Buffalo Sabres Are Going To Try Their Best To Not Play Road Games In Their Own Arena Anymore By Limiting Ticket Presales To Locals

No one wants to play away games in their own barn, and the Buffalo Sabres sound like they're going to join the list of teams who are going to limit initial ticket sales to locals.

The Buffalo News reports that the Sabres plan to limit ticket presales to local residents.

While the team has yet to reveal how they plan to go about doing that, the assumption is that they'll do it based on zip codes.

We've seen the teams limiting ticket sales based on zip codes before in a bid to keep opposing fans out of the arena or stadium. That move becomes especially more prevalent during the postseason.

Last season, the Sabres sometimes saw their fans getting outnumbered in their own arena, the KeyBank Center. Given Buffalo's location near the Canadian border, it's not unusual to see Maple Leafs or Canadians flood across the border to watch their teams.

It's also a quick road trip for Pittsburgh Penguins, Detroit Red Wings, and New York Metro area team fans too.

Leafs fans travel well, as you can see behind Sabres center Tage Thompson. So do other teams, which is why the Sabres are going to try joining other teams in limiting ticket presales to logos(Photo by Bill Wippert/NHLI via Getty Images)

This Comes After Leafs Fans Overran KeyBank Center Last Season

The Buffalo News points out that the moment the franchise knew they needed to go this route was on February 21, when the Sabres hosted the Leafs.

The reported attendance that night was 18,641, below the arena's capacity of 19,070. Not a terrible crowd, but you'd think a game against a division rival, thought it was on a Tuesday night.

However, the size of the crowd wasn't the issue, it was the number of Leafs fans. Some estimated that the crowd 80% of the crowd was there to cheer for Toronto.

Yeah, that's a road game.

“Obviously last year, there were a handful of games where we saw the wrong color blue or the wrong color red coming into the building, depending on the jersey we were wearing,” Sabres Vice President of Sales and Service Frank Batres-Landaeta told The Buffalo News.

“It’s something that we’ve been talking about and discussing and trying to figure out: How do we get tickets in the hands of Buffalo fans?”

Ironically, the Sabres had a better road record than they did home record last season. Still, trying to get more actual Sabres fans in the seats won't hurt.

Especially when the Sabres play in the Atlantic Division which is arguably the toughest in hockey with the likes of the Leafs, Lightning, Panthers, Bruins, and even the upstart Ottawa Senators to deal with.

The Sabres made a late push for the postseason but came up just short of ending their more than decade-long postseason drought.

Follow on X: @Matt_Reigle