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I fixed it for you

Best damn farm team in the NHL!

If he had went to the Sabres he probably could have won 2 by now for the Panthers.

If you told me back a few yews ago when they were in the Sabres that Eichel, Reinhart and o’reilly would have 4 Stanley cups and players from the 2017-18 would have 11, I would have been elated, thinking the Sabres won the Stanley cup 2 times. sad and pathetic franchise

We're a farm team. Denial just makes it worse. " See the future winners while they're here ! Buy your tickets today ! "

Competent ownership means “the extent of the rebuild” would not have been a tear it down to nothing effort. Who knows if we even draft Sam and Eichel at that point? The team wouldn’t look like you think it would. Everything would be very different.

Cripes...it's not like I lose sleep over it. But thanks for telling me how to feel about it. I needed that.

Partly that was to trade away Muel with it

So this mcdavid guy…… one more year till UFA. Will he re-sign with the oilers? Would be a fun offseason if he didn’t.

that's why I specifically said " let's Assume the Sabres had competent ownership, mgmt and coaching. Or are you saying it would have been impossible for them to get to the level of players they've become if they stayed in Buffalo? If that's the case how do you explain Tage's progress and Dahlin becoming one of the top defenders in the league Not to mention both Sam and Jack were pretty good as Sabres and neither had hit their "prime" before being traded away

Both Eckel and Reinhart are great players, but the difference between their failures in Buffalo and successes after Buffalo are directly related to their surrounding cast. Florida and Las Vegas built winning rosters, winning coaching and winning management. It is what it is.

I feel sorry for McDavid

Oh the NHL doesn't care who wins (usually) and they are most definitely in the entertainment business but that league view is different than a team's view. The league just wants things it can sell, be that McJesus or other superstars or even Rat Kings. They will market whatever is going. A team however needs a winning culture and a belief that the team is doing all it can to try to win.

How did this become this?

Then we can watch the next group taking turns winning the cup. There is no mystery here. Post-Regier, Pegula hired Tim Murray, Botterill, and Adams to be his GMs. And head coaches included Housley, Krueger, and now Ruff at the end of his career. Pegula has simply hired the wrong people over and over. It’s not the players.

Imagine an alternative world where the 2019-20 Sabres have competent ownership, management and coaching The core 4 ( if you will) would be Tage, Eichel, Samson and Dahlin. .where would stand now? a) same - the drought would still continue b) wildcard contenders. - would have made the playoffs once or twice but never really a threat c) solid playoff team - consistently making playoffs but never really a cup contender (similar to the Leafs) d) would be in a group of 4 or 5 teams that are legit cup contenders Just to remind us all, other players on that roster Mitts, Mcabe, Montour, Skinner, Ullmark, Risto and ERod Cozens, JJP and Quinn were in the system there are still lots of holes to be plugged But let's assume MGMT did a decent job of filling in the rest of the roster but the stars were the core 4

Remember when this franchise used to draft players that were good enough to go out and win Stanley Cups as soon as they left the team. Now this team is full of guys who are healthy scratches (Skinner) and players that can't even make it to the Finals (Mitts). Way to go Kev!

Thanks Captain Obvious

Forsling posing for a picture with his family and the cup and his infant/toddler child will not face the camera, can’t stop staring at the cup. I love that they keep the cameras rolling so long so we can see this stuff in the background.

Each sport has their annual all star playoff bust , Connor McDavid, Aaron Judge, Lamar Jackson… these players put up phenomenal numbers during the season and then never show up in the big moments

And that injury probably gets them Marchand and Jones too.

This is an incredible team. Just so all around. They are tough (especially with the addition of Marchand). Physical. They play exceptional defense. They skate really well. They have multiple quality scorers. They are deep with 4 lines. They are extremely intelligent and disciplined. They are selfless and play together. They have a great goaltender. And they have guys who can intimidate and defend players ... no one is really going to mess with this team. And they make great trades at the GM level. What more could you ask? They may not have a Gretzky or Lemieux or Crosby or McDavid, they are not a flashy offensive team but really what a great grinding team. And how far are the Sabres from all those qualities? Hard to even imagine. Light years.

I think the NHL believes, maybe its true, that winning is NOT all that matters. Toronto is a great example. The 'everday' fan has been mostly priced out of the games. Yeah, there are some, but a lot of the crowd seems to be from a higher 'social-economic' class. And do they want the team to win? Sure they do, but it also appears for them its more about a 'night out', its about bragging they were at the game, its about the food, the entertainment. Then look at other cities. Kids days games are popular, and do the kids want the home team to win? Again, sure they do, but many times they are just as happy with the music they can dance to between commercials, the games on the ice between periods, and they are happy to cheer for the home team when they score 3 goals, even though the opposing team scores 5. Personally, I don't go to many games anymore. As a fan, I think I can see more, interact with others more, just get a better experience as a 'fan of the game' at home than I do in the Arena. But the few times I go to the arena, I want to be entertained. Again, I can see the on-ice product just as well at home, maybe even better, so if I'm going to the game, you better give me good food, good entertainment, stuff I CAN'T get at home. So yeah, I think the NHL, most sports leagues, and even the Sabres are going to lean into the entertainment aspect of the gameday experience. Maybe not so much to get more people to come out (winning will do that, but the marketing dept can't fix that) but to find out what people are into and see how they can extract more money from the people that do show up.