Dreams Burn Down

I loved JP Dumont. 😍

I pine for the days of All-Star games past like when Mike Ramsey hip checked Wayne Gretzky into oblivion.

I see the Sabres bouncing back with an effort tonight: Predators 8 Sabres 3

Wow. I may actually adjust my sleep schedule around Olympic ice hockey this year. I cannot remember the last Olympics for which I did that.

I agree with all of this, except the effort section. I don't see the effort from this team on a consistent basis. Add to that the timidity around the puck and fear, for lack of a better descriptor, of physical contact from most of this group and my aggravation piques. The lack of talent is obvious, but these are still professional ice hockey players. Effort, toughness, and urgency on even a semi-consistent basis is not too much to ask. Or is it?

Unless injury or COVID force them to be called up, I feel better knowing that Quinn and the other prospects are developing nicely with the Amerks this season. My excitement at seeing our "new toys" was very fleeting next to the disaster playing out at Key Bank Center.

Why can't we have this type of grit on the Sabres?

I remember nerdishly reading the Sabres media guides when I was a kid. We would use two, maybe three goaltenders a season; for years. The last couple of seasons' goalie stats would have occupied half of a page each. It's preposterous in almost every way. The combination of bad foresight and poor fortune just screams Buffalo Sabres.

The dome thing won't happen, but I'm beginning to feel this way about JA.

Honestly, I don't believe that even the ghost of Toe Blake could do anything with the current roster, even when fully healthy. I do know one thing. This team was what was advertised during the 5-1-1 start. They were fast, hungry, and simply outworked other teams. I understand injuries and COVID, I get it, but it doesn't excuse the lack of effort I've seen since. They're not fast and high energy. Not by a mile. To be frank, in any other season, their play looks like they've given up on DG and are trying to get him fired.

Can we put a Bobby Valentine disguise on Devon Levi and suit him up?

Wash, rinse, and repeat.

I thought of Connor McDavid as I read your first paragraph.

We just can't seem to catch a break with our roster this season.

I understand the frustration with the Sabres. I get it and I feel it. This rebuild, however, feels like a different animal. In hindsight, this bottom-to-top rebuild is what should have happened after Lindy and Darcy were shown the door. Ever since my first in-person game, a 14-2 win over the Capitals in December 1975, I've bled blue and gold. I will always bleed blue and gold and will see the attempted rebirth of this moribund franchise to whatever end.

I miss Tyler Ennis pre-Ovechkin clobbering.

Outclassed, outgunned, and outworked.

Nice glove save.

Nice, quick reaction on that shot Vinnie.

My biggest concern when I read about this was not player related shenanigans. Could private equity groups influence whether a team stays or leaves a particular city? Or is it strictly dollars and cents to them?

For me, unfortunately, COVID has deprived me of the ability to definitively answer this. We've simply had too little time at full strength this year for me to decide one way or the other.