If we're considering mediocrity something to be defended, sure.
- buffalofan19

bad hill to die on, if you ask me

As disappointing as this season has gone- I’m truly happy for UPL… he has been stellar and is showing that he has the talent to be a true #1 goalie. He deserves a lot of credit and kudos to him for obviously putting in the work. A side note… Bryson: 19 minutes ice time, 2 assists and a +4….💪🏻

As disappointing as this season has gone- I’m truly happy for UPL… he has been stellar and is showing that he has the talent to be a true #1 goalie. He deserves a lot of credit and kudos to him for obviously putting in the work. A side note… Bryson: 19 minutes ice time, 2 assists and a +4….💪🏻
- Cory1

meadhead still did not play ryan johnson

7-0 blowout and johnson gets under 15 minutes of ice time

bad hill to die on, if you ask me
- homiedclown

I don't like to be as hard on Granato as most on here. His career has been teaching players how to get to and exceed on an individual level. And he's done that in spades, even with a number of players on this team. He's never proven that he can get an entire team to win really at any level. I said he deserved a chance to see if he can do that given what he's done with the top players on this team, such as Dahlin and Thomspon, but he's a teacher first and foremost, always has been and always will be. And it shows.

I don't like to be as hard on Granato as most on here. His career has been teaching players how to get to and exceed on an individual level. And he's done that in spades, even with a number of players on this team. He's never proven that he can get an entire team to win really at any level. I said he deserved a chance to see if he can do that given what he's done with the top players on this team, such as Dahlin and Thomspon, but he's a teacher first and foremost, always has been and always will be. And it shows.
- buffalofan19

Tage Thompson has, in my eyes, been the biggest disappointment on the roster

Should we talk about the difference in results between last season and any season from Phil or Ralph?
- kingcong39

https://thehockeynews.com...postmortem-buffalo-sabres

Tage Thompson has, in my eyes, been the biggest disappointment on the roster
- Cory1

cozens, power and dahlin for me, pick any of them

I think tage is hurt

Tage Thompson has, in my eyes, been the biggest disappointment on the roster
- Cory1

Maybe, but he went from a guy whose career in the NHL was in question to a 40-goal scorer. That doesn't happen by dumb luck. He's been battling injuries all year, which, while not an exception, makes me want to be believe this season is the exception, not the rule.

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Maybe, but he went from a guy whose career in the NHL was in question to a 40-goal scorer. That doesn't happen by dumb luck. He's been battling injuries all year, which, while not an exception, makes me want to be believe this season is the exception, not the rule.
- buffalofan19

I don’t think there is a question that he will bounce back.

The poster is 100% correct though that a guy who was on pace for 50 goals last year barely cracking 50 points this year though is a huge part of the reason why we are sitting where we are.

The injury luck the Sabres have had this year is unfortunate

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This is the best Sabres team at 5v5 in over a decade (surprisingly better then last years team).

Special teams have been the death of them.

I think Donnie should go to, but if they keep him, they need a whole sale change of the assistant coaching staff.

Wasted a season because the PP is god awful lol

WTF, boys?

Well done!

Wasted a season because the PP is god awful lol
- Swedish_Jesus

the pk for the sabres is roughly 79.5 percent

the pp for the sabres is roughly 15.1 percent

to put that in perspective, the net loss is about 8 goals over the course of the season so far



if this team had 8 more goals scored this season, they may be 3 or 4 points higher in the standings, still way outside the top 8

the pk for the sabres is roughly 79.5 percent

the pp for the sabres is roughly 15.1 percent

to put that in perspective, the net loss is about 8 goals over the course of the season so far



if this team had 8 more goals scored this season, they may be 3 or 4 points higher in the standings, still way outside the top 8
- homiedclown

Special Teams has been a problem, but the reality is that 2021-2022 was a team that had a bunch of career highs. 2022-2023 was team that exceeded a number of those career highs and still finished outside of the playoffs. The real issue was that leadership at the top was delusional enough to think this trend would continue, despite it being completely unprecedented.

Classic Sabres.

Special Teams has been a problem, but the reality is that 2021-2022 was a team that had a bunch of career highs. 2022-2023 was team that exceeded a number of those career highs and still finished outside of the playoffs. The real issue was that leadership at the top was delusional enough to think this trend would continue, despite it being completely unprecedented.
- buffalofan19

these stretches of losses since christmas

2-1 to stars
3-1 to blues
3-1 to tampa
4-2 to ducks
1-0 to nucks
5-2 to seattle
5-1 to sens
4-1 to boston

common theme, total lack of scoring and 18 points in last 18 games is not gonna catch anyone let alone 6 teams to get the 8th seed

the pk for the sabres is roughly 79.5 percent

the pp for the sabres is roughly 15.1 percent

to put that in perspective, the net loss is about 8 goals over the course of the season so far



if this team had 8 more goals scored this season, they may be 3 or 4 points higher in the standings, still way outside the top 8
- homiedclown

They rank dead last with an 8.7% Net PP% (including short handed goals against)

They rank 20th in the league in Net PK%.

Closer to 15 goals instead of 8.

That’s a lot of loser points and wins in total left on the table.

They’d prolly have 6-8 points more in the standings and be right behind Detroit right now with an average PP.

Quite frankly that’s the one difference between Detroit and Buffalo right now.

Difference between Buffalo and Tampa is the worst PP in the league and the best PP in the league as they have pretty similar 5v5 underlyings

Special Teams has been a problem, but the reality is that 2021-2022 was a team that had a bunch of career highs. 2022-2023 was team that exceeded a number of those career highs and still finished outside of the playoffs. The real issue was that leadership at the top was delusional enough to think this trend would continue, despite it being completely unprecedented.
- buffalofan19

Sabres shot 11% last year. 9.2% this league. League average is 10.1%

That's a 30 goal difference.

They also have the fewest OT games in the NHL.

They’d prolly have 6-8 points more in the standings and be right behind Detroit right now with an average PP.

Quite frankly that’s the one difference between Detroit and Buffalo right now.

- Swedish_Jesus

maybe if they were not so cheap, kane would have signed here instead of detroit

5 pp points in 20 games for the wings
17 points overall in 20 games


scoring matters


make that 18 points in 21 games, he has an assist so far tonight

Sabres shot 11% last year. 9.2% this league. League average is 10.1%

That's a 30 goal difference.

They also have the fewest OT games in the NHL.
- Lunaion

Power Play went from top 3 to dead last.

Tage had double digit goals scored above expected last year on the PP and it completely masked how brutal the scheme was

They ran it back, the horseshoe fell out of Tage’s ass, and here we are.

They rank dead last with an 8.7% Net PP% (including short handed goals against)

They rank 20th in the league in Net PK%.

Closer to 15 goals instead of 8.

That’s a lot of loser points and wins in total left on the table.

They’d prolly have 6-8 points more in the standings and be right behind Detroit right now with an average PP.

Quite frankly that’s the one difference between Detroit and Buffalo right now.

Difference between Buffalo and Tampa is the worst PP in the league and the best PP in the league as they have pretty similar 5v5 underlyings
- Swedish_Jesus

149 PP Opportunites x .2039 League Average - 21 actual PP goals = 9

Sabres shot 11% last year. 9.2% this league. League average is 10.1%

That's a 30 goal difference.

They also have the fewest OT games in the NHL.
- Lunaion

they can get 7 goals vs the kings but average a goal a game in their last 8 losses

when you drop a game 2-1 vs the stars and 3-1 vs blues after a break, just not good enough of a team to deserve a top 8 spot

I said all summer with the cap space they had, they should have raised the bar and tried to get a top 4 seed where the moves they made showed more like trying to move up to that 8th seed this year

Power Play went from top 3 to dead last.

Tage had double digit goals scored above expected last year on the PP and it completely masked how brutal the scheme was

They ran it back, the horseshoe fell out of Tage’s ass, and here we are.
- Swedish_Jesus

https://www.espn.com/nhl/...ort/powerPlayPct/dir/desc

29th in pp %

149 PP Opportunites x .2039 League Average - 21 actual PP goals = 9
- Lunaion

Plus the short handed goals against.

Unless giving up goals 4v5 isn’t important