I am very cautious when it comes to telling fans how to cheer. It is probably my biggest lesson learned since becoming a blogger as I used to be the asshole who would wish death on someone who found solace in a losing product. However, I’ve soften that stance I used to have when I was in my 20s. If you are all about accentuating positives in certain individual players while hiding the negatives of your team’s performance, its a good way to not despise your team’s losing 24/7. However, for this instance, I’m going to step up.
This is all I needed to see to know we have a problem.
Our facebook page took one look at Ryan O’Reilly’s injury and TANNNNNNNKKKKKKKKKKKK pic.twitter.com/6GeCPMiRKf
— Tom Martin (@4TomMartin) February 22, 2016
I was also listening to Sal on his Saturday show where he basically ripped fans for wanting to tank this year. I agreed with him in theory, but I also wanted to call his show and say that WGR was #1 in the propaganda of wanting to lose for a better pick for the last 2 years. Of course if this is your narrative day in and day out, you are obviously going to have listeners or fans who follow through and won’t know when to stop. That’s the power of the media sometimes. To me, its like the bartender giving free shots to someone and egging them on to drink more and then not take responsibility if that patron gets a DWI. Then we get Jeremy White relaunching his “BroAp” with updates on Austin Matthews and probably giving giant emoji high-five texts whenever the Leafs win games.
This is exactly what I was afraid of.
Is this what is going to happen for all of our teams for now on? Does having the 3rd and 1st longest playoff droughts in the NHL and NFL cause fans to be this desperate? When the Sabres are out of it, is WGR going to just beat the tank into the ground yearly because their ratings were monstrous last year? Will TBN continue to bemoan this method of building your club in order to troll its audience and WGR?
Frankly, all of this is bullshit when you just look at the facts.
First off, the lottery rules are different than in years past. The last place team has a 20% chance of winning the lottery while the 4th place team has a 9.5% chance. Furthermore, the last place team isn’t guaranteed the 2nd pick and could fall as low as 4th place. In other words, no matter how hard you try to lose, your chances of getting Austin 3:16 are going to be slim. The war for the tank should be over as its never going to be like it was last year because of the new lottery rules. Now if the Sabres somehow get Austin…great! I’ll be thrilled and maybe that’s the double-edge sword some fans are dealing with. However, I have always maintained that there are other ways to build a hockey team than just tanking for draft picks year in and year out.
- The GM matters.
- Free agency matters.
- Trading for prospects matters.
- Trading for vets matters.
- Drafting players beyond the top 10 matters.
If you look at Stanley Cup teams or those teams that are always in it, all of these actions above are connected to those teams. It is all about being a well-rounded team in terms of acquiring assets. The Sabres have enough high picks over the last 4 years if we are to believe our GMs (Including Darcy) knew how to draft.
This isn’t about wanting wins because the Sabres are out of it. This is about wanting the core players who we are counting on for the next decade or so to keep evolving. Robin Lehner is someone I want to play out of his mind down the stretch so we can actually feel we have a goaltender for the next decade. If he plays like shit, then its just another hole we have to fill. I’d like Zemgus to play like he did during the first 2 tank years. I’d like Mark Pysck to NOT be in the coach’s doghouse for some odd reason. I’d like Bogo to play like he did against the Pens on a more consistent basis.
We aren’t rooting against bums like Andre Benoit, Kevin Porter or Ted Nolan like we did the last two years. In this case, we are rooting against the development of guys who are supposed to be here long-term and that’s not something I’m signing up for.
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