News Article: NYT - The Sabres Are Restoring Hope in Buffalo, But for How Long?

[26CornerBlitz]

The Sabres Are Restoring Hope in Buffalo, but for How Long?

By Curtis Rush - Dec. 10, 2018

BUFFALO — Outside KeyBank Center, home of the Buffalo Sabres, three bronze statues of the so-called French Connection line recall a time when Rick Martin, Gilbert Perreault and Rene Robert led the team to its first appearance in the Stanley Cup finals in 1975.

Since then, the Sabres have been back to the finals only one other time, in 1999, and the specter of Brett Hull’s foot-in-the-crease, Stanley Cup-winning goal for the Dallas Stars that year still haunts this team and the city.

The Sabres have finished last in the N.H.L. standings three times since the 2013-14 season. They have not made the postseason since 2011.

Even the Bills, the Sabres’ N.F.L. neighbors who wrote the book on sports heartbreak with four straight Super Bowl losses in the 1990s, ended a 17-year playoff drought last season.

But hope, as shaky as it can be here, returned under Coach Phil Housley after a franchise-record-tying 10-game winning streak last month.

Housley, the second-year coach, said the fans “ got that excitement and energy back, which is great for us because we feed off their energy.”

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[26CornerBlitz]

 

[debaser66]

But the stats say they played really bad when they were losing those 5 last games

 

[tsujimoto74]

But the stats say they played really bad when they were losing those 5 last games

All but 2 games between both the winning and losing streak were 1-goal games. To me, that looks like a team that's competitive in any given game. They're a young group, they're still learning how to win, and there are flaws on the roster that are going to be exposed sometimes. I'm still happy, to date, with the growth they've shown from last season to now.

 

[Moncton man]

If they went 10 and 5 but with neither streak would that have made a difference in people's perception of the team? Win 2, lose 1?

 

[debaser66]

If they went 10 and 5 but with neither streak would that have made a difference in people's perception of the team? Win 2, lose 1?

Its the duration and also memories of the last five years.
Not so much like the game vs the Leafs when they lose competing but when they play a totally uninspiring game like the one against the Flyers.

 

[struckbyaparkedcar]

If they went 10 and 5 but with neither streak would that have made a difference in people's perception of the team? Win 2, lose 1?

Are the GM and coach still playing defense against sustainably effective hockey?