96 replies to this topic

[BuffaloBorn]

OBVIOUSLY- the season is relatively young, about 1/5th in, but my question is, given the Sabre's current situation, are games even interesting or fun to watch? I noticed this after the Florida Panthers game. I THINK, all Sabre's losses with the exception of 1 ( carolina game) were 1 goals games (or 2 goal with the ENG) practically speaking VERY close games. (i could be wrong on this fact) sabres are 3-6-1 i believe now, which I think ,personally, is NOT a good start at ALL especially in a shortened season such as this.

I know there's a lot of die-hard fans that will watch the Sabres,  day in and out  , I'm one of them, However,is it strange that I somehow lost the excitement and enthusiasm that preluded this season? After the panthers games, I lost a sense of interest in the Sabres THIS SEASON. Don't get me wrong, all that excitement will come back for the playoffs (if there is one) but until then I can't help but feel a little sense of hopelessness for the rest of the season

Like i said, i KNOW the season is still young....but after losing to Florida especially and now Ottawa by one goal makes me really have doubt in the rest of the season( they can't pick up the crucial points in crucial games)

Please don't label me doubter, and believe me ill be the first to watch them profusely again if they start winning, but i can't help but feel this way even though it's strange because i love the sabres

Should i have a little more faith? anyone can relate?

[neverenough]

Faith? No not really. Drinking helps but then again i would find another hobby until Ruff is fired.

[Peppy22]

Without a doubt for me. As a Fan I am watching those games even if they are dead last in the league.

[neverenough]

Peppy22, on 06 February 2013 - 05:38 AM, said:

Without a doubt for me. As a Fan I am watching those games even if they are dead last in the league.

I wish i was able but i just don't think that's my case. I've been a die hard Bills fan so that never helps.

[ThirtyEight]

They are still fun to watch, I think. Honestly, last night's game could have gone so differently. If we had scored at that scrum with 25 seconds to go and won it in overtime people would think differently. Ottawa fans were saying how it wasn't a pretty victory - I also thought Karlsson was pedestrian, noticed him on the front end a few times and noticed him make a few errors, but nothing spectacular.

We have had slow starts in 3 seasons now - I'd be intrigued to know why. Do we have a lot of dead weight players? Do they take a while to understand Lindy's system (but when they do it really works)?

We also have too many mediocre players - Leo, Brennan, Pardy, Sulzer, Weber are all alright but they are a 5/6 d man on a team, the same is true with our forwards. I thin we need to shed some of the weight and get a 4th line that has some identity. I always feel our 4th line is just going through the motions.

Grigo still looks like bambi out there - a little lost all the time. It will come, but sooner would be nicer

[billsrcursed]

ThirtyEight, on 06 February 2013 - 06:16 AM, said:

They are still fun to watch, I think. Honestly, last night's game could have gone so differently. If we had scored at that scrum with 25 seconds to go and won it in overtime people would think differently. Ottawa fans were saying how it wasn't a pretty victory - I also thought Karlsson was pedestrian, noticed him on the front end a few times and noticed him make a few errors, but nothing spectacular.

We have had slow starts in 3 seasons now - I'd be intrigued to know why. Do we have a lot of dead weight players? Do they take a while to understand Lindy's system (but when they do it really works)?

We also have too many mediocre players - Leo, Brennan, Pardy, Sulzer, Weber are all alright but they are a 5/6 d man on a team, the same is true with our forwards. I thin we need to shed some of the weight and get a 4th line that has some identity. I always feel our 4th line is just going through the motions.

Grigo still looks like bambi out there - a little lost all the time. It will come, but sooner would be nicer

It's funny how people view Hockey so differently.

I couldn't be more bored with this team than I am right here, right now. Even the call ups, which usually give me something to watch, haved bored me literally to sleep.

[Hartman]

I have to agree with billsarecursed.   Having the Center Ice package allows me to watch every team in the league playing that night, and it seems like alot of the other teams are playing a completely different game than this version of the Sabres.

What is exciting about hockey as a game to watch?  The speed, the scoring, the hitting, spectacular saves, etc.   The current Sabres come up short in all those categories.   Although there may be players with speed, the Sabres always seem tentative when carrying the puck up ice.  Scoring is limited to one line, and with the inevitable pending injury or cold streak, that will disappear too.  Hitting?  forget it.   Other than a couple guys, this team thinks a poke check is an aggressive play.   All the goaltending has been generally terrible so far this year.

For me, its really a struggle to watch this team night in, night out.

[zow2]

I can't think of a more boring team to watch in the NHL other than Buffalo. The Boston game was the exception. I mean 20 shots on goal..at home...vs Florida?? desperation 3rd period and they get like 4 shots and get dominated?!? swept by Carolina and Washington over a 4 day span when neither team had a victory?!? i feel like they've been dominated in most games...even the games they won.
The Sabres are officially the early 2000 version of Islanders and Thrashers. I hate to say it. Hockey heaven has turned into hockey hell. Gotta change the coach, need a new voice...it can't get any worse.  I will still watch though, lol

[Claude_Verret]

No.  I'm way too busy with family, work, side business etc. to waste much of my free time on an inferior product, plus I just dropped Center Ice so I can't watch even if I wanted to.  It was kind of nice to just have RJ on in the background in my office last night while I actually got some work done.

[RuffMuff]

Definately too hard to watch.  I turned off the Panthers game before the 3rd period, knew they were going to lose.  Put on WGR and just listened, much easier.   Too bad its the same results....

[SwampD]

I really wished that I liked my team as much as I like hockey.

[nobody]

neverenough, on 06 February 2013 - 06:03 AM, said:

I wish i was able but i just don't think that's my case. I've been a die hard Bills fan so that never helps.

See, I'm using the same reasoning the other way around.  I haven't given up on watching the Bills; so why would I even think about not watching the Sabres?  The Sabres have been much more entertaining over the years.

[Thedefeated]

I want to watch, but I bet in TPeg's eyes the "ain't going no where" comment will hold true until there are thousands of empty seats in the arena and television ratings are in the crapper. I've been to three of five home games so far and it's clear people are losing interest. You couldn't pay me to cheer at the Florida game. Laughable excuse for a team.

[CallawaySabres]

I have 12 games this season and my first one is supposed to be Montreal tomorrow night. I am trying desperately to sell tomorrow night and I have not even been to a game yet this year. Montreal on a Thursday night and I have not seen the team in almost a year? I REALLY wish the lockout could have lasted all season and I could have saved some money. I have more faith in the Bills being more entertaining than this crap.....

[TheMadCap]

did not buy CI this year after the free period expired. I've seen this tired act before, and just like the Bills, I refuse to waste time and emotion into a product that the handlers don't seem to want to take the steps necessary for the team to improve. Just as I might tune in a game or two with the Bills, I don't really get all that emotionally invested anymore. This took me 40 years to get to that point, but in all honesty, I have a lot more important things going on that sports. With two very young children, I cannot really justify spending the meat of a weekend or a night investing in an inferior product that is just going to piss me off.

Therefore, I am happy when they win, and someone ambivalent when they lose. But until the Bills have a new owner, and the Sabres have a new coach/GM, I am just not going to care as much. Sorry if that makes me a crappy fan, but like others have pointed out, at some point, the battered spouse has to fight back...

[bunomatic]

I've watched all the games or portions of some depending on work and this edition of the Sabres is like watching paint dry. I've also watched quite a few western games. I've never felt watching non Sabres games was more exciting until this year. Mainly because I've always had a vested interest in the sabres and was emotionally attached. Lindy coaches not to lose instead of coaching to win. I'm not sure if that makes sense but thats how it feels. Most teams play to their strengths whereas the Sabres always seem to let the other team dictate and they scramble to adjust. Its     Just      Boring      Hockey.
This team needs new ideas at the top and in coaching. A new philosophy. I still watch but its about as exciting as self mutilation. I'm tired of watching Lindy Ruff silently stare off into space and not do anything while his team flounders and goes through the motions. If he felt compelled to be better with his job hanging in the balance he'd be better but he feels no pressure so...

[Suffer_enuff]

Well, one of the folks in our office was trying to sell two $53 tickets for tomorrow's game for $75.  No takers.  I fear a lot more fans will be showing up at the arena as empty seats before this all ends.

I will probably continue to watch the team, at least for a while. The thing is, even if they lost 75% of their games, but played some entertaining hockey and kept the games close, it would make it worthwhile to watch.  Right now, it's like watching a passenger train derailment.  Close up. In slow motion. With added sound effects.

[That Aud Smell]

i think the question is a fair one, and that the answer depends on your life's situation.

i have a job that takes up more of my time than i'd like. along with my wife, i've also got a house full of kids.

the net result is that, if the sabres are wretched, i'm just not carving out time for them like i would if they were playing well. with a team like this, there's a fair amount of DVR'ing going on (even if i could be watching them live), keeping tabs on the score via mobile device, and fast-forwarding through the recorded game (or just deleting it altogether without watching (that was the canadiens game)).

EDIT: and i agree with what several posters have said upthread: it's not just the losing, it's the utterly soul-crushing style of hockey that's being played that makes the games unbearable. lindy cracked that the bruins game was a bit of fire wagon hockey*** -- that the fans got their money's worth. when he says stuff like that, he is, to my ear, clearly implying that such a style of play is/must be the exception to his system of play -- that it's a fanciful and capricious departure from the brutish, tough, mundane work that a team must consistently perform in order to succeed in the modern NHL. and that sort of philosophy is, to me, a harbinger of this game's demise. i can't stand watching the sort of game that lindy's system is currently producing with this squad.

*** per a wiki entry for emile bouchard: "Firewagon hockey: style of hockey featuring end-to-end rushes, exciting scoring chances, and wide-open play.  Podnieks, Andrew (2007). The Complete Hockey Dictionary. Fenn publishing company ltd. ISBN 978-1-55168-309-6."

Edited by That Aud Smell, 06 February 2013 - 10:01 AM.

[LGR4GM]

Sabre Dance, on 06 February 2013 - 09:47 AM, said:

Well, one of the folks in our office was trying to sell two $53 tickets for tomorrow's game for $75.  No takers. I fear a lot more fans will be showing up at the arena as empty seats before this all ends.

I will probably continue to watch the team, at least for a while. The thing is, even if they lost 75% of their games, but played some entertaining hockey and kept the games close, it would make it worthwhile to watch.  Right now, it's like watching a passenger train derailment.  Close up. In slow motion. With added sound effects.

You know its sad that every day and after all the bullsh## that the fans show up for games and put their hearts into the new season only to have Management pull the same crap year in and year out.  Mainly underachieving, which is actually achieving at this point, and then they turn around make superficial moves and we come back all over again.  I think fans deserve better.

[Claude_Verret]

TheMadCap, on 06 February 2013 - 09:39 AM, said:

Sorry if that makes me a crappy fan, but like others have pointed out, at some point, the battered spouse has to fight back...

Never will this make you  crappy fan.  Just by the fact that we are here on a message board wrestling with this issue speaks towards our level of commitment as fans  At the end of the day, following sports is a form of entertainment, and if it's no longer entertaining then it's only natural to find a better use of your time until things change.

[kishoph]

zow2, on 06 February 2013 - 07:37 AM, said:

I can't think of a more boring team to watch in the NHL other than Buffalo. The Boston game was the exception. I mean 20 shots on goal..at home...vs Florida?? desperation 3rd period and they get like 4 shots and get dominated?!? swept by Carolina and Washington over a 4 day span when neither team had a victory?!? i feel like they've been dominated in most games...even the games they won.

I fell asleep early into the 3rd period last night, I honestly can't remember another time I have fallen asleep during a Sabres or Bills game in over 40 years. I still haven't found the will power to just completely say no to watching them, but if this current trend keeps up, I can't imagine the day where I don't even care what time the Sabres game is, could be too far away.

[R_dudly]

Hartman, on 06 February 2013 - 07:26 AM, said:

I have to agree with billsarecursed.   Having the Center Ice package allows me to watch every team in the league playing that night, and it seems like alot of the other teams are playing a completely different game than this version of the Sabres.

What is exciting about hockey as a game to watch?  The speed, the scoring, the hitting, spectacular saves, etc.   The current Sabres come up short in all those categories.   Although there may be players with speed, the Sabres always seem tentative when carrying the puck up ice.  Scoring is limited to one line, and with the inevitable pending injury or cold streak, that will disappear too.  Hitting?  forget it.   Other than a couple guys, this team thinks a poke check is an aggressive play.   All the goaltending has been generally terrible so far this year.

For me, its really a struggle to watch this team night in, night out.

Yes sir center Ice provides that same comparison and result for me. I can just switch to another game which I regularly do and see what hockey is supposed to look like.  When you can do that every night you see everything you said is true.

I still try and do watch the games however the way they play really does make it a struggle for me as well.

[(E5)]

The Sabres are absolutely worth watching. I know it has been a tough start for this season, but we still have some very promising young talent on this roster.

First priority to me is to figure out what the living hell has happened to Tyler Myers and how can they get him back on track.

The defense is a mess for a number of reasons: Myers poor play, injuries and such. And even more frustrating to me is how many empty losses the Sabres have...no OT or shootout losses to get those cheap points.

[Potato]

I'll still watch every game I can.  You just have to temper your expectations and not get too upset when you see what you know you'll see (wretched defense, lazy uninspired play, etc.).  Living in Nashville, I do find myself watching more and more Predators games.  I've had Preds half season tickets for 4 years and they're everything the Sabres are not.  They overachieve.  Always one of the lowest payrolls, yet they seem to make the playoffs every year as one of the hardest working teams in hockey.  I kind of see the Preds as the anti-Sabres.

[I am Marcellus]

I think that times like these, are good opportunities to be more casual as a fan.  The past few games, I've barely watched.  Why bother?  Are my magical fan powers going to make them any better?  I know better.

It's kind of like tuning the coach out, as a player, tuning the team out, as a fan.  Thanks Rob Ray for the idea, on WGR, Chap and the MuttMan, Righty-O 550.

[Spndnchz]

Last nights game I think is the first game I haven't watched in 4 years.  I was out, DVR'd the game to watch later and heard the score on the way home.  Pulled up the recording and hit delete.

Trade is coming.

 jerrysullivansmall.gif   1.29MB   53 downloads

[MattPie]

That Aud Smell, on 06 February 2013 - 09:51 AM, said:

lindy cracked that the bruins game was a bit of fire wagon hockey*** -- that the fans got their money's worth. when he says stuff like that, he is, to my ear, clearly implying that such a style of play is/must be the exception to his system of play -- that it's a fanciful and capricious departure from the brutish, tough, mundane work that a team must consistently perform in order to succeed in the modern NHL.

I thought the same thing when I heard that clip. It's taken a long time and it wasn't just that quote, but Lindy has finally lost me. Maybe his system works with the right players, but Buffalo doesn't have those players and I don't want to watch the hockey that it creates.

(E5), on 06 February 2013 - 10:30 AM, said:

First priority to me is to figure out what the living hell has happened to Tyler Myers and how can they get him back on track. The defense is a mess for a number of reasons: Myers poor play, injuries and such. And even more frustrating to me is how many empty losses the Sabres have...no OT or shootout losses to get those cheap points.

While I didn't watch all the game last night (Ottawa), I thought Myers was, to a certain degree, "feeling it". Maybe Pardy is the security blanket he needed, but he was skating well and showed a few flashes of that rookie season. He even put that awkward hit on #15 to make a play. We'll have to see if he can build on that, or if he'll get paired up with Leopold again and be a further disaster.

[Potato]

Spndnchz, on 06 February 2013 - 10:49 AM, said:

Trade is coming.

jerrysullivansmall.gif

Been a lot of tweets (which I'm sure you also saw) about all of the scouts who have been watching our past few games.  Any guesses as to who might be on the block?

[johnyvegas]

I've started watching only DVR'd games.  Can't bear to watch in real time anymore this year.  My game night has recently evolved into the following...

"10pm, Hit Play.. watch until Sabres fall behind... FF until we tie it up.  Watch until we fall behind again.. FF.. see us fall further behind at 8X speed.  FF to end.  Delete.  Drink"

[Spndnchz]

COSabre, on 06 February 2013 - 10:55 AM, said:

Been a lot of tweets (which I'm sure you also saw) about all of the scouts who have been watching our past few games.  Any guesses as to who might be on the block?

Anybody except Hodgson, Pominville, Vanek, Miller, Grigorenko, and Foligno.

A defenseman most likely.  Darcy has had offers but none good enough for him yet.  I don't think he's every traded in season, just at the deadline and that's over a month away.  Yikes.

http://www.trendingb...tors-gif-recap/

Funny gif recap.  Well, funny in a self loathing type of way.

[inkman]

Spndnchz, on 06 February 2013 - 11:32 AM, said:

Anybody except Hodgson, Pominville, Vanek, Miller, Grigorenko, and Foligno.

Myers name conspicuously absent. Hmmm...

[Spndnchz]

inkman, on 06 February 2013 - 11:36 AM, said:

Myers name conspicuously absent. Hmmm...

I'll repeat my "Darcy has had offers but none good enough yet".

[ThirtyEight]

inkman, on 06 February 2013 - 11:36 AM, said:

Myers name conspicuously absent. Hmmm...

Yeah, maybe a mistake! That or we should get a king's ransom for him.

Spndnchz, on 06 February 2013 - 11:43 AM, said:

I'll repeat my "Darcy has had offers but none good enough yet".

Clearly others teams see Myers playing poorly and think they can scoop him up cheaply. Good thing no-one on this board is gm.

So is a trade nearly finalised or something or are you demanding a trade like everyone else?

[apuszczalowski]

COSabre, on 06 February 2013 - 10:55 AM, said:

Been a lot of tweets (which I'm sure you also saw) about all of the scouts who have been watching our past few games.  Any guesses as to who might be on the block?

Scouts go to games all the time, especially when teams struggle and they think they can pounce on a team ready for a firesale

But with Regier as the GM, and never willing to make a trade that does not have him declared a genius or the winner, I doubt a significant trade happens, unless you think Weber for a pick is significant....

[inkman]

Spndnchz, on 06 February 2013 - 11:43 AM, said:

I'll repeat my "Darcy has had offers but none good enough yet".

Looking back into history a young struggling Chris Pronger was traded to St. Louis for a in the prime of his career Brendan Shanahan.  Discuss.

[apuszczalowski]

ThirtyEight, on 06 February 2013 - 11:49 AM, said:

Yeah, maybe a mistake! That or we should get a king's ransom for him.



Clearly others teams see Myers playing poorly and think they can scoop him up cheaply. Good thing no-one on this board is gm.

So is a trade nearly finalised or something or are you demanding a trade like everyone else?

Elliot Freedman said in something he wrote that teams have seen the Sabres as a possible trade partner for defence because they have 8, and when asked GMs about it, they said Darcy told them to give him a reason to trade one of them (i.e. blow me away with an offer so I don't lose the trade)

As for Myers, with his contract alone teams aren't going to give you anything big unless you take back a bad contract. Any team taking him is goign to do it with teh hope that they can turn him around and are doing it at the risk that maybe he just isn't as good as everyone hoped.

[ThirtyEight]

inkman, on 06 February 2013 - 11:51 AM, said:

Looking back into history a young struggling Chris Pronger was traded to St. Louis for a in the prime of his career Brendan Shanahan.  Discuss.

"You could see [Pronger] had talent, but it was a ho-hum thing. He really didn't have any direction. He was under a lot of pressure and just wasn't ready for the responsibility. Of course that team wasn't exactly overloaded with players who knew how to win"

In the early years of his St. Louis career, Pronger played under coach and general manager Mike Keenan who insisted on Pronger improving his conditioning and reducing his mistakes. Late in his first season, the acquisition of Wayne Gretzky took pressure off of Pronger, which combined with Keenan's practices, allowed Pronger to concentrate on improving his defensive play

So, a change in coaching is important and having someone who accepts no mistakes is important.

I would not trade Pronger for Shanny

[apuszczalowski]

inkman, on 06 February 2013 - 11:51 AM, said:

Looking back into history a young struggling Chris Pronger was traded to St. Louis for a in the prime of his career Brendan Shanahan.  Discuss.

i would enjoy kicking both in the testicules if I ever met them in person...............

ThirtyEight, on 06 February 2013 - 11:56 AM, said:

"You could see [Pronger] had talent, but it was a ho-hum thing. He really didn't have any direction. He was under a lot of pressure and just wasn't ready for the responsibility. Of course that team wasn't exactly overloaded with players who knew how to win"

In the early years of his St. Louis career, Pronger played under coach and general manager Mike Keenan who insisted on Pronger improving his conditioning and reducing his mistakes. Late in his first season, the acquisition of Wayne Gretzky took pressure off of Pronger, which combined with Keenan's practices, allowed Pronger to concentrate on improving his defensive play

So, a change in coaching is important and having someone who accepts no mistakes is important.

I would not trade Pronger for Shanny

Nothing to do with picking up Gretzky to take pressure off of him?

[ThirtyEight]

apuszczalowski, on 06 February 2013 - 11:58 AM, said:

i would enjoy kicking both in the testicules if I ever met them in person...............

Nothing to do with picking up Gretzky to take pressure off of him?

Well I don't think we can get Gretzky anymore if i'm honest, he has lost a step or two in recent years


(Also he only played 12 games for the Blues). Vanek emerging as a talent might help, the only other thing we could do would be pick up Iginla in UFA? Otherwise there isn't much to be done

Edited by ThirtyEight, 06 February 2013 - 12:02 PM.

[Taro T]

Spndnchz, on 06 February 2013 - 11:32 AM, said:

Anybody except Hodgson, Pominville, Vanek, Miller, Grigorenko, and Foligno.

A defenseman most likely.  Darcy has had offers but none good enough for him yet.  I don't think he's every traded in season, just at the deadline and that's over a month away.  Yikes.

http://www.trendingb...tors-gif-recap/

Funny gif recap.  Well, funny in a self loathing type of way.

Close.

He picked up Sanderson for May a couple of months before the deadline and Stuuuuu for Barnaby a couple of weeks before the deadline.  There were a couple of other very minor moves, but that's it except for the deadline and off-season.