Where's the bottom for this Buffalo Sabres franchise?

In 1956 the New York Football Giants won the NFL Championship and for five of the next six seasons they made it to the NFL championship game only to lose. Regardless of that fact the Giants were considered a model franchise but after their 14-10 loss to the Chicago Bears in the 1963 championship game, New York went 17 consecutive seasons without making the playoffs and got progressively worse (4-23-1 in 1973 and '74 combined) before stagnating well below the .500 mark until the 80's.

Football fans largely ignored the Giants and in a pre-ESPN era where game highlights were mainly shown via local news broadcasts and in Sunday pre-game or halftime shows (think Monday Night Football with a national audience,) out of sight, out of mind. As the New York football Giants continued floundering through another lost season, just when you thought it couldn't get worse, it did. On November 19, 1978 with New York up 17-12 over the Philadelphia Eagles late in the game, the 'brain'-trust on the sideline scoffed at the thought of kneeling to run out the clock and 'boldly' decided to run a complicated play. Quarterback Joe Pisarcik's handoff to Larry Csonka was flubbed and Eagles cornerback Herm Edwards scooped up the fumble for the winning touchdown.

Why this story in a blog about the Buffalo Sabres?

It's about finding the bottom.

Sabres news, notes and items of interest on NHL Draft day, 2019

Published by hockeybuzz.com, 6-21-2019


Housley hired by the Arizona Coyotes

Phil Housley's time in Buffalo was a train wreck with the final four-plus months of his tenure being an utter disaster. Housley's Sabres went 58-84-22 during his two seasons as Buffalo's head coach and he had a 10-game winning streak to his credit but other than that the team took a huge step backward.

The Sabres were the worst team in the league from November 29, the end of their streak, until the end of the season managing only 40 points in 57 games (16-33-8.) They went from first in the entire NHL to a 26th place finish and within that downward spiral they failed to win consecutive games from December 13 until the final two games of the season. Buffalo was also shut out three games in a row (for a franchise record 199:58) for the second consecutive season, the first NHL team since 1929 to have that dubious distinction.

The month of March was a particularly bad month as the Sabres went 2-12-2 with a pair of seven-game losing streaks with the latter stretching one game into April. In both instances Buffalo was threatening to do what no other team in NHL history had done--have a 10-game winning streak and 10-game losing streak in the same season.

Those are just the overall numbers. The fallout from Housley's tenure can be found in players like Patrik Berglund, who walked away from the game and over $12 million while in Buffalo. Berglund came over from St. Louis in the Ryan O'Reilly trade.

O'Reilly infamously said after the 2017-18 season (Housley's first as head coach) that he "lost his lover for the game at times" that season and was traded to the Blues. What followed was a remarkable run by St. Louis buoyed by  the type of play O'Reilly was originally traded for. The Blues won  their first-ever Stanley Cup with O'Reilly winning the Conn Smythe and he added to his mantle of awards with the Selke Trophy.

Some coaches are better off as assistants and right now it looks as if Housley is that type of coach. He'll be doing in Arizona what he did for the Nashville Predators--activating the defense to become a force on the ice.

Too bad we wasted two seasons finding out that he wasn't a head coach.

Of the coaching search, Kane, O'Reilly and Lehner

Published by hockeybuzz.com, 4-18-2019


All's quiet on the Buffalo Sabres coaching front right now after Todd McLellan and Alain Vigneault were hired by the Los Angeles Kings and Philadelphia Flyers, respectively. Of the two, only McLellan was a consideration by the Sabres as he came in for an interview while his son was in the NCAA Frozen Four being held in Buffalo. Nothing came of it as reports suggest that the Sabres didn't even make him an offer.

If you're a fan like myself who is interested in seeing Buffalo hire a veteran hockey coach, pickins is mighty slim and none seem very appealing with a list that includes Mike Yeo, Todd Richards and Michel Therrien, among others. Former Sabres head coach Lindy Ruff's name has come up for whatever reason in Sabreland, mostly nostalgia, but it's a ship that's sailed even though I'd pick him over any of the "retreads" available on the coaching market right now.

It's not a good situation for the Sabres be in as they just finished a disastrous two-year stint with a rookie head coach and, barring any unforeseen firings of 2019 NHL playoff coaches, right now that's about the only thing left on the market. Toronto Marlies head coach Sheldon Keefe seems to be the front-runner for a NHL job while back-to-back NCAA Champion head coach Scott Sandelin of Minnesota-Duluth might be the other hot rookie candidate. Rochester Americans head coach Chris Taylor's name is always mentioned but as of now there have been no reports of the team contacting him about the position, and there's a possibility he may not be interested in the job at this time. Also, Sweden national coach Rickard Gronborg's name is getting hot for a head coaching position in the NHL and the Sabres have been said to be interested in him dating back to last season.

It's quite the pickle general manager Jason Botterill has himself in right now and barring an unforeseen veteran coach hitting the market soon, we're in a situation where we could see another head coach go down the drain over the next few years and in the process the Sabres might be looking for another GM.

Considering the circumstances the Sabres find themselves in right now, the ideal situation in this bloggers eyes would be for any potential rookie head coach, if that's what it comes down to, to be surrounded by veteran assistants who command the respect of the players.

Lack of results doomed Phil Housley. Botterill now has his butt on the line.

Published by hockeybuzz.com, 4-7-2019


The Buffalo Sabres surprised Sabreland this afternoon when they announced the firing of head coach Phil Housley. It was surprising in that the general manager wasn't thinking about a coaching change back in February when he was asked about it and it's something Sabres owner Terry Pegula reiterated some two weeks ago. They even had a 2:30 time-slot tomorrow for an end-of-season presser with Housley.

However, Buffalo GM Botterill pulled the plug on Housley only two years into his tenure in a decision that he said was exclusively his own. Botterill told the gathered media today that he "had discussions with [the owners]" about his thought process concerning his head coach but that he alone made the decision and went to ownership this morning with his recommendation. "They accepted it,"
he said.

A lot has been said about owners Terry and Kim Pegula lately (this blogger included) but they should be applauded for allowing their general manager, who is their defacto director of hockey operations, to make this decision. It couldn't have been easy as the Pegulas now look to be paying two coaches  (Dan Bylsma and Housley) not to coach next year while also paying their new coach to be behind the bench. In addition to the financial aspect of the situation there's also the perception of how the club is being run. Since Terry bought the team in February, 2011 the Sabres are on their third team president, hired and lost a VP of Hockey Operations in a matter of months, are on their third GM and will be hiring their sixth head coach. Not exactly a track record of success and stability.

But what's a team to do when the results aren't there?

Buffalo Sabres 2018-19 Team Stats--Final

Published by hockeybuzz.com, 4-7-2019


After the Sabres beat the Ottawa Senators on Thursday night Buffalo captain Jack Eichel talked of the media, "and probably himself," looking too frequently at the negative in what turned out to be a lost season for the team. Eichel and his Sabres teammates were coming off of a feel-good win on Fan Appreciation Night when he made those comments after a game that closed out the home schedule at KeyBank Center. The 5-2 win versus the last place Senators brought some relief to those in Sabreland who were left to watch four months of some pretty depressing hockey when it mattered most. Buffalo had only four wins each in December, January and February and to make matters worse they won a paltry two out of 16 games in the month of March.

While Eichel was stretching for positives, which included 21 wins at home, tying for the most since 2009-10, and some individual feats that we'll cover at a later date, the fact remains that team-wise they were as poor as, or worse than, the teams that came out of the tank years under then head coach Dan Bylsma. In his sophomore season as Sabres head coach, Phil Housley was dancing on air back in November when his team was on a 10-game winning streak but had no answers during a precipitous fall from that high in the ensuing months.

Here's WGR550 Sabres beat reporter Paul Hamilton on the morning show talking about what has transpired under Housley, an offensive-minded Hockey Hall-of-Fame player and the supposed mastermind behind the incredible Nashville defense of 2016-17 that ended up propelling the Predators to the Stanley Cup Final that year. "It's obvious [the players] don't understand Phil Housley," said a cut-and-dry Hamilton to the hosts, "I mean all you've got to do is watch the defensive zone. Every now and then they have a game where it looks like play well defensively, but basically you watch them in the defensive zone and they have no idea what they're doing or what they're supposed to be doing.

"It just seems like [Housley] doesn't change anything, like [he's saying] 'This is the system we're going to play and we're gonna keep practicing it until you guys get it.' Well, it's been two years and they really haven't gotten it."

Olofsson scores first NHL goal. Jackets in town with a lot on the line

Published by hockeybuzz.com, 3-31-2019

Congratulations to winger Victor Olofsson scored his first NHL goal last night in a 5-1 loss against the NY Islanders at Nassau Coliseum on Long Island. The 23 yr. old native of Sweden earned the nickname "Goalofsson" for his work in Rochester this season as his 27 goals for the Americans led the team before his call-up two games ago. Forward C.J. Smith racked up two goals in Binghamton last night to tie Olofsson for the team lead.

Olofsson's goal came late in the third period with the Sabres down 5-0 and on the powerplay. Buffalo captain Jack Eichel kept the puck from leaving the Islanders zone and whipped a cross-ice pass to Olofsson who was all alone at the point. After waiting a bit for Sam Reinhart to position himself for a screen, Olofsson took a couple of steps in and sent a wrister far side to break the shutout bid by former Sabres goalie Robin Lehner.

That was all the good news for the Sabres last night as their plummet to the bottom part of the league continues. After last night's loss Buffalo is on record as losing six in a row (0-5-1,) are 1-11-2 in their last 13 games and are only 4-17-3 since a three-game point-streak in early February. They're presently 27th in the league only two points ahead of the Detroit Red Wings.

Think of the youngins

Published by hockeybuzz.com, 3-29-2019


The odds of head coach Phil Housley returning to the Sabres bench next season get longer with each loss. At present his Buffalo squad is five losses away (with five games remaining) from having the dubious distinction of being the first team in NHL history to have a 10-game winning streak and a 10-game losing streak in the same season, something that's not exactly a ringing endorsement for his return.

That the latter two-thirds of this season has been a disaster is an understatement and in a results-based business is cause in and of itself for his dismissal. The only saving grace Housley might have had is a team that's giving it's all but coming up short, similar to how much of the season played out last year save for some rough patches. However,  many of Housley's players checked out on him weeks ago and with each passing game more seem to be headed that way, hence the 2-10-2 record in March.  Although this may not be Housley's fault in totality, keeping him on board this season with his team deaf to what he's preaching is making matters worse and only seems to perpetuates the Sabres losing culture.

Sabres/Bills team president Kim Pegula, "I'm still learning." Sabres still sinking.

Published by hockeybuzz.com, 3-27-2019

While Buffalo Sabres and Bills owners Terry and Kim Pegula were in Arizona at the NFL owners meetings yesterday evening, their hockey team was busy getting embarrassed and shut out by the Ottawa Senators, the worst team in the NHL. Although Kim's thought-process while facing the Buffalo media in Arizona may have centered around being team president of the Bills, she's also team president of the Sabres.

Regardless of which professional team her thoughts were ultimately emanating from, Kim Pegula, who had no team president experience when she took over the mantle of both professional clubs, admitted to learning on the job. Which is great for her. But while she's busy "learning" about being a team president, her hockey team is busy cementing their place in the annals of NHL ignominy for having one of the worst falls in league history--from first-overall to bottom-five in a span of 51 games.

"It takes a while to just understand the organization and people behind it and how we want things to be done, how we want things to be structured," she told the Buffalo media. "I've been talking to a lot of other clubs around the league, 'how are you doing things?' And so for me it was part of the learning process….and it's just part of the whole progression of how we want things to be and how we want to make our own mark."

Defenseman Will Borgen gets the call. Sabres visit last place Ottawa

Published by hockeybuzz.com, 3-26-2019


With the Buffalo Sabres out of the playoffs and their AHL affiliate off until tomorrow, why not bring up another youngin from Rochester? And so they did. Amerks defenseman Will Borgen got the call to Buffalo and could appear in his first NHL game tonight against the Ottawa Senators.

Borgen was selected by Buffalo in the fourth round (92nd-overall) of the 2015 NHL Draft and signed a three-year entry-level deal last year after leaving St. Cloud State as a junior. The 6'2" 188 lb. defenseman had a solid collegiate career and was one of only four college players to make the trip to Pyeong Chang, South Korea with the U.S. Men's Hockey team in the 2018 Winter Olympics.

In his first full pro season Borgen has appeared in 66 games for Rochester scoring two goals and adding seven assists to go along with a plus-7 rating but what has really stood out is his solid defensive play and the sandpaper with which he plays the game. It's something he emphasized when he came to Rochester after leaving St. Cloud State to play eight games for the Amerks at the end of last season. "I'm a physical defenseman," he told the gathered media back then. "I like to just play my role, play defense and get the pucks to the forwards and let them do the offense."

However, as he became more acclimated to the pro game and more comfortable with his place in it, he began working on the offensive aspects of the game. Keith Wozniak of letsgoamerks.com talked with Amerks head coach Chris Taylor and assistant coach Gord Dineen about Borgen's progress with Dineen pointing out he "didn't look out of place at all playing with (2018 first-overall pick) Rasmus Dahlin in the rookie tournament (last summer) and it carried over into the regular season."

"He's come a long way," continued Dineen, "but I will say he was further ahead at the start of the season than I expected him to be."

Sabres headed to Sweden as part of 2019 NHL Global Series (very interesting)

Published by hockeybuzz.com, 3-21-2019

The Buffalo Sabres are headed to Sweden next season as a part of the NHL's 2019 Global Series according to the League. Buffalo will face off against the Tampa Bay Lightning on Friday, Nov 8 and Saturday, Nov. 9 at Ericsson Globe in Stockholm, Sweden. It makes for a very interesting connect-the-dots situation when it comes to their head coaching situation.

Phil Housley is still the head coach of the Buffalo Sabres and will likely be so until the end of the season. However, general manager Jason Botterill, along with possible input from owners Terry and Kim Pegula, will need to decide Housley's fate as this season turned south in December and there were no signs that Housley could, or even knew how to, pull this team out of the muck.

And it continued last night.

The Toronto Maple Leafs swept the season series with a 4-2 win last night, have now won five in a row against the Sabres and according to Mike Harrington of the Buffalo News, the Leafs have now won three in a row at Buffalo for the first time since 1972. Housley's team got run over last night and only Carter Hutton kept this from being a laugher on the scoreboard.

The Sabres are hitting marks that don't bode well for Housley's future in Buffalo. The Sabres were coming off of a solid win vs. the St. Louis Blues on Sunday and were looking to make it two in a row for the first time since Dec. 11-13. That in and of itself should tell you the struggles this team has been having and that stretch is also the reason that the Buffalo Sabres will be only the second team in NHL history to have a 10-game winning streak and miss the playoffs in the same season.

Notes

Published by hockeybuzz.com, 3-18-2019


The losing streak is over

Buffalo's shootout win over the St. Louis Blues yesterday ended a 0-6-1 losing streak. With the win, the Sabres may have averted NHL ignominy as they were on track to be the first team in the history of the league to have both a 10-game winning streak and a 10-game losing streak in the same season. Although they still have 10 games to play, if they put an effort like they did against the Blues, the odds of them losing their final 10 games are long.


Of course...

Despite saving themselves from the NHL-first mentioned above, this Buffalo team was the first team since 1929 to get shut out three games in a row in two consecutive seasons and they will be the second team in NHL history to have a 10-game winning streak and miss the playoffs. The Philadelphia Flyers were the first team to do so back in the 2016-17 season. Philadelphia took a 9-10-3 a record into late November then proceeded to reel off 10 in a row. From thence their fall was marked by wild swings winning streaks of four and three games, along with a three-game point-streak balanced by a five-game losing streak and three, three-game losing streaks. This edition of the Sabres had no such bi-polar streaks as they haven't won two in row since Dec. 11. Buffalo had managed to throw in a win to break up losses and totaled three, three-game losing streaks prior to the seven-gamer they just ended.


What does this say for head coach Phil Housley?

If Housley's team could have played the way they played last night for through the better part of those post winning streak doldrums, this conversation wouldn't even have come up as they'd probably be pretty close to the playoff bubble. This group of Sabres seemed to lose interest on many occasions and couldn't overcome negative puck-luck when they really needed to. There are many calling for his head with some, like this blogger, who thought pulling the plug on the Housley-era should have been done during the losing streak. Then again, who knows what owners Terry and Kim Pegula along with GM Jason Botterill are thinking. Regardless of a difficult transition between the on-ice philosophy of Botterill and his predecessor and despite Housley getting shorted on the personnel he had to work with, the above embarrassments don't bode well for the second year coach.

If the Sarbes are going to fire coach Phil Housley, might as well do it now

Published by hockeybuzz.com, 3-15-2019


Can the Buffalo Sabres rifle through three head coaches in less than four seasons?

Sure. Why not? If it isn't working, it isn't working.

Clearly it's not working for present coach Phil Housley and it looks like he might be the third coach owners Terry and Kim Pegula have gone through since the 2015 off-season. Ted Nolan was brought in for his second tour or duty as Buffalo's head coach on in November, 2013. Nolan was hired by former Hockey Ops President Pat LaFontaine who hired GM Tim Murray a couple months later. After Buffalo's tank seasons of 2013-15, Nolan was canned on April 12, 2015. Murray replaced him with a Stanley Cup winning coach in Dan Bylsma after the team missed out on landing Mike Babcock. Bylsma had a solid first season but lost the room half-way through his second season and was fired, along with Murray on April 20, 2017.

The Sabres brought in Jason Botterill who was a rookie GM in May, 2017 and he in turn hired a rookie head coach in Phil Housley. Buffalo's fortunes took a dramatic tumble as they went from 78 points in Bylsma's last season to 62 points and a last place finish in 2017-18 despite having two players who were results of their tank seasons--second-overall picks Sam Reinhart (2014) and Jack Eichel (2015.) The Sabres added to that haul with 2018 first-overall pick Rasmus Dahlin and after a promising first two months of this season, it looks as if they'll finish only marginally better than last season in the standings.

Sabres take their horrific road-show to Colorado

Published by hockeybuzz.com, 3-9-2019


No one in Sabreland should have been surprised the Buffalo Sabres lost 5-4 in Chicago. That it happened in the shootout maybe, but the real surprise was the names on the score sheet for Buffalo. Vladimir Sobotka, Zach Bogosian and Kyle Okposo, three players mentioned in the last blog as being "miscast and/or overpriced vets" all scored for the Sabres against the Blackhawks. Newcomer Brandon Montour, who was acquired at the NHL trade deadline nearly two weeks ago, scored his second goal in the Blue and Gold but the Sabres blew a third period lead and lost in the shootout as goalie Carter Hutton was unable to stop any of the three Chicago shooters that came his way.

What a waste of a night, but it's par for the course for Buffalo as of late and especially on the road. The Sabres woes in the Windy City continued as they haven't won in Chicago since January 10, 2007 (0-6-3) and they presently have the NHL's second-worst road record of 11-18-5. Since the end of the Sabres 10-game winning streak in November, the club is only 3-14-4. Post All-Star break when it's time to play for keeps in a playoff push, the Sabres are 1-6-2 with their only win coming in Columbus the day after the break ended.

Buffalo's home record post-break of 5-4-1 isn't great but it's fairly respectable and had they been able to move the needled on the road from abysmal to meh with a couple of wins, their playoff deficit wouldn't have ballooned from two points on January 30 to 10 points today.

Such is the season.

Okposo has concussion. Florida trip has been brutal for Sabres

Published by hockeybuzz.com, 2-19-2019


The Buffalo Sabres announced today that forward Kyle Okposo has a concussion after getting one-punched to the ice in a tilt with the NY Rangers on Sunday. Reasons for why he decided to drop the gloves in the first place are now irrelevant as this concussion is something that could be very serious.

Okposo suffered a concussion late on March 21, 2017 that went undiagnosed and he eventually ended up missing the final six games of the regular season. What happened after was a ride that landed him in the neurological intensive care unit where he was left "incoherent, confused and paranoid," according to a piece by Tim Graham of The Athletic. "He strained to recognize loved ones. He thought staffers around his bedside were there to hurt him."

Alternating wins/losses, good/bad play making it difficult for BUF GM

Published by hockeybuzz.com, 2-16-2019


Imagine you're Buffalo GM Jason Botterill and the possibility of ending a seven-year playoff drought is within reach. But the balance between talent and flaws has you stuck in no-man's land and with just over a week to go before the NHL trade deadline your team is treading water alternating between wins and losses the past 11 games. They've not been able to win two in a row since December yet they've only had one real bad stretch (3-8-1,) one that effectively balanced out their 10-game winning streak in November. The teams in and around your team in the playoff bubble have been hot with some cooling down and all of them have issues, but they've made enough headway to create a little breathing room with still a long way to go.

Complicating matters is the fact that the team with the longest current playoff drought, one year more than your team, is ahead of you in the standings and looks like they may reach the playoffs before you do. Should that happen while you miss out again, you would be the GM of a team with the longest current NHL playoff drought even after having possibly the longest winning streak in the League that season.

Such is the conundrum of Botterill and his Buffalo Sabres.

Can you see the real me? Can ya? Can ya?

Published by hockeybuzz.com, 2-8-2019


Jack Eichel has been a model of leadership this season putting on a display of maturity both on and off the ice. As captain of the Buffalo Sabres, win or lose he's the go-to guy post-game to answer questions and on most occasions he's usually a good interview whether showing guarded enthusiasm after a win or contemplative assessment after a loss. With the Sabres doing a lot of losing as of late so perhaps it finally got to him.

Last season we saw a lot of losing as well, and a lot of Ryan O'Reilly post-game saying things like, "We have to be better," and "I have to be better," and "It's on me." It got to the point where you could almost grab any of his interviews from any prior loss and re-air it after the most recent loss. However, O'Reilly is gone, traded to the St. Louis Blues last summer, and as the unquestioned leader and captain of the team, Eichel is now in O'Reilly's shoes. And for maybe the first time this season, Eichel offered up O'Reilly-like answers after last night's 6-5 overtime loss to the Carolina Hurricanes.

"I didn't play well tonight. It's starts with me so I've got to be better," was Eichel's curt response to the media's first question about a frustrating home-stand. We knew it would be a tough interview from the get-go when Eichel started out by saying to the gathered media, "You guys gonna look at me or you gonna ask questions? Anybody asking questions or [can] we get out of here?"

That's the frustrated Jack Eichel we saw on occasion last season when the franchise center and his team were on their way to a 64-point, last place finish. Every once in a while we'd see a post-game interview where he really didn't want to be there, much less want to talk, and his snippy responses seemed to come off as that of a petulant child berating those who dare ask him a question.

News flash, Jack, Being a captain is not all rainbows, unicorns and jujus and belittling the media because you're frustrated with yourself and the failures of your team does no one any good.

Housley does some more line juggling after win vs. Minnesota

Published by hockeybuzz.com, 2-6-2019


The blender worked well on a couple of levels last night. Buffalo bench boss Phil Housley blew up his forward lines while also making other some personnel adjustments, most notably on the powerplay and it worked as the Sabres beat the Minnesota Wild 5-4 in the shootout going 2/2 on the powerplay. Sam Reinhart was a game-changer last night with a goal and a primary assist and he also scored the deciding goal in the shootout. Reinhart was deservedly named the game's first star and he did what many thought he couldn't do--be a difference-maker and do so away from Jack Eichel. Almost. Eichel was the driving force behind Reinhart's tally but missed out on an assist because of a Minnesota turnover, but the narrative stands, Reinhart came through.

Despite secondary scoring last night, Housley doesn't look as if he was pleased with the lineup overall and word from the rink today had him switching up lines again.

Welcome to the Pressure Dome

Published by hockeybuzz.com, 2-5-2019


The Buffalo Sabres brought this upon themselves and only they can fix it. Whether you blame the defense, secondary scoring, the powerplay, goaltending, the coach and/or the general manager, the Sabres are in a free fall and it doesn't seem as if they have any idea how to get out of it.

Dig.

After Friday's 7-3 debacle at home against the Chicago Blackhawks, the Sabres fell to 3-7-0 in their last 10 games and their 25-20-6 record puts them below the real .500 mark for the first time since November 4 when they fell to 7-6-2 after a loss to the NY Rangers. They followed that game with a 10-game winning streak, which had a lot to do with them being above .500 for so long, but their subsequent fall from grace dropped them to where they are now. In looking back as to how the 2018-19 season has unfolded, it's really been a tale of three seasons--pre-streak, streak and post-streak--for Buffalo and after 51 games we're still not sure just who the hell they are.

The word emanating from KeyBank Center is that the Sabres are trying to get back to who they were before and head coach Phil Housley yesterday pointed to how they played after a shakeup in the lines and d-pairings sparked a strong run. "Everybody had a role, an identity," Housley told the gathered media yesterday. "But in saying that, I think we were playing the game the right way back then, making good puck decisions, managing our game, our checking detail was really solid and we've got to get back to that."

"You can mix the lines up all you want, but if you don't manage a game, you don't have a respect for your own net, you're going to get the same result."

All very true, Buffalo may have played their best game to that point of the season when they lost to the NY Rangers 3-1 back in November yet they also never put together that full-game effort the next 10 games yet won all of them. At that point in time they were playing extremely well for parts of games, yet were still winning, and perhaps they thought that their 10-game harmonic conversion of good luck combined with starry-eyed confidence is who they really were. Yet this downward spiral should have brought them back down to earth and if they don't figure it out real soon (like tonight,) they're in for a rough finish to the season.

Sabres need more than a Elie-waive/Smith recall to get into the wild card spot

Published by hockeybuzz.com, 2-4-2019


Okay. Let's get this out of the way. Winger C.J. Smith will not be Buffalo's savior. Smith, who was called up from Rochester today, will not single-handedly turn around a team that has lost 18 of their last 26 games (8-14-4) nor will he help the goaltending, which has been a sieve as of late (35 goals in their last eight games) nor will he help the d-corps get their collective head out of their butt.

However, what he can do is help the mid-six forward group.

Since head coach Phil Housley put all his scoring eggs of Jack Eichel, Jeff Skinner and Sam Reinhart into one basket, the team has struggled mightily with secondary scoring. While the top line was doing their thing and the bottom line theirs in a defensive vein, the middle six has contributed very little to the cause. It's a giant hole that emerged during the season and it's really not the fault of players or coaches.

Pick a headline:

Published by hockeybuzz.com, 2-2-2019


Fail
Epic fail
Not ready for prime time
What was that all about?
Is that any way to start a seven-game home stand?
You do realize that this was the second to last team in the league?
Precious points slip away...again
A rare occurrence--Pominville and Okposo both scoring in the same game--is wasted
What happened to starter Carter Hutton?
They finally scored a goal on the powerplay. Yay. But lose. Boooo.
Obviously, nowhere close to good enough.

Or maybe:

Sabres struggling with pressure

You can't really complain with how the Sabres came out in the first period, save for their typical penchant for trying to do too much in front of the hometown fans. Perhaps this is a curse of some kind dating back to the first post-Drury/Briere season of 2007-08, where those Sabres teams seemed intent upon collecting style points instead of goals on the scoreboard. Unfortunately this approach has gone on for years in Buffalo, spanning numerous coaches as well as a complete roster turnover save for 35 yr. old Jason Pominville who was on those teams, was traded away and came back in a trade.

Another trait that seems to have followed the Sabres is wilting under pressure which is a direct result of failing move the scoreboard. For those of us who distinctly remember those teams in the latter ought's, adversity was a cruel beast that rendered those Sabres teams helpless. If they weren't scoring, they got frustrated and began to twinkle their toes even more leading to cracks and gaps in their game that the opposition eventually took advantage of. When that levee finally broke, the goals-against came quickly and there was no place to hide.