#freejame Posted September 30 Report Posted September 30 Pretty straightforward question. Yes or no. If you asked me this before noon today, I would have said no. I’ve had a change of heart for no reason whatsoever, and I can now confidently say we will be in as the seven seed with 96 points. 1
B-U-F-F-A-L-O Posted September 30 Report Posted September 30 Tell me gets hurt and who doesn’t, then I’ll tell you…. 1
matter2003 Posted September 30 Report Posted September 30 (edited) Yes. I think Ruff instills a new attitude and mental toughness this team has been sorely lacking. No more coddling. No more excuses. Just an expectation you play well and I think they will. Time this young team grows up. Edited September 30 by matter2003 2
dudacek Posted September 30 Report Posted September 30 (edited) I have trouble seeing the Sabres as a bubble team. This is not last year's Detroit or Washington, where if everything goes right the team can make the playoffs with a point total in the low 90s. I think there are too many players at that point in their career where they will be making a statement about who they really are, and there is a critical mass situation brewing in the room, in terms of the psychology of the team. If enough of these guys find their potential, it's going to lift the games of everyone around them and we are going to see an explosion into a 100-point squad that strides confidently into the playoffs. I call it the "Hope spring eternal" @bob_sauve28 model. And if enough of these guys struggle, they are going to weigh down the others and we will see an implosion that results in trades and firings and "i don't want to be here's" and ultimately a top 10 pick. This is the 'Same old Sabres" @PerreaultForever model. I think it's boom or bust this year. Edited September 30 by dudacek 1
French Collection Posted September 30 Report Posted September 30 Taking the glass half full approach. They are tied for first overall at the moment. 2
bob_sauve28 Posted September 30 Report Posted September 30 19 minutes ago, dudacek said: I have trouble seeing the Sabres as a bubble team. This is not last year's Detroit or Washington, where if everything goes right the team can make the playoffs with a point total in the low 90s. I think there are too many players at that point in their career where they will be making a statement about who they really are, and there is a critical mass situation brewing in the room, in terms of the psychology of the team. If enough of these guys find their potential, it's going to lift the games of everyone around them and we are going to see an explosion into a 100-point squad that strides confidently into the playoffs. I call it the "Hope spring eternal" @bob_sauve28 model. And if enough of these guys struggle, they are going to weigh down the others and we will see an implosion that results in trades and firings and "i don't want to be here's" and ultimately a top 10 pick. This is the 'Same old Sabres" @PerreaultForever model. I think it's boom or bust this year. Nice. I am really excited about this team. Talent, toughness, speed, goal tending and they are not the youngest team in league anymore. Let's do this!
#freejame Posted September 30 Author Report Posted September 30 56 minutes ago, B-U-F-F-A-L-O said: Tell me gets hurt and who doesn’t, then I’ll tell you…. Every team has injuries. We’re either a team that is able to overcome them or we’re not. 1
SabreFinn Posted September 30 Report Posted September 30 I have a good feeling this season. Better than last year. I go with that feeling. So, hell yeah! They will make it to playoff!
That Aud Smell Posted September 30 Report Posted September 30 I voted "yes." Fuggit. I'm back on the vibes. 1
RochesterExpat Posted September 30 Report Posted September 30 I voted "yes" because I live off perpetual disappointment. 1
Mr Peabody Posted September 30 Report Posted September 30 Voted no mostly from superstition and “too good to be true vibe”. If they stay healthy and play with the energy the Amerks have in these past exhibition games they should. Amerks have been like wolves attacking the net - we need Sabres top lines to do the same. Ottawa, Philly, Montreal, Detroit can all take a step up so it’ll be a dogfight to get in.
Pimlach Posted September 30 Report Posted September 30 (edited) YES. We finally have an NHL coach. We added 5 men with speed and toughness. We will have a few more home grown kids turn into men this season. But I mostly voted yes because I watch almost every game and I need to believe it for my own sanity. Edited October 4 by Pimlach 1
Weave Posted September 30 Report Posted September 30 There was a ton of change, but one of the biggest changes most of us wanted to see wasn’t one of them, a bonafide top 6 forward. That would have been a huge confidence booster. New, old coach - does he still have it? New bottom 6 - are they at least equal to the sum of their parts? Or are they products of their old systems? A couple of carry over additions from the trade deadline to blend in. Does Byram fit what Ruff wants to do? There are alot of variables from the previous edition that are being thrown into the Vita-Mix. I got nuthin. We’ll know by Thanksgiving. 1
Stoner Posted September 30 Report Posted September 30 1 hour ago, Thorner said: Who tf knows tbh. Could go either way. We're not going back.
JoeSchmoe Posted September 30 Report Posted September 30 (edited) 3 hours ago, #freejame said: Pretty straightforward question. Yes or no. If you asked me this before noon today, I would have said no. I’ve had a change of heart for no reason whatsoever, and I can now confidently say we will be in as the seven seed with 96 points. I've done this so many offseasons in the past. This year I'm not drinking the Kool aid. In a line by line comparison of us vs the good teams in the East, only our 4th line looks like it has top end potential. The rest are below average to average. With this, I tend to agree with Vegas with our 88 to 90 point projections. Edit: here's where I see our forward lines vs the Eastern playoff teams. 1st Line - worse 2nd Line - average 3rd Line - much worse 4th Line - better Edited September 30 by JoeSchmoe Added line by line comparison
Thorner Posted September 30 Report Posted September 30 (edited) 18 minutes ago, PASabreFan said: We're not going back. Back to what? That’s it, that’s the whole post? Disappointing. I always get so excited when I see you’ve quoted me. 39 minutes ago, Weave said: There was a ton of change, but one of the biggest changes most of us wanted to see wasn’t one of them, a bonafide top 6 forward. That would have been a huge confidence booster. New, old coach - does he still have it? New bottom 6 - are they at least equal to the sum of their parts? Or are they products of their old systems? A couple of carry over additions from the trade deadline to blend in. Does Byram fit what Ruff wants to do? There are alot of variables from the previous edition that are being thrown into the Vita-Mix. I got nuthin. We’ll know by Thanksgiving. Pretty much exactly. I think I put them at 51% to make it last time I put an actual number on it, but realistically that 1% was willing homerism. It’s honestly hard to say. Edited September 30 by Thorner
#freejame Posted September 30 Author Report Posted September 30 22 minutes ago, JoeSchmoe said: I've done this so many offseasons in the past. This year I'm not drinking the Kool aid. In a line by line comparison of us vs the good teams in the East, only our 4th line looks like it has top end potential. The rest are below average to average. With this, I tend to agree with Vegas with our 88 to 90 point projections. Edit: here's where I see our forward lines vs the Eastern playoff teams. 1st Line - worse 2nd Line - average 3rd Line - much worse 4th Line - better It’s been a long time since I drank the kool-aid, I figured it was time to be topped off. I know where we match up on paper, but what about where we match up in our hearts? I say that only semi-sarcastically.
GASabresIUFAN Posted September 30 Report Posted September 30 (edited) Whether this team makes the playoff comes down to a few things. 1) Can they keep their key player healthy and on the ice? Last year the answer was no. If they can scoring will improve. 2) Can they tighten up defensively? I don't expect them to be "tight," but I do expect them to improve on their near bottom of the NHL HDCA (for the last 2 years). Improve here and that will take away serious pressure from UPL and Levi to carry the team 3) Can they improve on special teams? I expect the PK to improve with the new additions. However the team Achilles heal last year on offseason was the terrible PP. The Sabres were the 4th worst in the NHL at 16.59%. Their 37 PP goals were 3rd worst in the NHL (TB lead with 71). Middle of the pack is about 21% and 51+ goals. If they can do these 3 things they will make the playoffs. The one area I'm not worried to much about is the goaltending. I expect UPL to regress slightly from last season but still remain solid and I expect Levi to take a big step forward. So my vote right now leans slightly on the "No" because I'm not sure they can tighten up defensively or execute the PP. We'll see. NJ will be a good early test. I will say this. If the team hits on the 3 items I've mentioned and kids like Byram, Quinn, JJP, and Benson take the next step this team could get to 100 points. Just think of the offense 2 years ago coupled with a GA from last year and you'd have a +50 differential. Every team last year with a +40 differential had 99 pts or more. Edited September 30 by GASabresIUFAN 1 1
DarthEbriate Posted September 30 Report Posted September 30 Someday one of the young up-and-coming rebuilders has to make it, don’t they? Yes. Yes they do. And this is the year. Florida. Toronto. Detroit. Buffalo. Ottawa. With NYR, Carolina, and New Jersey from the Metro. Out with all the old in the Atlantic. Down with the Pens and Caps, too.
Stoner Posted September 30 Report Posted September 30 1 hour ago, Thorner said: Back to what? That’s it, that’s the whole post? Disappointing. I always get so excited when I see you’ve quoted me. That's all you get. You know what you did. 2 1
#freejame Posted October 1 Author Report Posted October 1 Interesting that on a very pessimistic board that 75% of Sabres fan think they’ll make the playoffs. Do people actually believe that or are they tired of being negative?
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