#if i've missed smth anyone pls feel free to add on rip

[doubleminor]

i just started watching hockey (like 3 days ago) and what’s going on with the sabres?

welcome to hockey!!! i hope you have fun watching hockey, if u have any questions about it pls feel free to pop in and i’ll do my best to explain anything u might wanna know! anyways, sabres stuff is...down below, i got a little longwinded, sorry hahah

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first of all, for context, the sabres are one of eleven teams that have never won the stanley cup, and were inducted into the league in like, 1970.

they’ve been one of the bottom teams in the league for the past couple of years (they haven’t had a very good winning percentage, been p consistently at the bottom. and in case u were wondering what winning percentage means, it’s calculated by adding wins to one-half ties, then dividing by games played. “the estimated probability that team A will defeat team B in a given matchup”)

it doesn’t help that the buffalo sabres have not made the playoffs since the 2010-11 season, which means they’ve missed the playoffs for nine (soon to be ten) seasons. they hold the longest active playoff drought in the NHL atm, and they haven’t made a stanley cup finals appearance since ‘99, which is a 20 season drought. for the record, 16 out of 31 teams make the playoffs every year (covid exception), so to not have made the playoffs in so long...ouch.

plus the ‘99 stanley cup finals was a whole ‘nother issue, it was between the buffalo sabres and the dallas stars, there’s a whole controversy about it because of a goal, you can read about it right here. (tldr the last time the sabres made a cup final was a Thing, kinda rubs salt in the wound a little)

BASICALLY the sabres have had some rough patches in recent years, and then it’s all blown up since...about when the pandemic started?

as for the sabres thing...so @goalofsson​ made a really good timeline of when stuff started to go down, definitely take a look for the details. highlights include:

pegulas, current owners of the sabres, fire a shit ton of people and refuse to pay arena employees during covid19, they’re basicallysuper not great at being good owners basically

sabres goalie carter hutton reveals that he had played the ‘19-’20 season with an eye problem (aka playing injured!!! during the season!! bad!)

sabres GM jason botterill is fired, everyone and their grandma is fired, someone gets rehired bc presumably he was fired accidentally in the mass firings, pegulas make a horrible PR move and say they promoted their new GM cos they’re “more familiar with him”

harborcenter boards need to be replaced because when they melted the ice in march they didn’t monitor the HVAC system properly, leading to the boards warping, etc. this solidly puts buffalo out of being a potential playoff hub city out of contention.

then starting w the start of this season / during the pandemic break, sabres make some moves, sign taylor hall to a Very Large contract, sign eric staal and a couple other people, etc. etc.

for context, sabres now have some pretty talented players on their roster, including 2018 first overall pick rasmus dahlin, 2015 second overall pick jack eichel (who also happens to be the captain), they’ve got taylor hall, jeff skinner, victor olofsson, eric staal, etc. (if you don’t know who these players are thats fine just know that they’re good players)

and then the season starts. sabres are playing in the “east division”, which means they’re up against some pretty stupid strong teams, like the washington capitals, boston bruins, pittsburgh penguins, philadelphia flyers, new york islanders, new york rangers, and new jersey devils. 

the season starts, and they start playing. they aren’t doing too hot. 

as of when im writing this ask, mar. 17, 2021, the new york islanders are 2nd (42pts) in overall NHL league standings, caps are 5th, pens are 8th, etc. 

the sabres as of right now are 31st in the league. aka in last place of all the teams. 

they have 16 points. they’ve gone 6-18-4, meaning they’ve won 6 games, tied for 4 games, and lost 18 games out of 28 games played.

they’re currently on a 12 game losing streak. 

additionally, there’s some really obvious miscommunication between the club, the head coach, and the captain of the team, which i hope we can all infer is very bad. jack eichel, the captain, has been out with an ubi for a bit, but when he was first out, when media asked about it, head coach ralph krueger said that jack had missed morning skate due to an injury sustained in warmups, but jack himself later contradicated HC krueger and said that he had been injured in new jersey, not during warmups. (source)

and then there’s MORE drama when one of the top sabres player, jeff skinner, is benched and made a healthy scratch (aka he’s healthy but they’re making him sit out of the game) for like, three games in a row. (x, x) admittedly, jeff skinner hadn’t been doing very well and only had one point (he had an assist and 0 goals) in the fourteen games the sabres had played so far, but when you aren’t given the opportunity to play...idk, you tell me how you get points without playing in a game. 

AND lets not forget that yeah, this is The Pandemic Season, so of course sabres are going to get embroiled in some covid drama because why not! 

basically, the new jersey devils were at one point in time, shut down by the NHL and their games were postponed because all their players got covid. 12 out of 17 devils that were placed on the COVID list had just played against the sabres on ice during the weekend (before the weekend, 2 devils were on covid protocol and in quarantine). the sabres, who were concerned about playing the devils during the weekend, had asked that the NHL / devils give them more information but never received any information. shortly after playing the devils, the sabres began testing positive for covid, one after one. 

the sabres eventually were also put on hold by the NHL and had most of their roster, including players and coaches, test positive for covid. one of the dmen, rasmus ristolainen, explained what having covid was like for him, and it’s really scary. he “says there were nights where his symptoms were so bad he didn’t know if he was going to wake up in the morning. He’s 26.” Also that “'When there was chest pain,” Ristolainen told Ilta-Sonomat, “it felt like my heart was cracking as I walked up the stairs.’” that’s fucking terrifying and i hate it. 

+ the sabres fanbase has lots of criticism for the way the club is currently being handled, goalofsson also has some posts you can read here, here, and here. john vogl from the athletic posts an article: “Former Sabres captains weigh in on team’s woes: ‘A whole new kind of unwatchable’”, here are some highlights, which i hope emphasize the point that everyone, even former sabres captains, are sad and tired and experiencing Feelings about this club: 

and then recently a buffalo newspaper posted an article ranking the bufflalo sabres at the dead last of their rankings, even under the seattle kraken, an expanion team that doesn’t exist yet. 

and and and sabres opened up the arena to fans to come watch games. that seems fine right? no no it isn’t lmao because “The Sabres announce tickets to the March 20 game against Boston will go on sale to the general public today. So, that means season-ticket holders declined to purchase all 1,970 tickets.” read the whole thread and initial tweets about it, it’s a doozy, and here’s an article on it if that tickles your fancy. 

when a fanbase that has faithfully stuck with the team after almost a decade of not reaching the playoffs, through very tough history (you can read about the sabres history on their wikipedia page for an overview of their entire history), decides that even they are tired and disappointed and sad, i think that says something. 

and then now finally they’ve fired head coach ralph krueger as of...a couple of hours ago. interim HC seems to be assistant coach Don Granato, there’ll be a new conference in an hour from GM kevyn adams w more info. edit: in general the consensus is that the firing is a good thing i forgot to add that part

basically, the sabres have reached rock bottom and seem like they aren’t digging their way out of it anytime soon. which as a sabres fan, is really really depressing. (’:

oh also the sabres AHL minor league affiliate team have postponed games and practices due to covid rn so that’s a dead end for the sabres too oopsies

[suguwu]

ahh miss bee if you ever swing by chicago while on your trip and wanna visit smth special, i’d say try the national mexican museum of art if youre into cultural experiences, try smth off the beaten road yk !

admission is always free and i think its a pretty underrated spot for tourists so it shouldnt be too overwhelming or anything (*´ω`*)

going as a kid i always loved seeing our community represented thru art that we rarely see in larger more renowned establishments, so it has a special place in my little heart.

and intimidating ?? you my dear are a 3/10 in my book im just too shy to bother u thru dms otherwise youre a 2, a harmless and sweet bee uwu

oh i've actually never been to chicago and i want to go so badly! it's my best friend's fav city so i think we're gonna go next year if i don't get to it on this trip! i will 100% add this to my list, i love museums in general and this one sounds amazing. hella bonus points for it not being too overwhelmed with tourists!

omg it's never a bother pls feel free to hop into my dms whenever you want/when you feel comfortable! i totally get being shy but you totally can just hit me up! i think anyone in my dms can tell you the only thing about me is that i will forget to respond at times rip </3

since you're interacting i'm assuming you're not a minor but if you do end up messaging me please make sure you have an age indicator somewhere <3 or tell me your age range when you dm me! 💞