GAME DISCUSSION THREAD

[Robviously]

Other sports maybe, but they don't give a damn about hockey here... oh wait, they're in the playoffs now so they care for just this week. The attitude towards the Bruins in this town is one of the strangest things you'll ever see. Throughout the year it's nothing but "I gave up on the bruins X years ago"... but then if they're winning "I've always loved the Bruins". The fans put no pressure on any team but the Red Sox here.

But.....that can't be. The amazing Boston fans are the reason for all Boston success. They DEMANDED that the Patriots draft Tom Brady in the 6th round and that he develop into the best quarterback of all time. It all makes perfect sense.

 

The Sabres aren't winning Stanley Cups because we, the fans, are not DEMANDING IT. WE MUST DEMAND IT!

[deluca67]

So why doesn't Philadelphia have just as many championships????

 

Why aren't the Mets as good as the Yankees? Why are the Knicks are total joke every year? How come the Rangers can't win another Stanley Cup?

 

The Maple Leafs and Canadiens seem to get a ton of fan pressure. Where are their championships lately?

 

You're focusing on one data point (Boston) and ignoring dozens of other ones. Hilarious. Were the Bills good in the 90s because the fans demanded it or did they just have an amazing team built by an amazing GM?

It's not a guaranteed system. If spent right you can buy a championship. If you spend poorly like the Sabres and Bills have you won't. The point is about keeping pressure on your sports teams to make sure they don't become stagnate. If you can't understand that all I can say is that I'm not Anne Sullivan.

[Robviously]

It's not a guaranteed system. If spent right you can buy a championship. If you spend poorly like the Sabres and Bills have you won't. The point is about keeping pressure on your sports teams to make sure they don't become stagnate. If you can't understand that all I can say is that I'm not Anne Sullivan.

Brilliant, except that there is no correlation between fan pressure and team success. [see: all the examples I've laid out in this thread.]

[SabresRepublic]

Looks to me like he plays scared. That and the fact that he's completely useless one any physical contact is applied.

 

 

NO playoff team sustained as many injuries in the last week of the season and in the first round as did the Buffalo Sabres!!!

A good portion of those injuries were a result of lack of officiating control of the contest NOT to mention NO disciplinary action after review. They wouldn't even review their mediocrity!

 

As far as being scared? Well if you knew that the rules of engagement were NOT going to be applied would you be concerned/scared?

 

I am glad that Ruff has finally addressed the mediocre officiating - it's been going on for far too long! And everybody has pretty much gone along with it as part of the game!

 

BS, officiating must be transparent! The game is played and determined by two teams of individuals displaying aptitude and skill according to a rule set that is enforced without prejudice! That has NOT been the case many times this year and has effected the outcome of at least a dozen games - to the detriment of the Buffalo Sabres - including at least two in this series - tonight's being the tip of the iceberg!

 

The NFL, NBA, MLB have cleaned up their acts! The NHL is long overdue!

 

The closest the Sabres came to the Stanley Cup was in the glory days of the French Connection and LR's 1st year as coach in 1999 - aptitude and skill!

That tradition will land us the SC once the mediocre officiating is NO longer the rule of the ice! Stay the course,we are thisclose!!

 

GO BUFFALO SABRES!!!

[deluca67]

Brilliant, except that there is no correlation between fan pressure and team success. [see: all the examples I've laid out in this thread.]

Again, even Anne Sullivan had limits.

[nfreeman]

Well, that stinks.

[shrader]

It's not a guaranteed system. If spent right you can buy a championship. If you spend poorly like the Sabres and Bills have you won't. The point is about keeping pressure on your sports teams to make sure they don't become stagnate. If you can't understand that all I can say is that I'm not Anne Sullivan.

 

Let's not pretend that the Bruins have spent right though because they've done absolutely nothing since their cup loss to the Oilers 20 years ago.

 

As for your earlier question about how it was around here last year, it was pretty much the same. They'd draw decent crowds on weekends, but any other time the place was abandoned. Obviously the crowds were a step up from previous years, but it was still a bit pathetic. I'm always surprised by the pure bandwagon nature around here for the 3 non-Red Sox teams. Maybe that's how it gets when a city has 4 teams.

[DrDahlinstein]

It's not a guaranteed system. If spent right you can buy a championship. If you spend poorly like the Sabres and Bills have you won't. The point is about keeping pressure on your sports teams to make sure they don't become stagnate. If you can't understand that all I can say is that I'm not Anne Sullivan.

 

you are REEEEEAAAALLY reaching with this argument.

 

Boston fans are known for being incredibly fair-weather when it comes to hockey, football, and basketball.

 

the city is not bigger than NYC, or other cities with professional sports teams.

 

other than being their usual obnoxious jerk selves, how exactly does a fan base "keep pressure" on their team to win??

 

or are you arguing that being fair-weather is what helps them because the owners know that if they do not produce, they won't have fans?

 

how is Boston different than any other team in a city of 5million+ people?

[deluca67]

Let's not pretend that the Bruins have spent right though because they've done absolutely nothing since their cup loss to the Oilers 20 years ago.

 

As for your earlier question about how it was around here last year, it was pretty much the same. They'd draw decent crowds on weekends, but any other time the place was abandoned. Obviously the crowds were a step up from previous years, but it was still a bit pathetic. I'm always surprised by the pure bandwagon nature around here for the 3 non-Red Sox teams. Maybe that's how it gets when a city has 4 teams.

The question was not about the Bruins it was the City of Boston and their multiple Championships. Boston has their priorities, Sox, Celtics, Pats and Bruins. The Bruins have the least amount of pressure on them and that is not even in question. It's like when the Bills are relevant the Sabres has a lessor importance to a large part of the community. "Boston Sports" as a whole have a great deal of pressure on them compared to Buffalo where a free pass is given.

[deluca67]

you are REEEEEAAAALLY reaching with this argument.

 

Boston fans are known for being incredibly fair-weather when it comes to hockey, football, and basketball.

 

the city is not bigger than NYC, or other cities with professional sports teams.

other than being their usual obnoxious jerk selves, how exactly does a fan base "keep pressure" on their team to win??

 

or are you arguing that being fair-weather is what helps them because the owners know that if they do not produce, they won't have fans?

 

how is Boston different than any other team in a city of 5million+ people?

You are kidding right? Are you the guy who keeps getting banned and coming back as different posters? You must be.

[Ghost of Dwight Drane]

The Sabres "listened" to their fans when the resigned Vanek. It had to KILL Darcy to pay that sort of money on any guy. The problem was....they knew if Vanek walked, fans would be at the arena with pitchforks. Darcy would have just as well taken 4 #1 picks and use the 7 mill to sign 2 overpriced European defensemen.

[Kristian]

Of course it was Stafford's fault and I don't expect Lindy to call him out after the game. Lindy was absolutely livid when it happened. I don't think he was yelling at himself.

 

Well he should've been, since he's the one wasting a roster spot on this arrogant, lazy bum.

 

He never should've been in the lineup in the first place.

[PASabreFan]

Ugh. I feel f*cking cheated. No other way to describe it.

 

I hate to fall back on excuses, but my god, that was one of the most poorly officiated NHL games I've ever witnessed.

 

The refs really handed the Bruins their comeback on a silver platter.

 

On a side note, Miller was close to playing lights out tonight, minus the stupid Bergeron goal.

 

Nice juicy rebound on the first goal. Very weak second goal. Then lost his composure behind the net. The Satan goal -- you're just playing with fire by challenging him like that. The Bruins had the book on Miller there. Some spectacular saves, a good game for Miller, but just not good enough in the final analysis.

[Claude_Verret]

Well he should've been, since he's the one wasting a roster spot on this arrogant, lazy bum.

 

He never should've been in the lineup in the first place.

 

I'm no Stafford fan and also wish that he wasn't in the line-up, but the blame falls on him and not Lindy for the too many men call. If his lazy and soft physical play led to the goal then I'd be all for lynching Lindy over this, but there is absolutely no excuse for a mental error like that.

[Robviously]

The question was not about the Bruins it was the City of Boston and their multiple Championships. Boston has their priorities, Sox, Celtics, Pats and Bruins. The Bruins have the least amount of pressure on them and that is not even in question. It's like when the Bills are relevant the Sabres has a lessor importance to a large part of the community. "Boston Sports" as a whole have a great deal of pressure on them compared to Buffalo where a free pass is given.

HOW is a "free pass" given in Buffalo?? Didn't Bills fans vandalize Leodis McKelvin's house last September after a loss? Didn't they set up a (semi-lewd) billboard to try to get the coach fired?

 

In terms of hockey, didn't Chris Drury make a comment about not liking that every time he picked his kids up from school there would be someone who wanted to talk to him about the power play? Are there other U.S. cities where thousands of fans will watch a playoff game downtown....on a screen outside the arena?

 

Buffalo cares about its sports teams as much as any city in the country, maybe more since there's not a lot of other stuff going on in the area. (Bass Pro anyone?) Moreover, plenty of teams in big markets with tons of pressure are bad year after year.

 

There is no correlation between fan pressure and team success.

[shrader]

The question was not about the Bruins it was the City of Boston and their multiple Championships. Boston has their priorities, Sox, Celtics, Pats and Bruins. The Bruins have the least amount of pressure on them and that is not even in question. It's like when the Bills are relevant the Sabres has a lessor importance to a large part of the community. "Boston Sports" as a whole have a great deal of pressure on them compared to Buffalo where a free pass is given.

 

You're way off on that list of priorities. It goes Red Sox and then whoever else is winning. You probably just get that impression about the Celtics being #2 since they're the most storied franchise in the history of the NBA. There is no pressure on any franchise here other than the Red Sox. Sure, the occasional rant will surface about the other teams, but in the end, it doesn't matter one bit.