craze Posted February 21, 2011 Report Posted February 21, 2011 I have found myself watching fewer games this season than in any season since I started watching in the early 90's. I'd say I normally caught about 80% of the games most seasons. This year, I found that I was literally getting headaches most nights and it felt like homework tuning in. This has truly been the least watchable team I can remember. Perhaps those who have watched for longer can remember a less entertaining season? I'll lay out my reasons for watching in order of importance and why this team does not measure up. 1) Winning - give me a team that wins ugly and I'll tune in every game (see last season). Obviously, this team struggles in that department but that would be ok if they met any of the other criteria. 2) Offense - those LaFontaine, Mogilny teams didn't win the most games but damn they were fun to watch. Not even the horrible broadcaster on Empire could ruin those games. This year's team is just brutal on offense. It's not even that they don't score, it's that most nights, they aren't even close to having opportunities. 3) Hitting/Intensity - This one has been covered plenty. There is not much of either on most nights. Give me a sub .500 team that is scraping for any little nugget they can get and I'll be satisfied. Instead, we watch this team come out flat night after night in games that they just can not afford to. 4) Positive Signs for the future - I guess this might be where this team comes closest to having something going for them. Myers and Ennis are exciting young players and perhaps something to start with. Still, the team has no direction. I think if it was torn down to the barebones of Myers, Ennis, Vanek and Miller then we would have something to be excited about. Even those brutal pre-lockout years seemed to have a direction. You could feel something special coming. Now I just don't see it. 5) Fighting - If you can't beat them, beat the crap out of them. Back when Ray or Barnaby were around, at least you had some entertainment value. Now we just don't seem to have anybody that can spark the team like that. It has simply become frustrating to watch a team skate up and down the ice, not hit, not win battles, not score, not win, not fight and have no real sense of what kind of team they are. And then to hear the same quotes from players and management night after night just makes me not want to watch even more.
dumb_dumb88 Posted February 21, 2011 Report Posted February 21, 2011 The 1987 season for me. It was the season after #11 retired and I had 0 interest in the team following that. When Gilbert Perreault retired it was the end of an era for me. He was and always will be my hockey hero, it was sad not seeing him in the Blue and Gold.
Weave Posted February 21, 2011 Report Posted February 21, 2011 1986 was rough to watch. Last overall in the league. 3 head coaches IIRC. And Perreault retired. Kind of like the current Sabres, they had noone at center ice that was worth watching. But they didn't have much on the wings either. 95-96 was pretty bad too. LaFontaine had concussion issues. Mogilny was ineffective without his center. And NJ had every team playing the trap. I found most of the Hasek years barely watchable. Even the playoff years. The team had little offensive talent. And the trap became a swear word to me. I hated watching teams that played it routinely and that is all Buffalo did. I almost turned my back on hockey forever thanks to those talentless teams and that crappy system of play. Of course 2002 was brutal as well. Rigas' outed as crooks. The team had noone on it that cared enough to entertain the fans. ANd they were still playing the trap. Wow. I feel a whole lot better about this season now. :D
Weave Posted February 21, 2011 Report Posted February 21, 2011 The 1987 season for me. It was the season after #11 retired and I had 0 interest in the team following that. When Gilbert Perreault retired it was the end of an era for me. He was and always will be my hockey hero, it was sad not seeing him in the Blue and Gold. I had high hopes in 87 with our shiny new #1 overall draft pick. Granted, he didn't turn out to be the savior we all hoped he would. I tuned in and watched intently waiting to see some magic from Turgeon to signal that the torch had been passed.
Taro T Posted February 21, 2011 Report Posted February 21, 2011 As mentioned previously, '86-'87 was far and away the least watchable team the Sabres ever assembled. They improved toward the end of January and looked like they might actually catch the truly bad Nords, but couldn't overcome the horrendous start to the year and tanked March as badly as they'd started the season.
dumb_dumb88 Posted February 21, 2011 Report Posted February 21, 2011 I had high hopes in 87 with our shiny new #1 overall draft pick. Granted, he didn't turn out to be the savior we all hoped he would. I tuned in and watched intently waiting to see some magic from Turgeon to signal that the torch had been passed. Yea, I just didn't have my heart into it after Gilbert retired, that November in 86 was just a shock to me. I watched em towards the end of the 87/88 season and picked up from there, but I was heart broken for sure. The guy was my childhood hero. Lafontaine's concussion issues also was a hard one to swallow to. If only they had some center depth, god, does this sound like a repeating theme for this team. :angry:
Eleven Posted February 22, 2011 Report Posted February 22, 2011 In addition to the aforementioned 86-87, which was horrendous, I offer this: I moved back to Buffalo in the 03-04 season, eager to see my team on regular TV and maybe even at the rink once in a while. Wow, that team was bad. The team hadn't yet started to jell, and the season was followed by a lockout. I remember Roby looking into the screen, with nothing but honesty on his face, and saying something along the lines of "I don't think I can do this anymore." Those were dark, dark days. But damn, that next season was pretty cool.
DFITZ1 Posted February 22, 2011 Report Posted February 22, 2011 Yea, I just didn't have my heart into it after Gilbert retired, that November in 86 was just a shock to me. I watched em towards the end of the 87/88 season and picked up from there, but I was heart broken for sure. The guy was my childhood hero. Lafontaine's concussion issues also was a hard one to swallow to. If only they had some center depth, god, does this sound like a repeating theme for this team. :angry: I agree, the mid-80's teams were the worst to watch. The French Connection was 2/3rd's gone, and the GM at the time, Scotty Bowman, had traded away several solid players for what turned out to be minor leaguers. Oddly enough, whenever the hockey media speaks of Bowman's accomplishments (and there are many), his years in Buffalo mysteriously get no air time. It was his first real venture as GM and it didn't work out very well, even though the Knox's gave him free rein. After the bad start in 85 or 86, his trade record was examined and found to be pretty lousy. Well, at least he stayed in the area and has been a great supporter of youth hockey (in and around sprints in Detroit and Pittsburgh and Chi Town). Also agree, having watched Gil Perreault dazzle the crowd his rookie season (when orange seats were just a blue print), having him retire was a fan downer. How many other sports teams can tout that their first EVER player became a hall of famer and played his whole career with the team.
PromoTheRobot Posted February 22, 2011 Report Posted February 22, 2011 This team is nowhere near the worst. But people always act like whatever's happening now is the worst thing ever. PTR
craze Posted February 22, 2011 Author Report Posted February 22, 2011 In looking back at some of those teams in the 80s, that must have been tough to watch. And yet, the team most are mentioning ('86-'87) still scored almost a goal a game more than this year's team. So while I'm not saying that this year's team is the worst team by any stretch, I am saying that it is among the least fun to watch. If a team isn't fun to watch offensively, doesn't compete and really doesn't win, then what is fun to watch here? And the Hasek teams may have not been good offensively but Hasek was so much fun to watch you almost wanted the other team to get a lot of shots because that could get the fans into the game. Now the stadium is like a morgue because the style of play is not fun to watch. I must admit that I am a classic overreactor but at the same time, I have never had less desire to turn on a game. The thing I am most excited about is new ownership!
Weave Posted February 22, 2011 Report Posted February 22, 2011 In looking back at some of those teams in the 80s, that must have been tough to watch. And yet, the team most are mentioning ('86-'87) still scored almost a goal a game more than this year's team. So while I'm not saying that this year's team is the worst team by any stretch, I am saying that it is among the least fun to watch. If a team isn't fun to watch offensively, doesn't compete and really doesn't win, then what is fun to watch here? And the Hasek teams may have not been good offensively but Hasek was so much fun to watch you almost wanted the other team to get a lot of shots because that could get the fans into the game. Now the stadium is like a morgue because the style of play is not fun to watch. I must admit that I am a classic overreactor but at the same time, I have never had less desire to turn on a game. The thing I am most excited about is new ownership! This is a tough year to watch. So were the last 3 seasons as well. I find that when I don't like what I see I tune the team out. The game stays on the tube but I don't really pay attention. Back in the day if the team was poor I got angry but stayed involved. I watched those mid 80's teams even though it pissed me off to watch them. I guess I've learned to not pay attention to things that bother me. Probably why I find that 86 team to be among my list of worst teams to watch. I cared and I watched and I hated every bit of it. I can't really get the emotion flowing like that for the current team. I'd like for this team to be something that commands my full attention on every game night again.
dumb_dumb88 Posted February 22, 2011 Report Posted February 22, 2011 I agree, the mid-80's teams were the worst to watch. The French Connection was 2/3rd's gone, and the GM at the time, Scotty Bowman, had traded away several solid players for what turned out to be minor leaguers. Oddly enough, whenever the hockey media speaks of Bowman's accomplishments (and there are many), his years in Buffalo mysteriously get no air time. It was his first real venture as GM and it didn't work out very well, even though the Knox's gave him free rein. After the bad start in 85 or 86, his trade record was examined and found to be pretty lousy. Well, at least he stayed in the area and has been a great supporter of youth hockey (in and around sprints in Detroit and Pittsburgh and Chi Town). Also agree, having watched Gil Perreault dazzle the crowd his rookie season (when orange seats were just a blue print), having him retire was a fan downer. How many other sports teams can tout that their first EVER player became a hall of famer and played his whole career with the team. Agreed. You'll laugh, but back in the early 80's I used to keep folders with each players stats. My friends and I would come home after skating at Ives Pond and sit down to watch the games. We'd each have like 4 or 5 folder a piece and bet gummy fish we'd bought at Bonk's candy store on Oliver st. in NT on which of our players would get points that night. It was fun. I miss being a kid, but it's nice to have those memories. I used to always dream of the Cup in Buffalo (still do). Met my wife during those years. She'd come over and join in, man, were we young. :)
Overeducated Homer Posted February 22, 2011 Report Posted February 22, 2011 I agree, the mid-80's teams were the worst to watch. The French Connection was 2/3rd's gone, and the GM at the time, Scotty Bowman, had traded away several solid players for what turned out to be minor leaguers. Oddly enough, whenever the hockey media speaks of Bowman's accomplishments (and there are many), his years in Buffalo mysteriously get no air time. It was his first real venture as GM and it didn't work out very well, even though the Knox's gave him free rein. After the bad start in 85 or 86, his trade record was examined and found to be pretty lousy. Well, at least he stayed in the area and has been a great supporter of youth hockey (in and around sprints in Detroit and Pittsburgh and Chi Town). The Bowman story continues to get me, and the problem was that he believed he would be as great a GM as he was a coach. That is why he left Montreal, to show them he should have been allowed to buy the groceries, and he did not come close. He never had the total control over another franchise again after that, winning subsequent cups as coach, not GM. Grumble grumble grumble
X. Benedict Posted February 22, 2011 Report Posted February 22, 2011 As mentioned previously, '86-'87 was far and away the least watchable team the Sabres ever assembled. They improved toward the end of January and looked like they might actually catch the truly bad Nords, but couldn't overcome the horrendous start to the year and tanked March as badly as they'd started the season. Those were dark times.
shrader Posted February 22, 2011 Report Posted February 22, 2011 I think this discussion should start with any season where John Gurtler was doing the PBP.
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