@boosbuzzsabres
The finger-pointing portion of the 2018-19 Buffalo Sabres schedule is upon us as the team is almost certainly destined for a playoff-less Spring. Where once they were the toast of the town, this group of Sabres has dropped below also-ran status and are once again destined to be watching the Stanley Cup playoffs instead of playing in them.
It's been eight years since Buffalo dropped a seven-game series to the Philadelphia Flyers under new owner Terry Pegula and since then there have been a ton of changes beginning in the upper reaches of the front office. Gone is team president Ted Black, the author of the phrase "Hockey Heaven" which he used to describe the organization they wanted to build. Black was a part of Pegula's inner circle when he first bought the team and one of the architects of the tank years but he was ousted in July, 2015 and replaced by Russ Brandon, who'd been team president of the Buffalo Bills, also owned by the Pegula family. Brandon resigned in May, 2018 after "internal investigations" and the position of team president was filled by Kim Pegula, Terry's wife.
In between there was the short-lived tenure of Hockey Hall of Famer Pat LaFontaine, who was President of Hockey Operations from November, 2013 to March, 2014. LaFontaine left the organization after presumably butting heads over the direction of the team which is curious in that the president of Hockey Operations is supposedly hired to head the on-ice product.
The Sabres are on their third general manager and fifth head coach since Pegula bought the team in February, 2011 and outside of the 2013-15 tank years, they've been searching for a true identity that can produce a playoff season.
GM Jason Botterill seems to have this team on the right track, at least when it comes to the way the NHL is played today, but the transition from former GM Tim Murray has been difficult. Botterill doesn't have the horses to run with the style of play he'd like and he had to rebuild the entire organization all the way down to their ECHL affiliate. Although he was able to add some talent, it's still a cobbled together Sabres team that features an array of player styles that never fully meshed. Yes, there were times this group looked like world-beaters but there are still too many holes to fill and too many key players who are struggling with the style Botterill and head coach Phil Housley wants to play. Inevitably it will lead to more roster changes that ideally will get them into the playoffs.
In saying that, who to keep and who to move on from might prove to be a difficult task but how certain players performed when the heat was cranked up might give an indication as to who they might be moving forward with.
Back on February 5, I wrote a blog titled
Welcome to the Pressure Dome after the Chicago Blackhawks dismantled the Sabres 7-3 in Buffalo's first game of a seven-game homestand. The loss dropped the Sabres to below .500 (25-20-6) for the first time since November 4 and we didn't really know what this team was. Well, we soon found out. Including that loss to Chicago, Buffalo went 3-3-1 on the homestand and fell apart afterward going 2-6-1 in the nine games that followed. Prior to the Chicago game the Sabres were three points out of a playoff spot whereas now they're 11 points out.
That 16-game stretch would define the direction of the team and there were some players that stepped up while others faltered. Here are the stats over that stretch (via NHL.com):
Offense
Jack Eichel C--16 games 9 goals 10 assists 19 points 21:41 ATOI
Sam Reinhart F--16 6 7 13 19:18
Jeff Skinner LW--16 5 8 13 18:53
Connor Sheary LW--16 4 5 9 14:55
Rasmus Dahlin D--16 3 6 9 22:16
Jason Pominville RW--16 5 3 8 13:05
Rasmus Ristolainen D--16 0 8 8 23:49
Casey Mittelstadt C--12 3 3 6 14:54
Evan Rodrigues F--16 2 4 6 16:53
Kyle Okposo RW--12 2 3 5 13:27
Zach Bogosian D--13 0 4 4 21:46
Zemgus Girgensons F--16 0 3 3 13:31
Marco Scandella D--11 1 1 2 16:56
Brandon Montour D--4 1 1 2 20:14
Johan Larsson C--14 1 1 2 13:53
C.J. Smith LW--7 1 0 1 9:39
Vladimir Sobotka C--13 1 0 1 12:57
Scott Wilson LW--6 0 1 1 10:41
Matt Hunwick D-- 8 0 1 1 15:03
Lawrence Pilut D--9 0 1 1 16:10
Jake McCabe D--15 0 1 1 18:45
Tage Thompson RW--14 0 0 0 10:58
Danny O'Regan C--1 0 0 0 11:56
Casey Nelson D--1 0 0 0 15:33
Nathan Beaulieu D--3 0 0 0 14:08
Remi Elie LW--3 0 0 0 7:40
Plus/minus
Beaulieu +1
O'Regan 0
Elie 0
Nelson 0
Smith 0
Montour 0
Wilson -2
Rodrigues -2
Hunwick -3
Sobotka -3
Pominville -3
Sheary -3
McCabe -4
Bogosian -4
Scandella -5
Mittelstadt -5
Larsson -6
Okposo -6
Thompson -7
Pilut -7
Girgensons -8
Reinhart -8
Dahlin -11
Eichel -11
Skinner -13
Ristolainen -19
Goalies
Linus Ullmark--11 games played ,4-5-1 record, 3.72 goals-against average, .888 save%
Carter Hutton--8 1-4-1 2.95 .909
Get those fingers warmed up and start pointing.
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