51 replies to this topic

[gpsabre]

I've been a Sabres fan 35  years now. 1978-the end of the French Connection era. But can anyone recall a more pathetic bunch of unskilled,mutton-heads? Help me out! Mid-80's and early 90's, but come on...anyone? I'm getting more depressed by the game.

[Robviously]

gpsabre, on 10 March 2013 - 10:28 PM, said:

I've been a Sabres fan 35  years now. 1978-the end of the French Connection era. But can anyone recall a more pathetic bunch of unskilled,mutton-heads? Help me out! Mid-80's and early 90's, but come on...anyone? I'm getting more depressed by the game.

I prefer to think of them as a bunch of cotton-headed, ninny-muggins.

[North Buffalo]

Nope can't remember a worse efforted team by key players.  Some teams have had less talent, but they all worked harder.  Bring back Ted Nolan... Hasek's wife is gone...

[PromoTheRobot]

This is pretty bad but I think there may have been worse.  Ironically I don't think they are an untalented team.  But something is making them act like they forgot how to play.  Bad coaching?  Bad attitude?  Could TP be too nice to the players and they are complacent? I've never seen so many highly-thought-of players come to Buffalo, and players who were here and used to be better, look like total crap.

PTR

Edited by PromoTheRobot, 10 March 2013 - 11:22 PM.

[Wharf Rat]

Possibly the worst combination of a defensive club, special teams and huge payroll in club history.
I cannot watch any more this season.

[buftex]

PromoTheRobot, on 10 March 2013 - 11:21 PM, said:

This is pretty bad but I think there may have been worse.  Ironically I don't think they are an untalented team.  But something is making them act like they forgot how to play.  Bad coaching?  Bad attitude?  Could TP be too nice to the players and they are complacent? I've never seen so many highly-thought-of players come to Buffalo, and players who were here and used to be better, look like total crap.

PTR

I don't know what it is either, because I agree with you...this team isn't without talent...but they are awful.  There has been a slight improvement (in my eyes) since the coaching change, but those who claimed that Lindy wasn't the problem are being vindicated... Steve Ott, sadly, is the only guy who consistently seems engaged in the game... the mental errors are just remarkable because of their sheer volume.

I am rarely the guy who says "blow it up"....(like most of you here, I have years of experience rooting for inferior teams)...but blow it up...show Darcy the door and start from scratch.  Nobody should be secure in their job...I like some of our players, but get used to the idea that you have to give something to get something.

I have been following the Sabres since that first cup finals appearance in 1975.  I will admit, due to location, I missed a fair amount of time from the team from 1988-1998m only catching the rare game on ESPN over those years...that said, I think this years team may be the worst I have ever seen...if this wasn't an abbreviated season, I might not be so quick to make that judgment... I also recall, last season for the first time in a decade (or whenever Center Ice started...12 years?), there was a stretch in December where I made the conscious decision that I would not watch them any more, until they won two consecutive games...about 6 weeks later, I was safe to watch again, and they played very well down the stretch...I am mindful, still, that something like that could happen this year as well.  It may not be measurable, but I do think their effort has been a little better since Ruff was fired.  They still never seem to put a complete game together, but have looked pretty good in small stretches...hell, the other night against the Devils, they played a really fine game, for about 57 minutes...that was probably the worst loss of the year, for me.

Robviously, on 10 March 2013 - 10:31 PM, said:

I prefer to think of them as a bunch of cotton-headed, ninny-muggins.

I think of them as taffy-ass.  They have made a noble attempt to be "tougher" this year (give them credit for finally acknowledging that toughness was an area of weakness), but they are still mentally fragile... tonight (against the Flyers) they gave up a goal early, and could never overcome it...it has been the same story all season, no matter the coach.

Edited by buftex, 11 March 2013 - 12:16 AM.

[qwksndmonster]

Great stuff, Buftex.

I can't say for all time, but definitely the worst team I've been around for.

Wharf Rat, gpsabre, and PTR: you guys need some new avatars

[skaught]

Still better than Florida...

[drunken idiot]

IDK about worst of all time, but man, did they absolutely suck against the Flyers in the 1st period last night. That was horrible, they should each give a refund of their game checks.

[Sabres Fan In NS]

There have been worse teams over the years (result wise / talent wise), but I can't recall a team with worse effort game in game out as this team.

[X. Benedict]

1986 was bad. But that team had more overall talent.

[CallawaySabres]

I can definitely say this - I have never, ever disliked a Buffalo sports team in 40 plus years more than I do this one. I would imagine you could blow Terry Pegula over with a feather right about now......No kidding aside, I bet he hates this team even more because it got Lindy fired.

[deluca67]

"Worst" can be determined statistically. This does have to be one of the most unlikeable teams in Sabres history. At this point there isn't one player I would consider the Sabres as "having to keep."

[wjag]

It's like trying to pick the worst strawberry out of a carton of bad strawberries.  There have been so many disappointing seasons over the years, that they blend together.  This one is particularly painful because after the breath of fresh air that blew through this franchise, the upgrades, the money, the free agents, the on-ice product is just brutal to watch at times.  For all the investment, the product is as bad, maybe the worst ever.  Heck I'll say it, with all the investment, this is the worst ever.  Until next year that is, when hope springs eternal and then is cruelly dashed anew.

[independent]

Let the sabres use the visitors locker room at home. That would get my attention.

[carpandean]

buftex, on 11 March 2013 - 12:03 AM, said:

There has been a slight improvement (in my eyes) since the coaching change, but those who claimed that Lindy wasn't the problem are being vindicated...

See, the issue I have with this is that there doesn't have to be a (singular) "the problem".  I feel just as vindicated as someone who believed/claimed that Lindy was (at this point, with this team) a problem, but not the only one.  There was still in-game mismanagement, some of which has been corrected, and Lindy was actively involved with Darcy in putting this team together.  I agree with you that they still need to:

Quote

show Darcy the door

before this team can finally move in a new direction under Pegula.

Edited by carpandean, 11 March 2013 - 07:56 AM.

[sabres4life19]

I've been a passionate fan since the mid 90's and this just seems cruel. I actually turned the game off last night because i was just disgusted with them, it is down right hard to watch. I've always been against cleaning house and trading major parts of the team but this team is different...we thought they quit on lindy but it looks like they've quit on themselves...Only guys i want to hold onto at this point is Hodgson maybe ennis + foligno and girgorenko. AKA the guys that havent been hear for past several years.

Stafford looks like Brad Boyes did last year, in need of a change.
Hecht..goes without saying..time to hang em up. (yes even though he scored)
I have no urge to have Leopold back in the lineup, whats the point?
Maybe Foligno needs to fine tune his skills in the AHL some more?
I Think Vanek needs dominant linemates to be dominant...without them he just kind of floats around.
Can someone else besides Weber please step up and fight when someone gets crushed? Because the guy may have a heart of gold but he is a horrible fighter.
Get Enroth some games.
Let Porter help roch...i dont think he brings much besides a defensive forward really.

this list goes on.

someone call lindy...tell him we changed our minds...

[716]

Maybe it's not the worst talent-wise but I think this is the softest, most fragile minded team in Sabres history. I'm not sure where to start with a rebuild...There are so many holes and the parts don't fit together. It seems many games that the guys are just meeting for the first time right before the game. Blowing it up might not achieve the desired result...I think Pegula is part of the problem.

[That Aud Smell]

i don't think this is one of the three worst rosters we've ever had, but i do think it's one of the three worst teams we've ever had.

[wonderbread]

I'd rather be chained to a chair and forced to watch mtvs teen mom, then watch this team.

[ThirtyEight]

On paper, this team isn't half bad. If Foligno played like he did last season/this season in the AHL (instead of dangling every 2 seconds) and Stafford remembered he was a hockey player we would have a decent (but not ideal) top 6:

Vanek - Coho - Pommers
Foligno - Ennis - Stafford

Then we have a but of an unusual third line that is not your typical shutdown but instead a lovely combination of grit, skill and possession:

Ott - Grigo - Leino

Our 4th line is then a bit of a utility line - which could be what made this team great! We could have tailored it to our opponents strengths

Scott - Mccormick - Kaleta = Grit line
Hecht - Porter - Kaleta = Defensive line
Gerbe also exists, but I really struggle to work out how he fits into a team. I like him as a person. But he is not skilled enough to make up for his size - he gets hemmed in our zone a lot and is too small to really muscle for the puck on a consistent basis

On defence I think we have in theory a really nice line-up:

Myers - Ehrhoff should be your number 1/2 D men (even if they don't play of the same line
Sekera - Regehr = here you have a defensive but not physical young number 3 d-man, and a gritty leader vet who has lost a step to become a number 4
Weber - Leo = Gritty young number 5/6 and a decent 2 way player who rounds out the top 6

Then in the wings we have Brennan (youngish chip on shoulder prospect), Pardy (gritty number 6), Sulzer (decent number 7)

Our issues our weird. We have the pieces but they don;t fit

[That Aud Smell]

ThirtyEight, on 11 March 2013 - 08:58 AM, said:

Then in the wings we have Brennan (youngish chip on shoulder prospect)

good post. but please let us never cast brennan as being "in the wings", unless, by that phrase, we mean "firmly entrenched as a career AHL-er."

[CallawaySabres]

With 4 games this month between Florida, Tampa and Caps, they very well can determine how how they pick in the draft. I just pray they bottom out this month because they are not there yet. Once the Leafs, Habs and others start beating them by at least 3 goals, I think we see the bottom. Please don't Bills us and win a few meaningless games....

[Potato]

We've had bad seasons before, but this team is about to go 7 years without winning a playoff series.  And, we can't even use injuries as an excuse.  If that isn't evidence that "the core" is rotten then I don't know what is.

Congrats, Darcy.  You managed to build the shittiest team in the NHL.

[Suffer_enuff]

I've seen every season the Sabres have ever played - this team is the worst.  The early teams (1970-1972) did not have a lot of talent, but played hard. The late '80s - early '90s teams were not overly blessed with talent, but they put in an effort.  This team is aimless. They are out of playoff contention already (maybe not mathematically, but for all intents and purposes). There are more than a few that know they won't be wearing a Sabres' sweater next season.
No matter how bad previous teams have been, this is the first time I've ever really disliked a Sabres team. It's also the first time I've ever given up on one.

[weave]

The '85-86 team seems to be constructed similarly to this one.

Both had a very good goalie with personalities that some fans thought might be a lockerroom issue anchoring the team (Miller, Barasso)

Both had a #1 center with questions (Perreault at the end and Hodgson in his 1st yr as a #1)  and a very young,unproven #2 center (Tucker, Ennis)

Both had thin depth on the wings (Vanek, Pominville, Stafford when he wants to compares to Andrechuck, Foligno and Cyr when he wants to)

Both had too many AHL'ers in NHL roles (Gage, Orlando, LaCombe  vs Ellis, Porter, Flynn)

And a defense that looked good on paper but didn't work (Virta, Ramsey, Housley, Hajt, Reekie, Ruff, Dykstra compares to Myers, Ehrhoff, Regehr, Sekera, Weber, Leopold).


I would say that the '95-96 team was worse than this one though.  Sure, that team had Hasek and LaFontaine but the #2 scorer on the team that year was Randy Freaking Burridge.  That was a seriously bad team.

And '02-03  deserves strong consideration.  Top 3 scorers were Satan, Gratton, Kotalik.  They were a decent defensive team with guys like Warrener, McKee, Patrick, and Zhitnick in back but there was nothing on offense at all.  Kotalik was #3 in team scoring with 35 points fer cryin' out loud.

[Spndnchz]

lol

[buftex]

carpandean, on 11 March 2013 - 07:55 AM, said:

See, the issue I have with this is that there doesn't have to be a (singular) "the problem". I feel just as vindicated as someone who believed/claimed that Lindy was (at this point, with this team) a problem, but not the only one.  There was still in-game mismanagement, some of which has been corrected, and Lindy was actively involved with Darcy in putting this team together.  I agree with you that they still need to:

Yeah, had a few beers when I wrote that....but you are right.  And, let me say, I liked Lindy Ruff a lot, but I was definitely in the "it's time for a coaching change" camp.  And, I wasn't implying that it was a bad move.  Where I will admit to being wrong, I was starting to buy into the whole "Lindy doesn't let these guys play" mantra...I guess I was overestimating the talent level on the team.  You would think getting your coach fired (like him or not) would have waken them up...but other than a few guys (Ott, Gerbe, Ennis come to mind- but I have never had a problem with their effort) I am not seeing much of a change in the mentality of this team.  I thought, perhaps mistaknely, that Ruff had something to do with their lack of mental resiliency, but nothing really seems to have changed without Ruff behind the bench.

[That Aud Smell]

weave, on 11 March 2013 - 10:18 AM, said:

The '85-86 team seems to be constructed similarly to this one.

this is great perspective, weave. thanks.

weave, on 11 March 2013 - 10:18 AM, said:

I would say that the '95-96 team was worse than this one though.  Sure, that team had Hasek and LaFontaine but the #2 scorer on the team that year was Randy Freaking Burridge.  That was a seriously bad team.

plus, that era of sabres had john gurtler calling games on the tee-vee. yes, gurtler coined the dominator. we give him that. but he also tried (and failed) to dub dave hannan "the general," had a call for burridge's shots on net that was uniquely bad (here's randy burrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrridge), and once tried to get a weird "euro train has left the station" thing going when khymelev would assist on another eruo's/rooskie's goal.

[LGR4GM]

John Vogl ‏@BuffNewsVogl
Ville Leino is also practicing for Sabres. Was a spare in first couple of drills, now with Hecht and Ott.

we are getting leino back though and he is going to play lw/c with the other 2 guys on the team who play lw/c we are the best team ever!

[Potato]

Some good fake twitter accounts out there...

Jason Pominville ‏ @JasonPominville
I like big fluffy teddy bears. I enjoy picking flowers. I like rainbows and hearts. I play hockey for the Buffalo Sabres!

[weave]

LGR4GM, on 11 March 2013 - 11:04 AM, said:

John Vogl ‏@BuffNewsVogl
Ville Leino is also practicing for Sabres. Was a spare in first couple of drills, now with Hecht and Ott.

we are getting leino back though and he is going to play lw/c with the other 2 guys on the team who play lw/c we are the best team ever!

No room for a Leino-Grigo-Ott line it appears.

COSabre, on 11 March 2013 - 11:07 AM, said:

Some good fake twitter accounts out there...

Jason Pominville ‏ @JasonPominville
I like big fluffy teddy bears. I enjoy picking flowers. I like rainbows and hearts. I play hockey for the Buffalo Sabres!

Literally LOL'd

[Ghost of Dwight Drane]

This took years to happen. It has been such a culture of groupthink....and sadly the Pegula/Black method embraces that culture even more....they have said it many times.

Ruff was part of the problem, Darcy is part of the problem, soft players who have had SabreSchool...or whatever the heck that thing is, indoctrinated into them are part of the problem.

I said it when Pegula got here....Puppy Mill. I was pleased to see Ott, Regehr, Gerbe, Weber, Kaleta seem to love getting let off the Lindy Leash, but there are still too many big money players in important positions that have been here far too long and know only 1 way to do things......The Sabre Way.

This is turning into the disaster I feared worst. Everyone ignored the problems the past few years....expectations were sky high, performance is pitifull, now we have fans going bonkers and the media ready to jump down Pegula's throat. Does Pegula even go to any games anymore or has he gone Tommy G on us?

At least letting Lindy go is a sign we "might" really blow this up at some point....but I hate to see where the fanbase is today. There was absolutely no reason for it to get this bad.

This isn't the worst Sabres team in history.....but it is the most poisoned team in Sabres history....

[wnyguy]

Don't get me wrong, I love the Sabres but I hate this team.

[TrueBluePhD]

ThirtyEight, on 11 March 2013 - 08:58 AM, said:

On paper, this team isn't half bad. If Foligno played like he did last season/this season in the AHL (instead of dangling every 2 seconds) and Stafford remembered he was a hockey player we would have a decent (but not ideal) top 6:

What is on paper has to influenced by what's actually happening, no?  What I mean is, some of the guys on paper who are good, maybe actually aren't good.  Myers can't be good on paper when he's not good in reality, at least at this point.  If a good team on paper is 29th in the league, they're not actually a good team on paper, but rather, our perception is off.  They're a bad team, on paper and in reality.

[apuszczalowski]

TrueBluePhD, on 11 March 2013 - 12:54 PM, said:

What is on paper has to influenced by what's actually happening, no?  What I mean is, some of the guys on paper who are good, maybe actually aren't good.  Myers can't be good on paper when he's not good in reality, at least at this point.  If a good team on paper is 29th in the league, they're not actually a good team on paper, but rather, our perception is off.  They're a bad team, on paper and in reality.

Disagree, On papaer, a defencmen with Myers size would be considered great, the key is that on paper, what you get is a name along with what they are projected to do/be (potential), when you look at the lineup along with reality, thats when things look worse.

[ThirtyEight]

TrueBluePhD, on 11 March 2013 - 12:54 PM, said:

What is on paper has to influenced by what's actually happening, no?  What I mean is, some of the guys on paper who are good, maybe actually aren't good.  Myers can't be good on paper when he's not good in reality, at least at this point.  If a good team on paper is 29th in the league, they're not actually a good team on paper, but rather, our perception is off.  They're a bad team, on paper and in reality.

To an extent yeah, my/our perception is off. However, for example, Stafford is currently playing awfully offensively. His shooting percentage is 3.3%, but is he (or anyone) actually that lacking in offensive ability or is something just off/wrong? On paper he should be a 50 point 8ish% scorer, currently he is not - but i don't think it is because over the last 7 months he has just turned into a ###### player - i just don't know why it is

Maybe the shortened season played a bigger role in the weird standings than expected (Rags, Devs and Flyers all fighting for the playoffs whilst the Habs sit atop the East etc.)

[PASabreFan]

Dunno. But it's definitely the worst Sabres team two years after a multibillionaire superfan bought the team and promised multiple Cups.

[etiennep99]

<p>

Spndnchz, on 11 March 2013 - 10:39 AM, said:

lol

To Quote Dick Cavett: Barbra Streisand played in a movie called "Funny Girl", andin a movie called, "Funny Lady".  Today, she should be star in a movie called "Funny old Crock"....And, that seems to be the Sabres today, an old crock.
Here's another funny Dick Cavett clip:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C8m9vDRe8fw

[That Aud Smell]

PASabreFan, on 11 March 2013 - 02:02 PM, said:

Dunno. But it's definitely the worst Sabres team two years after a multibillionaire superfan bought the team and promised multiple Cups.

Spot on.