ska-T Chitown Posted October 1 Report Posted October 1 16 minutes ago, #freejame said: 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? I am an optimistic person by nature - even after being buffalo sports fan for over 40 yrs. I am sure my shrink would call it a "coping mechanism" 🙂 That said, I have seen nothing from the team that makes me feel pessimistic, so I rolled with it. 🎵Rollin' with my hooo-ooomies
Thorner Posted October 1 Report Posted October 1 15 minutes ago, #freejame said: 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? A) this place is far more positive at large than say, Twitter. It’s sort of an odd juxtaposition that it’s also more knowledgeable, by far imo. I wouldn’t guess that the more you know about the franchise the more hopeful you’d be..but here we are. Both things appear to be true, here B) there’s pressure to fall in line with the more positive wave imo. That’s speaking from experience - I feel the need to tone down what I feel is earned pessimism to “fit in”. I’m not sure if that’s the Xs you get more often when you speak to the negative, but I feel that to be a thing
LTS Posted October 1 Report Posted October 1 It's simple. If I answer no that poll right now then I log off the forum and free up my calendar from watching or talking about this team. So I have to answer yes.
JohnC Posted October 1 Report Posted October 1 22 minutes ago, Thorner said: A) this place is far more positive at large than say, Twitter. It’s sort of an odd juxtaposition that it’s also more knowledgeable, by far imo. I wouldn’t guess that the more you know about the franchise the more hopeful you’d be..but here we are. Both things appear to be true, here B) there’s pressure to fall in line with the more positive wave imo. That’s speaking from experience - I feel the need to tone down what I feel is earned pessimism to “fit in”. I’m not sure if that’s the Xs you get more often when you speak to the negative, but I feel that to be a thing Just do the opposite! 1
dudacek Posted October 1 Report Posted October 1 (edited) 1 hour ago, #freejame said: 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? I said it earlier, September is the height of hopium season. No matter what actually happened over the summer, we’ve all had enough time to convince ourselves it could work. Lindy opened the door a little more than many off-season moves might have, and a pretty much perfect pre-season has kept it there. I very much doubt we would have seen that number in mid-July, or will if we open the year at 3 and 4. Edited October 1 by dudacek
Stoner Posted October 1 Report Posted October 1 44 minutes ago, Thorner said: A) this place is far more positive at large than say, Twitter. It’s sort of an odd juxtaposition that it’s also more knowledgeable, by far imo. I wouldn’t guess that the more you know about the franchise the more hopeful you’d be..but here we are. Both things appear to be true, here B) there’s pressure to fall in line with the more positive wave imo. That’s speaking from experience - I feel the need to tone down what I feel is earned pessimism to “fit in”. I’m not sure if that’s the Xs you get more often when you speak to the negative, but I feel that to be a thing Making the poll public juices the number IMHO. I didn't and won't vote. I don't make predictions. If I had to say anything, I'd say it's very unlikely this is a bottom feeder team or a team that guns for the Presidents Trophy. It's sports... I can envision anything in between (yes, it's a yawning chasm) happening and will hope for the best. 4
mjd1001 Posted October 1 Report Posted October 1 I get the feeling the Easter Conference will be a bit tougher than the west to make the playoffs, especially because once the Devils are healthy I think they are going to be really, really good. (there goes one playoff spot by a team that didn't get it). With that said, we can convince ourselves that the team might be better simply with a coaching change. But it is hard to think this team being worse than it has been. So, in my mind, I have a team that could/should be better with a new coach, probably won't be worse with a new coach..that is a net 'slight' positive. Put that in a very tough conference, and its really a coin toss to me making the playoffs. I voted yes simply because, well, why not?
CallawaySabres Posted October 1 Report Posted October 1 The way I see it is that they have ZERO chance to be top 3 in the division so can they get a wildcard, of course. Do I think they will get a wildcard? No. It feels like the Bills 17 year drought and until they get their Josh Allen, it's just spinning the wheels all over again. Eichel was never that Josh Allen due to his personality...
Thorner Posted October 1 Report Posted October 1 Just now, CallawaySabres said: The way I see it is that they have ZERO chance to be top 3 in the division so can they get a wildcard, of course. Do I think they will get a wildcard? No. It feels like the Bills 17 year drought and until they get their Josh Allen, it's just spinning the wheels all over again. Eichel was never that Josh Allen due to his personality... More so the fact the positions/roster status are incomparable. An NFL QB touches the ball on every offensive snap - your best hockey player plays 25% of the game. If you have a great QB, your team ALWAYS has a shot. Eveything is funneled through the QB particularly in today’s game. The presence of that singular player essentially guarantees a playoff spot, especially when half the nfl is neutered by having a mediocre QB 1
mjd1001 Posted October 1 Report Posted October 1 (edited) 20 minutes ago, CallawaySabres said: The way I see it is that they have ZERO chance to be top 3 in the division so can they get a wildcard, of course. Do I think they will get a wildcard? No. It feels like the Bills 17 year drought and until they get their Josh Allen, it's just spinning the wheels all over again. Eichel was never that Josh Allen due to his personality... Well, and his talent level/production also, I think that is the biggest thing. Josh Allen I think you can say is one of the top 10 most influential players in all of football right now in term of contributing to wins...A case can be made he is the 2nd best. Eichel was never close to that. In a league where point production is paramount for forwards, in a prospect where he was supposed to be 'elite' in that way, he is 39th in the league in points since he joined the NHL, 25th in points per game played, 45 in goals...and finally got his cup when he was added to a team that averaged 103 points per 82 games and had deep playoff runs over the previous 4-5 years BEFORE he was added to it. Yeah, Eichel is long gone from Buffalo, but the problem with Eichel as the 'savior', Eichel as the "Josh Allen" of the team is....we as fans had EXPECATIONS he would be that, but it turned out he was just a very very good player, not generational, not elite, etc. It was unfair to expect him to carry this team to the playoffs and a deep run. Edited October 1 by mjd1001 1
JoeSchmoe Posted October 1 Report Posted October 1 1 hour ago, Thorner said: A) this place is far more positive at large than say, Twitter. It’s sort of an odd juxtaposition that it’s also more knowledgeable, by far imo. I wouldn’t guess that the more you know about the franchise the more hopeful you’d be..but here we are. Both things appear to be true, here B) there’s pressure to fall in line with the more positive wave imo. That’s speaking from experience - I feel the need to tone down what I feel is earned pessimism to “fit in”. I’m not sure if that’s the Xs you get more often when you speak to the negative, but I feel that to be a thing Vegas has them at 88 to 90 points. If everything goes right I think they can be better. If some unforeseen things go wrong (injuries, UPL sucking again), they'll be worse. My opinion is that some things will go better than expected and some will go worse than expected and we'll be right where Vegas says we are. For that I consider myself neither a pessimist or optimist. Just a realist. 1
French Collection Posted October 2 Report Posted October 2 I was better off not knowing that no teams this far below the cap ceiling never make the playoffs. I am still hopeful they can buck that trend but now I am pi**ed again at TP and KA for not finding more talent with that $$. This team can do it but adding talent to provide some help would let me feel better about their chances. 1 2
Thorner Posted October 2 Report Posted October 2 18 hours ago, French Collection said: I was better off not knowing that no teams this far below the cap ceiling never make the playoffs. I am still hopeful they can buck that trend but now I am pi**ed again at TP and KA for not finding more talent with that $$. This team can do it but adding talent to provide some help would let me feel better about their chances. 2 of the last 160 playoff teams spent in our current range of spending 1
French Collection Posted October 2 Report Posted October 2 1 hour ago, Thorner said: 2 of the last 160 playoff teams spent in our current range of spending So, there is a chance! 1
Thorner Posted October 2 Report Posted October 2 30 minutes ago, French Collection said: So, there is a chance! I feel like the numbers make it look a bit worse than it actually is, somehow, but nonetheless it’ll be a daunting task. all the sweeter if we pull it off 1
PerreaultForever Posted October 2 Report Posted October 2 Not spending to the cap does make it more difficult than it should be.
dudacek Posted October 2 Report Posted October 2 3 hours ago, Thorner said: 2 of the last 160 playoff teams spent in our current range of spending If I remember correctly, one was the breakthrough Carolina squad after they traded Skinner. Who was the other?
Thorner Posted October 2 Report Posted October 2 (edited) 23 minutes ago, dudacek said: If I remember correctly, one was the breakthrough Carolina squad after they traded Skinner. Who was the other? I don’t really like the “after they traded Skinner” thing. “Trading Skinner” isn’t the magic formula for spending less and winning: 2 occurrences are what we’d call a coincidence. There are plenty of years where Skinner would be a capable player on a playoff team, see: every year. He’s not worse than the worst guy on every playoff team nor is he some sort of horrendous cancer than stops a team from winning. We did that with Jack. It’s just a silly thing to harp on. Yea, maybe we are configured overall similar in some ways to Carolina. That would be worth thinking about. But Carolina is the exception that proves the rule, and the majority of teams that are structured like them DIDN’T make the jump I’m not saying we won’t. But attaching that to Skinner is twitter-Esque, no offence, low hanging fruit Edited October 2 by Thorner 1
French Collection Posted October 2 Report Posted October 2 21 minutes ago, dudacek said: If I remember correctly, one was the breakthrough Carolina squad after they traded Skinner. Who was the other? That would be something to remember Skinner by if the Sabres make it this season.
dudacek Posted October 2 Report Posted October 2 6 minutes ago, Thorner said: I don’t really like the “after they traded Skinner” thing. “Trading Skinner” isn’t the magic formula for spending less and winning: 2 occurrences are what we’d call a coincidence. There are plenty of years where Skinner would be a capable player on a playoff team, see: every year. He’s not worse than the worst guy on every playoff team nor is he some sort of horrendous cancer than stops a team from winning. We did that with Jack. It’s just a silly thing to harp on. Yea, maybe we are configured overall similar in some ways to Carolina. That would be worth thinking about. But Carolina is the exception that proves the rule, and the majority of teams that are structured like them DIDN’T make the jump I’m not saying we won’t. But attaching that to Skinner is twitter-Esque, no offence, low hanging fruit No, you’re right Dan. Jeff Skinner is the devil. 1
nfreeman Posted October 2 Report Posted October 2 On 9/30/2024 at 1:51 PM, 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. Great post. 2 very different stories, each well told and very believable. On 9/30/2024 at 4:33 PM, Stoner said: We're not going back. Yeah, baby! Yeah! On 10/1/2024 at 2:24 PM, CallawaySabres said: The way I see it is that they have ZERO chance to be top 3 in the division so can they get a wildcard, of course. Do I think they will get a wildcard? No. It feels like the Bills 17 year drought and until they get their Josh Allen, it's just spinning the wheels all over again. Eichel was never that Josh Allen due to his personality... I believe, and have said here a few times, that when losing gets ingrained into a franchise, it takes a truly dynamic and special personality, or maybe a couple of them, to wrench it out of the mire. With the Bills, it was Jimbo and later McD (although to get them to excel, Jimbo needed Thurman and Marv, and McD needed JA and BB). If someone is going to do it for the Sabres this year, I think it's going to be Lindy. 3 hours ago, Thorner said: 2 of the last 160 playoff teams spent in our current range of spending Current range on a percentage-below-cap basis? Or absolute dollars? Or other?
Thorner Posted October 2 Report Posted October 2 (edited) 6 minutes ago, nfreeman said: Great post. 2 very different stories, each well told and very believable. Yeah, baby! Yeah! I believe, and have said here a few times, that when losing gets ingrained into a franchise, it takes a truly dynamic and special personality, or maybe a couple of them, to wrench it out of the mire. With the Bills, it was Jimbo and later McD (although to get them to excel, Jimbo needed Thurman and Marv, and McD needed JA and BB). If someone is going to do it for the Sabres this year, I think it's going to be Lindy. Current range on a percentage-below-cap basis? Or absolute dollars? Or other? Apologies, “rank” would work better Ranked bottom 10 league wide in spending. So, our relative range Edited October 2 by Thorner
ska-T Chitown Posted October 2 Report Posted October 2 On 10/1/2024 at 12:05 PM, Thorner said: A) this place is far more positive at large than say, Twitter. It’s sort of an odd juxtaposition that it’s also more knowledgeable, by far imo. I wouldn’t guess that the more you know about the franchise the more hopeful you’d be..but here we are. Both things appear to be true, here B) there’s pressure to fall in line with the more positive wave imo. That’s speaking from experience - I feel the need to tone down what I feel is earned pessimism to “fit in”. I’m not sure if that’s the Xs you get more often when you speak to the negative, but I feel that to be a thing Don't ever change, Thorner. (except for that time you did change your name) Stick to your guns, aim for the stars, be the Thorner you can be! 1
Demoted Posted October 3 Report Posted October 3 They have no choice b.c the next step is to turn the stadium into a laundromat.
Recommended Posts