Reprinted with permission from hockyebuzz.com
While in-season momentum can propel a team to new levels, carrying over momentum from season to season is a tricky thing. How many times have we seen a team finish the season strong only to fall back to where they were prior. It's especially true when a team is clawing their way up from at or near the bottom of the standings.
The Buffalo Sabres finished the 2015-16 season with a kick as they went 10-5-4 in March and April and there was a definitive sense of optimism at First Niagara Center yesterday as the Sabres held their year-end press conference. GM Tim Murray and head coach Dan Bylsma fielded questions from the media in a lighthearted manner reflecting on a season that was about as successful as one could get considering where they came from.
A quick history as to why the Buffalo Sabres are probably pleased with the way the 2015-16 unfolded for the team.
Showing posts with label 2015-16 Team Stats. Show all posts
Showing posts with label 2015-16 Team Stats. Show all posts
Friday, April 15, 2016
Saturday, April 2, 2016
2015-16 Team Stats--March
Reprinted with permission from hockeybuzz.com
The 2015-16 Buffalo Sabres season is coming to a close as there are only four games remaining on the schedule. Buffalo has come a long way from where they were last season, which isn't saying a whole helluva lot, but right now they're on pace to come close to 80 points as opposed to last year when they finished last with a meager 54 points. For those tabulating, that's roughly a 50% increase.
One thing you can't measure with stats, however, is the enjoyment of watching this team as opposed to last year's team. There's no comparison between the two as the injection of top-end talent alone has brought a buzz to First Niagara Center. This edition of the Buffalo Sabres had their flaws, but they've also had some electrifying moments that leave fans with a strong sense of anticipation for what lies ahead. For those of you who were lucky enough to be in the building to see Sam Reinhart's no look, tape-to-tape neutral-zone pass to Jack Eichel, and the ensuing bullet that he snapped past Michal Hutchinson against Winnipeg last Friday, the roar told the story. It's pretty exciting right now and we know the team will only get better as players mature and more talent is added into the mix.
The 2015-16 Buffalo Sabres season is coming to a close as there are only four games remaining on the schedule. Buffalo has come a long way from where they were last season, which isn't saying a whole helluva lot, but right now they're on pace to come close to 80 points as opposed to last year when they finished last with a meager 54 points. For those tabulating, that's roughly a 50% increase.
One thing you can't measure with stats, however, is the enjoyment of watching this team as opposed to last year's team. There's no comparison between the two as the injection of top-end talent alone has brought a buzz to First Niagara Center. This edition of the Buffalo Sabres had their flaws, but they've also had some electrifying moments that leave fans with a strong sense of anticipation for what lies ahead. For those of you who were lucky enough to be in the building to see Sam Reinhart's no look, tape-to-tape neutral-zone pass to Jack Eichel, and the ensuing bullet that he snapped past Michal Hutchinson against Winnipeg last Friday, the roar told the story. It's pretty exciting right now and we know the team will only get better as players mature and more talent is added into the mix.
Wednesday, March 2, 2016
2015-16 Team Stats--February
Reprinted with permission from hockeybuzz.com
Because of the amount of information that has been rolling through the consciousness of every hockey fan attached to their NHL teams and affiliates, were going to keep this team stats page as brief as possible.
The Buffalo Sabres finished the month of February in 26th place and proceeded to move what players they could at the NHL Trade Deadline yesterday. All-in-all the team is playing well despite their 25-31-7 record and yesterday at the podium GM Tim Murray mentioned that after a reporter prepped a question by saying "the improvement in areas of [the Sabres] has been pretty clear this year."
After the reporter finished, Murray took the opportunity to lay out just how he felt about the team's progression.
"I'm actually happy you said that because I was hoping I wasn't the only one that thought we improved in many different areas other than the standings," began Murray. "I know where we are in the standings. It's frustrating and it pisses me off, but I think we've improved greatly."
Because of the amount of information that has been rolling through the consciousness of every hockey fan attached to their NHL teams and affiliates, were going to keep this team stats page as brief as possible.
The Buffalo Sabres finished the month of February in 26th place and proceeded to move what players they could at the NHL Trade Deadline yesterday. All-in-all the team is playing well despite their 25-31-7 record and yesterday at the podium GM Tim Murray mentioned that after a reporter prepped a question by saying "the improvement in areas of [the Sabres] has been pretty clear this year."
After the reporter finished, Murray took the opportunity to lay out just how he felt about the team's progression.
"I'm actually happy you said that because I was hoping I wasn't the only one that thought we improved in many different areas other than the standings," began Murray. "I know where we are in the standings. It's frustrating and it pisses me off, but I think we've improved greatly."
Friday, January 29, 2016
2015-16 Team Stats--January
Reprinted with permission from hockeybuzz.com
If you can say anything about the Buffalo Sabres in their first season focusing on the "build" portion of their rebuild, it's that they're consistent in their inconsistencies. Within their monthly records of 4-7-0 (Oct,) 6-5-2 (November,) and 5-7-2 (December) there were stretches of excellent play and not so good play punctuated by displays of awesomeness which were balanced by the occasional stinker. Through 50 games this season (20-26-4) the Sabres have managed to make huge strides towards the .500 fulcrum as evidenced by their 10 one-goal wins and 10 one-goal losses.
January was very similar to the 2015 portion of the campaign as the team finished 5-7-0. Buffalo started out losing three in a row, then won four of five, then found themselves on a three-game losing streak before winning the final game against Ottawa. It was a maddening display of hockey which had the fanbase caught up in manic mood-swings leaning heavily towards the negative side. However, positive individual efforts during the month, especially near the end with Jack Eichel showcasing his elite talent, kept lit Zippo lighters away from kerosene-soaked torches at the foot of Washington St.
With the way the year has gone so far, it's pretty safe to say that the Sabres won't make the playoffs for a franchise record-extending fifth consecutive season. As it stands now Buffalo is 12 points out of a playoff spot with 30 games to play. Although a precedent was set last season as the Ottawa Senators, once 12 points out, went on a run that propelled them to a 7th-seed in the Eastern Conference, the Sens were a little further along in their development and rode the Hamburglar's hot hand. Buffalo is loaded with rookies and have been besieged by injury's to the tune of 207 man-games lost to injury, according to mangameslost.com, which is second only to Edmonton's 214. That combination plus utterances from GM Tim Murray that the for sale sign is about to go up pretty much seals their fate for this season.
That and the fact that they haven't been scoring that much either.
If you can say anything about the Buffalo Sabres in their first season focusing on the "build" portion of their rebuild, it's that they're consistent in their inconsistencies. Within their monthly records of 4-7-0 (Oct,) 6-5-2 (November,) and 5-7-2 (December) there were stretches of excellent play and not so good play punctuated by displays of awesomeness which were balanced by the occasional stinker. Through 50 games this season (20-26-4) the Sabres have managed to make huge strides towards the .500 fulcrum as evidenced by their 10 one-goal wins and 10 one-goal losses.
January was very similar to the 2015 portion of the campaign as the team finished 5-7-0. Buffalo started out losing three in a row, then won four of five, then found themselves on a three-game losing streak before winning the final game against Ottawa. It was a maddening display of hockey which had the fanbase caught up in manic mood-swings leaning heavily towards the negative side. However, positive individual efforts during the month, especially near the end with Jack Eichel showcasing his elite talent, kept lit Zippo lighters away from kerosene-soaked torches at the foot of Washington St.
With the way the year has gone so far, it's pretty safe to say that the Sabres won't make the playoffs for a franchise record-extending fifth consecutive season. As it stands now Buffalo is 12 points out of a playoff spot with 30 games to play. Although a precedent was set last season as the Ottawa Senators, once 12 points out, went on a run that propelled them to a 7th-seed in the Eastern Conference, the Sens were a little further along in their development and rode the Hamburglar's hot hand. Buffalo is loaded with rookies and have been besieged by injury's to the tune of 207 man-games lost to injury, according to mangameslost.com, which is second only to Edmonton's 214. That combination plus utterances from GM Tim Murray that the for sale sign is about to go up pretty much seals their fate for this season.
That and the fact that they haven't been scoring that much either.
Saturday, January 2, 2016
2015-16 Team Stats--December
Reprinted with permission from hockeybuzz.com
After finishing the month of December with a 5-7-2 record, the Buffalo Sabres found themselves in a familiar spot near the bottom of the standings in 28th place. Yet contrary to the belief of some, this team isn't anywhere near the prior two Sabres clubs that would finish last in the league while challenging the modern mark for scoring futility.
With frustrations mounting as the team rests a mere three points better than last years club, some from the local media are already raising eyebrows asking if the last two seasons were worth it. "Good to see how the tank has produced the 28th place team. Lower than ANYONE predicted," tweeted one Buffalo media member.
Not really. This "Bobby Blogger" wrote of the upcoming season in his 2015-16 Sabres preview:
"Fans are smart enough to know that this edition of the Buffalo Sabres isn't a Stanley Cup team, nor will they vie for Eastern Conference or even Atlantic Division supremacy. They've also been reminded time and again that the Sabres finished in last place for the second consecutive season with a measly 54 points. That total was 45 points out of a playoff spot and in order for them to reach playoff contention, they'll need to add over 20 more wins this season.
"It's hard to see that happening...
"...there will be plenty of growing pains and we're looking at a team that might be able to add 20-25 points this season. A 74-79 point finish means bottom-10 with the possibility of being bottom-five."
After finishing the month of December with a 5-7-2 record, the Buffalo Sabres found themselves in a familiar spot near the bottom of the standings in 28th place. Yet contrary to the belief of some, this team isn't anywhere near the prior two Sabres clubs that would finish last in the league while challenging the modern mark for scoring futility.
With frustrations mounting as the team rests a mere three points better than last years club, some from the local media are already raising eyebrows asking if the last two seasons were worth it. "Good to see how the tank has produced the 28th place team. Lower than ANYONE predicted," tweeted one Buffalo media member.
Not really. This "Bobby Blogger" wrote of the upcoming season in his 2015-16 Sabres preview:
"Fans are smart enough to know that this edition of the Buffalo Sabres isn't a Stanley Cup team, nor will they vie for Eastern Conference or even Atlantic Division supremacy. They've also been reminded time and again that the Sabres finished in last place for the second consecutive season with a measly 54 points. That total was 45 points out of a playoff spot and in order for them to reach playoff contention, they'll need to add over 20 more wins this season.
"It's hard to see that happening...
"...there will be plenty of growing pains and we're looking at a team that might be able to add 20-25 points this season. A 74-79 point finish means bottom-10 with the possibility of being bottom-five."
Wednesday, December 2, 2015
2015-16 Team Stats--November
Reprinted with permission from hockeybuzz.com
A Tale of Two Halves.
The Buffalo Sabres headed into the month having won two of their last three in October and they continued with that momentum into November. They started out 4-1-0 over the first two weeks but they hit a Western Conference wall along the way as they played six games in 11 days against conference powers.
Their six-game winless streak (0-4-2) began with an OT loss to a struggling San Jose Sharks team followed by a 0-3-1 record while alternating between the Dallas Stars and St. Louis Blues, both of whom were parked atop the conference. An always tough Nashville Predators then team stymied Buffalo before the Sabres got a reprieve.
A big disappointment during that winless streak came from special teams as the Sabres powerplay dried up. They went a cumulative 1-18 (5.5%) and, most disturbingly, couldn't capitalize on four 5-on-3 chances including two in one game at St. Louis (a 3-2 SO loss.) . Overall, however, the team scored six pp goals on 31 chances (19.4%) and they actually jumped a spot in the pp-rankings going from 9th to 8th. It should be noted that the Sabres powerplay was as high as third in the league at one point.
A Tale of Two Halves.
The Buffalo Sabres headed into the month having won two of their last three in October and they continued with that momentum into November. They started out 4-1-0 over the first two weeks but they hit a Western Conference wall along the way as they played six games in 11 days against conference powers.
Their six-game winless streak (0-4-2) began with an OT loss to a struggling San Jose Sharks team followed by a 0-3-1 record while alternating between the Dallas Stars and St. Louis Blues, both of whom were parked atop the conference. An always tough Nashville Predators then team stymied Buffalo before the Sabres got a reprieve.
A big disappointment during that winless streak came from special teams as the Sabres powerplay dried up. They went a cumulative 1-18 (5.5%) and, most disturbingly, couldn't capitalize on four 5-on-3 chances including two in one game at St. Louis (a 3-2 SO loss.) . Overall, however, the team scored six pp goals on 31 chances (19.4%) and they actually jumped a spot in the pp-rankings going from 9th to 8th. It should be noted that the Sabres powerplay was as high as third in the league at one point.
Monday, November 2, 2015
2015-16 Team Stats--October
Reprinted with permission from hockeybuzz.com
For the first time in five years of logging month-by-month team stats, the Buffalo Sabres are No.1 in one statistical category and I must admit that I wasn't sure what to do for a second after logging that number.
Head coach Dan Bylsma's aggressive, up-tempo style has the Sabres putting more shots on goal per game than any other team in the league last month. Their 33.8 s/gm barely edges out a team they beat twice last week, the Philadelphia Flyers, who averaged 33.5 s/gm. One could probably say that the Sabres beat the Flyers at their own game last week as the hallmark of a Philly team is attack with an aggressive forecheck while wearing the opposition down in their own zone with puck possession.
For the first time in five years of logging month-by-month team stats, the Buffalo Sabres are No.1 in one statistical category and I must admit that I wasn't sure what to do for a second after logging that number.
Head coach Dan Bylsma's aggressive, up-tempo style has the Sabres putting more shots on goal per game than any other team in the league last month. Their 33.8 s/gm barely edges out a team they beat twice last week, the Philadelphia Flyers, who averaged 33.5 s/gm. One could probably say that the Sabres beat the Flyers at their own game last week as the hallmark of a Philly team is attack with an aggressive forecheck while wearing the opposition down in their own zone with puck possession.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)