tickets this year.
Buffalo Sabres season ticket holders Kim and Brian Windschitl sit in their seats before the Sabres-Maple Leafs game on Tuesday.
The Windschitls, who have had season tickets for three years, are dropping them now. Harry Scull Jr., Buffalo News
She said she is still miffed at the Sabres because, when the group shrank from six seats to four seats last offseason, the team wouldn’t let them keep the four seats closest to the aisle because, a team rep said, the two along the aisle would be easiest to resell to someone else.
The physical condition of the arena, even their 100-level seats that cost $93 each per game, is another point of frustration, she said, along with the high volume level before puck drop and during the intermissions.
She and her husband went to about only 15 games this year, and found themselves leaving those they did attend earlier and earlier.
The Windschitls and their friends are giving up their four remaining season tickets for next year.
But Kim Windschitl said she does have her eye on the new football stadium in Orchard Park.
“I could see looking to get Bills season tickets down the road here, yeah,” she said.
‘Always’ a fan
Last year at this time, Bill Stathopoulos said he was undecided about re-upping his tickets. However, he sent a reporter an excited message in May that included a recorded message from recently hired head coach Lindy Ruff.“It’s your coach calling here, and we want you back,” Ruff told him.
It was enough to pull Stathopoulos in, but the season didn’t go the way he wanted.
The Rochester resident attends a dwindling number of games each year and, even counting the tickets he lets his son use, hands out to his employees or sells, 15 to 20 games went unused.
Further, he said, he is upset that the Sabres recently auto-charged his credit card for about $1,100 − the first installment on the 10-month payment plan for his two 200-level tickets − before he told them what his renewal decision was.
Even so, he said he is planning to purchase a 10-pack of tickets.
“I’m not going to be that guy that takes all my Sabres stuff and puts it in the parking lot at work and lights it on fire,” Stathopoulos said. “I will always be a Sabres fan.”
And if the team surprises everyone by making the postseason, he’ll be back in for seasons.
“I’m going to be like a teenage girl in 1961 and the Beatles are coming to town,” Stathopoulos said. “Yes, I will be there.”