We're Putting on the Foil! Old-Time Hockey, Coach! Eddie Shore!

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A letter to King Kaufman, of Salon.com, inspired by his column Tuesday.

When I was growing up in Buffalo, the crowd at Memorial Auditorium (fondly recalled as "The Aud," including those snazzy late-'70s swirly lettering effects on certain merchandise) would be just as enthusiastic about O Canada as we were for The Star-Spangled Banner. There wasn't the animosity between us and our neighbors to the north; we were friends who competed with one another and shared each other's pride, not opponents (or, worse, enemies) to be shouted down and derided.

I was right there with you last night, and I'm not a Canadian Goose, either. Kudos to NBC for letting the fans' behavior stand for itself.

That sort of camaraderie, joi de vivre , and, dare I say it, passion for the game, is something that was present from the most humdrum midseason game against an opponent from the other conference as it was for a hated division rival come playoff time. Fans shouted themselves hoarse when an official botched a call ("Hell of a game you're missing, Ref!") or made a series of bad calls (you get dirty looks these days from all corners by trying to invoke a lusty, salty chorus of "Bullllllll-shiiiiiiiiiiit" or "Aaaaaaassssssss-hooooooollllllllle), and cheered madly for each solid, board-rattling check.

The new arenas are wonders of technology, ergonomics, and multi-purpose comfort and efficiency. They're also soulless bowls that muffle the events we're there to see. You have to just about hospitalize someone in order to make the boards rattle these days. If you've got a good home theater setup and aren't afraid of scaring your pets, crank up the subwoofer during a game where they've got the boards mic'd (as they are in Buffalo) and you can get some sense of what's been lost.

I ramble. But I miss the old days.