Buffalo Sabres are the Pittsburgh Pirates of NHL

[CallawaySabres]

I always felt bad for Pirate fans when their homegrown stars would always leave for greener pastures when they became free agents. Unless they drafted perfectly, they never really had a chance because the top FAs would never go there to replace the departed.

Now I know exactly how those fans feel. They don't have hope because they know it's impossible to compete for anything other than maybe a miraculous playoff spot once in a blue moon. Buffalo may be in an even worse position because of the reputation of the organization. There is a stench that other players and management talk about when discussing the Sabres.

Some fans talk about hope, but come on, there is no end in sight. You see a team like Vegas land the top free agent in Marner, and the gap just gets wider and wider. Anyway, how about this freaking weather?! Go Bills!

[PromoTheRobot]

[bg17]

Fantastic thread. Thank you!

[Porous Five Hole]

Hey, blow off all the steam you want…but you cannot compare a salary cap league to a sport with no cap.  
 

Not to mention the Sabres were able to sign the grow your own like Dahlin, Tage, Cozens=Norris, Power, etc. 

I’m just as sad and frustrated as anyone, but this comparison falls flat. 

[RochesterExpat]

13 minutes ago, CallawaySabres said:

I always felt bad for Pirate fans […] Now I know exactly how those fans feel

As a Pirates and Sabres fan, sorry, but they don’t compare. Bob Nutting has never promised to win or tried to field a competitive roster. Pirates fans know this. We all know Paul Skenes is going to pay for Nutting’s next yacht. The organization doesn’t even pretend. So why should we?
 

That’s the difference: the Sabres under Pegula superficially pretend to be a real sports franchise and try to present as such to fans. That’s actually worse.

[CallawaySabres]

Well then, I'll go ahead and delete this one then...😁

[Thorny]

39 minutes ago, Porous Five Hole said:

Hey, blow off all the steam you want…but you cannot compare a salary cap league to a sport with no cap.  
 

Not to mention the Sabres were able to sign the grow your own like Dahlin, Tage, Cozens=Norris, Power, etc. 

I’m just as sad and frustrated as anyone, but this comparison falls flat. 

Because it should be easier for us to compete 

A salary cap encourages parity 

If it falls flat, it’s because it’s an insult to the Pirates lol 

[SwampD]

47 minutes ago, Porous Five Hole said:

Hey, blow off all the steam you want…but you cannot compare a salary cap league to a sport with no cap.  
 

Not to mention the Sabres were able to sign the grow your own like Dahlin, Tage, Cozens=Norris, Power, etc. 

I’m just as sad and frustrated as anyone, but this comparison falls flat. 

We got Tage in a trade.

[PerreaultForever]

Well somebody (one of the main hockey talking heads like Seravelli or Friedman or somebody like that but I forget which) said a few years back that Buffalo was becoming a farm team for the league and it's pretty much true. 

The sad thing is getting out of it would be extremely difficult and would require Pegula to give up, stop being de facto GM, and get a good hockey GM in place to tear it down one last time and rebuild it properly. Maybe nobody wants to admit that but how else do you do it? If for example Dahlin wants out after this season what other choice do you have? If you just move him for 4 firsts or whatever it just continues and gets worse and proves the statement true. 

This is the bad time line. In the good time line Rick Dudley is Senior Advisor and Pat LaFontaine is President of the 3 time Stanley Cup Champion Sabres. Pegula sails the Caribbean and relaxes with his trophies and rings.