To hear a Sabres fan tell it, Tim Horton was theirs.

A statue of the NHL great, who played two seasons in Buffalo after a 20-year Hall of Fame career with the Toronto Maple Leafs and stops in New York and Pittsburgh, stands prominently near the now-demolished Memorial Auditorium.

Across the street, a busy Tim Hortons double-doubles as a shrine to Horton, tracing his career and providing patrons with replica seats from the Aud, each with Horton’s Sabres jersey No. 2 carved.

Never does the debate, or the hockey, get more heated than when the present-day Maple Leafs are in town and there fans fill thousands of the KeyBank Centre’s 19,070 seats.

Don’t get us started as to why the team spells Sabres the Canadian way.

My hotel across the street — the Marriott HarborCentre — includes twin ice pads on the sixth floor where the Sabres practise and stopping for wings at (716) Food & Sport has me rubbing elbows with a plethora of fans wearing Leafs jerseys from places like Oshawa, Cobourg and London.

All are there for the same reason: tickets to see their beloved Leafs are both cheaper and more easily available than at home at the Air Canada Centre.

The game is less than 10 minutes old before a chant of “Go, Leafs Go” breaks out, followed by Sabres fans trying to drown it out with their own “Let’s go Buffalo.”

Soon, the Sabres “Hug Cam” zooms in on fans sitting side-by-side wearing Leafs and Sabres jerseys, never failing to elicit mutual bear hugs.

While the NHL game is the big winter draw, there are lots of other reasons to explore the new Buffalo, either by extending your stay after game night or skipping hockey altogether to focus on downtown Buffalo’s two great gifts to tourists: beer and buildings.

The city’s inventory of art deco structures, including city hall, are well-known.

But there’s also many more jaw-droppers, including the old Buffalo post office. It is a massive Gothic Revival building that was saved from demolition 40 years ago, that’s now a college and open to the public to explore.

One of American architect Frank Lloyd Wright’s most famous works, the Martin House, is a 10-kilometre drive from downtown, but a gas station he designed is in one of the parking zones used by fans heading to Sabres games.

The service station was never built in Wright’s lifetime because of a fee dispute, but when James T. Sandoro of the Buffalo Transportation Pierce Arrow Museum discovered the blueprints, he decided to build it inside the museum exactly according to Wright’s design to complement rows of Buffalo-built Pierce Arrows. The filling station design included gas storage tanks in the roof above wood-burning fireplaces and extensive use of copper.

Perhaps more on point for hockey fans is the burgeoning craft beer scene in Buffalo, with several of the city’s finest located within short drives of the arena district.

Most convenient and delicious is the two-year-old Big Ditch Brewing Company, which can be reached by riding the free light rail train from the arena to Lafayette Square or Fountain Plaza, then walking five minutes to Big Ditch at 55 East Huron St.

Winner of the TAP NY award for Best Craft Brewery in New York State in 2016, Big Ditch (the name is an homage to the famous Erie Canal), is best known for its Low Bridge golden ale, Excavator rye brown and Hayburner IPA.

Each beer’s name is also a tribute to the canal, which was mostly dug by Irish immigrants.

“Hayburner” refers to the donkeys used during construction, Excavator for the back-breaking job of removing soil, and Low Bridge for the need to duck when travelling the canal.

“The interesting thing about craft beer is that it’s become the reason people travel,” said Big Ditch general manager Jonathan Robare. “It gives an identity to an area.”

Its kitchen is known for the Breuben sandwich and serving Ru’s perogies, the latter of which might someday rival Buffalo-style wings as the city’s most famous dish.

Also in the Big Ditch neighbourhood is one of Buffalo’s hidden gems, the Colored Musicians Club at 145 Broadway St.

An interactive museum and hall of fame awaits visitors at street level.

Upstairs, with access granted after ringing a speakeasy-style doorbell, is Buffalo’s most iconic jazz club and union hall with live music most weeknights.

Wayne Newton is a freelance journalist in London.

wayne.newton@bell.net

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Sample City

There’s more than 20 craft beer breweries in the metro Buffalo area. Here are some of the best located in the city proper.

Big Ditch Brewing:55 East Huron St. Located in a former phone company depot, Big Ditch’s tap room is dominated by a mural declaring “Strength, Pride, Ambition.” It’s meant as a rallying cry for the rebirth of Buffalo. Bigditchbrewing.com

Resurgence Brewing Co.: 1250 Niagara St. Located five minutes from the Peace Bridge, Resurgence is in a building where boat engines used to be assembled, Later it was the Buffalo dog pound, which explains why Resurgence now does frequent fundraisers for animal welfare. Sponge Candy Stout, made using chocolate from Watson’s of Buffalo, and Loganberry Wit are among the highlights at this indoor/outdoor tap room that’s credited with rebooting an entire neighbourhood.

Community Beer Works: 15 Lafayette Ave. Located near Resurgence, making the trip a two-for, Community Beer is a nano brewery noted for its Frank American Pale Ale and That IPA. Community Beer also hosted a viewing party of last summer’s Tragically Hip show from Kingston. Visitors can go home with Community Beer’s 32-oz cans or traditional 64-oz growlers.

Gene McCarthy’s and Old First Ward Brewing Co.: 73 Hamburg St. Located in the Irish neighbourhood which sent the Fenians to raid Canada, Gene McCarthy’s is a working man’s watering hole famous for its Friday night fish fries and beers brewed next door by Old First Ward. Noted for its OFW Oatmeal Stout and Irish Clover Red. genemccarthys.com

Flying Bison Brewing Co.: 840 Seneca St. One of the first craft breweries in Buffalo, Flying Bison recently opened a new facility in the Larkinville neighbourhood. Everyone tries Rusty Chain, a Vienna-style amber lager which accounts for half of Flying Bison’s production. Skagit Tan and Down by the River Belgian IPA are recommended. flyingbisonbrewing.com

Thin Man Brewing Co.:490 Elmwood Ave. Named as a tribute to the crash test dummy invented in Buffalo, Thin Man is the newest draw to Buffalo’s trendy Elmwood Village, a hangout for college students and young professionals. On the food side, Thin Man is famous for its outrageous Tokyo burger (8 oz patty, pork belly, egg, onion ring, etc.) and great craft beer highlighted by Thin Man Oatsner Lager and Myrna Apricot Sour Ale.

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Learn more

Visit Buffalo Niagara, visitbuffaloniagara.com

Buffalo Sabres, nhl.com/sabres

Downtown historical building tours, explorebuffalo.org

Buffalo Transportation Pierce Arrow Museum, pierce-arrow.com

Colored Musicians Club of Buffalo, coloredmusiciansclub.org