What is the equivalent low to a Stanley Cup high?

[Stoner]

I woke up today feeling like the Sabres had lost a playoff overtime game to the Bruins last night. I honestly did. I didn't reach the depths I did the day after Brad Park beat us in '83, but I was 56% of the way there, and that's a lot. I started the season as a snark-tanker. I was kind of behind it, while wanting to maintain plausible deniability should things go south, or north, whatever. After the first game, I think I joked, "81 more just like it." But my heart wasn't in it. It really wasn't in it when they started winning in December.

 

But since then it has enveloped me. I've gone from not caring if they win to actually wanting them to lose. I mean, why not? If they're going to tank, then do it right, I figure. I mentioned recently I fist-pumped after an opponent's goal. It really is awful. I am ashamed. What I've been wondering today is what would be the more profound fan moment: waking up like I did today or waking up some day in the future and instantly realizing that the Sabres had won the Stanley Cup the night before. I'm not sure. I fear they are equivalent moments, on the very extremes of the fan experience spectrum. What's worse than feeling bad about your team's victory?

 

d4rk and bio and some others will ascend directly to fan heaven on the coming day of judgment. When a second point against Pittsburgh in the season finale will knock the Sabres out of 30th place, they will be cheering for a Tyler Ennis goal in the shootout. After Jesus and Satan do battle on Perry St. and good finally vanquishes evil, well, let's just say the sunset will have a special reddish tone that evening, and it might even be bearded.

 

The rest of us are left to ponder this question. Do you agree with me? Or is something else just as low? Perhaps we've already felt it, twice. Or is nothing as low as Stanley is high?

[Sabres Fan in NS]

Wide right and no goal are the first things that came into my head, but there are many lows.

 

I have not embraced the tank, so I never hope the Sabres lose.  If I did find myself doing that I think that would be the lowest of the low.

 

I have nothing against the pro-tankers.  I actually do not believe that they are actively cheering for the Sabres to lose.  I really think they want them to lose as it would help secure top talent going forward, but I can't believe they actually want the Sabres to tank, as it is usually defined.

 

EDIT TO ADD:

 

I hate Brad friggin' Park!!

Edited March 18, 2015 by Sabres Fan In NS

[Randall Flagg]

I think the indifference towards this team that I've felt since the beginning of last season is worse than any pain a loss could give me (the worst in my fanhood was game 7 '06). I cried and shot pucks for hours after that game. Hell, that game is probably why I love this sport so much. The emotion was there, and so powerful, even if it was sad. These two seasons have taken some of the joy out of the game for me, and that's worse than any epic losing moment I could imagine.

[pastajoe]

The Two Girls and One Cup?

[sicknfla]

I honestly can say that what this team has done since Pegula has taken over has taken away some of my passion for this team. Not just the record but how they have gone about it. I want my owner and my team to have more pride than accepting to play at the level they have let this team get to.

 

This team has reached such a low that reaching the ultimate high seems light years away.

[Robviously]

2012.  All of it. 

 

• The Sabres stunk, but then had their usual late season "Hey, the team is coming together and building a winning culture" run to the 12th overall pick.
• Then they used that pick to prove they could land a top-line center with Grigorenko (the Sabres' equivalent of being forced to address a position of need at the wrong time after neglecting it forever, the way the Bills were when they took E.J. Manuel).  The team suddenly rushing to prove they could address their needs at center was a little sad, and they promptly wrecked Grigorenko's development as soon as they signed him and forced him into the NHL. Think about how demoralizing that was. 
• Then there wasn't hockey until 2013.

Basically, the team was terrible but not terrible enough to land impact players and there wasn't any end in sight.  And there was no plan in place to make that team a contender.  They picked Grigorenko to be their future star and then treated him like a marketing gimmick instead of a human teenager.  How can you get excited about a team that obviously has no idea what it's doing?

 

As bad as this season is, we at least have enough intriguing players in the system that there's reason to be hopeful next year and beyond.  Murray, in his first season and a half, already clearly has a vision for what he wants to do and it has some promise.  Overpaying for guys like Deslauriers, Kane, and Bogosian to build a "Western Conference team in the East" is a nice change from the rudderless era under Regier.

[Stoner]

Wide right and no goal are the first things that came into my head, but there are many lows.

 

I have not embraced the tank, so I never hope the Sabres lose.  If I did find myself doing that I think that would be the lowest of the low.

 

I have nothing against the pro-tankers.  I actually do not believe that they are actively cheering for the Sabres to lose.  I really think they want them to lose as it would help secure top talent going forward, but I can't believe they actually want the Sabres to tank, as it is usually defined.

 

EDIT TO ADD:

 

I hate Brad friggin' Park!!

You're in as well.

[woods-racer]

I want  30th place, I accepted losing for this small time period in franchise history to obtain the next Perreault. 2 years of fan sacrifice is worth 10 years of fan glory. I will be upset to have the third pick after the last two seasons,  I will consider the goal as not being obtained and we have "lost" this years' objective.

 

My epiphany happened the day DR was let go, I knew as a fan the ride was going to get wild. Which was all I wanted after years off trekking down the straight and flat Darcy highway of mediocrity. To me that was the true fan WIN, and not a lottery draft position.

 

Unacceptable to me is to be where the Leafs are at. So low that it will be years, if ever, to get the stench of incompetence from that locker room and their management offices. If the Leafs win the draft lottery, they will still be a complete mess 10 years from now. If the Sabres get the 3rd or 4th pick, so be it, I'm still confident that next year we will be sniffing the playoffs and the following year we will be debating how deep  we are  going to go come play off time.

 

I'm a Sabres fan, yes I'm at a low point. But I can still point to 3 franchises as say, "I'm still way better off than the fans of those losers". It may be petty, but I know what is in the stable, and the future is bright.

Edited March 18, 2015 by Woods-Racer

[Eleven]

I woke up today feeling like the Sabres had lost a playoff overtime game to the Bruins last night. I honestly did. I didn't reach the depths I did the day after Brad Park beat us in '83, but I was 56% of the way there, and that's a lot. I started the season as a snark-tanker. I was kind of behind it, while wanting to maintain plausible deniability should things go south, or north, whatever. After the first game, I think I joked, "81 more just like it." But my heart wasn't in it. It really wasn't in it when they started winning in December.

 

But since then it has enveloped me. I've gone from not caring if they win to actually wanting them to lose. I mean, why not? If they're going to tank, then do it right, I figure. I mentioned recently I fist-pumped after an opponent's goal. It really is awful. I am ashamed. What I've been wondering today is what would be the more profound fan moment: waking up like I did today or waking up some day in the future and instantly realizing that the Sabres had won the Stanley Cup the night before. I'm not sure. I fear they are equivalent moments, on the very extremes of the fan experience spectrum. What's worse than feeling bad about your team's victory?

 

d4rk and bio and some others will ascend directly to fan heaven on the coming day of judgment. When a second point against Pittsburgh in the season finale will knock the Sabres out of 30th place, they will be cheering for a Tyler Ennis goal in the shootout. After Jesus and Satan do battle on Perry St. and good finally vanquishes evil, well, let's just say the sunset will have a special reddish tone that evening, and it might even be bearded.

 

The rest of us are left to ponder this question. Do you agree with me? Or is something else just as low? Perhaps we've already felt it, twice. Or is nothing as low as Stanley is high?

 

I've gotten there, too.

 

But the "low" would be, I don't know, losing a Cup because of a staph infection or a bad call.

[Weave]

Equivalent low is a bad beat in a game that matters, say game 6 of the finals.

 

 

Feck the tank.  Feck it right in the ear.

[LGR4GM]

Game 7, Period 3, 2006 Eastern Conference Playoffs.

[Claude_Verret]

Equivalent low is no goal or 2006 ECF, akin to a punch to the gut or kick to the nads. Anyone who gets too engrossed in a tank season, from either side of the argument, probably also would enjoy any of the plethora of slow torture techniques used throughout human history.

[I am Defecting]

I remember in the spring of 2006, from Petrograd, getting on the internet, and hearing about nothing but the Sabres.  It was Sabre mania in 2006.  In 2007 it was overblown.

 

It seemed, from Petrograd, that everybody was rooting for the Sabres.

 

Now, nobody is rooting for the Sabres

 

If you search it out, there is this mini-mania about Sabres finishing last.  Whether these are remnants of fans from the past, or what, I do not know.  My friends in Petrograd tell me there is no buzz whatsoever about Sabres.

 

Here in Buffalo, last year, it was novel.  This year it is annoying.

 

It is like spoiled child who must get Reebok Pumps for Christmas or will kill herself, even if it bankrupts her poor Soviet parents in Russia who must stand in line for bread, who gets Reebok Pumps, and next year must get Nike Air Force David Robinson shoe or will kill herself, even though her parents have gone through bankrupcy proceding and she has been given up for adoption, and is living in an orphanage.

[wjag]

I have not embraced the tank because I believe to my inner core that it will not succeed.  They finished DFL last year and picked 2nd.  Didn't work last year, why should it work this year?  A measly 20% shot is too slim in my eyes to bet the franchise's future on.

 

With each passing day, the level of agony with this team goes up.  Whether you agree with playing for last now or not is irrelevant.  We are pot committed. Course correction is impossible.   They now give meaning to the agony of winning.  How is that remotely possible?  In all my years of being a fan of Buffalo I have never seen something some divisive, so insidious among the fan base as this.  

[Claude_Verret]

I have not embraced the tank because I believe to my inner core that it will not succeed. They finished DFL last year and picked 2nd. Didn't work last year, why should it work this year? A measly 20% shot is too slim in my eyes to bet the franchise's future on.

 

With each passing day, the level of agony with this team goes up. Whether you agree with playing for last now or not is irrelevant. We are pot committed. Course correction is impossible. They now give meaning to the agony of winning. How is that remotely possible? In all my years of being a fan of Buffalo I have never seen something some divisive, so insidious among the fan base as this.

How can it be possible that you seemingly do not understand the DFL/McEichel concept?

[Hoss]

I have not embraced the tank because I believe to my inner core that it will not succeed. They finished DFL last year and picked 2nd. Didn't work last year, why should it work this year? A measly 20% shot is too slim in my eyes to bet the franchise's future on.

 

With each passing day, the level of agony with this team goes up. Whether you agree with playing for last now or not is irrelevant. We are pot committed. Course correction is impossible. They now give meaning to the agony of winning. How is that remotely possible? In all my years of being a fan of Buffalo I have never seen something some divisive, so insidious among the fan base as this.

This is another conversation for another thread (no, really, it's happened in just about every thread ever)... But it's not about a "20%" chance. It's a 100% chance at one of two fantastic prospects. But carry on.

 

 

The equivalent low in hockey would be sitting firmly in a playoff position with 15 or so games to go then watching your star player, in a free agent year, go down with a horrible injury to kick off a losing spiral to 7th to last... Don't get a great pick, lose your star and no playoff hockey. I guess.

[wjag]

How can it be possible that you seemingly do not understand the DFL/McEichel concept?

 

That only works if you believe they will finish DFL.  I do not.

[I am Defecting]

This is another conversation for another thread (no, really, it's happened in just about every thread ever)... But it's not about a "20%" chance. It's a 100% chance at one of two fantastic prospects. But carry on.

 

 

The equivalent low in hockey would be sitting firmly in a playoff position with 15 or so games to go then watching your star player, in a free agent year, go down with a horrible injury to kick off a losing spiral to 7th to last... Don't get a great pick, lose your star and no playoff hockey. I guess.

 

I respect you, or will try to not degrade you with every post, but Eichel does not equal McDavid.  I repeat, Eichel does not equal McDavid.  Hockey junior championships in Canada were a great exhibition, and the difference was clear there, and it is clear with everyone outside of this echo-chamber.  You raise Eichel to McDavid's level, but you are comparing apples to oranges.  Apples to apples, there is a clear number 1, and a clear number 2.

 

It is not as if number one pick has to think about it - Eichel or McDavid?  Tough choice, NOT!

 

Why do you not just hope for good luck and for players to develop to their utmost potential?  Because that would require a non-tanking environment immediately.  And we fans are hurting players perception of Buffalo by rooting against players, and coaches, regardless of our (winning?) intentions.

[Claude_Verret]

That only works if you believe they will finish DFL. I do not.

Gotcha. The context of your post didn't make that clear. Gotta be in it to win it though, and we're still alive!

[LastPommerFan]

I don't want to build up what it will be like to wake up the next week (the celebration will last at least that long) after the Sabres win the Cup too much.

 

I imagine the only comparable low would be to slowly watch each member of your family die very very painful deaths while you hold, in your hands, the ability to help them, but can't move or speak. As each one suffers, eventually passing into the darkness, they look you in the eyes and painfully beg.

 

Winning the cup will be almost the exact inverse of that hypothetical experience.

[darksabre]

I have no idea.

[SwampD]

I'm going with what Phil Michelson said - winning never feels as good as losing feels bad. Kind of a depressing thought, innit? It means we'll never feel as high as we have felt low by all the aforementioned failings.

 

Not sure I totally believe that in our case though. Having waited as long as we have in Buffalo has to put a joy multiplier on it when it happens for us.

[Drunkard]

I don't want to build up what it will be like to wake up the next week (the celebration will last at least that long) after the Sabres win the Cup too much.

 

I imagine the only comparable low would be to slowly watch each member of your family die very very painful deaths while you hold, in your hands, the ability to help them, but can't move or speak. As each one suffers, eventually passing into the darkness, they look you in the eyes and painfully beg.

 

Winning the cup will be almost the exact inverse of that hypothetical experience.

Wow. You take your sports way too seriously if you can even fathom comparing anything sports related to the inverse feeling of watching family die. It's not even close to relatable and this is coming from a guy who has a Bills tattoo on one shoulder and a Sabres tattoo on the other. Edited March 19, 2015 by Drunkard

[Wyldnwoody44]

If that day of glory ever happens while we are alive, I'm fairly certain that the high felt by this city collectively will trump any lows that we are embracing now.

 

I feel the Carolina series was a terrible low, we were the team to beat and Edmonton (of all teams) was ripe for the taking in the SCF. I also feel the terrible low of the lack of fortitude this team had after the Miller incident that shook our very core.

 

I am pro tank, have been since the get-go it's sorely needed to at least attempt to expedite this culture of depression and low we have now.... But what will be will be.

 

All I know is the 2016-17 Sabres must be better in some capacity or we may see SabreSpace armeggedon

[I am Defecting]

Wow. You take your sports way too seriously if you can even fathom comparing anything sports related to the inverse feeling of watching family die. It's not even close to relatable and this is coming from a guy who has a Bills tattoo on one shoulder and a Sabres tattoo on the other.

Maybe, pianits, it is like quarter drunk, where you start thinking about some porn star better than wife.

 

Then it is half-drunk, where you try to hit on wife but are rejected.

 

But it evolves to three-quarters drunk, where you wish you had some one better than your wife.

 

And it culminates in jacking off to porn.