Sabres fans get poor return on investment

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It turns out Joe Friday is a hockey fan. Who woulda thunk it, Joe being from Los Angeles and all.

Detective Friday realizes that while Terry Pegula owns the Buffalo Sabres, the team’s fan base pays the bills. What kind of return on investment did they get this season?

When you consider the Sabres ranked No. 2 for payroll and No. 18 for points, the ROI was among the worst in the league. Only two teams spent more per point.

Here are the facts:

Team

• Team payroll for 2011-12 season: $69,830,000.
• Rank in league: Second highest after the Philadelphia Flyers and its payroll of $71,072,500.
• Average team payroll: $56,657,728
• Lowest team payroll: New York Islanders, $29,573,500
• Sabres point total in regular season: 89
• Rank in 30 team league: 18.
• Points per dollar of team payroll: $784,607
• Rank in league: Third worst, after Columbus Blue Jackets and Toronto Maple Leafs (see chart below).
• League average for points per dollar of team payroll: $616,068.
• Best return on team payroll per point: New York Islanders: $374,348.

Players

• Sabres average player salary: $3,174,090
• Rank in league: First.
• Highest-paid Sabre: Christian Ehrhoff, $10 million.
• Rank in league: Tied for second-highest paid, after Brad Richards of the New York Rangers, $12 million.
• Ehrhoff’s salary per game: $121,951.
• Ehrhoff’s salary per period: $40,650.
• Average annual salary of worker in Western New York: $41,620.
• Goals scored by Ehrhoff, 2010-11 season in Vancouver: 14.
• Goals scored by Enrhoff, 2011-12 season in Buffalo: 5.
• Salary in 2010-11 while playing for Vancouver: $3.4 million.
• Ryan Miller‘s salary: $6,250,000.
• Rank in league among goalies: Fifth.
• Millers’ goals against average: 2.54
• Rank in league: 23rd.
• Ville Leino‘s salary: $6 million.
• Rank among right wingers: Tied for fifth with, among others, Patrick Kane of the Chicago Black Hawks.
• Goals scored: 9.
• Rank in league: Tied for 272nd.
• Thomas Vanek‘s salary: $6,400,000.
• Rank among left wingers: Fifth.
• Goals scored: 26.
• Rank in league: Tied for 45th.

Ticket prices

• Sabres average ticket price: $38.25
• Rank in league: Fourth cheapest.
• Most expensive: $123.77, Toronto Maple Leafs.

Note: NHL salary cap is $64.3 million per team. The average of long-term player contracts is applied to team cap, thus allowing, for example, Enrhoff’s $10 million salary to count only $4 million against the cap for this season.

Sources: USA Today, ESPN, Team Marketing Report, CapGeek.com, New York State Department of Labor.

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