Upgrades People, Upgrades for The Buffalo Sabres

While most Buffalo sports fans are keeping their eyes on Orchard Park this week, hockey fans have their eyes on the skies—or at least the ceiling inside KeyBank Center.

As promised earlier this year, the Buffalo Sabres on Tuesday announced the installation of a brand new, pretty massive new video screen inside the area.

The new screen measures 27’ x 43’ and is double the size of the previous screen that greeted fans at KeyBank since the arena opened nearly 30 years ago. The new video scoreboard also has improved resolution and functionality, the team says, but really, it’s hard to think the new monitor will be comparable to the old one at all, given how long the old one was in place.

In addition to four “fully digital corner panels” that will give fans at Sabres and Bandits games “a seamless viewing experience,” the new screen also features additional panels on the underside of the board, providing “additional angles for fans in the lower rows.”

But there’s something missing on the shiny new screen, at least upon initial installation:

There are no Sabres logos on the corners of the screen, which have released smoke after the home team scores and following a win. Will that fun little feature return? We’ll find out when the Sabres hit the pre-season ice on Saturday, September 21 at 7 p.m. against Pittsburgh.

This is the second large off-ice improvement made at KeyBank this summer, as the building now also has a brand new roof, installed by Pike Construction Services of Rochester.

There’s one other thing that remains to be seen, but those of us who have been fans of the Sabres since Lindy Ruff was coaching the team the first time around: Was the scoreboard and video screen successfully installed this time, or will we have another collapse? Fingers crossed, we really do have better days ahead.