It’s too bad that’s all they have. Ever drive through Buffalo? If not, it goes like this: field, winery, field, winery, building, building, bridge, Canada. The greatest tourist destination in the entire city is Niagara Falls, which is no coincidence because it’s also the way out of town.
They also have a hockey team, which… has not been good for a very, very long time. Like the city, though, they have that spirit. A point tonight and they leapfrog the Isles to move out of dead last in the East. It’s good to have goals!
THE MORE THINGS CHANGE
Let’s face facts: Disco Dan Bylsma is not a good hockey coach. While fans who are afraid of change were screaming for the Pens to keep him around, he was ruining the best years of Sidney Crosby’s career by insisting fill out the roster with character guys like Tanner Glass and Craig Adams.
Can we rewind and look at his track record, eh?
2009: de facto Stanley Cup
2010: lost in second round
2011: lost in first round
2012: lost in first round
2013: swept in third round
2014: lost in second round
2015: Buffalo
We’ll give credit where credit is due, he’s a hell of a lot better than Mike Johnston.
THE MORE THEY STAY THE SAME
So in Buffalo, shit hasn’t exactly gone right. For two years they were historically awful, then last year they were just bad. Improvement!
Their top players consist of Ryan O’Reilly, who takes the term “drive-thru” to a whole new meaning, and Evander Kane, who seems to only be focused on earning the title of the Worst Kane On The Buffalo Bar Scene. Last week Kane was criticizing his teammates, despite his own reputation as the worst teammate in the league. Can’t wait to hear whose tracksuit gets thrown in the shower first. Kyle Okposo is there, too. Feel a little bad for that guy, but he made a conscious decision to play hockey in Buffalo — the likelihood that Kane roofied him needs to be explored.
There is just so much more we could say about Buffalo. They are the NHL-version of the short bus pulling up at your school, except the bus is on fire and it’s the wrong school. Roughly 75% of the fans in attendance tonight will be Leafs fans looking to for a cheap ticket.
The Pens are doing a back-to-back on the road, but should probably still win by ten. Sometimes life just isn’t fair…
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