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Buffalo at the half-pole of the 2014-15 season |
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What do you get when you average the lowest number of goals scored in the league (1.76) and average the highest number of goals against in the league (3.39?) Last place, right?
Not so fast mi amigo.
The Buffalo Sabres are at the half-pole this 2014-15 season and sit in 28th place. Their 31 points place them four ahead of the last place Edmonton Oilers (who we'll get to in a bit) and three ahead of the Carolina Hurricanes who have one game in hand on the Sabres. That's with Buffalo going 1-8-1 over their last 10 games.
Leave it to Edmonton and their organizational dysfunction. The mess caused by their management team has the Oilers at the the bottom of the league and looking at yet another first overall pick. Even with their bevy of first-overall and first round picks, they're managing to underachive to the point where it looks as if they're tanking the season for Connor McDavid or consolation prize, Jack Eichel.
Nary a word nor a negative sentence has come from our neighbors to the north concerning the farce that is the Oilers this season, save to sheepishly defend them. No, they're not tanking. To even think so would get you a serious, "thumbs down." The true measure of "tanking" will come later when we'll see "convenient injuries and suspicious scratches that give the team a minor-league look." Kinda like what happens when you trade a three-time 20-goal scorer for a 28 yr. old, borderline NHL'er and a low first-rounder.
But that's something that the Sabres have no control over. Nor do they have any control over the number of key injuries 29th place Carolina has endured. Carolina is similar to Buffalo except for their goal differential. Their minus-26 goal differential makes them look like serious contenders compared to the Sabres' minus-62. Or maybe I'm having bouts of dyslexia from pouring over too many numbers.
Regardless, they've been having as much trouble scoring as the Sabres, something I'm sure surprised them considering they have former Sabres Nathan Gerbe and Andrej Sekera on the team. They have some really good players, though, but really felt the loss of Jordan Staal who was out for the first three months of the season. Since his return four games ago the team is a respectable 2-2. They still can't score (6 goals in those four games,) but they're keeping the goals-against down and not getting blown out of the building.
Unlike the Sabres.
Sheesh. And we thought it was bad when they opened up the season 3-13-2. It was an ugly opening as they scored 22 goals (1.22 /game) while giving up 65 goals-against (3.61/game.) For posterity's sake, the Sabres were shut out five times in the first 12 games. They gave up five goals twice and six goals four times during that opening 18-game stretch.
They've managed to get worse overall during their last 10 games as they've scored 16 goals (1.60/game) while giving up 45 goals-against (4.50/game.) They were shut out once during that span and scored one goal in five of them. They had five goals scored against them four times, six goals scored against them twice.
With numbers like that encompassing 28 of the 41 games they've played thus far, the Sabres should be at the bottom of the league despite Edmonton's non-tank-like play and the 'Canes, Sabres-like scoring ineptitude.
Right?
But a funny thing happened on the way to the bottom. The Sabres transformed into a real team for a brief, one-month span and went on a 10-3 run that propelled them into 26th place at one point.
They were lighting the lamp frequently with 34 goals (2.61/game) during that stretch and gave up 28 goals (2.15/game.) They scored six goals one time while adding four goals five times. They surrendered four or more goals only twice.
Last season was pretty easy for Sabres fans. They were told to prepare for "suffering" and the team delivered. While the flames of hockey hell swirled all around them, they were afforded a drink of cool water as head coach Ted Nolan got the team to a slightly better place.
This year's a bit different. Those who let their emotions come into play have been on a pretty wild ride. A record of 3-13-2 followed by 10-3-0 followed by 1-8-1 is the definition of a roller-coaster and if you're a bit woozy from having emotionally invested in them, sorry. It happens.
With the second half of the season in front of us there's a conundrum that will definitively affect the Sabres and it's best to keep the emotions in check and the mind open.
The trade deadline is approaching and no less than four names will be garnering plenty of attention in the rumor mill--forwards Chris Stewart and Drew Stafford as well as defensemen Andre Benoit and Andrej Meszaros. Others possibilities include one of two soon to be unrestricted free agent goalies--Jhonas Enroth or Michal Neuvirth.
Other long-shot trade possibilities that could affect the club are defenseman Tyler Myers and forward Cody Hodgson. Whoever's left will need to carry on.
The forces of tank are also all around Buffalo. Joining the aforementioned Oilers and 'Canes in the last place mix are the Arizona Coyotes a team who may be starting their rebuild at an opportune time. This year it's McDavid and Eichel, as well as a strong draft class while next year it looks to be Auston Matthews. Matthews is from Scottsdale, AZ and is said to be as talented as McDavid or Eichel. Imagine that, first an outdoor game in Los Angeles, CA, now a prodigy from Arizona who will probably be the first overall pick in the 2016 draft. Buffalo fans are feeling a chill here in hockey hell.
It's kinda fun to think of Arizona landing the top overall pick in the next two drafts. Nothing would tick off our neighbors to the north more than a team like Arizona in a "non-traditional" hockey market landing two franchise players back-to-back. Hey, Edmonton had three first overall picks in a row. Right?
Also something to keep tabs on for Sabres fans are the two other teams who've traded their 2015 first round picks to Buffalo--St. Louis and the NY Islanders.
Both are secure in a playoff spot right now but have seen their status slip recently as they've become somewhat middling while the teams around them have begun to pick it up.
Presently the Blues are third in the Central Division, four points ahead of Winnipeg. They are also four points ahead of the Jets and the Los Angeles Kings in the wild card standings, six points ahead of the Calgary Flames.
The Islanders are in second place in the Metropolitan Division, six points ahead of the Washington Capitals, but have played two more games. In the wildcard, they're seven points head of the NY Rangers who've played four less games and eight points ahead of a struggling Toronto Maple Leafs club. Boston sits nine points behind the Isles while the Florida Panthers are 10 points back with three games in hand.
Once veterans are moved, youngins and Rochester Amerks players who've earned it will get their opportunity on the big club as it will be a time to see whether or not they'll be a part of the future of the blue and gold.
With the way the season has unfolded thus far, and with a choppy future ahead, it's best to keep an even keel while this season sorts itself out. It's something we Sabres fans have been accustomed to recently as most have been able to emotionally detach themselves from the aura of "la core."
While we may get fired up about players like Zemgus Girgensons, Rasmus Ristolainen and Nikita Zadorov and drool at the potential they have, the best way to approach the next five months is to simply take it as it comes.
Call it self-preservation.
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