Could this be 2005/06 all over again?

[Norcal]

Yes

[inkman]

On 9/10/2023 at 4:52 PM, dudacek said:

I think most of the conversation around here seems to be about whether the Sabres did enough to make the playoffs this year.

I'd like to see some conversation to about whether the Sabres have enough pieces in place to break out and become a contending team.

What are the differences between this years Sabres and the Sabres of 2005/06? Both teams are loaded with young players breaking in together on the verge of breaking out. Both teams are coming off a year where they missed the playoffs, but showed signs down the stretch. Neither team made significant veteran additions, but sprinkled in a big checking forward late the previous season and added a few judicious pieces on defence in the off-season. Both teams had uncertainty in goal.

Can this edition of the Sabres follow in that edition's footsteps?

For reference, Forwards:

• Tage Briere
• Tuch Dumont
• Skinner Max
• Cozens Drury
• Mitts Connolly
• Okposo Hecht
• Krebs Roy
• Quinn Vanek
• Peterka Pominville
• Greenway Grier
• Olofsson Kotalik
• Girgensons Gaustad
• Jost Mair
• Rousek Pyatt
• Kulich Paille

Defence

• Dahlin Campbell
• Power Tallinder
• Samuelsson McKee
• Clifton Lydman
• Jokiharju Kalinin
• Johnson Numminen
• Stillman Fitzpatrick

Goalie

• Levi Miller
• Comrie Biron
• Luukkonen Noronen

I miss the days when work afforded me the opportunity to type posts like this.  Now I’m lucky to slam a couple posts during my morning constitutional.   

[Taro T]

2 hours ago, PromoTheRobot said:

Wasn't 05/06 the season after the lockout? I don't recall anyone having any positive feelings about the Sabres. 

They missed the playoffs by 7 points in 03/04. Last place (5th) in the Northeast division. They were a ward of the NHL before Tom Golisano bought them, and he ran the team on a strict budget. Not to mention people were getting tired of the combo of Ruff and Regier.

So again, what positives were there to indicate a 100+ point season? Didn't RJ's classic call "These guys are good...Scary good!" come from the fact that no one expected the Sabres to be that good?

 

On another topic, did you know this came out of the 04/05 lockout? From Wikipedia:

 

The '05-'06 season WAS after the lockout.  But your next statement seems to be indicating that your memory seems to be fading.  It wasn't a popular sentiment, but there were some that were expecting the Sabres to make the playoffs that year.  In no small part due to the way the team had finished the '03-'04 season and because they jettisoned team cancer Satan.  (Which opened up room to be the point of focus on the top powerplay for a certain cocaptain that had been quite the PP specialist in his previous stop.)  Two major reasons to like the Sabres chances.  There also was the fact that the Sabres had been moving towards an entertaining team prior to the lockout and when the league decided to actually do away with D "waterskiing" off attacking forwards and implementing other items to open the game up from the clutch & grab dead puck era it positioned the Sabres very well to take advantage of the new rules.  Not sure if that was by design or by luck, but either way for once the Sabres were "in the right place at the right time."  (Have argued it was in large part by design but it very well might have simply been luck.)

As to your last question, yes, some who were following the (pretty much legal only news about the NHL because there was no hockey to follow) NHL during the lockout knew about that lawsuit. 

[Stoner]

Rick always claimed no one gave the Sabres a chance to make the playoffs, hence his Now Do You Believe, Do You Believe, and There's Room on the Believers Bandwagon calls.

[Marvin]

4 minutes ago, PASabreFan said:

Rick always claimed no one gave the Sabres a chance to make the playoffs, hence his Now Do You Believe, Do You Believe, and There's Room on the Believers Bandwagon calls.

He was correct.  The only national hockey pundit in 2005-6 who I saw had written that the Sabres could make the playoffs explained that, "never under-estimate Lindy Ruff's ability to get blood from a stone."

[Sabres Fan in NS]

Yes.