A Knights Tale: From Sabre to Knight; one man’s failure to make the playoffs AND how it benefits the Sabres draft position

[That Aud Smell]

In a game that Las Vegas apparently dominated, it appears Eichel's line did not.

Edited April 19, 2022 by That Aud Smell

[LGR4GM]

Here's my thing, I didn't hate Eichel when he left. I understood it and he was well within his rights to want out after the dumpster fire this team is. I didn't even feel much animosity when he came back but those comments and that trash attitude of his in the post game presser, that changed it. So yes, I will gleefully cheer against Vegas. 

[Doohickie]

43 minutes ago, Taro T said:

Vegas won't likely be decimated by injuries. 

No, they'll be decimated by Cap Hell.

[That Aud Smell]

and holy spit - seeing NJ's second and third goals ... lehner was brutal. on the second, he flubbed a catch, lost track of the puck, and then it was in behind him. on the third goal ... i'm not sure what happened. was lehner having an out of body experience? the devil player came out of the faceoff circle and was bearing down hard toward the goal line when he shot the puck. lehner did not react at all. he seemed bemused that the puck was in the net.

[WildCard]

1 minute ago, That Aud Smell said:

and holy spit - seeing NJ's second and third goals ... lehner was brutal. on the second, he flubbed a catch, lost track of the puck, and then it was in behind him. on the third goal ... i'm not sure what happened. was lehner having an out of body experience? the devil player came out of the faceoff circle and was bearing down hard toward the goal line when he shot the puck. lehner did not react at all. he seemed bemused that the puck was in the net.

Quick, throw Kane and O'Reilly on there and let's see it all unfold again 

Edited April 19, 2022 by WildCard

[Taro T]

7 minutes ago, Doohickie said:

No, they'll be decimated by Cap Hell.

Just like TB was last year & this year.

Not saying they'll win the Cup.  But they play in the weakest division in the NHL & had a ridiculous number of injuries this year.  Would be shocked if they weren't at least in the playoff mix next year.

But if the Sabres end up w/ their 1st in '23 will definitely hope they fall off the face of the Earth. Just not expecting it.

Edited April 19, 2022 by Taro T

[Doohickie]

37 minutes ago, SwampD said:

Sure. But even at our current pace, we’re not a playoff team.

And neither is VGK!  😄

[Doohickie]

12 minutes ago, Taro T said:

Just like TB was last year & this year.

I don't know that VGK front office is anywhere near as capable as TBL?

[Mustache of God]

45 minutes ago, LGR4GM said:

Here's my thing, I didn't hate Eichel when he left. I understood it and he was well within his rights to want out after the dumpster fire this team is. I didn't even feel much animosity when he came back but those comments and that trash attitude of his in the post game presser, that changed it. So yes, I will gleefully cheer against Vegas. 

Same, I had already moved on and then after the presser I've wanted nothing more than to see him miss the playoffs on his new team.

[SwampD]

1 hour ago, LGR4GM said:

Not this again. It's such bs. 

East teams clinched so they aren't playing for anything but also the teams are good and making sure they are playoff ready? So they are so magically awesome they made the playoffs while simultaneously being awesome enough to be able to turn off and on that playoff level gear? And they don't care about a better playoff seed? When we beat them they "clinched" and weren't trying and when we lose "we aren't a playoff team and suck". What defeatist loser talk. 

I've never bought this and considering we watch playoff teams beat the crap out of the Arizona and Phillies of the league I truly believe it's pessimistic bs and a loser attitude. 

And other than TO (who we own) and Carolina once, we lost to every other playoff bound team in the east.

1 hour ago, WildCard said:

Just because they clinched doesn't mean they're not playing for seeding, or momentum. Toronto is trying, Carolina is trying. And outside of the East, Vegas is definitely trying too, same with Vancouver and Calgary.

 

Teams don’t give a crap about seeding.

[WildCard]

6 minutes ago, SwampD said:

And other than TO (who we own) and Carolina once, we lost to every other playoff bound team in the east.

Teams don’t give a crap about seeding.

Yes, they do. They also care about playing well. 

You're dismissising the good teams we did beat and highlighting the good teams we didn't, that's not the full story. 

[LGR4GM]

13 minutes ago, SwampD said:

And other than TO (who we own) and Carolina once, we lost to every other playoff bound team in the east.

Teams don’t give a crap about seeding.

You're really just proving my point. Only the wins you think matter, matter. But all the losses matter for us and losses for playoffs teams don't. It's a self fulfilling prophecy. 

We beat the Predators, Penguins, Flames, Knights, Wild.

All either playoff teams or on the cusp. But those don't matter because you say so. 

[MBD]

9 hours ago, Flashsabre said:

The Knights will never win with Lehner in net. Trading Fleury and signing Lehner long term is an all time blunder that will haunt that franchise.

Yeah, expecting Robby to stay sober that long...

[Doohickie]

20 minutes ago, SwampD said:

Teams don’t give a crap about seeding.

[SwampD]

20 minutes ago, WildCard said:

Yes, they do. They also care about playing well. 

You're dismissising the good teams we did beat and highlighting the good teams we didn't, that's not the full story. 

Before seeing the graphic I posted, would you have guessed that their records were almost identical? I wouldn’t have. Certainly not by reading this thread.

13 minutes ago, LGR4GM said:

You're really just proving my point. Only the wins you think matter, matter. But all the losses matter for us and losses for playoffs teams don't. It's a self fulfilling prophecy. 

I have no idea what this means.

I don’t think any of our wins matter. Don’t get me wrong, i’m enjoying them, but they don’t mean anything. Our losses certainly don’t matter, either.

I will say that I really like the hockey the Sabres are playing to finish up this season. I pray to god that it will be the same in October when games actually mean something again. I’m cautiously optimistic.

7 minutes ago, Doohickie said:

Cute.

Edited April 19, 2022 by SwampD

[Taro T]

57 minutes ago, Doohickie said:

I don't know that VGK front office is anywhere near as capable as TBL?

Every single year there is much handwringing or glee (depending upon perspective) about how such & such team's going into Cap H-E- double hockey sticks.  TB, Minny, & TO just to name the ones immediately springing to mind.  When a team actually truly gets there, it'll be the 1st.

It is going to happen eventually. But until it actually does, will expect it won't.

[Taro T]

5 minutes ago, SwampD said:

Before seeing the graphic I posted, would you have guessed that their records were almost identical? I wouldn’t have. Certainly not by reading this thread.

I have no idea what this means.

I don’t think any of our wins matter. Don’t get me wrong, i’m enjoying them, but they don’t mean anything. Our losses certainly don’t matter, either.

I will say that I really like the hockey the Sabres are playing to finish up this season. I pray to god that it will be the same in October when games actually mean something again. I’m cautiously optimistic.

Cute.

They'll play well in October.  Lately, they almost always do.  The key is, can they keep it going afterwards.  November/December is usually when the wheels fall off.

[SDS]

8 minutes ago, SwampD said:

Before seeing the graphic I posted, would you have guessed that their records were almost identical? I wouldn’t have. Certainly not by reading this thread.

It depends on the timeline where you wanna take your data. February was absolutely miserable for us. Starting in March it hasn’t. It’s been pretty damn solid since March 1, we’ve beaten a lot of playoff teams and it appears our play is sustainable, which is that a player pace starting on that date.

[WildCard]

8 minutes ago, SDS said:

It depends on the timeline where you wanna take your data. February was absolutely miserable for us. Starting in March it hasn’t. It’s been pretty damn solid since March 1, we’ve beaten a lot of playoff teams and it appears our play is sustainable, which is that a player pace starting on that date.

 

19 minutes ago, SwampD said:

Before seeing the graphic I posted, would you have guessed that their records were almost identical? I wouldn’t have. Certainly not by reading this thread.

I have no idea what this means.

I don’t think any of our wins matter. Don’t get me wrong, i’m enjoying them, but they don’t mean anything. Our losses certainly don’t matter, either.

I will say that I really like the hockey the Sabres are playing to finish up this season. I pray to god that it will be the same in October when games actually mean something again. I’m cautiously optimistic.

Cute.

What's SDS said. I think we lost 6 straight I'm February; I knew we were bad in that month. The talk around here has consistently been the Sabres since March

[Taro T]

5 minutes ago, SDS said:

It depends on the timeline where you wanna take your data. February was absolutely miserable for us. Starting in March it hasn’t. It’s been pretty damn solid since March 1, we’ve beaten a lot of playoff teams and it appears our play is sustainable, which is that a player pace starting on that date.

Yep.  Of course, the flip side of that is that since their 5 game losing streak, the Kin-ig-hits have been playing at a better pace too.  Though that itself is a much smaller sample yet.  (In THAT really small sample they're likely ahead of Buffalo because it coincides w/ that killer road trip.)

Good to see Vancouver on a tear as that's a second chance to keep Vegas out even if LA continues its swoon.

And bottom line for now, IMHO, is the Sabres are exceeding expectations and truly fun to watch for the 1st time in ages while Vegas is underperformed expectations and not entertaining to watch (unless one is cheering against them, in which case they've been a blast the last few nights).

[SwampD]

16 minutes ago, SDS said:

It depends on the timeline where you wanna take your data. February was absolutely miserable for us. Starting in March it hasn’t. It’s been pretty damn solid since March 1, we’ve beaten a lot of playoff teams and it appears our play is sustainable, which is that a player pace starting on that date.

We have one more win than them. Of course, the 3 OT/SO losses make it look much better for us,… I guess.

 

As long as we can make fun of Jack…

 

[That Aud Smell]

That 3rd goal referenced above.

https://video.twimg.com/tweet_video/FQreGZuXoAEh9ug.mp4

[WhenWillItEnd66]

Any additional top 15 pick we get is going to help this team in the long run. With all the assets we have (Cap space and picks) it will eventually benefit the Sabres, KA is not stupid and actually seems to be building correctly and does not seem like he will mortgage the farm for a stupid move. Vegas is definitely on their way to NOT making the playoffs and that will help us out.

[Doohickie]

2 minutes ago, That Aud Smell said:

That 3rd goal referenced above.

https://video.twimg.com/tweet_video/FQreGZuXoAEh9ug.mp4

[Marvin]

1 minute ago, NJhopelessSabresfan66 said:

Any additional top 15 pick we get is going to help this team in the long run. With all the assets we have (Cap space and picks) it will eventually benefit the Sabres, KA is not stupid and actually seems to be building correctly and does not seem like he will mortgage the farm for a stupid move. Vegas is definitely on their way to NOT making the playoffs and that will help us out.

Welcome!