I really wish I could pinpoint a time in my sports life where I became somewhat of a curmudgeon when it came to Buffalo sports. Was it moving to NYC and being around a bunch of ass clowns who look down at Buffalo sports? Was it the 12 years of no playoff appearances for the Bills? Was it 7/1/07 or the Sabres winning 4 playoff series in 11 years? Was it the offseasons in which our teams made a few fun moves and paid off in missing the playoffs and wanting to strangle myself? Am I just a bitter person who takes out my anger on our sports teams who constantly underachieve?
Whatever it is, I’d like to try and get rid of it…but they have to be under the circumstances where there is actually some sort of clear cut evidence that we are on the right track. Not someone trying to to fit in with Sabres fanatics to get retweets or getting people to call into their radio show.
I find that a number of Sabres fans and media members have selective amnesia when it comes to the Sabres. They sucked this year. Plain and simple. But, because we got two low seeds in the Finals, it has all of a sudden become “Gee..we really aren’t that far away, right? We are better than the Devils! We can do it!”
Oh. My. God.
People, I know I am a major party pooper when it comes to building hope with the Sabres, but what planet are you living on and what kind of Kool-Aid are they serving? The Sabres stunk this year. I didn’t hear Bills fans grasping for hope after the SB, talking about how they beat the Pats and came very close to beating the Giants in the regular season. But with the Sabres? New ballgame without even having an offseason.
There was no way they were getting past the Rangers with 57 and 10 out of the lineup. Yes, I’ve said injuries aren’t an excuse for not making the playoffs, but when it comes to playing a top seed, different story. The Devils are a much better team than the Sabres. Period.
Just look at the regular season stats and how the two teams fared against each other. The Devils were 3-0-1 against the Sabres, outscoring them 13-7. They had three players with over 30 goals while the Sabres had one. They had 7 players with 16 goals or more while the Sabres had four. Brodeur is a goalie who has had like 14 seasons of kick-ass play while Ryan Miller has an Olympic run to match a bunch of up/down years. The Devils scored more goals and gave up fewer than we did. The Devils had 102 points, tied with Boston and one point behind Philly. They also played in the best division in hockey while we played with a bunch of crappy Ontario/Quebec teams. They had just as many points as Detroit and more than Chicago and Phoenix.
But the Sabres are almost at their level? Right.
Again, you are insane or have selective amnesia when you are trying to get yourself in a place to believe we aren’t far off by comparing us to the Final two teams. It goes beyond the seeds. It is easy to say “Well, a low seed has made it far, so just get in!” That’s true, but you have to look at the makeup of the teams who just made it.
If you look at the Kings roster, you’ll see five players who have scored 30 or more goals and then notice they were 29th in scoring this year. You may consider them a sleeping giant. Plus, the Kings were two points away from being the 3rd seed. As much as some fans/media want you to believe that we are “this close”, the Sabres don’t have any sleeping giants on their roster.
It is the same fricken team as in 2008 with a few additions. I know I’m going to want to slit my wrists when we see who wins the SC this year when it comes to the Sabres. I can already hear people saying that we were the Devils from last year with the way we finished the season. I can already hear people saying 8th seeds can make a run and we aren’t far behind.
For that, I say look at how many playoff series wins we have in 10 years (4) to go along with not advancing past the 1st round since 2007, and get back to me. Again, select amnesia, Sabres fans.
Bottom line: If the Kings win, we will get a summer full of Jeremy White telling us that “Just get in and we aren’t far behind” crap. Plus, if the Sabres struggle during the regular season, we can point to the Kings winning as a reason to not lose hope.
If the Devils win, we will get a majority of fans, who don’t respect them because NJ is in the swamp or are dull, talk about how “If Miller plays out of his mind, we can beat them” non-sense. In other words, it would have been better if Vancouver met the Rangers and I didn’t have to hear this non-sense. Wanna know what we can learn or copy from both teams?
Taking risks.
NJ could have easily made the playoffs for the next 5 years with their trapping style of play and get knocked out in the 2nd round (Darcy Regier’s idea of a successful season). Instead, they pulled off a trade that was completely uncharacteristic of them in getting Kovalchuk and look where they are now? The Kings were a team on the rise that made the playoffs two straight years, but it wasn’t good enough and traded for Carter and Richards. Risk takers! That’s what we should learn from them.
Of course, the Kings fired their coach earlier this season, but we sure as hell won’t hear that from apologists in trying to feel good about the Sabres chances, will we? God forbid Lindy Ruff gets canned because hockey heaven would close up shop. Hearing all of this makes me want to vomit.
It makes me wonder if I’m just a negative guy or the majority of Sabres fans are just delusional dreamers.
Help me decide.
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