The Stanley Cup Playoffs 2023: Second Round GDT.

[klos1963]

13 hours ago, OverPowerYou said:

I wonder what the Sabres ownership/management must be thinking watching Eichel, Reinhart and the new Seattle Kraken team play in the 2nd round of the playoffs. Meanwhile we haven’t won a playoff series since the Rangers GM was playing center for us

I know what I'm thinking. It sucks.

[Thorner]

13 hours ago, OverPowerYou said:

I wonder what the Sabres ownership/management must be thinking watching Eichel, Reinhart and the new Seattle Kraken team play in the 2nd round of the playoffs. Meanwhile we haven’t won a playoff series since the Rangers GM was playing center for us

Probably just further faith in their already held belief that it’s about crafting a TEAM and not lumping their faith and goals onto a saviour. A lesson they already learned if they paid attention to why previous GMs failed

Edited May 8, 2023 by Thorny

[PromoTheRobot]

13 hours ago, OverPowerYou said:

I wonder what the Sabres ownership/management must be thinking watching Eichel, Reinhart and the new Seattle Kraken team play in the 2nd round of the playoffs. Meanwhile we haven’t won a playoff series since the Rangers GM was playing center for us

That talent alone doesn't make a team. You need a culture. We didn't have one back then. We have one now.

[Randall Flagg]

1 hour ago, thewookie1 said:

Eh… I can’t fully agree with you due to the general results. It truly comes down to what makes one happy or entertained. Sure the Leafs have had multiple playoff berths in the past 11 years; but their team has without fail, found new embarrassing ways to end their seasons. The goal is to win the Stanley Cup or “die” trying. The Sabres this year can truly feel successful because they went down fighting tooth and nail with the youngest roster in the league.
 

The Sabres and Leafs have a combined 1 series win since 2008. We have also more recently made the Conference Finals and Cup Finals than the Leafs. 
 

I guess the biggest difference is our pre-season hype is never anywhere near where Toronto has been and we haven’t choked playoff runs away since we haven’t even made it that far. 
 

I guess it comes down to, is it better to have an A+ expectation with a B- result or a C expectation with a C- result? 

Brother, there is a literal generation gap in our fanbase that might never be healed 

My Sabres fanhood falling off significantly altered the course of my life (without exaggeration), and I held on to obsessive levels of fanhood longer than most

 

1 hour ago, Thorny said:

It’s better to not sit at the bottom of the standings for a decade. They’ve “found embarrassing ways to lose” after a bunch of good. We just embarrassingly lost, all year, nearly every year

- - - 

This is the same ridiculous logic that holds losing in the Super Bowl against Tom Brady or losing in the final against LeBron. Montana’s 4-0 somehow held by some in higher esteem. Why? Because he lost *earlier in the playoffs*? Rather than making it to the final? It’s so hilariously absurd. 

- - -

Yes, having really good regular seasons is more fun and more enjoyable than totalling sucking. That this is absolutely a *hot take* on this board is something I’ll gladly wear.

If the only thing that made it all worth it, was winning the cup one day, I’d absolutely not be watching. Logically foolish considering the likelihood it never happens 

When the Bills lose at the end of January, it stings a lot but does not retroactively remove months of joy stemming from watching one of the best players and teams in franchise history. When the Bills were in the drought, the misery never ended except during the spring reprieve which allowed fans to vanish them from their minds completely 

Edited May 9, 2023 by Randall Flagg

[Thorner]

9 minutes ago, Randall Flagg said:

Brother, there is a literal generation gap in our fanbase that might never be healed 

My Sabres fanhood falling off significantly altered the course of my life (without exaggeration), and I held on to obsessive levels of fanhood longer than most

 

When the Bills lose at the end of January, it stings a lot but does not retroactively remove months of joy stemming from watching one of the best players and teams in franchise history. When the Bills were in the drought, the misery never ended

Exactly.

All I wanna do is have some fun.

Ive got a feeling I’m not the only one  

[Crusader1969]

3 hours ago, Thorny said:

Tons better off. Tons. 

Saying, “oh well they only have 1 more series win than the Sabres” is a drastic over simplification. Our seasons have been *OVER IN JANUARY* for basically a decade.

We aren’t the same 

It’s about the journey. They’ve had seasons full of great moments and clunker endings. We’ve had nothing. No moments. Wasted 

What moments do leaf fans have to hang their hat on over the last 10 years ?  
believe me , they are ready to blow it all up and start again if they lose this series 

[Thorner]

Just now, Crusader1969 said:

What moments do leaf fans have to hang their hat on over the last 10 years ?  
believe me , they are ready to blow it all up and start again if they lose this series 

Yup. I give up. Their overall experience making the playoffs most years has been more less identical in enjoyment to finishing near the bottom of the league, almost every year.  None of it matters 

[Randall Flagg]

3 minutes ago, Crusader1969 said:

What moments do leaf fans have to hang their hat on over the last 10 years ?  
believe me , they are ready to blow it all up and start again if they lose this series 

The cumulative enjoyment of like 8 straight 50 win seasons, that is a lot of nights satisfied compared to us knowing the season was over every single year in November 

Again, your argument would tell me that the last 3 years of Bills football is no different from the drought, when any sane person weeps while considering the dichotomy 

By "any sane person" I of course mean "any insane, brain-addled hockey fan posting on message boards a month after their team fled to the Bahamas"

[Crusader1969]

Just now, Thorny said:

Yup. I give up. Their overall experience making the playoffs most years has been more less identical in enjoyment to finishing near the bottom of the league, almost every year.  None of it matters 

Maybe for 2 maybe 3 years but eventually you need to win in the playoffs 

[Crusader1969]

1 minute ago, Randall Flagg said:

The cumulative enjoyment of like 8 straight 50 win seasons, that is a lot of nights satisfied compared to us knowing the season was over every single year in November 

Again, your argument would tell me that the last 3 years of Bills football is no different from the drought, when any sane person weeps while considering the dichotomy 

By "any sane person" I of course mean "any insane, brain-addled hockey fan posting on message boards a month after their team fled to the Bahamas"

You can not compare the leafs to the Bills.  Bills have won in the playoffs.  Leafs have not

at some point.  If the Bills lost 7 years in a row in the wildcard.  We’d all probably say, time to blow it up 

[Randall Flagg]

4 minutes ago, Crusader1969 said:

You can not compare the leafs to the Bills.  Bills have won in the playoffs.  Leafs have not

at some point.  If the Bills lost 7 years in a row in the wildcard.  We’d all probably say, time to blow it up 

But hosting playoff games year after year, and even winning one eventually, is the same as being historically bad for record breaking periods of time, according to you. You feel the same throughout both of these processes

That is of course fantastically, hilariously wrong 

[Crusader1969]

22 hours ago, Randall Flagg said:

Everyone said the same thing about the Leafs for years, and through a lot more wins than the Sabres have yet compiled

Let's take this thing one step at a time 

This is what I was originally replying to. the leafs did not build through the draft for years.   They gave it 2 years and then started signing UFAs and trading away picks starting in 2018.   
that’s why their d and 3rd and 4th line guys are all old veterans who they traded  for or signed,  rather than young fast players on their entry levels.  
Yes , the Sabres need to make and win in the playoffs before we can say “they are building the right way” but I like their chances going forward compared to the leafs.  
and yes I’m sure it’s been more fun to be a leafs fan over the last 8 years BUT I’m sure they’d give it all up for just one cup

[K-9]

35 minutes ago, Thorny said:

Exactly.

All I wanna do is have some fun.

Ive got a feeling I’m not the only one  

Hi, Sheryl.

[Weave]

I’ll take the Buffalo Sabres decade of the 80’s over the Buffalo Sabres decade of 2012-2022 every. Freaking. Time.  They are so far from not being close.  Not once in the 80s did I consider not watching.  Not once did I give up hope that this season might be the season that they get to round 2. 
I spent the last decade with the Sabres as background noise. I’ll take the excitement and disappointment that Toronto is living through over the dead weight of knowing your team doesn’t have a chance on most every night and not think twice about it.

My kid is 25.  Middle school, high school, college, and into his work career, the Sabres have been irrelevant.  What are the odds he’s a fan of the team?

What a waste.  I wouldn’t wish Toronto’s success on Crusader.  He wouldn’t appreciate it.  Apparently there is no value in being entertained for 83 games.

[TheAud]

Eichel with two apples in the first period.

Screw Vegas

[Weave]

15 minutes ago, Crusader1969 said:

and yes I’m sure it’s been more fun to be a leafs fan over the last 8 years BUT I’m sure they’d give it all up for just one cup

Nothing about what our team is doing now gives them a better odds of winning the cup than Toronto has.

[Pimlach]

16 minutes ago, Weave said:

Nothing about what our team is doing now gives them a better odds of winning the cup than Toronto has.

I like the way Adams is paying his core and managing the oncoming wave of salaries.  

[Crusader1969]

16 minutes ago, Weave said:

I’ll take the Buffalo Sabres decade of the 80’s over the Buffalo Sabres decade of 2012-2022 every. Freaking. Time.  They are so far from not being close.  Not once in the 80s did I consider not watching.  Not once did I give up hope that this season might be the season that they get to round 2. 
I spent the last decade with the Sabres as background noise. I’ll take the excitement and disappointment that Toronto is living through over the dead weight of knowing your team doesn’t have a chance on most every night and not think twice about it.

My kid is 25.  Middle school, high school, college, and into his work career, the Sabres have been irrelevant.  What are the odds he’s a fan of the team?

What a waste.  I wouldn’t wish Toronto’s success on Crusader.  He wouldn’t appreciate it.  Apparently there is no value in being entertained for 83 games.

I’ve lived Toronto’s  success as a Sabres fan   Heck I’ve seen the Sabres in the cup      Now I want them to win one 

I’m just guessing here but I bet every single person who wishes the Sabres had the leafs time line would be calling for coach and gm to be fired and for the core to be blown up after 7 straight season of disappointment 

topic has gone off the rails   The main point I was trying to make is that the leafs didn’t build through the draft   Like the Sabres have   They abandoned the draft 2 years after they drafted Matthews 

 

 

 

22 minutes ago, Weave said:

Nothing about what our team is doing now gives them a better odds of winning the cup than Toronto has.

Well whatever Toronto did certainly hasn’t worked and their window has a decent  chance of closing very soon 

[Wyldnwoody44]

F U Eichel. You pissy SOB

[Thorner]

Holy crap what a goal 

[Zamboni]

1 minute ago, Wyldnwoody44 said:

F U Eichel. You pissy SOB

Take comfort in KNOWING he’ll never win a cup. The hockey gods have spoken. 

[Claude Balls]

Eichel is such a 🤡. Scores a goal and gives it to the Edmonton fans like he's better than Connor. He did the same thing here against Toronto. He's def one of the better players in the league, but he needs to tone it down when he scores. He's a no show for just as many games as he shows up for. 

[Randall Flagg]

I always check SS to see if this is a "lmao eichel blows" night or a "***** you jack" night 

This is the first of the latter in a while. He must be coming off a drought 

[Thorner]

RIP Bouchard’s ankles, courtesy of JE

1 minute ago, Randall Flagg said:

I always check SS to see if this is a "lmao eichel blows" night or a "***** you jack" night 

This is the first of the latter in a while. He must be coming off a drought 

He’s honestly had a very good playoffs so far 

[Randall Flagg]

1 minute ago, Thorny said:

RIP Bouchard’s ankles, courtesy of JE

He’s honestly had a very good playoffs so far 

Maybe they just had a long break then, come to think of it they were the first team to advance right?