Written by Chris Wassel | 25 August 2008

There is a chill in the air. It is Cold War Time. I want to thank Tom Liodice from the Isles Blogbox, for coming on The NHL Arena Podcast. I found it what he said about the Isles to be very informative. If you guys did not get a chance to listen to the show go and download it. You will enjoy it. Remember Wed we will be on again at 10:30 PM Eastern Time.

Today’s edition of the Cold War is a bit of a personal one. This past week the City Of Buffalo has been clamoring about the deconstruction of War Memorial Auditorium. The Aud was the original home of the Sabres. It was built in 1939 as part of FDR’s New Deal. During the Great Depression it provided hundreds of jobs for local Buffalo Natives to help put food on the table. Over the years it was home to many events, Boxing, Hockey, Lacrosse, Basketball and Soccer to name a few. Stanley Cups were hosted, greats like Lafleur, Perrault, Orr, Esposito and Bossy skated on the ice there. It was the last arena to have the small ice. Among the craziest moments at The Aud, were The Bat Game, when Jim Lorentz swatted the bat out of the air in a game killing it and sending it to the ice. Then there was the legendary Fog Game, in the playoffs 1975, when the humidity hit the machine that hit the component that keeps the ice cold. The result was a thick fog over the ice. Player could not see a foot in front of them. They played on instinct and the end result was Rene Robert putting the game winning goal in the net.

For me personally, I have always called The Aud, my playground. At the age of 5 I was on my way to my seats for the first game I ever seen. Mike Robitaille a former Sabres and current analyst walked up behind me and my cousin and touched me on the head. I turned around and he handed me a bumper sticker with the Sabres logo on it. What a welcoming. That started a love affair with a building that would last 25 years. My first concert, my first beer, my first hockey game all were at the Aud. I had free reign there as a kid. I was in the locker room, the press box, friends that I still have today I met playing mini-stick hockey in the basement. One of my first dates as a kid was taken a girl I liked to a Buffalo Bandits Lacrosse game when I was 13. A friend who worked there introduced us to the premiere LAX players at the time the Gait Brothers. I felt like a VIP. That night I got my first kiss. Without the Aud, I don’t know when it would have happened. Now I drive by it, see the roof be taken down and can’t help but feel the tears start to swell up. It’s always hard to say goodbye to an old friend.

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