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Curb the Sabres optimism: Better doesn’t mean good

Buffalo is a fine and noble town. Honest, hard-working people. Anchor Bar, Duff’s, probably some other interesting stuff that I haven’t really seen. (Actually, the architecture for such a small, wind-swept and snow-covered city is impressive.)

One other thing is they love their pro sports. And because they’re basically Canadian, they love their Sabres.

Last season, they endured one of the most embarrassing campaigns in NHL history, winning 23 games and suffering a minus-113 goal differential. Yet the fans still showed up to the First Niagara Center, filling it to 97.4 capacity over their 41 home games, the average of 18,580 good for 13th in the league.