Fifty years ago, a deejay and a Sabres novelty song inspired Terry Pegula's Buffalo sports empire

New York Times

03-04-2025

Terry Pegula didn't grow up a hockey fan. He paid no attention to the sport until he got to college. The Philadelphia Flyers became his favorite team, a fandom he carried into the real world as a petroleum engineer.
His first job out of Penn State sent him to Texas, and then he made an ordinary decision that echoed decades into the future and inspired a Buffalo sports empire.
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Fifty years ago, late in the 1974-75 NHL season, Pegula relocated to rural Western New York for a job at Felmont Oil and started hearing new voices that transformed him.
It was in Olean, N.Y., near the Pennsylvania border and about 70 miles south of Buffalo, where Pegula would listen to WGR 550-AM, in those days an adult top 40 station that played Jim Croce, the Mamas and the Papas, America, Anne Murray and B.J. Thomas.
WGR also aired Buffalo Sabres games and took great lengths to hype the young franchise. Pegula was hooked by morning disc jockey Stan Roberts and an inescapable, jaunty novelty song.
'He's the reason I own the Sabres,' Pegula said in a 2019 interview with The Athletic. 'Stan Roberts was one of the funniest people I've ever heard on a radio show. That was my wake-up every morning, and they promoted the Sabres.
'They'd play that song, 'We're Gonna Win That Cup,' and I just got brainwashed.'
This is the golden anniversary of the Pegula sports empire's origin story, ignited through a crackling radio signal that drove a future billionaire to buy the Sabres, which led to the acquisition of two National Lacrosse League teams and the American Hockey League's Rochester Americans, which led to the construction of the $200-plus million Harborcenter downtown and, eventually, to the $1.4 billion Buffalo Bills purchase, which led to the construction of a $2.2 billion (and almost certainly climbing) NFL stadium in Orchard Park.
Possibly none of the above transpires if Roberts wasn't committed to Sabres coverage and hadn't spun that 45 rpm record every morning.
'No one has ever talked to me about it,' Roberts said. 'He credits me and WGR into brainwashing him to be a Sabres fan? And he buys the Sabres? And he buys the Bills? And he builds a hotel and rink complex downtown?
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'I was there for decades and nothing happened. Things went downhill. The steel mills closed. The refineries closed. It was possible the Sabres would leave Buffalo. He saved that from happening. The Buffalo Bills could've left too, and he saved that from happening. Anything I had to do with him getting there makes me proud.'
Donna McDaniel was oblivious that her voice had such an impact on Buffalo sports when 'We're Gonna Win That Cup' was released 50 years ago this week.
'I'm completely blown away,' the singer said from her home in Southern California. 'I can't believe that. I didn't know any of it.'
For almost six years, The Athletic has endeavored to revisit Pegula's ownership origin story. The first attempt in 2019 involved a Pegula-Roberts sit-down in South Florida, where they both live, but the meeting was canceled. Another attempt in 2023 involved McDaniel possibly returning to sing 'We're Gonna Win That Cup' before a Sabres game, but that idea died during one of the many front office shakeups and another abysmal season launch.
The story also grew inconvenient. Fond reflections seemed increasingly strange while the Sabres kept missing the playoffs — their drought will reach an NHL-worst 14th straight season — and firing coaches and losing top players. Anguish has engulfed the civic institution so thoroughly that fans have gone from full swoon when Pegula bought the team to emphatically voting him the NHL's worst owner in a recent The Athletic poll.
'I'm probably among the majority who will happily accept the credit, but shy away from any blame,' Roberts cracked.
'Just remember I'm not getting younger!'
The Sabres in 1974-75 were only five seasons old, had missed the playoffs four times and had never won a playoff series. But, propelled by the French Connection, they ravaged opponents, electrified Memorial Auditorium and captured Buffalo's imagination. Gilbert Perreault, Rick Martin and Rene Robert recorded at least 95 points apiece. Three others scored at least 30 goals. Don Luce posted a plus-61 rating, still the club record. Craig Ramsay's plus-51 ranks third. Jerry Korab, Jim Schoenfeld and Bill Hajt patrolled the blue line. The goaltending, while unspectacular, was above average between Gary Bromley and veteran backup Roger Crozier, a one-time Conn Smythe winner.
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'They broke all the fire laws that ever existed,' said Jim Lorentz, a right wing on that squad and later the Sabres' broadcast analyst. 'There were so many people in the building. There were many games we'd look up to the standing-room (section), and they were five, six deep.
'The fan connection that we had was just amazing. And as the team got better and better, the excitement grew.'
The Sabres won the Adams Division by 19 points and needed only five games to dispatch the Chicago Blackhawks in the first round. Then the Sabres eliminated the Montreal Canadiens, well into a stretch of 10 titles over 15 seasons. Next up were Pegula's new team against his first fave — with the Stanley Cup at stake.
So scintillating and seminal were those Sabres to his sporting core that, upon buying them, Pegula cried upon spotting Perreault in the crowd for the news conference.
A communal cry was captured when 'We're Gonna Win That Cup' was pressed into vinyl.
In radio's heyday, novelty sports songs were prevalent. We're not talking about 'Chariots of Fire,' the 'Rocky' theme song or 'One Shining Moment,' but sendups such as the 1978 polka 'Steelers Fight Song,' the 1979 Pete Rose disco tune 'Charlie Hustle,' 'The Super Bowl Shuffle' in 1985, 'Get Metsmerized' and 'Let's Ram It' in 1986 and 'Packarena' in 1996.
You know, we're gonna win that Cup. You know we're gonna win that Stanley Cup.
Me and the Buffalo Sabres, yeah, yeah, yeah.
You know our Don Luce. He's going to skate circles around you.
Cuz my Sabres are razor sharp, yeah, yeah.
We got Bones, we got Roger Crozier, making them saves.
You know we got the French Connection, and where there's a Gil, there's a way.
You know, we're gonna win that Cup. We're gonna slap, gonna slap that puck.
Me and the Buffalo Sabres, yeah, yeah, yeah.
We got Gare and big Jerry Korab, leading the way.
You know we got Robert and Martin, making that big power play.
You know, we're gonna win that Cup. We're gonna slap, gonna slap that puck.
Me and the Buffalo Sabres, yeah, yeah, yeah.
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'We're Gonna Win That Cup' was written by local music legend Tommy Calandra, with help from Roberts and WGR sidekick Jerry Reo. Calandra first gained fame as the bassist for Raven, a 1960s blues-rock group George Harrison tried to sign to the Beatles' label, Apple Records.
Raven recorded one album with Columbia Records before Calandra returned to North Buffalo, resurfaced as a pianist and opened a production studio. He wrote several famous jingles and other sports tunes such as 'Look Out: Here Comes the French Connection,' 'Ain't Nobody Gonna Buffalo My Bills' and 'Electric Company Song' that received heavy radio airplay. His musical news commentaries for WBEN 930-AM brought Peabody Award and Pulitzer Prize nominations.
The B-side of 'We're Gonna Win That Cup' featured Roberts setting up Sabres highlights called by Ted Darling and Rick Jeanneret.
'They sold a lot of copies, and I heard it everywhere I went,' McDaniel said. 'I even got to sing it at one of the games out on the ice, but I never saw any money from it.'
The 1970s were a fascinating time for Buffalo athletes in pop culture. Bills tailback O.J. Simpson appeared in major motion pictures and starred in iconic Hertz commercials. Sabres defenseman Jim Schoenfeld released two albums of mostly covers, but with a few original tunes. Lorentz and left wing Rick Dudley released singles. Perreault fancied himself an Elvis impersonator.
'It was so thrilling,' McDaniel said. 'We were the house band at Mulligan's, and all the Bills and Sabres players would come there, O.J. Simpson and Ahmad Rashad and Danny Gare. They were like rock stars, and the fans would come there, too, just to be around them.'
McDaniel, a North Tonawanda High grad, became an actual rock star. After she charted with the solo number 'Save Me,' she was an original member of Motley Crue's background vocal/dancing duo, Nasty Habits, for three tours before joining Billy Idol. She performed with Toto, singing lead on three songs, and with Eagles members Glenn Frey and Joe Walsh. One of her own groups, Donna and the Kids, comprised bassist Jason Scheff (Chicago frontman), guitarist Dawayne Bailey (Chicago, Bob Seger and the Silver Bullet Band), Guy Thomas (Kenny Loggins, Jackson Browne) and drummer John Keane (renowned TV show composer). McDaniel fronted a Disneyland house band that included The Cult and Guns N' Roses drummer Matt Sorum.
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Roberts, meanwhile, was radio royalty. 'Absolutely a giant in Buffalo broadcasting,' late Sabres play-by-play voice Rick Jeanneret said. Roberts, a New York City native, came to Buffalo in 1960 to work for 50,000-watt juggernaut WKBW 1520-AM and thrived through his combination of comedic skills and bass-baritone gravitas. Roberts briefly left for a job in Boston, but WGR lured him back in 1972 to host its 6-10 a.m. morning show.
As the peppy jingle serenaded listeners, 'Stan Roberts, the corny DJ, floats the jokes right down the drain.' He voiced the daily Dial-a-Joke, wore a lampshade on his head in Royalite television commercials and was the public address announcer at Rich Stadium.
'Stan famously implored everybody to stay off the field after the Bills clinched the AFC East in 1990,' said Buffalo broadcast historian and former WBEN news director Steve Cichon, 'as drunken fans poured over the wall with hacksaws to take the goalposts apart,' 'To avoid injury, please, stay off the field! We'll need the goalposts for the playoff game next week! Please, stay off the field!''
Roberts' involvement with the Sabres made the most impact. He conducted postgame interviews and the next morning replayed the coach's news conference and highlights. His 'Ask the Sabres' feature was interactive for the time. Fans would submit questions to ask a player for the show. Roberts would write the question on a specially printed card to be autographed by the player and returned to the fan. Players basked on Roberts' platform.
'He was hilarious, a really witty guy,' Pegula said.
All that 1975 Sabres hype, as things usually go in Buffalo, didn't pay off. Not then, not ever.
In the Stanley Cup Final, they met the defending champions. The Sabres hadn't beaten the Flyers for 11 straight games and hadn't won at the Spectrum since the club was founded, a skid that reached 20 games before ending in November 1977.
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Philadelphia goalie Bernie Parent chilled Buffalo's scalding offense, posting a 1.75 GAA and .937 save percentage in the six-game series. The Sabres did, however, win both times when McDaniel sang 'We're Gonna Win That Cup' before Games 3 and 4.
'I haven't heard it in a long time,' said Schoenfeld, the 1974-75 captain, 'but whenever I do, I grin for the happiness and nostalgia. At the same time, I'm reminded we didn't get the job done.
'It's bittersweet. There was something left undone.'
Several remakes of 'We're Gonna Win That Cup' — with updated names and enhanced production — proved equally unprophetic. In 1984, Calandra teamed with singer Cathy Miller on a new version. When the Dominik Hasek-led Sabres made a Stanley Cup push in 1999, a year after Calandra died at 56, Buffalo News reporter Dale Anderson wrote fresher lyrics for singer Maria Sebastian. Buffalo punk-pop band The Razzels cut a modified cover version.
Of the Sabres' four owners, Pegula's stewardship has been the worst. The Sabres reached the playoffs shortly after he bought them in February 2011, but they haven't returned. Because that team was built and managed by previous owner B. Thomas Golisano for the first five months, Pegula cannot claim sole responsibility for a single playoff appearance yet.
Counting this season — the franchise's 54th — Buffalo has failed to reach the playoffs 25 times, all but 11 happening on Pegula's watch. The Knoxes missed six times in the 27 seasons they completed as owners. John Rigas missed once in five seasons. Golisano missed four times in seven seasons.
Pegula's Sabres are tied with the New York Jets for the longest drought in North America's four major sports, and Buffalo still is searching for its first world championship.
'Let's be honest: A lot of things have to go your way,' said Schoenfeld, who coached the Sabres, New Jersey Devils, Washington Capitals and Phoenix Coyotes before returning to the 2014 Stanley Cup Final as a member of the New York Rangers' front office. 'There is a fine line between winning and losing. I thought we'd go back (to the Stanley Cup Final) for the next four or five years, but that's sports.
'That's why it's just not a happy memory for me. I could write my own song: 'We Didn't Win That Cup.' I still come away with that.'
(Photo of Terry Pegula with Rene Robert, Rick Martin and Gilbert Perreault before a game in February 2011: Rick Stewart / Getty Images)