GDT Islanders at Buffalo 2/8/18 7pm MSG, GR

[Randall Flagg]

Oooh - a fancy stats analysis of the 1999-2001 era teams.

 

I would love to see it.

*Sharpens pencil*

 

Any idea where I can get game footage of every regular season game of every team during those years?

 

(I'd do it if I wasn't at school, even if it took years)

[Taro T]

*Sharpens pencil*

 

Any idea where I can get game footage of every regular season game of every team during those years?

 

(I'd do it if I wasn't at school, even if it took years)

Regular season, no.

 

Playoffs? Maybe ... :angel:

[Sabel79]

99 as "all Hasek" is a bit of an oversimplification. I know it rubs Rob Ray the wrong way. Darcy made some terrific trades to get that team close. Up until the final, that team scored three goals a game for Dom. Darcy got the rug pulled out from under him by ownership -- twice. If the Rigases had been willing (more likely able) to deliver those tools to finish the job after 99, including resigning Peca when the Sabres were very good again in 2001, we might have that Cup banner up there. Instead of a... no, I won't say it twice in one day.

They were a below average goal scoring team in 98-99. 7th seed. Playoffs were something else, but minus Hasek that team is absolutely adrift. Satan led them in scoring with 40 goals. Peca, Ward and Grosek were the only other guys to hit 20. It was absolutely all Hasek. Rob Ray, of all people, doesn't need to be rubbed any way by it.

[LTS]

For the ire that PA's comment drew, his point is correct

 

Jack's 17th in league scoring is not worth being historically bad 4 years ago so that we could still be historically bad today

 

People practically guaranteed a deep playoff run by 2019 and we've had 5 seasons ranging from historically bad to bad

 

First, it's not 2019 yet, so even if people practically guaranteed it, it's not over yet.  Second, no one predicted the GM being ousted which changes a lot of things.  Third, the Sabres are not historically bad today.  It's actually fundamentally impossible since the Coyotes are below the Sabres in the standing by 5 points.  The Coyotes would have to be historically bad.  The Sabres are just bad.  Fourth, Jack's potential is not to continue to be 17th in the league in scoring when this team is better.  Finally, it's reasonable to think that the team has enough talent at this point to actually make a notable improvement in the standings next year given certain changes. The Avs are certainly evidence of that line of thinking.

 

I don't know if the intent was ever to be as bad as they were, it's kind of just what happened.

 

And we had no idea at the time. We were positively DROOLING going into the 15-16 season, and super pumped about Okposo. It wasn't clear, because when you rebuild from nothing, there is an incredibly high likelihood that the things you do to get really good again don't work out, and you have literally no base to fall back on and try again the way a Rangers team does when Richards doesn't work out, or the Blues do when signing a Stastny doesn't work. It is a point often brought up by We've/nfreeman/NS at the time which I never thought about, but that is what they meant when they said that rebuilds usually didn't work. "Those examples are just stupid GMs, look at those stupid moves." At the time, everyone and their mother was happy with them. 

 

But unless you do the incredibly improbable, and knock every single move out of the park in the right direction which no one knows where it actually is yet, you have nothing to fall back on except your Larssons an Girgensons, even if you drafted more Guhles than Karabaceks. 

 

The Rangers and Blues did not rebuild from nothing.  So when Richards and Stastny don't work out ... wait.. Stastny didn't work out?  He's 4th on the team in scoring behind Brayden Schenn and Schwartz who've never had seasons like this. Yes Tarasenko is above him but we'd expect that.  but anyway, they were not rebuilding from basically nothing.

 

Rebuilds happen because they have to happen.  The extent of a rebuild may vary but then sometimes you have to cut more out just to remove the bad parts. Recovery is inevitable, but some just take less time to do it which brings everything to your last point.  You have to get everything right and knock every single move out of the park.  Either that or you have to be incredibly lucky.

 

Right now the Oilers who have been the poster chidlren of how NOT to rebuild a franchise have had the benefit of drafting what pretty much everyone agrees is the best player since Crosby and yet they still suck.  They won the lottery in the year the best player was available and they aren't making the playoffs.

 

We were drooling over 15-16 because we had been through historically bad and as fans we looked for hope.  It just wasn't meant to be.

[LGR4GM]

Wait till the rangers rebuild starts... that's gonna be rough.

[Sabres Fan in NS]

Was not that finals team of 1999 mostly built by Muckler?

[Taro T]

Was not that finals team of 1999 mostly built by Muckler?

He brought in many pieces, but he also left Hasek exposed in an expansion draft & gave up a truckload to get Fuhr after he already had Hasek. He doesn't get to claim it was really his team that went to the ECF & SCF in b-t-b years.

[Sabres Fan in NS]

He brought in many pieces, but he also left Hasek exposed in an expansion draft & gave up a truckload to get Fuhr after he already had Hasek. He doesn't get to claim it was really his team that went to the ECF & SCF in b-t-b years.

 

Thanks, Taro.

 

My memory has faded.  It's good that you are around to fill in the blanks.

[Stoner]

*Sharpens pencil*

 

Any idea where I can get game footage of every regular season game of every team during those years?

 

(I'd do it if I wasn't at school, even if it took years)

You might be able to get shots on goal, blocked shots and missed shots for any game. That would at least give you Corsi. Might be fun to do for a playoff series in 99.

 

Thanks, Taro.

 

My memory has faded.  It's good that you are around to fill in the blanks.

You can download the Sabres Media Guide, which lists every transaction the team ever made. Muckler's signature move was trading Mogilny for Peca and a pick that became Jay McKee. I'd say Mucks left Darcy in a pretty nice spot, but then Darcy made some really nice moves to put them over the top (almost). One of Muckler's last moves was getting Satan for virtually nothing, and one of Darcy's first moves was getting Jason Woolley for virtually nothing.

Edited February 10, 2018 by PASabreFan