The past weeks have been painful for us Sabres fans. What’s been happening to our team? We watched our boys start the season strong, convincingly beating the Canadians, Capitals, Bruins, and Penguins, among others. Those teams are surging now, taking some of the higher spots in our conference playoff standings, while we continue to fall. The worst part? Knowing what they’re capable of, falling short, and all of that during the WORST possible time.
And that’s what made this weekend so painful. Let’s start with Friday night, welcoming back to HSBC Arena former fan favorite and All-Star game MVP Daniel Briere. Every time he touched the puck, Sabres fans let out a chorus of scornful ‘boos.’ But who are we booing exactly? Should we boo a player who played his heart out for our city, or should we boo the management that did little to make him feel important? Of course he left, little was done to make Briere feel wanted. Sure, his price went up, but that’s what comes with being a consistent leader. Teams across the NHL envied us for having a player like him. Fast, strong, a set of hands, goal scoring touch, and he was never afraid to get his nose dirty. And then we let him go. So Friday night, during a must-win game, Briere scored two goals. “Rubbing salt in the wounds” isn’t even a strong enough metaphor. On a smaller level, Marty Biron stood on his head again. Tough to watch with Ryan Miller sidelined.
Saturday night, and things only got worse. Heading into MSG against a strong Rangers lineup, the Sabres truly had their work cut out for them. Who would emerge as the leader? Of course it’s Chris Drury, only this time he’s wearing a Rangers jersey, the uniform of a team whose collective heart he crushed with 7.8 seconds left in a huge playoff game not too long ago. His goal was a beautiful tip-in past Patrick Lalime.
Watching him celebrate with his new teammates was painful, to say the least.
The best players we’ve had in the last two years showed us what we missed out on.
We lost hockey talent coupled with leadership, something that’s lacking on our team today. I’m not breaking any new ground in saying that; sports reporters have been saying that since day one. We felt the effects of it last year, and we’re on the verge of not making the playoffs for the second straight season. The NHL playoffs are impossible to equal. If you’ve been to a playoff game, you know the electricity in the arena. The game just looks different, somehow. Players leave it all on the ice. It’s tough to miss out on that when spring rolls around.
On another level, their departure has affected our team from the bottom up. Two years ago, Jason Pominville and Drew Stafford were rising stars. Pominville played on Briere’s line, and Stafford on Drury’s. They followed in their respective players footsteps, a few more years of playing with these guys, and they’d be similar players. Since Briere left, Pominville’s production has fallen. At 15 goals, he won’t come close to the 30 mark he hit two years ago. He won’t even hit the 25 goal mark he exceeded last year. He might not even hit the 18 goal mark this year. Does this mean he won’t become a great player? Not at all. It just might take a little longer. Stafford has improved, but he’s young and it’s feasible to argue that his numbers would be much higher had he the leadership to support it.
I hate to look back and make excuses. “If only” just doesn’t cut the mustard when you’re talking about sports. The fact is, there’s still a lot of talent on the Sabres, evident when this team plays their best. But that’s the problem; they haven’t played their best in a while.
Two possible scenarios await the Sabres: they turn their season around and make the playoffs, or they continue down this path and miss the playoffs.
But what happens in the latter scenario? Changes clearly need to be made. Darcy Regier and Larry Quinn need to go. Regier’s talent for developing players was an asset to our team in the ’05-’06 campaigns, but since then, the Drury, Briere, and Campbell fiasco’s have hindered this teams chances. Growing players is important to every team, but what good is it to be a farm team. And by that I mean why grow our players just to improve other organizations? “Here, have this player we made awesome at hockey!” It just doesn’t make sense.
We have some great players in this city; let’s bring in some more so they can flourish.
Watching our old leaders take our team apart this weekend was painful. But it should be a wake-up call; a necessary evil. They continue to be important to their teams. We need to show our stars that they’re wanted in Buffalo, that we appreciate their talent and desire. Until we do that, our post-seasons look pretty bleak.