The Tailgate
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So the Buffalo Sabres continue to build on their NHL record of not making the playoffs, it now sits at 13 years, 13 miserable fucking years. The most frustrating thing was, this was it....this was the year we get over that hump, end this playoff drought and we make some noise, we made noise alright but it in a not so good way. Lets start at the the top, our top guys didn't perform, simple as that. Name the player they didn't perform....it's true, you can try and find a silver lining or say this and that but the guys making the money, signing the big ticket and long term contracts simply weren't good enough. THE STARS DIDN'T SHINE Tage Thompson who is coming off an 38 and 47 goal years, comes out flat to start, gets hurt and while 29 goals isn't anything to turn your nose up at it's just not what we expected. Like I said, 29 goals in the NHL is no joke but I mean damn when we're talking about this guy hitting 50 this year and taking this offense to a whole new level, you bet your ass it was disappointing. Then we have Dylan Cozens, another who got extended....signed a fat long term deal, coming off a career year in which we saw Cuzzy score 31 goals, holy shit he was almost no existent for most of the year. We didn't even see Cozens play with any kind of edge or anything that made us love this kid, I mean last year he was starting shit with people just to start shit this year there was no fire at all, finishes the year with 17 goals after putting up career numbers last year, which is something we've all been waiting for from Cuzzy. Let's move on to Alex Tuch, I mean c'mon I felt like he wasn't even on the ice for the first month of the season, he was just kind of skating out there, not doing much of anything at all. The sad reality of it is Tuch let this team in points, how many you ask? 59, 59 effin points is what led this team....and NHL teams leading point scorer had 59 points. Skinner did Skinner things, scored some goals here and there but that's it....literally that's it. I thought Dahlin had a solid season putting up 20 goals for a career high and 2nd on the team in points with 58, I didn't hate Dahl's play at all this year. Same goes for Owen Power, OP had a career year in almost all categories including finishing at a +8 +/- rating. But I mean, as I stated before these guys gotta fucking play better. Coaching, what was the plan? Honestly, I love Donny Meatballs, I truly did but some nights watching this team you can tell there was no accountability with anyone, if you played bad? "eh he had an off night he's fine". Did I want my coach to go out and completely shit on one of his players? No because I think that achieves nothing at all but god damn at least explain where the breakdown was, what went wrong, why it went wrong don't give me the bullshit line of "oh that happens sometimes" no fuck that. Also Matt Ellis? What in gods name is he doing running a power play unit? He has like 9 career goals what the fuck makes anyone thing, yeah this is the guy to run our power play. The defensive strategy was abysmal at best, I mean when the opposing team scores and you have 4 dudes below the goal line? I want my coach to go in the locker room and start punching dudes in the dick for that kind of shit. Again I loved Donny Meatballs, He has us in a better spot than when he took over which was in the middle of that 18 game losing streak, he's developed our guys into the players they are and I thank him for everything he's given to this team but we need that coach to take us over the hump now and be consistent game in and game out. Front office and Ownership? What's the move? Make us believe again I don't hate Kevyn Adams, actually the opposite, I like him a lot. I thought Adams said all the right things at his presser yesterday and he said things that no one else has said that needed to be said. He's right, this team isn't performing good enough, they haven't earned shit in this league, players need to be accountable. But what he is going to do? Who is he going to hire as the coach? Are players on their way out? Only time will tell but I do think Adams is the right choice for our GM, if not then we move on....like always. Adams said at his presser the Terry Pegula is very much involved in the running of this team and his passion for this team is still there, do I believe it? I don't know honestly. I guess it is very tough to be so hands on with the team knowing what his wife is going through. After the article came out written by Jessica Pegula detailing her mothers health issues, it truly was heartbreaking and you have to take a step back and really think about life and that the Pegula's sure are billionaire's but they are human beings too. So if Terry can get the right hockey people in place? I think we'll be ok..... Who's our next coach? Let's start with the coaching search, there's a few candidates that come to mind right off the bat. You have to think Craig Berube is in this conversation, took a 2019 St. Louis Blues team to the Stanley Cup when at the all-star break they were one of if not the worst team in the NHL. A more (in some people's eyes) controversial decision would be Joel Quenneville, In my opinion I think what happened when he was in Chicago is awful but on the other hand he made peace, he has apologized to Kyle Beach and the hockey world for his actions and I am sorry I'm not hear to explain the Kyle Beach situation, YouTube it if you don't know. What you cannot argue with is his success, 21 playoff appearances in 24 years as a head coach that includes 3 Stanley Cups. Now let's get to my last candidate I want to talk about, they say "to move forward you must look back"....Lindy Ruff.....I don't hate it....but is it purely for nostalgia purposes or do I think Lindy is what we need.....a little of both. I think his coaching style is EXACTLY what this team needs and you bet your ass I'd love to see him behind the bench in KeyBank again. Let's be honest, none of us know who the hell the next coach is going to be but you can be sure of one thing, Adams better hit this one out of the fucking park because if we have another Krueger situation his head will be the next one the fans want. The lone bright spots This one is going to be real short and sweet. You can argue with me all you want but it's UPL and JJ Peterka. UPL had 27 wins, 5 shutouts and a 2.57 GAA. He carried the load when we needed him to and the team let him down. We lost how many 2-1 or 1-0 games? A year after being one of the top 3 highest scoring teams in the NHL, imagine if we had this goaltending last year? We would have won the presidents trophy. Peterka was fantastic this year, putting up a career high 28 goals and 50 points. He was tremendous on the powerplay and seemed to be all over the ice, again we've been waiting for that from JJ and hopefully he isn't like the rest of the team and takes a dip next year. Lastly, the roster.....what's going to happen? Let's start with the fact we don't have a captain. Just me saying it, I think it's going to be Rasmus Dahlin and I for one have no problem with that at all. He's shown he gives a shit about this team, he plays like a complete prick and he leads on the ice, as far as the alternates go I think it should be Tuch and Cozens,,,,yeah I know a couple paragraphs ago I shit all over them but if they show the same fire they had last year then give them the "A"'s. I think it's safe to say we've seen the last of Olofsson and Girgensons and I'm fine with it, there's 6.5 million in cap space we have now to work with. Olofsson sucks and Girgensons is at best a grinder and we don't need that. I think we need to keep Bo Byram for the long term then our core 4 defenseman are set, UPL needs to be re-signed especially if he puts in another year like he just had. Now let's go back to our core 4 defensman.....dude....Mattias Samuelsson needs to stay healthy and play a full NHL season, after inking a 7 year 30 million dollar deal Samuelsson got a season ending injury for the second straight year, When healthy Sammi is a top shut down d-man in the league, stats don't lie, this team is better with him in the lineup. Speaking of staying healthy Jack Quinn should have never returned to the lineup this year after a second terrible knee injury, we've seen what he can do when he's healthy Quinn had 19 points in 27 games this year. What'd we do if these two can't stay healthy? I'm just sayin I think they need to go, what good are they to us if they're not in the lineup? The final reaction It sucks, this may be a HUGE overreaction but this sucks and it sucks bad. I love this team like I love this fucking team, If you know me I love Notre Dame football and I love the Sabres and If you know me I've always said Sabres Stanley Cup before anything, that's what I want. One of my favorite things to see at the end of the year is the last few minutes of the Stanley Cup Finals(I didn't watch the Vegas one because fuck Jack Eichel I hope he gets herpes) because I love the hoisting of the Cup, the ceremony, the presentation and every year I sit and say "some day, some day that's gonna be us, I know it" and it's tough to sit there and even imagine it anymore, we're on a 13 year playoff drought, while we might not be the doormat of the NHL like we were under Krueger you can bet your ass their are teams out there who consider us a joke. I want to believe we're going to turn it around, I want to believe we're gonna get the coach who takes us to the promiseland, I want to believe this is the roster that's going to take us there.....but when you keep seeing the same song and dance every year it's tough to believe anymore, it really is. I think, maybe HOPE we can do this I really do hope, I want to enjoy watching Sabres games again, I miss it man, I do....my last note for the 2023-2024 season.... I believe next year is different, I believe truly the drought ends and I believe we aren't a joke anymore and the city of Buffalo and Sabres fans all over can go out and say "yeah I'm a Sabres fan" with pride again.
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April 2024
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