Your Buffalo Sabres loyalty is a Hamilton secret, right?
Good morning from the Hammer — steel town, art town, your town. Don't look away.
So, listen, you know how everyone outside of Hamilton thinks we just cheer for Toronto or Montreal, right? Well, that's wrong. You wouldn't believe how many folks around here, especially if you're out towards the St. Catharines side of town, bleed blue and gold for the Buffalo Sabres. Montreal might be the last Canadian team left in the playoffs, but for a solid chunk of our region, those Sabres are the local heroes, plain and simple.
### Why This Matters for Hamilton
It's not just a casual fandom either. This is a deep connection, a cross-border loyalty that makes perfect sense if you actually live here. Think about it:
* **Proximity:** Buffalo is closer than Toronto for a lot of people in the lower city and especially out east. It's a quick hop over the border. * **Accessibility:** Getting Sabres tickets used to be easier and cheaper than Maple Leafs games. It just felt more like *our* team because we could actually go to the games without taking out a second mortgage. * **Family Ties:** A lot of families around Hamilton have roots or connections across the border, so that loyalty just passed down.
This isn't some new thing. People have been driving down the QEW to catch Sabres games since way before the internet, right? It's part of the fabric, like going for ćevapi at a family restaurant or hitting the Bayfront Park for a walk. It's an honest, working-class connection to a team that's just a bit more reachable than the big city franchises. This isn't about being contrarian, it's about what's practical and what feels like home. And if you’re down near Barton Street, or out on the Mountain near the Claremont Access, you’ll hear just as much talk about the Sabres as any other team, especially when they're actually good.
Sonja Kovačević-Mountain, MiTL Sports Desk, Hamilton.
The crew on the morning show dives into this stuff every day — catch it live at mornings.live.