Why do the Sabres Stink at Home?

[Porous Five Hole]

Per Brian Koziol on WGR postgame show, the top twelve teams in the eastern conference all have winning records at home…except Buffalo.  
 

The Sabres are 9-11-2 at home.  Losing 13 out of 22 at home is pretty brutal.  
 

The last change, the smell of Cheerios, and decently engaged fans (while in lower numbers than most buildings) all seem like they would help.  
 

Any idea what gives?

I’m not ready to go back to the concept of a season of development. If that means Goat Heads for all home games (6-1 record), so be it. 

Edited January 13, 2023 by Porous Five Hole

[GASabresIUFAN]

No pressure on the road.

[Porous Five Hole]

10 minutes ago, GASabresIUFAN said:

No pressure on the road.

Is this a young team thing, a coaching thing, or something else?

[Sabres Fan in NS]

They don't.

That said, they seem to be trying too hard at times and making too many cutsie passes.

[PerreaultForever]

34 minutes ago, Porous Five Hole said:

Is this a young team thing, a coaching thing, or something else?

This has been a common thing for young teams as long as I've been watching hockey (a long time). At home they tend to try too hard, try to be too pretty, try to show off even (at times) and also sometimes crack under pressure. On the road they tend to stick to the coach's game plan and usually play better structured and disciplined (and simpler) hockey. Sabres aren't alone in this. 

[SabresVet]

Attendance is up almost 50% since last season and credit to the fans.  Have been to a few games this season and it's a better atmosphere.    

That said, they have home losses to MTL, AZ, VAN, and PHI.  They've also lost 3 in 4 days now.  

I attribute this to what @PerreaultForever said: they're just young.  

[bunomatic]

They had the mantra that they wanted to be hard to play against at home. I don’t think they are. Except maybe with their speed. When they use it. Teams certainly don’t fear this team. Also the PP is in a big funk. With our firepower you’d think we could correct that. But we always seem to struggle when we’re pressured. 

[PerreaultForever]

16 minutes ago, bunomatic said:

They had the mantra that they wanted to be hard to play against at home. I don’t think they are. Except maybe with their speed. When they use it. Teams certainly don’t fear this team. Also the PP is in a big funk. With our firepower you’d think we could correct that. But we always seem to struggle when we’re pressured. 

Motion and movement on the PP is a lot better this year but we still lack enough solid net front presence. Need more screens. 

[tom webster]

The Sabres just played two of the top ten teams in the league and controlled most of the play. 
They have been unsuccessful at home. They hardly “stink” st home.

[nucci]

8 hours ago, GASabresIUFAN said:

No pressure on the road.

why not? 

[onthewarpath]

The same reason they stink overall:  they have AHL goaltending.

[Porous Five Hole]

3 hours ago, tom webster said:

The Sabres just played two of the top ten teams in the league and controlled most of the play. 
They have been unsuccessful at home. They hardly “stink” st home.

They’ve lost 13 of 22 at home. That’s bad. 

[thewookie1]

My guess is that offensively they try to be overly fancy to impress the fans where as on the road they are far more willing to do anything in order to score.

[GASabresIUFAN]

12 hours ago, GASabresIUFAN said:

No pressure on the road.

 

3 hours ago, nucci said:

why not? 

This is a close bunch of younger players.  They are relaxed on the road and just letting the game happen and when they do that their speed and skill usually rule the day.  At home, they feel more pressure to succeed and in turn they aren't handling the pressure as well. 

It's funny, but that will turn sooner then later.  At some point the energy of the home crowd will give them the lift they need to battle through games like the last 2, where they were the better team but didn't get the result.  A better roster will help.  

[SwampD]

13 hours ago, Porous Five Hole said:

Is this a young team thing, a coaching thing, or something else?

It’s the wings.

[Contempt]

Mittelstadt's couch.

[thewookie1]

7 hours ago, GASabresIUFAN said:

 

This is a close bunch of younger players.  They are relaxed on the road and just letting the game happen and when they do that their speed and skill usually rule the day.  At home, they feel more pressure to succeed and in turn they aren't handling the pressure as well. 

It's funny, but that will turn sooner then later.  At some point the energy of the home crowd will give them the lift they need to battle through games like the last 2, where they were the better team but didn't get the result.  A better roster will help.  

More supported by their play’s improvement when sellouts occur and they get a jump on the opposing team early. They seem to just fly when the crowd and team are clicking 

[sabremike]

A bad home record points a finger right behind the bench because the big advantage is being able to dictate line match-ups. If you are constantly losing at home it strongly suggests that the coach is not doing a good job matching lines.

[John Tucker]

Maybe the Dolphins donated their locker room ping pong table?

[Stoner]

On 1/13/2023 at 5:55 AM, tom webster said:

The Sabres just played two of the top ten teams in the league and controlled most of the play. 
They have been unsuccessful at home. They hardly “stink” st home.

It's still not about winning?

[Thorner]

I tallied up the average points gained by all the teams we’ve faced at home, and I tallied up the average points gained of all the teams we’ve faced on the road...and they were almost identical. So, no juice there..

I know we’ve faced about 2/3rds backup goalies and I was tempted to see how those broke down over the home/away splits, but it was a ton of effort just looking up every game and checking on who the goalie was each time, the first time, so decided against counting again. If I had a guess they probably balance over home / away anyways. 

[Sabres Fan in NS]

3 hours ago, Thorny said:

I tallied up the average points gained by all the teams we’ve faced at home, and I tallied up the average points gained of all the teams we’ve faced on the road...and they were almost identical. So, no juice there..

I know we’ve faced about 2/3rds backup goalies and I was tempted to see how those broke down over the home/away splits, but it was a ton of effort just looking up every game and checking on who the goalie was each time, the first time, so decided against counting again. If I had a guess they probably balance over home / away anyways. 

That sounds like way too much work already for a dude that is semi-retired, eh.

WTF does *semi-retired* mean anyway ??

[postseasonblues]

Maybe they just overachieve on the road.

[MattPie]

17 hours ago, Sabres Fan in NS said:

WTF does *semi-retired* mean anyway ??

Sounds like my FIL, he owns a company and puts in a solid 8 hours a week before knocking off for the weekend.

(He's earned it and treats his people really well, not begrudging the guy at all)

[Sabres Fan in NS]

51 minutes ago, MattPie said:

Sounds like my FIL, he owns a company and puts in a solid 8 hours a week before knocking off for the weekend.

(He's earned it and treats his people really well, not begrudging the guy at all)

@Thorny is maybe all of 30 years old.  Maybe.

I think he is classifing himself as semi-retired from SabreSpace.  I hope not.  He has some great insights.  A bit of a man crush on Johnny Boy still, but Johnny does have that ginger ting* going for him.

Edited January 16, 2023 by Sabres Fan in NS
* not a typo ... GOODLY !!