Buffalo Sabres head for the range

by Steve

Not unexpectedly the Buffalo Sabres season came to an end this weekend. Well, it shouldn't have been unexpected if you watched games 1-3 against the Sens last week. The disappointment, shock, anger, frustration etc has sunk in, no more hockey till October. Maybe people were starting to get a bit sick of it, maybe just I was, or worse maybe the players were.

The Eastern Conference finals were an embarrassment. Lindy and the boys didn't show up until game 4 at the earliest, never at the latest. Ottawa wanted it more, were more talented, perhaps better coached, certainly out muscled, and clearly didn't deserve a shot at the cup.

The worst part about the past 2 seasons was the hope, the high expectations, the possibilities which never came to fruition. These grossly talented team DIDN'T EVEN HAVE A CHANCE TO WIN THE CUP. They failed to even make the finals! Which means they were at least 5 wins away. Where is the accountability, what the fuck happened?

The simple answer is the Sabres, players coaches, management were straight up over rated. They won the division, they won 4 playoff series how could they have been overrated? Then again Lindy Ruff is 1 and 4 in championship rounds. Chris Drury road a wave with the likes of Forsberg Sakic Roy Foote etc etc. Dan The $5 million man really is under sized and not built for the playoffs, also clearly not a winner, or at least yet. The defense has crumbled in the playoffs each of the past two years, whether it was injuries or confidence, they have let this team down when it matters most, similar to the 2000's Bills defense in tough spots.

No one singularly can be pointed at as the sole cause of the Sabres demise. The Sabres got there as a team and they lost there as a team. Lindy juggled lines and sent conflicting signals, certain players failed to score, the special teams blew, the goalie let in weak goals, everyone contributed to the loss.

But in the end, the Sabres 06/07 season ended just like every other major Buffalo sports franchise's season since the mid 60's has ended, in failure. Don't feed me that crap that it wasn't a failure because you are probably the ass wipe with the 'One team One Goal' t shirt. So we'll keep waiting, keep cheering, standing with 10,000+ other people on perry st or where ever hoping cause this era, as short of an era as possible, 2 seasons, is probably over. Lindy is on the hot seat, Briere, Drury, Max, and Vanek are all in limbo, the defense needs major retooling, and besides that it is mostly role players, unless Pominville or Roy turn into something more special. Welcome to Buffalo, where there's always next year.

Coming up...
Offseason suggestions, a look to the future, then straight up Bills for 8 months.