Sabres after 10

Good afternoon from Columbus, OH! My name is Kevin Zimmerman, I’m a 24 year old misplaced Buffalonian, living amongst Columbus Blue Jackets fans who have absolutely no idea how to support a hockey team (I’ll save the CBJ’s misfortune’s for another time). I’m presently employed by Nationwide Insurance here in Columbus, doing Internal Sales and Service and I’d like to think that I’m the biggest Buffalo sports fan out there, well at least the Sabres, the Bills are obviously another story at this point. Find me on twitter at kzimmerman15 or catch up with me on Facebook some time, under the Ohio State Network 08′.

So, the Buffalo Sabres after 10 games (yes, I know they’ve only played 9 at this point, but 10 comes tomorrow) have obviously been a major disappointment on several levels to start the season. We aren’t dressing 16 skaters like the New Jersey Devils, we have more than 10,000 fans attending our home games unlike the Phoenix Coyotes or Columbus Blue Jackets, we won what arguably might be the toughest division in hockey last year, and yet looking at the standings today we are practically looking up at the rest of the teams in the Eastern Conference. It’s time that everyone stops making excuses for this team because it’s still early enough for the Sabres to right the ship, and with this roster there is no reason we aren’t in the top 8 come the end of the year.

 Sure, it would be easy to point the finger at our management like everyone does year after year for not making a huge splash in free agency or via trade over the summer, but when is it time for some of these guys to take a look in the mirror and buy into Lindy’s style of play? When will the Buffalo Sabres of present day, act like the Buffalo Sabres of 2006 and 2007 who dared to lose games on home ice? I know what a lot of you are thinking,  the 2006 and 2007 version of the Buffalo Sabres were different teams, but minus about 4 of 5 guys we are practically the same team. There are too many veteran players in our locker room for us to be 0-4-1 on HSBC Arena ice, it’s just flat out unacceptable. I don’t know about you, but I’m sick of hearing the excuses about ‘we play more simple on the road’ and ‘we know we need to skate harder on the road to take the crowd out of games’ or ‘scoring the first goal is always so crucial on the road’…What about HOME ICE?! When was the last time we had HSBC rocking because we put 6 goals up on the scoreboard, and we had the defense hitting harder than the other teams to impress the home crowd….The time has to be now for this team to buckle down and string several W’s in a row or it is going to be a long Spring in Buffalo.

One of my favorite hockey quotes ‘You can’t make the playoffs in October, but you sure can miss them.’ Who is going to step up and take charge of this team because our so-called captain, even though injured, probably should have been riding the pine for his inconsistent play. Fear the Grier? Pommer when he gets back? HDTV, our multi-million dollar boy? This team is filled with weapons, and it’s time we get consistent play, wins on home ice, and start our ascent back to the top of the standings.

Next up….Philly 10/26 7:00pm on VERSUS