Buffalo Sabres are in a free fall

[nbwingsfan]

Did anyone really expect them to make the playoffs this season?

Their offense is awful.

 

[StreetHawk]

The main lesson I have from my team is not to rush a rebuild. Need to rebuild until a culture is created where veterans resign with the team, RFAs are not looking to cash out and go to UFA as soon as possible and you do not have to overpay for depth guys.

We almost ruined our rebuild after a cinderella season in 13/14. Fortunately we managed to re-rebuild.

Also have to be careful about trading away all of your quality vets who want to be part of the team. Really hard to convince vets (bottom 6 guys) to come in and help reset the culture of the team unless you grossly overpay them. And then, you have to ask yourself, whether these guys are just there for the money and how much they will do for the kids.

 

[KirkAlbuquerque]

Someone take Jack Eichel

I just feel too bad keeping him stuck here any longer.

Deal.

 

[KirkAlbuquerque]

but they signed Marcus Johansson! That should have solved their scoring depth issues.

 

[Kimota]

Maybe they could get Babcock now.

 

[Al Lagoon]

The Wild announcers were picking on Ristolainen last night, and his habit of putting up atrocious +/- figures, like last years -41. They acknowledged it is not a stat to look at in a vacuum, but they did note that RR has the worst =/- in the league over the last years, and the +/- leader over the same period is 275 points better.

 

[Gaylord Q Tinkledink]

Someone take Jack Eichel

I just feel too bad keeping him stuck here any longer.

Montreal will give you a lot

 

[John Eichel da GOAT]

but they signed Marcus Johansson! That should have solved their scoring depth issues.

Depth depth depth. Thats all we heard about all summer with this team.

 

[Suntouchable13]

Please, do you even Calgary Flames.

We haven't scored in around 200 minutes right now. We suck more.

You're out to lunch, Leafs suck more

 

[Snippit]

Predictable. Schedule wise they had an easy October and a gauntlet of a November. But it is concerning when they get dummied by the worst team in the league. They're a bottom 10 team IMO, but you at least have to compete with and usually beat out the fellow bottom 10s.

Coming from the guy who made the thread “I’ll say it - the Buffalo Sabres look really good”.

Lmao you didn’t predict anything

 

[Ace Card Bedard]

Enter Babcock

 

[Dr Quincy]

need to add some more skill to the core of the team. They have their cup calibre 1C and future cup calibre 1D, and some other good assets. Theyll get their act together sooner or later. Probably not this year though

The problem is that they wasted Eichel's ELC years, and it looks like they'll be wasting Dahlin's too.

 

[biturbo19]

Seems like when the going gets tough...the Sabres don't get going. It's important to get off to a good start and set yourself up for the season...but those early season points always feel like they come a lot "easier" than the dog days of the season and down the stretch run. Seems like the Sabres are just being exposed as a team. Just not as good a roster as their early hot streak would've suggested.

 

[Paperbagofglory]

They don't need anything else, their roster is set, all they need is a cock, a babcock.

 

[threeVo]

They had 4 lines rolling with positive possession and it’s all gone south. Our competent 2nd line died when MoJo got hurt. No one to step up at center. Mittelstadt way over his head.

coach keeps playing Risto+McCabe 8 mins too much when Jokiharju should be playing 22+

goaltending wasn’t going to stay at same pace as first 10 games but it’s gone well below average.

perfect storm of injuries topped with bizarre player usage and bad goaltending is what you see in the standings.

 

[John Eichel da GOAT]

Coming from the guy who made the thread “I’ll say it - the Buffalo Sabres look really good”.

Lmao you didn’t predict anything

LOL Ask Sabres fans, I've been tearing them apart since last season. That specific thread was me eating crow early on. I also predict in that thread for them to get 2 wins in November. So far I'm pretty spot on.

 

[John Eichel da GOAT]

They had 4 lines rolling with positive possession and it’s all gone south. Our competent 2nd line died when MoJo got hurt. No one to step up at center. Mittelstadt way over his head.

coach keeps playing Risto+McCabe 8 mins too much when Jokiharju should be playing 22+

goaltending wasn’t going to stay at same pace as first 10 games but it’s gone well below average.

perfect storm of injuries topped with bizarre player usage and bad goaltending is what you see in the standings.

Umm or its this:

October

Penguins
Devils
Blue Jackets
Canadiens
Panthers
Stars
Ducks
Kings
Sharks
Sharks
Rangers
Red Wings
Coyotes

vs

November
Capitals
Islanders
Lightning
Lightning
Hurricanes
Senators
Blackhawks
Wild
Bruins
Panthers
Lightning
Flames
Leafs
Leafs

Just a tad bit different. And everyone and their mother knew Olofsson and that PP% wasn't going to keep pace.

 

[Snippit]

LOL Ask Sabres fans, I've been tearing them apart since last season. That specific thread was me eating crow early on. I also predict in that thread for them to get 2 wins in November. So far I'm pretty spot on.

Yes you have said they were bad when they were losing, and suddenly reversed when they were winning.

The idea that you predicted anything is downright hilarious given the thread you made...

 

[Muikea Bulju]

Buffalo basically drafts & attracts losers. Everyone knows Buffalo won't be winning, so no UFA who wants to win will go there.

As "leaders", they have also drafted guys like these:



Do they look like leaders? Do they look like winners? Do they look like guys who are going to be winning the Cup in 2 years?

Every single interview I have seen from their "leading" players has left me with the impression that these guys don't give a shit about winning, and that their psyche is more fragile than that of a 5 yo child.

Eichel taking 10M$ per year tells me that he loves money wayy more than winning as a team.

 

[John Eichel da GOAT]

Yes you have said they were bad when they were losing, and suddenly reversed when they were winning.

The idea that you predicted anything is downright hilarious given the thread you made...

Never once have I said they were good. I said they look good at the time. Big difference between are good and look good against crappy teams (2 games into the season at the time of the post).

And the rest of my posts in the thread predict exactly what is happening now with everyone calling me dumb and a hater even though its the truth Sabres fans hate to hear.

"I am/was/probably still will be one of the biggest haters on the moves this organization has made over the past decade, but I'll admit they look very good. Only 2 games in and a ton of time to regress, but

Eichel looks good
Dahlin looks good
Skinner looks good
Olofsson looks good
Johansson looks good
The jerseys look good
Hell even Okposo is on the board.

Well see what they do agains tthe Lightning, Leafs, Caps and Bruins, but im impressed early."

 

[NextYear67]

Same old Sabres

 

[John Eichel da GOAT]

Yes you have said they were bad when they were losing, and suddenly reversed when they were winning.

The idea that you predicted anything is downright hilarious given the thread you made...

Here are my posts from that thread and the dates are pretty far back. I've been trying to be nicer lately since Sabres fans cry whenever I talk down (cough cough the truth) about the their team, but I do apologize for being born in Buffalo so sadly I will never stop following the team.

The difference is not defense. Its the the powerplay and it isnt even close.

then I get this response

As a season ticket holder, I can assure you that you are completely wrong about the defense. Night and Day better. The PP has lead to the +12 goal differential. Team is so fun to watch and dominate play for large portions of their games.

That's a bold take. I love the Sabres start, but common sense still says the Bruins and Lightning definitely will overtake them soon and good luck talking any Leafs fan into agreeing thattheir Leafs aren't far behind. The Sabres are still a wild card bubble team IMO at the end of the season. The PP will come back down to Earth. The big question is will goaltending?

LOL wut? In what world do the Canucks even remotely come close to coming out of the West? The Sabres at least for now have the best record in the East so you can argue them even though we all assum the Lightning and Bruins will slowly make up ground.

The 5v5 corsi game is still not very good for the Sabres.
3/10 games so far they won the corsi.
4/10 games they won the fenwick.
3/10 games they won the faceoff game.
2/10 they had a positing O zone start %. 3 of them were in the 30%'s which is pretty bad.

But then on the flip side, their worst corsi game was the Kings game which was one of their two shutouts, so there is that.

That tells me they rely heavily on their special teams which is find as long as the PP stays hot, but its likely to be a bit more erratic especially when they start playing the better teams in the league. November is a huge test and could be ugly.

But everyone talked me into why their corsi game is great since they always have the lead and they are a good team 5v5. Welp that didnt last long.

October was favorable for them schedule wise, where November is the exact opposite. Well know exactly what they are by December. Do they keep up the hot streak or start falling down to reality when they play the big boys of the league.

14 games

Caps
Isles H
Lightning H
Lightning
Hurricanes H
Senators H
Blackhawks
Wild H
Bruins
Panthers
Lightning
Flames H
Leafs H
Leafs

They may win 3-4 games only there ^. Or they'll show us they're legit and hang above .500 for Nov which I think would be a win.

Sadly they're finally playing good teams and while its nice to see them not getting blown out, they're still losing. It was fun for a minute.

October, they had a very easy schedule. November is the exact opposite. They may win 2 games only.

 

[fsanford]

Isn't this the Sabre thing to do? Win a bunch in a row, lose a bunch in a row.

 

[Dr Quincy]

They had 4 lines rolling with positive possession and it’s all gone south. Our competent 2nd line died when MoJo got hurt. No one to step up at center. Mittelstadt way over his head.

coach keeps playing Risto+McCabe 8 mins too much when Jokiharju should be playing 22+

goaltending wasn’t going to stay at same pace as first 10 games but it’s gone well below average.

perfect storm of injuries topped with bizarre player usage and bad goaltending is what you see in the standings.

After 3 coaches being blamed can we move on from that as one of the prime excuses?

 

[The Winter Soldier]

Incoming Babcock to the rescue.

I am joking but wouldn't this be ironic. Sabres beat out the Leafs for a playoff spot with Babcock taking over as Head Coach.

Is Kruger on the hot seat Sabres fans?