News of the Buffalo Sabres' big shake-up at First Niagara Center spread quickly Wednesday. WBFO's Eileen Buckley caught up with some Sabres fans happy to see the major changes.
"It will bring some excitement to the fans in a down year. I think that it is a good decision by the team," said Patrick Lamattina of Dunkirk, a second year college student at Medaille in Buffalo.
Shortly after the Sabres announced that GM Darcy Regier and head coach Ron Rolson were fired and Pat LaFontaine and Ted Nolan have been brought in, Lamattina was in the school's cafeteria with a classmate watching a sports network.
"Well I think it is a good decision. The franchise, I think, wants to move in a better direction, and I think brining back LaFontaine to the team will start that progression toward a better future," said Lamattina.
"They weren't doing good enough -- to know that they needed some changes," said Kenneth McFadden of Syracuse, who is also in his second year of college. McFadden says he, too, agrees with the moves.
"Right now, I think that is probably the best decision made because things weren't looking too great, and this could help the team progress," said McFadden.
The two fans said it was "about time" the Sabres made the changes.
WBFO News asked Buffalo Mayor Byron Brown for his reaction to the Sabres announcement. Brown noted that the public wanted to see a change with Sabres management for some time, but the Mayor declined a recorded comment on the matter, say he prefers to leave it up to the fans.