State Road 143 is a 6.135-mile-long, two-lane state highway in Luna County in the U. S. state of New Mexico. NM 143's northern terminus is east of Deming at the road's junction with NM 549; the road's southern terminus is at the entrance to the Rockhound State Park. NM 143 is known as Stirrup Road. NM 143 begins at the junction with NM 549 in the unincorporated area east of the city of Deming; the road starts out by heading straight south through the arid desert, skirting the Little Florida Mountains from the west, while the Dragon Ridge of the Florida Mountains can be seen to the south. After 3.7 miles the highway intersects former state road NM 141, an original access road to the Rockhound State Park. Shortly after the junction, the highway turns southeast, travels through an unincorporated sparsely populated community for 1.5 miles before turning east. NM 198 forks right at 5.5 miles mark, NM 143 turns northeasterly before reaching the entrance of the Rockhound State Park in the southern part of Little Florida Mountains.

After Rockhound State Park was formed in 1966, a road was built connecting it to NM 11 south of Deming. At some point this road became known as NM 141; the road connecting US 80 to ranching communities southeast of Deming was known as Luna County Road B 026. On July 1, 1988 a road exchange agreement was signed between the NMDOT and Luna County which transferred the County Roads B 023 and B 026 to the state; the former county roads were broken up into several segments to avoid road concurrency, with the stretch between the former US 80 and a three-way junction with NM 497 and NM 141 became known as NM 143. NM 141 was removed from the state control some time after 2000, NM 497 was consolidated with NM 143 into a single road; the entire route is in Luna County. U. S. Roads portal Geographic data related to New Mexico State Road 143 at OpenStreetMap

The 1970–71 Buffalo Sabres season was the Sabres' first season in the National Hockey League. The Sabres had the first pick in the 1970 NHL Amateur Draft, which they used to select Gilbert Perreault. Led by Perreault's NHL rookie record of 38 goals, the Sabres would 24–39–15, ahead of the Vancouver Canucks and Detroit Red Wings in the Eastern Division. However, they finished 19 points behind the Toronto Maple Leafs in the division, finished 19 points short of a playoff berth; the Sabres played their home games in the Buffalo Memorial Auditorium. "The Aud" was home of the Buffalo Bisons AHL team. To make way for the Sabres the Bisons folded following the 1969–70 AHL season, which saw the Bisons win their fifth and final Calder Cup. For the Sabres first season played the Aud had an ice hockey seating capacity of only 12,280 for hockey; the arena would be renovated following the season to expand capacity. The Buffalo Sabres, along with the Vancouver Canucks, joined the NHL in the 1970–71 season; the Sabres' first owners were Seymour and Northrup Knox, scions of a family long prominent in western New York.

The team's name, selected through a fan contest, was chosen because it was known as a weapon carried by leaders, it is swift and strong on offense as well as defense. The Knoxes had tried twice before to get an NHL team, first when the NHL expanded in 1967, unsuccessfully attempting to buy the Oakland Seals with the intent of moving them to Buffalo. At the time of their creation, the Buffalo Sabres exercised their option to create their own AHL farm team, the Cincinnati Swords. On June 9, 1970, the 1970 NHL Expansion Draft was held to fill Canucks' rosters. In 1970, two new franchises were awarded in the NHL -- the Vancouver Canucks. Sabres general manager/coach Punch Imlach chose his favorite number, number 11, for the roulette wheel spin to determine which franchise would have the first choice in the 1970 Entry Draft; the Canucks were allocated numbers 1–10 on the wheel, while the Sabres had 11–20. When league president Clarence Campbell spun the wheel, he thought the pointer landed on 1. However, while Campbell was congratulating the Vancouver delegation, Imlach asked Campbell to check again.

As it turned out, the pointer was on 11. This was the first year that the Montreal Canadiens did not have a priority right to draft Québécois junior players. Perreault was available and taken first overall by the Sabres