Eichel not bending about which surgery he wanted has to be the best decision of his entire life. Better quality of life long term, got to leave that dumpsterfire and won a cup shortly after instead of not even making playoffs
The way management handled that completely tarnished the organization, they will have to overpay and even then wont get free agents in part because of this. Everyone in management should have been fired after how that was handled . He should have been able to get surgey to turn him into a dolphin if he wanted
That was such a colossal screw up. The Sabres wanted neck fusion surgery that would drastically shorten Eichels playing career instead of the alternative suggested by his doctor. Eichel says goodbye, has the new procedure and LITERALLY WALKED OUT OF THE HOSPITAL the same day.
@@jerryrikki9466the problem is in your comment: I suspect ownership either agreed with management or ownership made the decision themselves. The Pegulas might’ve saved the team when they bought it, but their meddling as owners has done a lot of damage. Buffalo is going nowhere until ownership lands a top 10 GM/President and let’s that GM make all the hockey decisions
9:45 I remember a caricature in the sports section of Montreal media when the Sabres were in town, and it basically showed a hornless buffalo that looked really sad, wondering "when will they grow back", and in front of him he had several fallen horns that were labeled "Jason Pominville", "Daniel Brière", etc. That caricature was in the early 2010's, way before any of these players shown at the 9:45 mark were even a part of the organization. That's always been a Buffalo staple it seems, they're basically the NHL's farm team at this point....
I still think Columbus is the saddest NHL franchise. They’ve done nothing since they’ve been in the league and have never had any superstars for a long period aside from Nash.
Overall yes but they did do the funniest thing ever when they swept the record-tying Lightning and then the year after made the Leafs choke hilariously.
“What’s going on in Buffalo?” They tanked for the McDavid lottery and when they tanked they sacrificed their farm system as well. Every GM after that with Eichel felt pressure to rush the rebuild and as a result we were sending players who weren’t ready for the NHL when they should’ve been in the AHL to develop further. So as a result when the team was healthy, they were good. But when they were injured they sucked so hard due to being top heavy with no players to pull in the AHL who could actually help. This is also ignoring players like Rasmus Ristolainen on defence being horrible and bad coaching decisions being made as well. When Kevyn Adams took over he legitimately had a disaster to clean up in 2 areas with the Amerks and the Sabres. It’s much better now and I expect the drought to be ending either this season or next.
That’ll help (as long as he’s still able to relate to modern players) but no coach can truly fix the culture on their own if there aren’t also players that can assist in building the culture. There’s some things a coach just can’t do/isn’t around for where a captain or veterans are needed. They’d be wise to outbid teams for some veterans in their twilight; with a high number of players on ELCs they can afford to overspend a bit on short term deals.
As a buffalo fan the biggest issue this last decade in my opinion has been terrible coaching backed by terrible management. I completely agree that the team desperately needs veteran leadership but Adam's and (hopefully) ruff are the 2 leaders this team has needed for years
Two Words. Pegula Era. Tom Golisano sold the team to Terry Pegula and from that point on, everything the Sabres had suddenly went out the window. They began getting rid of all their good players and keeping all their bad ones. Overpaying players for 8 years just to have them either get hurt every year or suddenly can't score. Then bringing in first time coaches and general managers to fix it. Lets just state the facts to make a long story short. Terry Pegula and Tom Golisano reached an agreement to sell the team on January 29, 2011, with Pegula purchasing the team for $189 million ($175 million with $14 million in debt included), with the Sabres and Golisano officially making an announcement in a press conference on February 3, 2011. NHL owners approved the sale on February 18. Under Tom Galisano: (82 Game Season) Best Year: 2006-2007 113 Points League Finish 1st Worst Year 2007-2008 90 Points League Finish 18th Under Terry Pegula: (82 Game Season) Best Year 2022-2023 91 Points League Finish 20th Worst Year: 2013-2014 52 Points League Finish 30th The Sabres are never gonna be back to a watchable franchise, unless the Pegula's sell to a competent owner.
I had a similar thought in a different comment. Pegula is one of the more wealthy owners if I’m not mistaken. If he could put his ego aside and just use his money to buy one of the best hockey ops staffs in the league (and most importantly let them make the decisions without his meddling) then the team could turn around. But those are big “ifs”. Pegula has to realize that when teams like Florida can sign players for less, the only way to beat them is to maximize your value for each dollar of the cap and outspend them in terms of coaching, management, scouting, facilities, etc
Kind of fitting that there was an advertisement for Outlet Liquor right as the Sabres blew that 3 goal lead against Philly. I bet they had a serious uptick in business during that 18 game losing streak.
In Hockey. Just in the NBA, the Sacramento Kings 16 years without a play-off appearance (after being contenders for several years) are a legitimate candidate. The Los Angeles Clippers for decades are probably worse than the Sabres, and the Pistons since 2008 are contenders also. The Sabres are the biggest disaster in hockey and contenders for the biggest in north american sport - but it's way too easy to simply qualify them as THE biggest without thinking further.
Honestly, at this point, even as a Leafs fan, Im feeling bad for Sabres fans... just the sheer bad luck and piss poor management makes even a Leafs fan wince....
I really don't feel bad for their fans because they sided with a general manager who got away with blatant malpractice when it came to injuries screw that you no general manager should get away with that there is no excuse for that at all and for a fanbse to side with a general manager who got away with that is disgraceful they reaped what they sewed
@@rileyholden-zc9ip”They sided with the GM” Typical Vegas fan comment. As a Buffalo fan I will say this. Eichel should’ve been able to get the surgery he wanted on his neck. BUT, I also can understand where the GM is coming from about the surgery that he wanted was never done on an NHL player before. Especially one who’s a #1 Center and making $10M. Us fans didn’t side with one or the other at all during the whole neck surgery saga.
As a Sabres fan I have said it for two years. We need one veteran and a few speedy steadfast players we can interchange between lines. We have no effort and we are also slow.
What’s worse is the only star that’s actually asked for a trade was Eichel. O’Reilly never said he wanted to leave and Reinhart actually wanted to stay.
Good points. I’ll add one thing that Buffalo has to do. Since they’re in a higher tax market that many players find undesirable, they are under more pressure than most to get the best value out of every dollar spent on player salary. Ownership needs to pay top dollar to get the best hockey ops people, from GM, to coach, to scouting dept (pro and amateur), to analytics, and any other thing like facility improvements or training tools. The teams like Florida and Vegas can get players at 70-80% of what Buffalo has to pay, only way to compete with that is to be the best in every aspect
The thing that’s nuts is that players don’t want to play here, but the ones that do end up living here the rest of their lives because the love it here. The no trade clause is what’s kept Buffalo from getting back on track.
At this point its gotta be incredibly tough for Buffalo to attract any older vets with those leadership qualities and winning attitude when nobody wants to play there and have a losing culture for over a decade. They really need to bring in a great GM that can convince those players and then present them with a set plan to actually get out of this rut. Its been just rebuilding the rebuilds which obviously will never work they need to let their young guys mature more and have some patience with them
Ruff might be a coach those guys are willing to play for, but the organization still probably just needs a few controversy-free years to distance itself from the Eichel debacle in order for the toxic reputation to wear off.
Matching Edmontons offer sheet on Vanek was the point of no return. According the CBA at the time Bufallo would have recieved 4, FOUR, 1st round picks as compensation. All would have been top 10, 2 in the top 5. They could have built a powerhouse with those picks combined with their own.
It's been rough. I was 16 in 2007 and the Sabres were in the Conference Finals 25% of my life at the time. It's been awful since. I cannot express how close the players of the mid 00's Sabres and the community were. We adored them and everything stopped for their games the same way it does for the Bills. It's a disgrace what happened here. Looking at the season ahead they sold a ton of season tickets for Lindy's return so people are cautiously optimistic but it also seems they're not gonna spend to the cap to acquire more goal scorers so I'm not sure how much better bottom six play, coaching, and goaltending will matter this year. I hope they fix things this city loves hockey and it's been sad to see the growing divide between the fans and the organization that's genuinely a civic institution here.
Even tho im a Philly fan Buffalo is one of the other teams i kind of have a sweetspot for they always had interesting players, some of the coolest jersey designs in the NHL. I think they should do like Vancouver/Detroit done with the Swedes to put their focus on like Czech,Slovak,Slovenian and Latvian players (basically western slavic) for outiders, They had Hasek they had Miroslav Satan (coolest name in hockey ever) As a Swede honestly Slovak and Czech players are still underrated Czech won the world championship home,
@nathanhillier7499 why is laughing at joke of sports good for you? Why is thinking they are the worst thing to happen to sports ever and is just a huuuuge embarssment to canada is a good thing?
Honestly, it's getting to the point where if you're scrambling for content these days you can always dust off the old "Buffalo is a Dumpster Fire" file.
As a lifetime fan of the Maple Leafs I have to say they have been the biggest disappointment of any team in the four major league sports for the past half century.
Not yet as it takes 3-5 yrs. for a Dman to fully develop but he is progressing. He has the size and talent and big things are expected of him this year under Ruff as he will be expected to step up the physical game as he grows out into his big body.
@@tdfmtig You mean the 21 year old who lead the league in breakout passing and is good based on all metrics? But he doesn't run around hitting people so he's bad...dinosaur take.
As a Buffalo fan I want to see this team do something great. But also as a Buffalo fan I can’t get my hopes up. 25 years of watching and barely anything to show for those seasons.
they were such a powerhouse team until the early 2010s obviously they haven't made it to the playoffs since 2011 including 2020 where they couldn't even do it in an expanded format
The Sabres played the least amount of games in the ATL, were 3 points behind MTL, who had played 2 more games than Buffalo and they were supposed to play MTL the night the league paused. The Sabres should have been given consideration, they were the only team close to the cut off with enough points available to over come the difference
Lehner never won a Cup. If you're thinking with Vegas, no. He did not play a single game in the 2022-2023 season nor did the team lobby for his name to be on the Cup. That was all Brossoit, Hill, Quick, and Patera who held down the fort for Vegas' Cup win. Lehner had nothing to do with it.
@@rileyholden-zc9ip well those are easy, San Jose is beautiful weather most of the year, Montreal has an incredible fan atmosphere, but Winnipeg? High crime rate, high taxes, and winter almost all year round? Fuck that
Well, just putting this out here as sabres fan. Looks like Edmonton and skinner are winning the cup this year given the creepy similarity between past star players leaving, and the winning the cup shortly after. Get your bets in now yall, oilers and skinner will take it home 😂
I dont think redwings have signed too many vets at all. When u are in a push to make playoffs, you gotta have some players that know how to start pushing in jan. One of biggest factors in kane being signed, is his immense experience. We had that with perron too. But, teams, unfortunately, are fluid one yr to the next. We all saw what happend to islanders 18yr old goalie having whole work load put on him, as their top pick, just to burn out waaay too soon. U cant do that to young talent!
SUPER easy it is a town of no money.The Sabres for many years actually survived because of Canadians crossing the border and this is the same for many cross border businesses.Modern day hockey is a lot about cheating the cap but not long ago there was no cap so even though buffalo had some good players they were not as deep in money as otehr teams like the habs/Bruins/Flyers and an era where the Islanders became very popular in a big Ney York state. Buffalo is just not really a hockey area and now they have to compete within the salary cap so now it is even tougher than just buying a winner.
Couple of things. Gilbert Perreault is French Canadian so his first name should be pronounced as such. Eichel was a punk who thought he was a #1 draft pick and he was mad that he was the leftovers. He got the C to early and was a spoiled brat. Kim Pegula should have never been made the President of Hockey Ops. Thankfully she is gone from that role now. We lost Drury and Briere due to the team being bankrupt and we couldn't afford to keep them.
The dumbest sh*t I've seen in a while. There's plenty to criticize the Sabres about. But signing vets with Cup experience this year is NOT one of them. Especially when you compare them to Detroit, who Buffalo has consistently finished ahead of or right near the last how many seasons now? But Yzerman is a genius and Adams is a laughing stock? Ok. They signed guys this season to supplement the young top 6 stars, specifically with culture, bottom toughness, and work ethic in mind. Lafferty has been on several playoff runs in a bot 6 role. Aube Kubel has won 2 cups as a 4th liner. Malenstyne is a guy Washington liked in that role, helped that 4th line with Dowd & Aube Kubel and won a cup with Hershey. Zucker has played in 50+ playoff games and plays hard working, direct, gritty game. And McLeod has been on several deep runs with Edmonton including last years cup final. Tuch went to the cup with Vegas. Bo Byram is still very young but was great in Colorados run to the cup. Hell even Clifton played for one of the most consistent organizations in sports with the Bruins. That's 7 vets, 6 of which are 27 or older, and a cup winning young dman they brought in in the last year. And they play a style that will rub off on the younger core group of talented players. Adams has done a good job of getting these guys some leadership, toughness and experience to fill out the roster this year. Exactly what you just criticized them for.
What top 6 stars?? This team doesn’t have the offensive firepower to compete with anyone. And no, 22-23 was NOT the standard; it was an aberration. Adams and the organization as a whole continue to spurn the present in favor of a future that will never arrive. Why? Because it’s easier to keep your job that way.
@@willprapestis2764 No bias, but the Sabres finished #3 that year in GF. They also finished bottom 10 in GA. Last year, our superstar hurt his wrist and he is known for his dangles and shot. There was also a lot of other injuries that slowed us down. The only player you could realistically say this about is Cozens, because there should be know reason for his stepback.
I’m so sick of all the whiney negative crap about the Sabres and our GM who is actually awesome. It has become so easy and trendy to be negative about the Sabres. This season is payback time.
How about Jack Eichel is the biggest entitled crybaby in hockey that took the easy way to an already contending team. Instead of players like Yzerman that had the humility to be captain at a young age and earn it through years and years of adversity and hard work.
Considering how management and fans treated Eichel I couldn’t be happier for their lack of success and Brett Hulls game winning goal leading to the decline
Us Sabre fans didnt have a negative thing to say about him until he started dogging the city, not just the franchise, when his problem was with management. You have no idea what youre talking about
Sabres fan base loved Eichel when he was on the team and were the main groups of people supporting him, Mike Harrington and Lance Lysowski being some key examples of this, during the surgery. They turned on him for his comment towards the fans and not towards the organization that caused it.
@@justinz39sabres bullshit you guys treated him like crap didn't build a team around him and when he knew what was right for his body when his neck was injured you guys chose the side of the GM who tried to force someone that was not right and that is blatent malpractice and should never be tolerated your gutless ungrateful disgraceful fanbase don't deserve a sniff of the playoffs for how not only you treated him but how you dirtbags drove Robin lenher into alcoholism good luck with Alex tuch when he underperforms alongside that overrated bust STL got rid of named Tage Thompson
Buffalo needs a balance of the leaders and young guys I think Detroit has gone too far on the vets side with Chiarot, Holl, and Copp signings as they dont have any rings and also are grossly overpaid but Buffalo needs a couple solid vets to mentor those young guys especially where they have the cap space because of all the ELCs and young players that havent signed their big ticket contracts yet
Then you got guys like Ryan O’reilly that go into buffalo and lose their love for hockey because of the lack of care to win culture that has been the catalyst to buffalo sabres hockey for over a decade. It’s unfortunate. You’re not wrong. But more vets are better than just a few.
Tin foil hat: Bettman told the Pegula's to fire Murray and instill Jason Pominville to undo everything Murray did because Murray was the first GM to openly say a team needs to tank to get better, destroying the illusion that all teams, every year, are attempting to be competitive. Go look at the 16-17 team. All the pieces besides an elite defenseman were there in the organization. They were hovering around .500 and dealing with injuries. They were about to break out and then fired the GM and coach, and jettisoned E Kane, O'Reilly, & M Foligno for scrap parts restarting the rebuild with a horrible scouting department.
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Eichel not bending about which surgery he wanted has to be the best decision of his entire life. Better quality of life long term, got to leave that dumpsterfire and won a cup shortly after instead of not even making playoffs
The way management handled that completely tarnished the organization, they will have to overpay and even then wont get free agents in part because of this. Everyone in management should have been fired after how that was handled . He should have been able to get surgey to turn him into a dolphin if he wanted
That was such a colossal screw up. The Sabres wanted neck fusion surgery that would drastically shorten Eichels playing career instead of the alternative suggested by his doctor. Eichel says goodbye, has the new procedure and LITERALLY WALKED OUT OF THE HOSPITAL the same day.
@@jerryrikki9466the problem is in your comment: I suspect ownership either agreed with management or ownership made the decision themselves. The Pegulas might’ve saved the team when they bought it, but their meddling as owners has done a lot of damage. Buffalo is going nowhere until ownership lands a top 10 GM/President and let’s that GM make all the hockey decisions
Crazy Jeff Skinner has never played in the playoff, 1000 games in the league, but not even one in playoffs.
That'll change this season
McDavid about to end that
Crazy he’s gonna win a cup his first time in the playoffs
Thats very possible
he just might win it all next year.
with all these buffalo players winning after getting traded its a very big possibility
And then three years after Brett Hull dashed Hasek's hope at a cup, they would win it 3 years later, as teammates in Detroit
9:45 I remember a caricature in the sports section of Montreal media when the Sabres were in town, and it basically showed a hornless buffalo that looked really sad, wondering "when will they grow back", and in front of him he had several fallen horns that were labeled "Jason Pominville", "Daniel Brière", etc. That caricature was in the early 2010's, way before any of these players shown at the 9:45 mark were even a part of the organization. That's always been a Buffalo staple it seems, they're basically the NHL's farm team at this point....
I still think Columbus is the saddest NHL franchise. They’ve done nothing since they’ve been in the league and have never had any superstars for a long period aside from Nash.
Overall yes but they did do the funniest thing ever when they swept the record-tying Lightning and then the year after made the Leafs choke hilariously.
@@bmac4bingo!
Done nothing?
Errr they swept the President's Trophy-winning Lightning and then dumped out LOLRonto in back to back years
they had Panarin at one point
@@unbearablycringe not for a long period of time though.
“What’s going on in Buffalo?”
They tanked for the McDavid lottery and when they tanked they sacrificed their farm system as well. Every GM after that with Eichel felt pressure to rush the rebuild and as a result we were sending players who weren’t ready for the NHL when they should’ve been in the AHL to develop further.
So as a result when the team was healthy, they were good. But when they were injured they sucked so hard due to being top heavy with no players to pull in the AHL who could actually help. This is also ignoring players like Rasmus Ristolainen on defence being horrible and bad coaching decisions being made as well.
When Kevyn Adams took over he legitimately had a disaster to clean up in 2 areas with the Amerks and the Sabres. It’s much better now and I expect the drought to be ending either this season or next.
Johnny Hockey is probably one of my fav flames ever rip
Rest in Peace Johnny Gaudreau and Matthew Gaudreau
Missed this style RTH video. Welcome back 😂
9:52 Robin Lehner "Stanley Cup" is very generous, poor guy has been on the LTIR for the longest time
This all started when they let Briere and Drury walk forever. The Lucic hit on Miller exposed the downfall and we've been in rebuild mode ever since.
Lindy Ruff should be able to change the culture
That’ll help (as long as he’s still able to relate to modern players) but no coach can truly fix the culture on their own if there aren’t also players that can assist in building the culture. There’s some things a coach just can’t do/isn’t around for where a captain or veterans are needed. They’d be wise to outbid teams for some veterans in their twilight; with a high number of players on ELCs they can afford to overspend a bit on short term deals.
As a buffalo fan the biggest issue this last decade in my opinion has been terrible coaching backed by terrible management. I completely agree that the team desperately needs veteran leadership but Adam's and (hopefully) ruff are the 2 leaders this team has needed for years
Two Words. Pegula Era. Tom Golisano sold the team to Terry Pegula and from that point on, everything the Sabres had suddenly went out the window. They began getting rid of all their good players and keeping all their bad ones. Overpaying players for 8 years just to have them either get hurt every year or suddenly can't score. Then bringing in first time coaches and general managers to fix it. Lets just state the facts to make a long story short. Terry Pegula and Tom Golisano reached an agreement to sell the team on January 29, 2011, with Pegula purchasing the team for $189 million ($175 million with $14 million in debt included), with the Sabres and Golisano officially making an announcement in a press conference on February 3, 2011. NHL owners approved the sale on February 18.
Under Tom Galisano: (82 Game Season)
Best Year: 2006-2007 113 Points League Finish 1st
Worst Year 2007-2008 90 Points League Finish 18th
Under Terry Pegula: (82 Game Season)
Best Year 2022-2023 91 Points League Finish 20th
Worst Year: 2013-2014 52 Points League Finish 30th
The Sabres are never gonna be back to a watchable franchise, unless the Pegula's sell to a competent owner.
I had a similar thought in a different comment. Pegula is one of the more wealthy owners if I’m not mistaken. If he could put his ego aside and just use his money to buy one of the best hockey ops staffs in the league (and most importantly let them make the decisions without his meddling) then the team could turn around. But those are big “ifs”. Pegula has to realize that when teams like Florida can sign players for less, the only way to beat them is to maximize your value for each dollar of the cap and outspend them in terms of coaching, management, scouting, facilities, etc
Sabres are gonna be relocated to Atlanta if they don't get their act together.
Top tier video rob! You are really an inspiration for me and I will be grateful for founding your channel keep it up🫵🏻💪🏻
Kind of fitting that there was an advertisement for Outlet Liquor right as the Sabres blew that 3 goal lead against Philly. I bet they had a serious uptick in business during that 18 game losing streak.
the golden eye music always has my head boppin
Another great video, thanks for the obvious hard work you do.
One tiny pedantic guy point, it's pronounced Geel-Bear Perreault. Onward!
I have to say that including your lovely corgi in the in-video promo makes it quite watchable.
In Hockey. Just in the NBA, the Sacramento Kings 16 years without a play-off appearance (after being contenders for several years) are a legitimate candidate. The Los Angeles Clippers for decades are probably worse than the Sabres, and the Pistons since 2008 are contenders also. The Sabres are the biggest disaster in hockey and contenders for the biggest in north american sport - but it's way too easy to simply qualify them as THE biggest without thinking further.
Incredible hockey stat of the day. Jeff Skinner and me, exactly tied in NHL Playoff games played, playoff goals, playoff points, playoff +/-.
It's what Buffalo sports are known for!! They can never win the Ship, they get close and can never close the door
Sounds like the Canucks.
Honestly, at this point, even as a Leafs fan, Im feeling bad for Sabres fans... just the sheer bad luck and piss poor management makes even a Leafs fan wince....
I really don't feel bad for their fans because they sided with a general manager who got away with blatant malpractice when it came to injuries screw that you no general manager should get away with that there is no excuse for that at all and for a fanbse to side with a general manager who got away with that is disgraceful they reaped what they sewed
@@rileyholden-zc9ip”They sided with the GM” Typical Vegas fan comment.
As a Buffalo fan I will say this. Eichel should’ve been able to get the surgery he wanted on his neck. BUT, I also can understand where the GM is coming from about the surgery that he wanted was never done on an NHL player before. Especially one who’s a #1 Center and making $10M.
Us fans didn’t side with one or the other at all during the whole neck surgery saga.
We also feel bad for y'all... At least we know what the third and fourth round of the playoffs look like
As a Sabres fan I have said it for two years. We need one veteran and a few speedy steadfast players we can interchange between lines. We have no effort and we are also slow.
It’s weird how every time a star player asks for a trade from Buffalo they go on to win the Stanley Cup
What’s worse is the only star that’s actually asked for a trade was Eichel. O’Reilly never said he wanted to leave and Reinhart actually wanted to stay.
Good points. I’ll add one thing that Buffalo has to do. Since they’re in a higher tax market that many players find undesirable, they are under more pressure than most to get the best value out of every dollar spent on player salary. Ownership needs to pay top dollar to get the best hockey ops people, from GM, to coach, to scouting dept (pro and amateur), to analytics, and any other thing like facility improvements or training tools. The teams like Florida and Vegas can get players at 70-80% of what Buffalo has to pay, only way to compete with that is to be the best in every aspect
The thing that’s nuts is that players don’t want to play here, but the ones that do end up living here the rest of their lives because the love it here. The no trade clause is what’s kept Buffalo from getting back on track.
God as a wings fan I love your perspective, but the immature louder part the fan base will not hear your logic.
Sabres need leadership.
Elusive? Did he say, "elucid cup"??? 😂 Cmon, guy.
Rob I love that you love Yzerman
11:18 Your Brightside still isn’t helping us Sabres fans.
At this point its gotta be incredibly tough for Buffalo to attract any older vets with those leadership qualities and winning attitude when nobody wants to play there and have a losing culture for over a decade. They really need to bring in a great GM that can convince those players and then present them with a set plan to actually get out of this rut. Its been just rebuilding the rebuilds which obviously will never work they need to let their young guys mature more and have some patience with them
Someone that knows how to keep the winners and toss the losers.
Ruff might be a coach those guys are willing to play for, but the organization still probably just needs a few controversy-free years to distance itself from the Eichel debacle in order for the toxic reputation to wear off.
They practically gave away Reinhart and Eichel. Management also hired a terrible coach after terrible coach. Shocking how those 2 trades were allowed
New York Jets Cleveland Browns and Leaf fans might feel different at least the Sabres got to the finals for their fans in 1999
Why isn't this showing up in my subscriptions??
What about the Oakland/Los Angeles/Las Vegas Raiders?
Matching Edmontons offer sheet on Vanek was the point of no return. According the CBA at the time Bufallo would have recieved 4, FOUR, 1st round picks as compensation. All would have been top 10, 2 in the top 5. They could have built a powerhouse with those picks combined with their own.
It's been rough. I was 16 in 2007 and the Sabres were in the Conference Finals 25% of my life at the time. It's been awful since. I cannot express how close the players of the mid 00's Sabres and the community were. We adored them and everything stopped for their games the same way it does for the Bills. It's a disgrace what happened here. Looking at the season ahead they sold a ton of season tickets for Lindy's return so people are cautiously optimistic but it also seems they're not gonna spend to the cap to acquire more goal scorers so I'm not sure how much better bottom six play, coaching, and goaltending will matter this year. I hope they fix things this city loves hockey and it's been sad to see the growing divide between the fans and the organization that's genuinely a civic institution here.
Mario Lemieux did not come out of retirement to mentor crosby...
We the people demand more Eevee content
watching this as a sabres fan is fun, I love my poverty franchise
Man, as a Canucks fan, tochett and alvine could do wonders with this team
Even tho im a Philly fan Buffalo is one of the other teams i kind of have a sweetspot for they always had interesting players, some of the coolest jersey designs in the NHL. I think they should do like Vancouver/Detroit done with the Swedes to put their focus on like Czech,Slovak,Slovenian and Latvian players (basically western slavic) for outiders, They had Hasek they had Miroslav Satan (coolest name in hockey ever) As a Swede honestly Slovak and Czech players are still underrated Czech won the world championship home,
Poor Rhett Warrener had to lose in the finals 3 times, one of them being with Buffalo in 99 lol.
Lmfao, it's cure how you guys don't think the makemelaughs are the biggest joke of all of sports ever. 😂😂😂
Yes please keeping thinking about and bringing up the leafs
@nathanhillier7499 why is laughing at joke of sports good for you? Why is thinking they are the worst thing to happen to sports ever and is just a huuuuge embarssment to canada is a good thing?
Honestly, it's getting to the point where if you're scrambling for content these days you can always dust off the old "Buffalo is a Dumpster Fire" file.
As a lifetime fan of the Maple Leafs I have to say they have been the biggest disappointment of any team in the four major league sports for the past half century.
Question for Sabres fans, since I don't follow the Eastern Conference that much: has Owen Power lived up to his 1st overall pick status?
Not yet as it takes 3-5 yrs. for a Dman to fully develop but he is progressing. He has the size and talent and big things are expected of him this year under Ruff as he will be expected to step up the physical game as he grows out into his big body.
Not more than the Toronto Maple Leafs. LOL 😅😅😅😅😅😅
9:55 Lehner technically didn’t win the cup
Toronto also has a no winning culture issue. They do not hate losing
LOL, dog legs is smol.
What is happening with this team? Is there an NHL fanbase who has suffered more?
As a Leafs fan I'd say we've suffered more, but nobody feels sympathy for us so take it as you will.
The Owen power contract will be the final nail in the coffin I wouldn’t be want that guy on my team for league minimum
Lehner never won a cup
@@tdfmtig You mean the 21 year old who lead the league in breakout passing and is good based on all metrics? But he doesn't run around hitting people so he's bad...dinosaur take.
@@tdfmtighes 21 years old and wasnt even close to as bad as youre making him sound
As a Buffalo fan I want to see this team do something great. But also as a Buffalo fan I can’t get my hopes up. 25 years of watching and barely anything to show for those seasons.
I certainly can't think of any other Buffalo team that made it deep into a championship and lost many times.
they were such a powerhouse team until the early 2010s obviously they haven't made it to the playoffs since 2011 including 2020 where they couldn't even do it in an expanded format
The Sabres played the least amount of games in the ATL, were 3 points behind MTL, who had played 2 more games than Buffalo and they were supposed to play MTL the night the league paused. The Sabres should have been given consideration, they were the only team close to the cut off with enough points available to over come the difference
Lehner never won a Cup. If you're thinking with Vegas, no. He did not play a single game in the 2022-2023 season nor did the team lobby for his name to be on the Cup.
That was all Brossoit, Hill, Quick, and Patera who held down the fort for Vegas' Cup win. Lehner had nothing to do with it.
Poor winnipeg, they would be number one on my no trade list too lol
@@chrislaverick6413 I would rather play for Winnipeg over Buffalo hell I would rather play for San Jose or Montreal over Buffalo
@@rileyholden-zc9ip well those are easy, San Jose is beautiful weather most of the year, Montreal has an incredible fan atmosphere, but Winnipeg? High crime rate, high taxes, and winter almost all year round? Fuck that
Detroit has a 7 year playoff drought , maybe look to a better example . The current montreal canadiens for example
All they need is to change their jersey for the Hasek era and they will kick some arse.
When you think a bust like Casey Mittlestat can replace Ryan O’Reilly your franchises in trouble
Mitts isn't a bust. If he was he'd be out of the NHL.
@@thewolfdoctor761 when you’re the 11th pick in the draft and you’re a 3rd / 4th line guy you didn’t live up to expectations
@@lebradyskywalker5761 no. BTW, he's on Colorado's 2nd line.
all under pegula ownership
Well, just putting this out here as sabres fan. Looks like Edmonton and skinner are winning the cup this year given the creepy similarity between past star players leaving, and the winning the cup shortly after. Get your bets in now yall, oilers and skinner will take it home 😂
If Buffalo's forwards can play with their great D, they'll be fine.
I dont think redwings have signed too many vets at all. When u are in a push to make playoffs, you gotta have some players that know how to start pushing in jan. One of biggest factors in kane being signed, is his immense experience. We had that with perron too. But, teams, unfortunately, are fluid one yr to the next. We all saw what happend to islanders 18yr old goalie having whole work load put on him, as their top pick, just to burn out waaay too soon. U cant do that to young talent!
Sacramento Kings missed playoffs for 16 seasons
You really said "GIll burt" Perreault? We're Canadian and we pride ourselves of being able to make a decent go of French names.
Hahaha my bad
Seattle Mariners say hi
You've not seen disaster until you've watched the once-legendary Montreal Canadiens.
or the Leafs. To me they are hands down the biggest disaster in North American sports
We at least went to the finals…and this team isn’t so bad
hmm mario didnt come out out retirement to play with crosby
No came back 5 years before Sid played his first game
Pain
SUPER easy it is a town of no money.The Sabres for many years actually survived because of Canadians crossing the border and this is the same for many cross border businesses.Modern day hockey is a lot about cheating the cap but not long ago there was no cap so even though buffalo had some good players they were not as deep in money as otehr teams like the habs/Bruins/Flyers and an era where the Islanders became very popular in a big Ney York state.
Buffalo is just not really a hockey area and now they have to compete within the salary cap so now it is even tougher than just buying a winner.
clueless
Couple of things. Gilbert Perreault is French Canadian so his first name should be pronounced as such. Eichel was a punk who thought he was a #1 draft pick and he was mad that he was the leftovers. He got the C to early and was a spoiled brat. Kim Pegula should have never been made the President of Hockey Ops. Thankfully she is gone from that role now. We lost Drury and Briere due to the team being bankrupt and we couldn't afford to keep them.
Hey rob I just wanna let ya know.. good job🌝
The Pittsburgh Pirates beg to differ.
pls make vid about johnny hockey
Meaning Skinner will win the cup with Edmonton right?
The curse started when Grant Fuhr was traded to Buffalo and was denied membership in a local golf club (oops, excellent golfer but the wrong color)
Soooo... Kessel to Buffalo??
The dumbest sh*t I've seen in a while. There's plenty to criticize the Sabres about. But signing vets with Cup experience this year is NOT one of them. Especially when you compare them to Detroit, who Buffalo has consistently finished ahead of or right near the last how many seasons now? But Yzerman is a genius and Adams is a laughing stock? Ok. They signed guys this season to supplement the young top 6 stars, specifically with culture, bottom toughness, and work ethic in mind. Lafferty has been on several playoff runs in a bot 6 role. Aube Kubel has won 2 cups as a 4th liner. Malenstyne is a guy Washington liked in that role, helped that 4th line with Dowd & Aube Kubel and won a cup with Hershey. Zucker has played in 50+ playoff games and plays hard working, direct, gritty game. And McLeod has been on several deep runs with Edmonton including last years cup final. Tuch went to the cup with Vegas. Bo Byram is still very young but was great in Colorados run to the cup. Hell even Clifton played for one of the most consistent organizations in sports with the Bruins. That's 7 vets, 6 of which are 27 or older, and a cup winning young dman they brought in in the last year. And they play a style that will rub off on the younger core group of talented players. Adams has done a good job of getting these guys some leadership, toughness and experience to fill out the roster this year. Exactly what you just criticized them for.
Cope
What top 6 stars?? This team doesn’t have the offensive firepower to compete with anyone. And no, 22-23 was NOT the standard; it was an aberration.
Adams and the organization as a whole continue to spurn the present in favor of a future that will never arrive. Why? Because it’s easier to keep your job that way.
@@willprapestis2764 No bias, but the Sabres finished #3 that year in GF.
They also finished bottom 10 in GA. Last year, our superstar hurt his wrist and he is known for his dangles and shot. There was also a lot of other injuries that slowed us down. The only player you could realistically say this about is Cozens, because there should be know reason for his stepback.
They have been mismanaged simply put
Toronto is way more of a disaster/embarrassment
copp and holl are not cup winners😭😭
I still love Buffalo
Hi rob 👋
say hi to rob.
You had to be like the nhl, and show sabres winning against the redwings!? Really?
naw; thats them Azir a Rona Desert Dogs... or Yotes! or U Tahs; or somethin" like that: Butthead and $$ frendys # 1 LAUNDRY ! facility..
The Sabres are the farm team for the NHL playoff contenders.
Will never forget the leafs/sabres rebuilds and all the crap sabres fans talked.
The Sabres need one name, the name that will single handedly turn the franchise around: Mike……….. Babcock!
I’m so sick of all the whiney negative crap about the Sabres and our GM who is actually awesome. It has become so easy and trendy to be negative about the Sabres. This season is payback time.
How bout don't treat your Star players like crap just because he wasn't what you fucking wanted
How about Jack Eichel is the biggest entitled crybaby in hockey that took the easy way to an already contending team. Instead of players like Yzerman that had the humility to be captain at a young age and earn it through years and years of adversity and hard work.
@@bjarczykdeciding on if your neck should be fused or not is entitled? Lmao. Nice try, Kim.
Yeah sure
Considering how management and fans treated Eichel I couldn’t be happier for their lack of success and Brett Hulls game winning goal leading to the decline
The sabers fanbase Treating jack eichel like crap because he wasn't McDavid is another reason
lmao what are you saying? we were quite happy drafting him as a consolation to losing the mcdavid lottery
Us Sabre fans didnt have a negative thing to say about him until he started dogging the city, not just the franchise, when his problem was with management. You have no idea what youre talking about
Eichel was treated like crap because of being a captain and leading the team to any kind of winning success, he pouted and cried
Sabres fan base loved Eichel when he was on the team and were the main groups of people supporting him, Mike Harrington and Lance Lysowski being some key examples of this, during the surgery. They turned on him for his comment towards the fans and not towards the organization that caused it.
@@justinz39sabres bullshit you guys treated him like crap didn't build a team around him and when he knew what was right for his body when his neck was injured you guys chose the side of the GM who tried to force someone that was not right and that is blatent malpractice and should never be tolerated your gutless ungrateful disgraceful fanbase don't deserve a sniff of the playoffs for how not only you treated him but how you dirtbags drove Robin lenher into alcoholism good luck with Alex tuch when he underperforms alongside that overrated bust STL got rid of named Tage Thompson
No trade clause needs to be deleted. Yum willing to sit for another lockout if that’s on the table. It’s ruining the league.
Absolutely not. Players have a right to choose where they live and work. They aren’t giving that up.
Buffalo needs a balance of the leaders and young guys I think Detroit has gone too far on the vets side with Chiarot, Holl, and Copp signings as they dont have any rings and also are grossly overpaid but Buffalo needs a couple solid vets to mentor those young guys especially where they have the cap space because of all the ELCs and young players that havent signed their big ticket contracts yet
Then you got guys like Ryan O’reilly that go into buffalo and lose their love for hockey because of the lack of care to win culture that has been the catalyst to buffalo sabres hockey for over a decade. It’s unfortunate. You’re not wrong. But more vets are better than just a few.
@@Comanche93-alpha ya for sure all about balance
Let me tell you about a sports club called Tottenham Hotspur...
7:20 "I've heard Buffalo is a great city" as someone who lives there don't talk to whomever lied to you like that
California is accepting people currently, might just wanna walk over through Mexico
Walk from Buffalo… to California… via Mexico… geography’s not your forte, I take it.
Tin foil hat: Bettman told the Pegula's to fire Murray and instill Jason Pominville to undo everything Murray did because Murray was the first GM to openly say a team needs to tank to get better, destroying the illusion that all teams, every year, are attempting to be competitive. Go look at the 16-17 team. All the pieces besides an elite defenseman were there in the organization. They were hovering around .500 and dealing with injuries. They were about to break out and then fired the GM and coach, and jettisoned E Kane, O'Reilly, & M Foligno for scrap parts restarting the rebuild with a horrible scouting department.
Theory holds more wwight than the Bettman Hates Canada shit