#freejame Posted July 13 Report Share Posted July 13 There’s been a bunch of posts lately with some really high player predictions. Every time I see one, my first thought is “if that happens, we will probably make the playoffs.” So here’s a thread to give your what if. I’ll start: The Sabres will make the playoffs if we win at least 6 of our first 10 games, with one of those wins being our home opener. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ctaeth Posted July 13 Report Share Posted July 13 If Tage returns to form 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mjd1001 Posted July 13 Report Share Posted July 13 19 minutes ago, Ctaeth said: If Tage returns to form Biggest thing, yes -Tage gets back close to 45-50 goals.....likely imo. -UPL plays like he did at the end of last season...IMO likely. -Defense takes another slight step up ..imo likely. -besides Tage, the get 3-4 other 20-25 goal scorers ...imo iffy. -they have some luck with several other Eastern Conference teams having injury issues or starting to show age...imo Iffy. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post Carmel Corn Posted July 14 Popular Post Report Share Posted July 14 (edited) Matt Ellis is not coaching the powerplay 😁 Edited July 14 by Carmel Corn 5 1 3 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wyldnwoody44 Posted July 14 Report Share Posted July 14 Hell freezes over 1 1 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
inkman Posted July 14 Report Share Posted July 14 They get enough points to qualify 2 1 1 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Huckleberry Posted July 14 Report Share Posted July 14 we trade UPL and rosen for askarov. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SABRES 0311 Posted July 14 Report Share Posted July 14 We all think happy thoughts and never complain about a player’s performance. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PerreaultForever Posted July 14 Report Share Posted July 14 If everything goes right for them and everything goes wrong for four of Florida, Toronto, Boston, Tampa. Detroit, Ottawa, New Jersey, Carolina, New York, Washington and the Islanders. We should be fine with everybody else. Detroit, Washington and Ottawa could obviously all fall behind us if things go well but we need one more of them to have a really bad year. Possible, not probable. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Taro T Posted July 14 Report Share Posted July 14 2 minutes ago, PerreaultForever said: If everything goes right for them and everything goes wrong for four of Florida, Toronto, Boston, Tampa. Detroit, Ottawa, New Jersey, Carolina, New York, Washington and the Islanders. We should be fine with everybody else. Detroit, Washington and Ottawa could obviously all fall behind us if things go well but we need one more of them to have a really bad year. Possible, not probable. The Aisles & the Pens (whom you already seem to have discounted) would be the seemingly obvious teams to also take a step back. It's in reach. They need to be more driven though than they were last year. Doubt Ruff would sit idly by as the PP goes to heck in a handbasket for roughly 95% of the season, so they will be more driven to win. Hopefully those that are here when they leave for the trip to Europe are seriously serious about it this year. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OverPowerYou Posted July 14 Report Share Posted July 14 They will make the playoffs because Lindy will put someone in front of the net when we shoot. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WhenWillItEnd66 Posted July 14 Report Share Posted July 14 Armageddon happens and there are only 16 teams left.... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crusader1969 Posted July 14 Report Share Posted July 14 Cozens and Tage being in good form for the entire season, UPL not regressing and the PP becoming average 4 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoeSchmoe Posted July 14 Report Share Posted July 14 1. No major injuries. 2. Thompson, Cozens, and Tuch play in 22-23 form. 3. Nobody else regresses, especially UPL. 4. MacLeod and Zucker come close to replacing Mitts and Skinner. 5. Ruff improves the power play. Most likely not all that happens and they're a mid to high 80 pt team. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thewookie1 Posted July 14 Report Share Posted July 14 Injuries are limited Thompson and Cozens return to form Tuch keeps doing his thing but has more goals again Quinn and Peterka continue their steady improvements and Quinn stays healthy The new bottom 6 brings a more balanced and nuanced attack The PP is average UPL continues to play like a solid to good starter and Levi/Reimer are solid backups We don't need a miracle, but we do need some luck 5 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PerreaultForever Posted July 14 Report Share Posted July 14 1 hour ago, Taro T said: The Aisles & the Pens (whom you already seem to have discounted) would be the seemingly obvious teams to also take a step back. It's in reach. They need to be more driven though than they were last year. Doubt Ruff would sit idly by as the PP goes to heck in a handbasket for roughly 95% of the season, so they will be more driven to win. Hopefully those that are here when they leave for the trip to Europe are seriously serious about it this year. Ya I already have us ahead of the Pens but the Isles are tricky. Every year they just plug along and win more games than they should and somehow stay in it. Could happen again. They are logically one of the ones more likely to drop off or even fall apart. The point is only that there are a lot of teams ahead of us and most of them got better this off season. Even Ottawa, if Ullmark plays Vezina hockey they could be the surprise team not us. Now he could just as easily look like Korpisalo (and Korpisalo will play good in Boston) and then everybody will say it's the Boston D not the goalies but that's hard to say. Ullmark will be in a contract year so he should be motivated. It will not be easy. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stads Posted July 14 Report Share Posted July 14 They accumulate enough points to be in 8th place or better 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OrangeSeatVertigo Posted July 14 Report Share Posted July 14 ...the goaltending is top 5 in the league. this team won't score many goals now that the offense has been reigned in , so get ready for boring 3-2 hockey games. would rather go back to playing wide open now that the goaltending is better, but I am doubtful that a Lindy team will be allowed to do that Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RochesterExpat Posted July 14 Report Share Posted July 14 9 hours ago, WhenWillItEnd66 said: Armageddon happens The most Buffalo thing would be to finally make the playoffs, Armageddon happens before the first game is played, and the playoffs are cancelled. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DarthEbriate Posted July 14 Report Share Posted July 14 (edited) 11 hours ago, Crusader1969 said: Cozens and Tage being in good form for the entire season, UPL not regressing and the PP becoming average This was my thought as well. I'll go extra specific: 1. Dahlin and Quinn both play 70+ games 2. The Sabres PP% is 21.5 or better (NSH was 16th with 21.66% last year; BUF was 16.59!) 3. Cozens and TNT combine for 65+ goals (they had 57 last season; 78 two years ago) 4. Luukkonen has a save% of .912+ (better team defense and UPL becoming more consistent with experience; .910 last season) Edited July 14 by DarthEbriate 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GoPuckYourself Posted July 14 Report Share Posted July 14 In no particular order: * Tage returns to form * UPL stays the same as he was at mid/late season last year or better * Coaching is as good as advertised * Powerplay improves (Can it get much worse?) I think the roster is improved in the bottom 6, pretty similar in the top 6 as I'm adding Zucker in the top 6 to replace Skinners points which is probably a bit of a downgrade to Skinner but the hope is Ruff can get the best out of the rest of the guys. I'm not sure why when the powerplay was non existent Don Granato didn't fire Ellis and bring in a better coach. It's scary to me that we have the same assistant coaches as last year, did we bring in anyone new? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DarthEbriate Posted July 14 Report Share Posted July 14 2 hours ago, OrangeSeatVertigo said: ...the goaltending is top 5 in the league. this team won't score many goals now that the offense has been reigned in , so get ready for boring 3-2 hockey games. would rather go back to playing wide open now that the goaltending is better, but I am doubtful that a Lindy team will be allowed to do that Yes. Give me the top goaltending and dangerously solid team defense. A 3-2 win is an exciting hockey game. The most exciting hockey I've seen was the dead-puck era Hasek Sabres. Chaos in their own end, Hasek makes one amazing save and it's a rush goal going the other way. Plus the hits, dust-ups, and speed that makes hockey fun. The constant tension was the race to 2 goals. In 98-99, the Sabres would have gotten the win or gone to OT by scoring just two goals in 57 of 82 games. To compare, the Bruins would have gotten the win or OT with two goals in 52 of 82 games in 2022-23 (65 wins). I'll bet that regular season was pretty exciting for Bruins fans. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
French Collection Posted July 14 Report Share Posted July 14 Many reasons that others have pointed out already. Also, grind out loser points. They matter. Islanders had 16, Boston 15 and Washington 11 last year. Buffalo 6. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
triumph_communes Posted July 14 Report Share Posted July 14 If we rehire Ruff and break the curse Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pimlach Posted July 14 Report Share Posted July 14 Make the playoffs? First ingredient is goaltending. They need UPL to be real and they need reliable play from the backup (Levi/Reimer). Next, the Core has to be the Core. Tage, Tuch, Dahlin and Cozens must perform and lead. Next, they need continued growth from Quinn, JJP, Benson and especially Power and Byram Next, they need the upgraded bottom 6 to actually do what Lindy envisions (shut down line, better at faceoffs, tougher to play against). I think they will challenge for a wild card once again. I sure hope they get a good start and are in position by Thanksgiving. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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