Moments to remember in the Aud

   Ask anybody in Buffalo about the Aud, and they're going to tell you stories.

   About the time they saw a spectacular Sabres goal. Or brushed against Michael Jordan in a dank hallway deep in the bowels of the building. Or heard Elvis perform live.

   No doubt about it: the Aud equals stories, and we've all got them.

   That's why it's a part of our collective past as a city … as sports historian Rob Ruck points out in the column I wrote for today's City and Region section … and why we should think about saving certain historic parts of it.

   In my column, I argue that we should save center ice. Let's do what Monteal did: keep that small plot of land preserved, with maybe a few original seats around it, so that people in the future can visit the spot where the puck dropped.

   Do you agree? Why or why not?

   Post your thoughts below. And while you're at it, tell us about the wonderful … or wonderfully awful … moments you witnessed within the walls (and in those smoke-filled walkways) of the Aud.

   ***

   I'll get the conversation on that latter question started.

   My Aud list pales in comparison to that of my hockey fan husband, News reporter T.J. Pignataro. I asked him for his favorite moments at the Aud, and … after deliberating for a very long time … he submitted the following as his Top Five. (The commencement ceremony for Canisius College in 1994, during which he sat beneath the scoreboard, narrowly missed the cut.)

   Everybody's Aud memories are highly personal.

   So your mileage, as they say, may vary.

   1.) Dec. 22, 1977: Just after he turned 6, and after years of begging, he saw his first NHL game. It was Buffalo vs. Pittsburgh and ended in a 3-3 tie. But, he got to sit right behind the Penguins' bench, and Peter Mahovlich gave him a stick. Chalk that up as a win. (And he still has the stick).

   2.) April 27, 1994: In college, he sneaked into the Aud with a buddy just before the start of the Sabres' first overtime in Game 6 versus the New Jersey Devils. The scoreless game went 4 OTs in all … and ended around 2 a.m. with Dave Hannan scoring on Martin Brodeur. A second-year goalie named Dominik Hasek made 70 saves … a record … and got the shutout in a 1-0 win.

   3.) April 10, 1993: Saw Buffalo win a championship, of the Major Indoor Lacrosse League, at a Bandits game against the Philadelphia Wings. It was an end to their 10-0 season; what a perfect season it was. Had season tickets that year, in the reds.

   4.) March 9, 1986: Sabres beat the Devils, 4-3. He attended with a junior high school pal, and saw Gilbert Perreault score his 500th goal. The Sabres' bench emptied out onto the ice to congratulate Perreault...

   5.) April 14, 1996: A bittersweet, memorable night. The last game at the Aud. Buffalo beat the Whalers, 4-1. Pat LaFontaine put the puck into an empty net at the end … and the lights went out.

   That's what the Aud was about, right? Good friends, memorable moments.

   Share yours.

   -- Charity Vogel

   

Comments

[RocketKid]

I fondly recall The Ice Capades in 1963 at the Aud. For an 8 year old, the magic and beauty of seeing my first ice skating show was awesome. I thought then that the Aud was a magnificent place. I remember going back home to east Aurora and having dinner with my family who have have all passed on, but the memory still stays with me.

[Lets Get Reel]

my first concert. Aerosmith in 1981. Rock at its best. Not to mention the orange seats....wow those were high up!

5000 kids running under the bridge by the aud screaming

[lancasterheroes.com]

My first visit to the Aud that I can recall was in the early '60s for the circus. That was in the "old Aud," when the highest seats were The Grays. When the Sabres and Braves arrived in 1970, I used to go to The Aud every week and I knew it like the back of my hand. I miss it. You can see what's left of it now at www.theaudclub.com (click on browse).

[richie evans]

I agree with Charity: at least SOMETHING from Memorial Auditorium should be saved. I have a friend who used to work Memorial Auditorium who has fond memories of Center Ice -- but they cannot be mentioned here...

[Leo]

I agree with Charity as well. We must preserve center ice. And maybe even the end stage area. I attended over 50 concerts there and can tell some really good stories about it. Preserving center ice is a must. It should be a Buffalo tourist attraction, no matter what is built around it.

[stevej]

In all my years attending sports,music,and family entertainment in the Memorial Auditorium. It is too hard to pick just one.
I guess my sports memory is the last game for the Buffalo Sabres and the 1996 Bandits championship game.
My favorite music memory was Judas Priest in 1986.
The Harlem Globetrotters were my dad's favorite and became an annual father/son memory. Put center ice right in the middle of Bass Pro...

[Danno]

April or May 1976, Braves vs. 76ers, I got to watch Bob McAdoo battle George McGinnis in Game 2 of the playoffs from courtside. I was part of the halftime show, a frisbee exhibition. I dunked a frisbee through one of the baskets and threw another up to the orange seats.

[Fan]

Watching the AHL Bisons (with Pepsi cap logo) with my dad. Going to a Golden Gloves card with a boy scount troop ... Seeing the Monkees, my first concert, with my older sister ... Playing basketball on the court during halftime of a Niagara, Canisius doubleheader ... Standing in the lobby, waiting for the Parkside bus after a Braves-Bucks game with Kareem Abdul Jabbar who was waiting for his team bus ...

[Aunt Lynn]

Fondest Memories are my nephews getting the chance to play in the high school hockey finals. Super Seven. It was Amazing to have family skate for St Francis there.Bring on the tears!(proud of them)
Also Cried at the last Sabres game.I Did not want to leave the building .Also petrified at the circus as a 5 yr old, when the ape(man in a suit) escaped from the trainer and was right in our section. Celebated a 10th birthday with Mom ,Dad, & best friend Mary at Shaun Cassidy.
Celebrated Rock & Roll at Bon Jovi with My wonderful Husband. Enjoyed the girls in front of us,who were there for Goo Goo Dolls and did not stay for Bon Jovi.

[Michael Jarosz]

As a student architect during the Summers of 1968 & 1969 I found a summer internship with Pfohl Roberts Biggie, the Buffalo architects of the Aud Expansion. I was assigned the task of drawing the seating plan, quite a chore for a young architect, since the sweeping, curved seating required a bow compass to draw, something I had never done before. Nevertheless, the resulting seating plan was good enough to appear in the Buffalo phonebook for many years. I still have copies of the original.

I had to visit every seat to note which had obstructed views. There were only a few, near the building chimney. The renovation was planned to be built over two seasons. Some of the seats would not be ready for the first season, but somehow tickets were sold for them anyway, causing a ruckus when excited hockey fans found a brick wall where their seats were supposed to be! They were given better seats elsewhere and they settled down to enjoy the brand new Sabres team.

[John Bisci Jr.]

Sorry to see it go. We used to go to the circus there before the roof was lifted -- that's my first memory of The Aud -- and the highest seats back then were the grays. In the early '70s, a Sabres tickt cost $4 and a Braves cheap seat was $3 and we went to The Aud all the time. I knew that place like the back of my hand. When I bought a ticket, I didn't have to look at a seating chart to know where I was going to be sitting: I knew, in my head. Also went to my first concert there: Earth, Wind & Fire in '76. Also loved the autorama-style hot rod show they held in the basement in the '60s. What I never will miss are the gale-force winds coming off the lake, blasting through the parking lots in the winter. Moved away in 1994 but I have no plans to visit the HSBC -- just not the same. There is nothing like watching a Sabres game at The Aud, listening to the organ, listening to announcer Milt Ellis and hearing Ted Darling call the game on WGR...

[Cameraman]

www.TheAudClub.com. Go there. And sigh.

[Jim Bauer]

Alice Cooper - New Year's Eve, 1974? ZZ Top as the opening act...

[Judy Bisci]

I remember going to Braves games in my elementary school basketball uniform. I also remember haveing to spend the night in the Aud Club with two of my sisters after a Sabre game because of a Blizzard. There were not many people at that game and everyone was allowed to sit in the Gold Section. My sister and I teased the Ref and Lindsmen all night. Sorry Ray Scapinello; you really are a good guy!

[tim kelley]

My memory of the the final season AHL when the bisons won the chapionship players like. gil villumere wayne kassin guy trottier.

[transamkitt]

i have fond memories of our soon to be gone friend. back in the early seventies my aunt said she went to a general addmission kiss concert there,thats crazy to think about!i myself remember going to at least a few sabres games in the early 80's along with the shrine circus and the ice capades. i remember the smurfs on ice being there! i went once for the harlem globe trotters ,great entertainment! once there was a halloween thing back in 83 i think where you tried to kick a soccer ball in the net and win a pumpkin and record,i kicked it in and won! then after the show we ran into danny nevereth which at the time had the jingle on the radio"danny moves your fanny in the morning...." i gave my best jingle to him and he couldnt have been bothered,sorta looked apon him as sorta a jerk after that. as a kid i use to look up at the dark rafters looking for a phantom of the aud,never found one. in closing its sad to see the condition time left it in,and sad to see it go. it gave me memories ill never forget. my dad actually built part of the outside wall i heard long ago. i always looked down at it from the father baker bridge and remembered the good times i had there. so long old friend.........