On Saturday afternoon Steve Donner took some time to sit down with a group fans in the middle of August in the Amerks locker room to discuss the past and future of the team.  It was a great opportunity for everyone, how often does an owner/president/whatever his role is now sit down with fans to discuss hockey.  The discussion was enlightening and brought back a sense of optimism after the worst season in Amerks’ history.

All topics were touched on from the Buffalo Sabres, Florida Panthers, the affiliation, new ownership, money, veterans, leadership, coaches, pride, tradition, politics, advertising, marketing, concessions, jerseys, radio, and even the television broadcasts.  I’ll break things down into categories and still hope all of this information is not all over the place.

The discussion of who wanted to be a sole affiliate and who wanted the dual has gone back and forth for some time.  The Buffalo Sabres were right in saying they wanted to be the sole affiliate with the Amerks and even wanted a long term agreement, the catch was that they could then bring in a sub affiliate that they controlled.  So, technically they would have been the sole affiliate.  More on [...]Read More