BearWithME

This is a great write up. The Bills drought felt way more hopeless than comical... especially because there were only 6 teams per conference allowed in for the entirety of their dry spell. At no point during the drought--aside from the very beginning when Bledsoe was at QB and they came up a game short vs the Steelers--did it feel as if they were better than 10 other teams in the conference. In the NHL though, half the teams make the tournament. Simple odds would seem to dictate that at some point over a decade and a half, you're going to be hanging around the middle of the bell curve long enough to catch a break and land the 8 seed. It's actually quite a remarkable statistical feat... to the point that it makes me wonder if we're "in for a penny in for a pound." As I've said in other posts--if this is a tear it down to the studs and then build it back up rebuild, then might as well see it through.

I don't know hockey well enough to have an established opinion here, so I come asking questions, not stating facts: Is the NHL clsoer to MLB, where you need a robust farm system to have any chance at succeeding? Or is like the NFL/NBA, where you can cycle guys out every offseason and totally revamp the team, but as long as one or 2 superstars are anchoring your roster, you will be fine? I ask, because to the totally uninformed (me), it seems like the Sabres are riiiiiiiiight there. You look at their 20 game splits over the last 3 seasons, and they basically play like a top 5 Eastern conference team for quarter-season stretches, and then a last place team for (more) quarter-season stretches. At each point in the last 3 years tough, they have spent at least a quarter of a season playing on a heater, including the end of last season. In other sports, that's indicative of a young team finding its footing and learning how to win. I ask my original question because it colors my outlook on this team: If the entire farm system needed to be rebuilt from the ground-up to get a pipeline of talent coming in that can get the team "over the hump"... to the uninformed, it would seem like they're very close to getting over that hump. If that's not at all how success is attained in this league, and it's closer to the NFL/NBA, where we're basically just treadmilling in the 10 spot with uneven play, and have a GM that won't plop down the cash to get the team over the hump, and what ACTUALLY needs to happen is trading away the farm(system) to get expensive talent that Terry won't pay for because a new stadium is being built for Josh, then I'll plan on giving up on the Sabres again this year before Thanksgiving.

ngl, if someone busted out a after a goal, it would go viral and my wife would see it on tik tok

Thank you for making this thread--for some reason, I've felt the exact same emotion quite often this season. I can't quite put my finger on it--it's equal parts sentimentality for the end of last milenium, the cup run, and the simpler times that came with living a quarter of a century ago, and dissapointment that the current struggles of the franchise are robbing us all of... a certain "experience"... that is a good hockey team rounding into form and advancing through a tournament that coincides with winter loosening its grip, receeding, and ultimately giving way to the end of May, and all the majesty of late spring/early summer that comes with it. At that point, win or lose the Super Bowl or Stanley Cup, you're really only looking at part of June, July and August as the "sports viewing desert" of the year. With the Sabres struggles, that includes February, March, April, May, and part of June for Buffalo these days, unfortunately. Anyone too young to have appreciated the brief mid 2000s era has literally never experienced anything but this extended sports viewing desert. It's ironic because I see so much discussion on here centering around the viability of such a team in Buffalo--as if they could move. My mind goes to the exact opposite scenario. As recently as the 1995 MLB expansion (Rockies and Marlins), Buf was in consideration for an MLB team as well. With the long term revenue success of the Bills, not only did they remain in Buffalo as a viable franchise, they are getting a new stadium. The lack of Sabres success has robbed the city of being able to demosntrate a rabid following equal to that of the Bills during the NHL Playoffs for a new generation of fans and MLB ownership groups to see. As teams like the As, Rays, and Marlins struggle with their viability, and the sport plans to expand yet again, theres a very real alternate timeline where an MLB team would be setting up shop in Buf. Instead, they look to Salt Lake City, who also just got an NHL team, as a "boom" sports city.

It can definitely be fixed, but it takes awhile before it's completely better. Word to the wise: when the doctor says "digital exam", they mean their finger, not a digital photograph. Once they complete that exam and confirm the reduced flow isn't from anything cancerous, you have the choice as to whether or not you want to go on something like flomax, or try the all natural route. I opted for saw palmetto and stinging nettle leaf tea, after hearing that flomax has some pretty intense side effects. I would say at this point my PP is 90% better, so stick with it! Also, great thread OP: with another season looking to be lost already, focusing on the health of our prostates is likely to be a more rewarding, and possibly even enjoyable, journey than the one we were likely to have following Sabres hockey. Anyone else have any good tips or advice?

Lol, damn, I love this freaking hockey team

Just wanted to say thanks to the admins who updated the Sabres "points pace" graph on the home page. Maybe it was done earlier than this week, but I just noticed it today.

Hold on for dear life these last 7 minutes

I fancy myself an optimist, but buf seems tired. It seems like it will take an act of god to get out of here with a point tonight.

I dont know if the Sabres are any good, but they sure as hell are fun to watch

You get the *****in power play you *****, get the ***** outta here!

Tage makes me feel the same thing I feel when I watch Josh Allen play football.

As my texts from last evening and early morning will show, I hate the way the Bills are winning. Given enough time and heartbreak, I will be sitting with the malcontents on here, I'm sure!

Thank you! I used a streaming site of... ill repute... for the Canadiens game and my laptop was humming with malware for the next 48 hours until I reset Chrome to its default state. I was wondering how I was going to make it through the rest of the season.

It's a significant consideration, as the Atlantic Division is significantly tougher than any other division. By total points among member franchises, the Atlantic Division has 71 total points; the Metro 60; the Central 59, and the Pacific 50. The 6 points that Buffalo has would not be last in any other division, and would be good for 4th in the Pacific. Divisional standing is relatively meaningless outside of the first 3 slots, so chiding them for their standing in the toughest division in the sport should be done with context, in my opinion.