In the wake of Canada’s federal election on Monday, there is going to be continued speculation about the relationship between Canadians and Americans. However, one thing is pretty clear — the tensions between political leaders is unlikely to affect the time-honored, stress-tested connection between Buffalo hockey fans and their Canadian counterparts.
The truth is, for as long as the Sabres have been around — and well before it — there have been scores of Buffalonians and Western New Yorkers who’ve loved hockey. And if Toronto Maple Leafs tickets weren’t so exorbitant , we’d be seeing many Buffalonian traveling to Toronto to see the Buffalo Sabres play, the same way many Torontonians and Southern Ontario residents make the trip to Buffalo when the Maple Leafs play there. And nothing that happens politically is going to change that.
The Leafs consistently bring out hundreds, if not thousands of their fans to games no matter where they play. It’s a result of being an Original Six team, it’s a result of a team being from Canada’s largest city, and it’s a result of the tribal pride people have in the Blue & White. And having the ability to take a brief ride down the Queen Elizabeth Way to convene with their fellow Leafs supporters is a luxury Leafs fans aren’t going to give up anytime soon.
Even with the punishing current exchange rate for the American dollar, Canadian Leafs fans can rest assured ticket prices for Leafs/Sabres games in Buffalo are far cheaper than they are for games in Toronto. And so you’re going to continue to see Torontonians at the rink in Buffalo for the foreseeable future. It makes financial sense for Leafs fans to travel for an hour or so, and let’s face it — those trips are one of the ways Leafs fans deepen their bond with one another. (And the way Toronto traffic has devolved, it can take you an hour to travel from one part of the city to another, so the journey to Buffalo might wind up being about as long as it is between Point A and Point B in Toronto.)
But really, sharing an appreciation for the sport of hockey will always bond together people from countries around the world. And that’s one of the reasons why the connection between Torontonians and Buffalonians is so strong. We’re linked by geography and weather patterns, and a history that has included a terrific rivalry between our NHL teams. That’s why Toronto has its share of Buffalo Bills fans, and that’s why Buffalo has its share of Toronto Blue Jays fans. We’re all going to root for one another to some degree, and that’s always going to stay the same, no matter what obstacles are put before us.
So if you’ve got any anxieties about the connection between Canadians and Americans in the Buffalo/Toronto region, lay them to rest. We’re all good friends here, we all appreciate the best sport there is, and it’s going to stay that way for as long as there are pucks and sticks to go around.
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