Like berths in the Stanley Cup finals, bizarre endings only happen once in 25 years with the Buffalo Sabres. Not since the middle '70s when, before the puck was dropped in a regular season game, goalie Al Smith departed the bench, turned, saluted the Knox family and skated off at the old Aud, has a player so abruptly exited the Sabres as Doug Gilmour did. Empire is a property of Adelphia Communications Corporation, which is owned by John Rigas who also happens to own the Sabres. Gilmour doesn't care for their opinions of the team and, speaking on behalf of his former teammates, doesn't care for the failure of the co-hosts to monitor the team up close rather than from afar, as they do from the West Seneca studios that presently house Empire's operation. In Canada intermission feature starring Gilmour's good pal, Don Cherry.
Any regular viewer knows that is definitely the case.
If a player is playing well, we praise him. If he's struggling, we say it. That's our job. Robitaille was surprised in a couple of ways as to why Gilmour spoke out the way he did, including the belief the co-hosts don't spend enough time watching practice or visiting the locker room. Robitaille explained he doesn't want to get too close to the players because he feels it then becomes difficult to give an unbiased view of their play.