Why do the Buffalo Sabres (always) keep sucking.. no matter what..

[surixon]

They need to stop accumulating picks/prospects and start getting quality experienced players. They have way too many prospects(of similar type) and not enough top quality players.

Agreed, they are at the state where they have a talented young core that needs to be supported by high quality vets to push it forward. They have the prospect pool to peddle some of those pieces for good now players.

 

[Mattilaus]

They are not sucking.... they are literally one point away from the playoffs.

I'd call this a timid start to the year, but they'll get better as time goes on. It sucks that Thompson just got injured, though.

They are also 3 points away from last place in the division and Ottawa has 3 games in hand.

 

[Zalos]

They are also 3 points away from last place in the division and Ottawa has 3 games in hand.

Nevermind Ottawa. If I was Buffalo, I'd take being one point away from the playoffs.

The way this thread is set up, you'd think Buffalo is 15 points behind the playoffs.

 

[IamNotADancer]

Dominik Hasek
Ryan Miller
?
?
?

Not saying that's the only reason but some teams simply need a strong anchor to keep the ship steady.

 

[Mattilaus]

Nevermind Ottawa. If I was Buffalo, I'd take being one point away from the playoffs.

The way this thread is set up, you'd think Buffalo is 15 points behind the playoffs.

They might as well be, they are playing like crap and Tuch, Thompson, and Quinn are all out.

 

[GreeningOil]

Because at NO POINT in the last decade have they addressed their goaltending for real.

I have said it for a decade, until they actually address their goaltending they are going NOWHERE teams around them will enter and exit rebuild cycles before Buffalo is good again.

Unless Buffalo gets a real goaltender.

I member when they employed last years Vezina winner lol. Buffalo will Buffalo

 

[HaNotsri]

Is this real life? So you lost 42 year old Craig Anderson and his 902 SV% and that remotely explains the shitty season they're having...?

We've had a steaming pile of shit in net for several years. The fact that we DOWNGRADED from 42 year old Anderson should tell you something.

 

[Mattilaus]

I member when they employed last years Vezina winner lol. Buffalo will Buffalo

He wouldn't resign here and left in FA. What exactly were they supposed to do? Chain him to the net?

 

[GreeningOil]

He wouldn't resign here and left in FA. What exactly were they supposed to do? Chain him to the net?

No I was trying to infer that they have had the tendies, just at the wrong times lol

 

[Turin]

Was talking with a dude at church about hockey. He said Buffalo was his favourite team, I asked him how old he was - he said he was 14. You don't realize how sad this has been until you have a grown up conversation with a Sabres fan born in 2009.

 

[AndreRoy]

Ultimately it comes down to ownership. Will the owner spend money, not just on player salaries but on the arena, practice facility, training equipment, transportation and lodging for road trips, etc.? Will he hire a good GM and coach, and just as importantly, let them do their jobs without undue interference? Will he do a good job with community outreach and providing a quality fan experience on and off the ice in order to make people want to come and support the team?

It all starts at the top. As a Tampa fan I can tell you that we suffered through decades of some of the worst ownership in sports history, not only of the Lightning but in two other major sports as well, and after Vinik took over it’s been a night and day difference. Buffalo obviously isn’t as attractive a city as Tampa, but get some decent owners in there and they can still have a successful franchise; the same is true of all the struggling Canadian teams.

 

[Michoulicious]

Usually it is a thread about how the Sabres are burning villages in November, only to then suck hard for the rest of the year and miss the playoffs anyways.

Maybe this time it will be the opposite!

Edit: Oups I see Thompson is out for at least a month. Maybe not after all.

 

[Mattilaus]

Usually it is a thread about how the Sabres are burning villages in November, only to then suck hard for the rest of the year and miss the playoffs anyways.

Maybe this time it will be the opposite!

Edit: Oups I see Thompson is out for at least a month. Maybe not after all.

Last year they had an 8 game losing streak in November. What November threads are you talking about? The Sabres do well in March when they are already essentially out of the race.

 

[MOGlLNY]

Was talking with a dude at church about hockey. He said Buffalo was his favourite team, I asked him how old he was - he said he was 14. You don't realize how sad this has been until you have a grown up conversation with a Sabres fan born in 2009.

That kid has had it really f***ing rough. Only thing that keeps me going through all this shit the franchise has thrown at us is that feeling 2005-2007 gave me when the Sabres were going on runs and the city was buzzing.

 

[sabremike]

The coaching stinks worse than a tuna fish sandwich left out in the sun for a week. Granato has the tactical chops of a block of wood and Matt Ellis is the only assistant in the league who sucks as bad as John MacLean. Why do you think our home record totally sucks?

 

[TheDawnOfANewTage]

The coaching stinks worse than a tuna fish sandwich left out in the sun for a week. Granato has the tactical chops of a block of wood and Matt Ellis is the only assistant in the league who sucks as bad as John MacLean. Why do you think our home record totally sucks?

Sabremike comin with the fire!

Granato got more outta em than most, but he’s not getting this team further. Same ol shit, we need a real coach. Fire the money at the best candidate, idgaf, ain’t nothin workin till the coach is changed.

 

[AmabileCassarole]

All you want to look at is the outliers. I've found 1 exception to the rule! therefore i deem it not true!

32 years with no cup in Canada and you're trying to tell me it's all about shitty management? Buffalo? Minnesota?

But because Arizona doesn't win it's all a bunch of bull shit and just happenstance.
You're the one with a narrative bud.

Oh, give it a rest. You're the one with the narrative. Canadian teams can't win because they have shitty management. It doesn't help that many players (like most anyone rich in Canada, honestly) prefer to play down south, and let's be real, most people who whine about this would do the exact same thing. It's no different from how NBA players act - remember when Marcus Morris backstabbed the Spurs to sign with the Knicks? He turned down the winningest franchise in pro sports after telling them he'd sign to sign with the Knicks, and we all know how trash the Knicks are. One player (Kuzma, IIRC) even said he'd rather lose in LA than win in Orlando. NHL players are no different. Same can be said for NFL and MLB players, too.

But hey, just pretend it's all Bettman's fault because you can't cope with the fact it's not nineteen seventy whatever. Nevermind that Canadian owners are notoriously complacent and meddling.

The league doesn't hate Canada. Time to get a new narrative, because this one is tired af.

 

[AmabileCassarole]

Ultimately it comes down to ownership. Will the owner spend money, not just on player salaries but on the arena, practice facility, training equipment, transportation and lodging for road trips, etc.? Will he hire a good GM and coach, and just as importantly, let them do their jobs without undue interference? Will he do a good job with community outreach and providing a quality fan experience on and off the ice in order to make people want to come and support the team?

It all starts at the top. As a Tampa fan I can tell you that we suffered through decades of some of the worst ownership in sports history, not only of the Lightning but in two other major sports as well, and after Vinik took over it’s been a night and day difference. Buffalo obviously isn’t as attractive a city as Tampa, but get some decent owners in there and they can still have a successful franchise; the same is true of all the struggling Canadian teams.

Tampa Bay consistently ranks pretty high in attendance (at one point, it outdrew every 06 team save Montreal), yet is often derided, but I get it. It sucks having to see another team actually give a damn while you have to write off basically another year as a failure. I get it. But that doesn't mean you have to pretend it's some sorta conspiracy. Cowherd's right - only losers talk like that. Sometimes, you just have to face the facts. Tampa Bay got ownership that put in the work, and look at them now. Three cups, a highly rated fanbase - they could've easily just said screw it and coasted, but that wasn't their style. Nashville is another great example, and so's Carolina. Hell, even when Karmanos was in charge, Carolina had some pretty big buzz - they had literal NFL style tailgates at one point.

And honestly, what's most amusing is how many people with no financial stake in the league give a damn to begin with about markets, period. Why do you care? Are you really as bothered as you claim that there's a team in Arizona?

"Oh, it's embarassing!" you say as they sport a 4000 something seat arena, meanwhile you're repping teams that celebrate cup wins in parking lots because nobody gives a shit in their markets (Devils, Ducks), has games consistently turn into home games for the visiting teams (Sens), couldn't draw flies to shit even through four straight title wins (Isles), has won draft lottery after draft lottery with nothing to show for it (Oilers), covered up sexual assault (Blackhawks), has literally won one cup in nearly a hundred years (Rangers), and more...shit, tell me when Arizona having such a puny arena to play in is as embarassing as some of that!

 

[hfman]

All it ever takes is a game against the Leafs to cure their woes

 

[Blowfish]

Still early however the injuries have not helped but agree they need to make a trade and fill up their cap room.

 

[Buck Naked]

They are not sucking.... they are literally one point away from the playoffs.

I'd call this a timid start to the year, but they'll get better as time goes on. It sucks that Thompson just got injured, though.

How many games did you watch?

 

[Panthaz89]

He was one of the worst defenseman in the league. He still is.

He didn't magically turn into a good goalie. He posted above .910 sv% in most of his seasons playing for a really bad Buffalo Sabres.

He was also lost to free agency not traded.

 

[Panthaz89]

We are doing the opposite a bad start followed by a good finish. We got this.

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[The Panther]

One of the all time great quotes was three or four years ago when they signed Taylor Hall and ownership made that PR statement that, from this day, forward, the Buffalo Sabres are in contention for the Stanley Cup, or whatever it was. Yikes.

Sad, though, as I like this franchise and want to see them back in it.

How's the attendance doing?

 

[Craig Ludwig]

I member when they employed last years Vezina winner lol. Buffalo will Buffalo

And if Ullmark were back in Buffalo this year, he would suck also. Playing nets in Boston pads a goalie's stats.