Speculation: 2023-2024 General Lightning Discussion - Part 3

[DarrylshutzSydor]

Great fight tonight by Jeanot! Destroyed Frederick!

 

[Outl4w]

I would laugh at buffalo, but than I remind myself that i'm also a New York Jets fan

Why put yourself through that?

 

[These Are The Days]

It all dates back to Summer 2007: Buffalo is coming off of two straight Conference Final appearances that ended in heartbreak. Chris Drury and Daniel Briere are UFAs, Buffalo prioritized Drury, which pissed off Briere, who was already fairly likely to go elsewhere, and he signed with the Flyers. Drury, a Trumbull Connecticut (closer to NYC) native, was then offered the same deal the Sabres offered by his childhood team, the New York Rangers, he signs with them, and then the Sabres are left with egg on their face. Sabres struggle the next year, trade pending UFA Brian Campbell to the Sharks for a 1st (became Tyler Ennis) and Steve Bernier at the deadline. Mediocre 2008 and 2009 campaigns lead to playoff misses, 2010 and 2011 playoff appearances are reached on the backs of Ryan Miller, Jason Pominville, Derek Roy, and Thomas Vanek. Terrible Leino and Ehrhoff overpay contracts are then made in 2011. They barely miss in 2012, are slightly below average in the lockout shortened 2013 season, trade Pominville to the Wild at the 2013 deadline, Roy signs with St Louis in summer 2013, team falls off a cliff & blows it up in 2014, trading Vanek to the Islanders, Miller to the Blues, officially starting the rebuild.

Since then, it's been a full youth movement, Eichel drama, cancerous dressing room, not good enough goaltending/defense, carousel of coaches & GMs, meddling ownership, mostly poor drafting until 2017 or 2018, not enough quality veterans recently, and the obvious inability to get quality UFAs to sign there because Buffalo is in high tax New York, but far smaller and boring than NYC.

I feel like that explains most of it.

Those 2005 and 2006 Sabre teams are the best I have ever watched in my time as a hockey fan. I still have to remind myself they have sucked for like the last 16 years. That when we play them, Vanek isn't gonna drop 2 goals, Briere and Drury won't end up with 5 points each and Pomenville, Hecht, Kotalik and Afiningenov won't score in 4 goals in 4 minutes and we won't in fact get our shit caved in 7-2 while Campbell is a +4 with 6 shots on goal and 4 assists of his own


That's the stuff my nightmares are of

 

[DFC]

I feel like Vanek's entire career was overrated because of how much he inflated his numbers against us.

 

[The Macho King]

I feel like Vanek's entire career was overrated because of how much he inflated his numbers against us.

If Vanek could somehow only play against us Gretzky's records would have been shattered. f*** that guy.

 

[Hockeyville USA]

I feel like Vanek's entire career was overrated because of how much he inflated his numbers against us.

Vanek gets a ton of praise because of the US hockey media (specifically in Minnesota) who love him for tearing up the USHL and then delivering a national title for the Minnesota Golden Gophers (their last) in 2003 where he lit up Michigan and New Hampshire in the Frozen Four. He was very good for most of his time in Buffalo and then became a solid journeyman, but his one way play led to fewer people loving him as a player.

 

[DFC]

Brayden Point now leads the league in game winners.

 

[Hockeyville USA]

Brayden Point now leads the league in game winners.

He's picked it up lately. Visually, looks like he's in Playoff Mode, skating harder/faster, actually trying most of the time.

 

[DFC]

He's picked it up lately. Visually, looks like he's in Playoff Mode, skating harder/faster, actually trying most of the time.

That seems true for so many guys that I'm wondering if we fell for "the switch" again. You have to go all the way back to 2019 to find a season where the team played like the games mattered before, well, right about now. Just with all the new personnel it felt, and still does kind of feel, like there's no way they can actually be "good."

 

[These Are The Days]

I feel like Vanek's entire career was overrated because of how much he inflated his numbers against us.

If Vanek could somehow only play against us Gretzky's records would have been shattered. f*** that guy.

I did the math on Vanek's stats against the Lightning and I plugged it in against a long career. I did this like 4 years ago so I don't remember if it was a 15-20 year career or something like 1500 games. But either way assuming he stayed healthy we would be talking about a guy who gets mentioned with Phil Esposito and is a 700 goal scorer. The math is there but I'm too lazy to figure how I plugged it in.

f*** that guy isn't going far enough Macho

 

[StammerHammer]

Buffalo fans when they were winning were amongst the most obnoxious fans ever to grace the Ice Palace, I'm completely happy with them continuing to wallow about in the dirt

I don't know what the Buffalo fans were like back then so I have nothing to compare to but I can tell you that I have never seen fans as rude and obnoxious as Boston fans. This is the mid teens and through the cup years. In your face, fights, swearing. It was bad. Probably still is but I don't go to the games anymore.

 

[These Are The Days]

I don't know what the Buffalo fans were like back then so I have nothing to compare to but I can tell you that I have never seen fans as rude and obnoxious as Boston fans. This is the mid teens and through the cup years. In your face, fights, swearing. It was bad. Probably still is but I don't go to the games anymore.

Boston fan is a double edged sword. The 58 year old construction contractor from Boston who came with his wife is the classiest person you'll ever meet and you cross your fingers you sit next to him at the Rays game. The 26 year old who went to Gaither High School in Lutz and has never been to Massachusetts is a 6 speed douche canoe.

Buffalo fans were class acts to me when we drank at "Hot Tuna" or "Andreychuk's Grille" whatever the hell it was at the time in like 2007. Loud and obnoxious as f***. But genuinely nice people who were just having a good time at our expense

 

[DFC]

Boston fan is a double edged sword. The 58 year old construction contractor from Boston who came with his wife is the classiest person you'll ever meet and you cross your fingers you sit next to him at the Rays game. The 26 year old who went to Gaither High School in Lutz and has never been to Massachusetts is a 6 speed douche canoe.

Buffalo fans were class acts to me when we drank at "Hot Tuna" or "Andreychuk's Grille" whatever the hell it was at the time in like 2007. Loud and obnoxious as f***. But genuinely nice people who were just having a good time at our expense

Buffalo fans have to be traumatized by now. Similar to Leaf fans, but not so drastically.

 

[These Are The Days]

Buffalo fans have to be traumatized by now. Similar to Leaf fans, but not so drastically.

Oh for sure dude. You don't get Eichel instead of McDavid and all the crap that's happened since and not have the sports equivalent of PTSD. I admit I wanted to see McDavid in Buffalo. Something about that city having its own wunderkind felt right after all they had been through up to 2015. I think losing that lottery REALLY messed them up. Now here we are laughing at Buffalo instead and the Lightning have Kucherov -who is having a career peak expected from a McDavid


Sports are weird man

 

[DrMartinVanNostrand]

If Vanek could somehow only play against us Gretzky's records would have been shattered. f*** that guy.

Vanek, Spezza, and Horton. The unholy trinity.

 

[Rschmitz]

If my math is correct, with Detroit losing, our # to clinch the postseason is 9 points now?

 

[bigdaddio]

It gives me some joy Boston clinches without winning a game or even getting a loser's point.

 

[These Are The Days]

Vanek, Spezza, and Horton. The unholy trinity.

Dude do you remember Havlat roasting us for 10 freaking points in the playoffs? I'm still not over it

 

[LightningStrikes]

Semin was another Lightning killer. What a shot though, couldn’t really hate the guy.

 

[StammerHammer]

Malkin gets his licks in too. Oh wait that's not Malkin.

 

[These Are The Days]

Oh my God....

I forgot Derek Roy in that little story of 2005 and 2006 Buffalo kicking our teeth in. Derek Roy too. I swear to God they would've given the 62 win a 7 game series. That group was almost randomly thrown together and then just woke up one day and chose violence that I'm talking about almost 20 years later

 

[Felonious Python]

 

[DistantThunderRep]

Usher better be watching out for some lawsuits coming his way.

 

[Five Alarm Fire]

Usher better be watching out for some lawsuits coming his way.

What Diddy do?

 

[These Are The Days]

Shit man. Diddy probably killed Biggie too the SOB. I won't die on the hill that Biggie is the GOAT but I will argue til we die that Biggie would have been by 2001ish had he not been killed