swordplay

Okay, I'm a Little More Excited

I have to admit, upon writing my post two weeks ago, I wasn't sharing the same excitement that the rest of the Sabres faithful seemed to find glory in then, but I honestly didn't foresee this team eventually playing the way they have in the past five games.

I guess I took the wrong approach to the post. While this team was obviously playing far and away better hockey at the time (more to the level they should have been playing all season), I felt that the focus was still more about "what everyone else is doing around you; their fates will determine yours."

I failed to mention the most obvious solution to success, something Lindy Ruff challenged his team with less than a week later: Just win the rest of your games.

In my own defense, I guess it would've been easy to just go out and say that. But realistically, who would have actually believed it? I remember not believing it when I read it in the Buffalo News that day. And if I could actually talk hockey to anyone on a daily basis down here in Texas, I'm pretty sure I would have found a way to incorporate Lindy's comments into a couple of jokes here and there.

But the team since has proved me wrong. They're doing all of the things I've bitched about them not doing since this blog started back in November. They've actually taken their own advice from weeks and weeks of frustrating post-game interviews and are now working for the solid 60 minutes -- Look what happens when you show up and give a shit once and a while.

It's a shame that the uber important showdown with the Capitals Tuesday wasn't the last game of the regular season. It would have been an extraordinary high to go straight into the post-season with, but beggars can't be choosers. Plus, that scenario wouldn't afford any time for Christian Ehrhoff to get healthy; and that guy is one of the more important pieces to the current puzzle. Now we just have to wait and see if this team can finish the job they started, without him.

It always seems like there's a setback in Buffalo though, with injuries or whatever it may be -- What would life be if we didn't have to hold our breaths once and a while? But this team is playing for each other right now, and it looks like they're having a hell of a lot of fun doing it. A characteristic I always saw with the Penguins throughout the latter half of the ten years I spent there.

So I really hope they can pull it off. As much as I've said in the past that this team would benefit greater in the long run from missing the playoffs, I'm still a true fan at heart. And April will be loads more exciting with the Sabres in them rather than not.

Year after year it seems that professional sports are going more the way of "the team that gets hot at the right time wins it all." In the NFL alone we've seen it 4 times in the last 7 years; with the Steelers, Packers, and twice with the Giants. When you look at the level the Sabres are playing at right this moment -- and the projected first-round playoff match-ups -- it isn't hard to think that teams like Buffalo could share that same fate.

Still, I'm not totally pumped. But I can't keep myself from becoming a little more curious [excited] as each new day passes.

Let's just make sure we get there, because the possibilities are endless once you're in.

Good Lookin' Out, Detroit

Well I suppose it should figure. The Sabres finally thump an opponent and can't move up in the standings. Going into last night's games Buffalo was only two points out of eighth behind the Caps, who were playing the otherwise reliable Red Wings. But as luck would have it, Washington breezed past Detroit 5-3 while the Sabres smacked the Lightning 7-3.

This is why it's so hard to close even a two-point gap down the stretch. It's hard enough to compel the hockey gods to smile on you while you pray for teams to lose after you flop in OT; it's even harder to expect them to come through when you win and stand to gain ground.

I figured Buffalo's season was pretty much over after they coughed up two big points during back-to-back overtime losses against Colorado and Florida, so you have to give them credit for a big win that at least allowed them to keep pace with the Caps. However, there is almost no room for error in a homestretch that features games against the Rangers, Caps, Penguins, Flyers, and Bruins.

Yikes.

Given the remainder of Buffalo's schedule, I'm not sure it would've even mattered if Buffalo had been able to move into a tie for eighth last night. In a perverse sort of way, I think this makes the rest of the games easier to watch since I'm not expecting them to make the playoffs. Less stressful and all that.

Oh, don't get me wrong. I'm not rooting for the Sabres to win; I'd actually like to see them make the postseason.

Come to think of it, you know what? I'm not sure I actually want them to make it. I love watching hockey and I prefer to watch my team whenever possible, but I think failing to make the playoffs will be better for the team in the long run.

I think we've concluded that Darcy is going nowhere, so I'm wondering if a failed season wouldn't encourage Regier to be even more aggressive in the offseason than he's already planning to be. After all, squeaking into the playoffs would seem to lend even more validation to the idea that the big prize was ours for the taking if not for all the injuries. As I've said in the past, injuries obviously contributed to plenty of losses, but any good, hardworking team with leadership and depth shouldn't fall into the abyss because of them, either.

Regardless of how things shake out the rest of the way, there have been some very nice developments this season for the Sabres:

- I think Tyler Ennis's games lost to high ankle sprains were a lot more detrimental than most people originally thought, and it's pretty clear he needs to play center.

- Paul Gaustad's loss was really not much of a loss at all, and I can't wait to see how Regier parlays the first round pick he got from Nashville in return.

- After at least three seasons of keeping us wondering, Andrej Sekera has finally turned into the reliable defensemen most were expecting. He logs a lot of minutes, has started to limit turnovers, runs the power play and, most importantly, has gained enough confidence to realize he belongs. Instead of demonstrating bursts of potential, he's started to play consistently well on a nightly basis. That's all you can really ask.

- Brayden McNabb is already a stud. His addition to the regular roster will immediately improve the D next season and likely make another top six defenseman expendable for use as trade bait in order to bolster other areas of the roster or add more depth to the organization. 

- Holy Marcus Foligno. Where did this guy come from? This could all just be beginner's luck, but at only 20 years of age Foligno has been among the most dominant players on the ice for the Sabres the past week or so. I think we're starting to see why Regier was so comfortable trading Zack Kassian for Cody Hodgson.

- Speaking of Hodgson, who just turned 22, he should become a pivotal piece to the Sabres puzzle in the near future. Fundamentally sound and possessing what appears to be a good work ethic, he kind of resembles a young Chris Drury. He's probably not going to put up 30 goals a year, but it can't be easy getting traded to a new team with only a quarter of the season remaining, yet he already appears to be very comfortable at center and communicating with his new teammates. I don't know if this trade will end up being Briere for Gratton, but it could honestly be close.

- But back to Foligno. This kid deserves a little more elaboration. At 6-3 and over 220 pounds, Foligno is a force. He's just as strong on the puck as Kassian is and appears to have an even better knack for the net. Now here's something I've always wondered if I'd ever write on a Sabres blog. Back when Kassian was first brought up I googled some of his hockey fights. I can't remember who he was fighting, but I recall that it was a guy who was older and who'd spent considerable time in the NHL. Kassian mostly wrestled him to a draw, but in the background of the video was Marcus Foligno pummeling another player pretty handily. It's funny now to recall that, at that time, I thought the person who posted the video might have been focusing on the wrong guy.

This sounds a little pretentious to say now that Kassian's been traded, but I wondered more than a few times since training camp -- Erik can corroborate this -- whether he was a little overhyped. I also wondered if the Sabres organization was always a little concerned about his reputation, given that he's been arrested for a bar fight and suspended a couple different times for borderline dirty hits before he got to the NHL. Granted, this is all speculation, but I guess I'm just saying that if the Sabres were at all concerned about any of this stuff over the past couple years, Marcus Foligno probably made their decision about Kassian pretty easy.

I can't believe I'm going to say this because it's probably way too early and I'll end up looking like a moron, but if I had to pick one player that Marcus Foligno resembles, I'd have to say Jordan Staal. Foligno isn't a center, of course, but he (by all accounts at present, at least) is strong on the puck, very responsible defensively, and unafraid to get his nose dirty in front of the net (which, as we've already seen, tends to result in goals).

At the start of the year, I don't think the Sabres figured that Foligno would be playing such a big role down the stretch. But at the same time, I don't think they figured they'd be fighting just to make the playoffs, either. I doubt as well that they thought Ville Leino would struggle so much and that Derek Roy, Drew Stafford, and Ryan Miller would have off-years.

However, if this season has revealed anything, it's that this team right at this moment has a very nice mixture of veteran leadership and reliable young talent, both of which are imperative to success and eventual championships. It's also interesting to note that Tyler Myers and Tyler Ennis, two cornerstones to the Sabres' future who are closer to being veteran leaders than rookies, are still only 22.

If Regier can pick up Ryan Getzlaf during the offseason and this team can learn to play with some emotion and grit from the first game to the last, the future is now.

Still Not Excited

As much as I've enjoyed watching the Sabres for the past month, let's face it: The two-point hole out of 8th they currently find themselves in may as well be 20. I'm not saying that a playoff appearance is impossible for Buffalo, just highly unlikely. Not only will the Sabres have to play near-perfect hockey to win their own games, they'll also have to rely on some serious star aligning.

Florida, Winnipeg, Washington, and Tampa's schedules all collide for seven total games to close out the season. Translation: For the next month we have to become serious Panther, Lightning and Hurricane fans.

Why?!

The way I see it, it's only logical to root for the Panthers to win their division. They already hold the 3rd-place spot by one point on Washington (who Buffalo is two points behind). Why chase the team that's three points ahead of you rather than the Caps who are only two ahead? So Florida, just keep winning; especially when it comes to the one game remaining against both the Jets and Capitals. In the end, those two games -- especially the one against the Caps -- could end up determining it all.

Now the reason I think we also need to be Lightning and Hurricane fans is because these two teams play the role of "we're out of the race but we could still fuck it up for somebody else." Combined, these two teams play Washington and Winnipeg five times; ten extremely important points to keep away from them.

Obviously, Buffalo needs to win their two remaining games against the Capitals and Lightning too (along with about six other tough match-ups).

With it all mapped out like this, you can understand my pessimism when it comes to the Sabres' hopes. Like I said, the stars need to seriously align for any chance at the post-season. The same stars which have always had a tendency to go more of the way of Brett Hull's foot and a missed Super Bowl kick.

If the Sabres do make it though, there would be a great possibility that we could witness the first season where the 8th-place team finishes with a higher point total than the 3rd-place team. A point I mentioned in a prior post favoring the now debunked realignment plan.

Either way, we're going to be treated to a more exciting end of the season than any of us originally thought as little as a month ago.

Don't get me wrong though, this still doesn't erase the sour memories of injury excuses and months of lazy, gutless hockey. But at least this team is kind enough to finally treat us to what they were supposed to look like all along:

A team that still isn't anywhere close to Stanley Cup contention even when they're at their best, but a team that is also one great off-season (and possibly a new coach) away from it.

All She Wrote

That title really doesn't require an explanation, but I just couldn't shake one thought all night long: If Lindy recognized that the Jets were playing with a lot of energy (as evidenced by his second period interview with Pierre Maguire), then why couldn't Buffalo ever match it?

Too bad, because that was the season right there.

Season Comes Down to Tonight

Seventeen games remaining. Two points out of eighth place. Even two weeks ago you'd have thought that was a fantasy, but the Sabres can move into the playoff picture with a regulation win tonight over the Jets.

If they win, I don't see them finishing behind the Jets or Caps. If they lose, I think a four-point gap will ultimately be too much to overcome during the homestretch, especially given the proverbial shot to the nuts a loss tonight would mean to the team's psyche.

But it all starts tonight. As far as I see it, it's win and in. And don't worry, I promise not to root for 'em.