Are we going to play this "in the hunt" game again?

[Pimlach]

2 hours ago, Weave said:

I can’t even muster up the energy to come up with something witty and sarcastic.

^  Now this is an example of witty and sarcastic!

[SABRES 0311]

[mjd1001]

On one hand, I say if you can 'still get back into it' then you are never out of it.

Realistically, they are done for the year. IF they run off a huge streak and get a lot closer, then I'll say "I was wrong" and change my thinking.

Here is the updated reality of things:

-Ottawa is in the 8th spot right now with 52.6% of the points.  They have to win 9 more in a row just to get to that level. (and then continue to play well to maintain that 8th spot)

-Over the last 5 seasons, you would have needed an average of 58.6% (averaged out, some years less, some more) to get the last playoff spot. (96 points) They would need to win the next 16 in a row to get there. And after that of course, continue to play well to maintain that spot.

-or- as others have said, they have to play the 2nd half of the year at a 122 point pace just to get to 96 points.

 

Edited Tuesday at 09:03 PM by mjd1001

[PerreaultForever]

In the hunt?

This is obnoxious. 

[Dreams Burn Down]

Typical Buffalo hockey media.  Selling gold in the hills when the lode has been long extinguished.  All in the name of clicks, viewership and/or copy.

[Doohicksie]

The Sabres are one 13-game losing streak out of a playoff spot.  That's all.

[GASabresIUFAN]

It probably happened once or twice in NHL history, but I can’t think of a team with 35 pts midway through the season ever making the playoffs.  
 

To get to 90 points, the Sabres would need 55 pts over the next 41 games.  That’s a 25-11-5 record.  This team will be lucky to go 18-18-5

[Weave]

15 minutes ago, Doohicksie said:

The Sabres are one 13-game losing streak out of a playoff spot.  That's all.

What horrible victims of happenstance.

[That Aud Smell]

12 minutes ago, Weave said:

What horrible victims of happenstance.

Just a sorta random association here. I still love this line.

[thewookie1]

12 minutes ago, GASabresIUFAN said:

It probably happened once or twice in NHL history, but I can’t think of a team with 35 pts midway through the season ever making the playoffs.  
 

To get to 90 points, the Sabres would need 55 pts over the next 41 games.  That’s a 25-11-5 record.  This team will be lucky to go 18-18-5

At the rate the league is going we won’t need 90 pts lol. 
 

I sure is he’ll wouldn’t bet on it but if we were to string a few 3-1-1 streaks together we’d be right back into the mix barring someone actually deciding to run away with WC2 

[K-9]

[GASabresIUFAN]

Anyone have the odds of the Sabres making the playoffs vs finishing last in the NHL standings? 

[thewookie1]

Must everyone ahead of us go to OT, I mean seriously!

[PerreaultForever]

The one thing Sabres fans might actually take solace in this year is it might still be a battle for last in the division and Sabres could pass Boston. They really stink right now. Worse than Buffalo. They look dead and done. 

[pi2000]

8 hours ago, Broken Ankles said:

If I recall, you wanted to wait until December before you would consider the team a viable playoff candidate and whether or not Ruff would be able to covert/improve the squad.  That time has come and gone and halfway through they are close to DFL and regressing.  What say you now on the Ruff hiring and state of the union? 

It was going to take about 20 games with a new head coach to understand who this team was.

I was at game #20 in Anaheim.    They won and beat the Sharks the next day, sitting in 3rd place in the division. 

Then they go and lose every single game for a month straight.    

What seems evident, is the players they've drafted and developed over the years... the Quinn's, Peterka's, Power's etc..  all seem very similar.    

Statistical darlings as junior players... probably great analytics, but one thing analytics can't measure is competitiveness and the desire to win. 

Losing doesn't seem to bother these guys enough and that's a problem. 

You look at Colorado's bench when they were down 2 or 3 goals and their leaders look pissed off, guys yelling slamming sticks, those guys just absolutely hate to lose.    

Not so much for the Sabres.... losing is not as big of a deal to each of them on a personal level.    They look somewhat disappointed, but they don't "hate to lose" as much as the guys they're lined up against.

You can hear it in Lindy's post game pressers... making comments about guys not getting to spots quick enough to prevent scoring chances.   Guys that hate to lose find a way to get those spots and prevent those scoring chances, these guys just don't care enough.    Maybe they think they do, but they don't.... there's levels to hating to lose and they're probably near the bottom of the league.     

 

[bunomatic]

46 minutes ago, pi2000 said:

It was going to take about 20 games with a new head coach to understand who this team was.

I was at game #20 in Anaheim.    They won and beat the Sharks the next day, sitting in 3rd place in the division. 

Then they go and lose every single game for a month straight.    

What seems evident, is the players they've drafted and developed over the years... the Quinn's, Peterka's, Power's etc..  all seem very similar.    

Statistical darlings as junior players... probably great analytics, but one thing analytics can't measure is competitiveness and the desire to win. 

Losing doesn't seem to bother these guys enough and that's a problem. 

You look at Colorado's bench when they were down 2 or 3 goals and their leaders look pissed off, guys yelling slamming sticks, those guys just absolutely hate to lose.    

Not so much for the Sabres.... losing is not as big of a deal to each of them on a personal level.    They look somewhat disappointed, but they don't "hate to lose" as much as the guys they're lined up against.

You can hear it in Lindy's post game pressers... making comments about guys not getting to spots quick enough to prevent scoring chances.   Guys that hate to lose find a way to get those spots and prevent those scoring chances, these guys just don't care enough.    Maybe they think they do, but they don't.... there's levels to hating to lose and they're probably near the bottom of the league.     

 

Scouting can measure competitiveness and the desire to win. Unfortunately TP isn’t willing to scale up in that regard. I agree that absolutely hating to lose needs to be part of these kids dna if they are drafted by this org.

[French Collection]

6 hours ago, pi2000 said:

It was going to take about 20 games with a new head coach to understand who this team was.

I was at game #20 in Anaheim.    They won and beat the Sharks the next day, sitting in 3rd place in the division. 

Then they go and lose every single game for a month straight.    

What seems evident, is the players they've drafted and developed over the years... the Quinn's, Peterka's, Power's etc..  all seem very similar.    

Statistical darlings as junior players... probably great analytics, but one thing analytics can't measure is competitiveness and the desire to win. 

Losing doesn't seem to bother these guys enough and that's a problem. 

You look at Colorado's bench when they were down 2 or 3 goals and their leaders look pissed off, guys yelling slamming sticks, those guys just absolutely hate to lose.    

Not so much for the Sabres.... losing is not as big of a deal to each of them on a personal level.    They look somewhat disappointed, but they don't "hate to lose" as much as the guys they're lined up against.

You can hear it in Lindy's post game pressers... making comments about guys not getting to spots quick enough to prevent scoring chances.   Guys that hate to lose find a way to get those spots and prevent those scoring chances, these guys just don't care enough.    Maybe they think they do, but they don't.... there's levels to hating to lose and they're probably near the bottom of the league.     

 

You nailed the mental makeup of this team.

I find this leads to a lack of urgency, when that is required. I find Power to be the biggest culprit of this mindset. There can be 20 seconds left in the PP and he slowly dawdles up the ice killing precious seconds off the clock. A similar thing happens when the goalie is pulled.

Zucker and Benson hate to lose and they need more of that, I think Dahlin has the fire in his belly, he just gets frustrated and loses his cool or makes poor decisions.

[Doohicksie]

14 hours ago, Weave said:

What horrible victims of incompetence.

fify

[That Aud Smell]

7 hours ago, pi2000 said:

What seems evident, is the players they've drafted and developed over the years... the Quinn's, Peterka's, Power's etc..  all seem very similar.    

Statistical darlings as junior players... probably great analytics, but one thing analytics can't measure is competitiveness and the desire to win. 

Too many chill bros.

 

7 hours ago, pi2000 said:

Losing doesn't seem to bother these guys enough and that's a problem. 

You look at Colorado's bench when they were down 2 or 3 goals and their leaders look pissed off, guys yelling slamming sticks, those guys just absolutely hate to lose.    

Not so much for the Sabres.... losing is not as big of a deal to each of them on a personal level.    They look somewhat disappointed, but they don't "hate to lose" as much as the guys they're lined up against.

You can hear it in Lindy's post game pressers... making comments about guys not getting to spots quick enough to prevent scoring chances.   Guys that hate to lose find a way to get those spots and prevent those scoring chances, these guys just don't care enough.    Maybe they think they do, but they don't.... there's levels to hating to lose and they're probably near the bottom of the league.     

The kids don't want it.

 

[Weave]

30 minutes ago, Doohicksie said:

fify

I prefer sarcasm, generally.

[Big Guava]

Bills played it for 17 years, why not a few more? 🤣

[OverPowerYou]

I’m in the hunt for a new team to root for

[Broken Ankles]

1 hour ago, That Aud Smell said:

Too many chill bros.

 

The kids don't want it.

 

Nice callback.  I remember that post…chill bros.  Definitely something there.  The quotes from Shorsey, “They don’t hate to lose”.  And of course “sniper”.  Good stuff.  One of these days I will have to find this show on a streaming platform and binge watch it. 

[MattPie]

20 hours ago, mjd1001 said:

On one hand, I say if you can 'still get back into it' then you are never out of it.

Realistically, they are done for the year. IF they run off a huge streak and get a lot closer, then I'll say "I was wrong" and change my thinking.

Here is the updated reality of things:

-Ottawa is in the 8th spot right now with 52.6% of the points.  They have to win 9 more in a row just to get to that level. (and then continue to play well to maintain that 8th spot)

-Over the last 5 seasons, you would have needed an average of 58.6% (averaged out, some years less, some more) to get the last playoff spot. (96 points) They would need to win the next 16 in a row to get there. And after that of course, continue to play well to maintain that spot.

-or- as others have said, they have to play the 2nd half of the year at a 122 point pace just to get to 96 points.

 

This is the math I was looking for. 122-point pace? That'll sure happen, lol.

18 hours ago, thewookie1 said:

At the rate the league is going we won’t need 90 pts lol. 
 

I sure is he’ll wouldn’t bet on it but if we were to string a few 3-1-1 streaks together we’d be right back into the mix barring someone actually deciding to run away with WC2 

Until it doesn't, it'll always take 93-96 points, lol. Sure it doesn't look like it right now, but a couple teams get hot every year and the points end up in the same place in the end.

[mjd1001]

Here is a good example of the '7 points back' thing being worse than it sounds.

Just last night...in ONE Night, The Ottawa played Detroit and it ended in OT (3 points awarded), Columbus and Pittsburg went to overtime (3 points awarded) and even the Rangers lost but it went to OT and they got a point.

5 teams above them, including 4 that played each other, ALL got points.