There are bad teams and then there are the Buffalo Sabres. The Sabres have been accused of being in “tank” mode for two years and this year’s team is by far the worst Sabres team I’ve ever had the pleasure or maybe displeasure of watching take the ice. But even while taking a dive and laying a completely new foundation of youth and hopefully for the fan base skill. The Sabres have somehow managed to unite their fans.
No fan base like to watch their team look like a bunch of “pee-wee hockey players” on NHL ice, but this season it has become the norm in Buffalo. Fans have come to understand that for at least one season a loss is really a win and a win while the goal of any professional sports team is not helpful this year. Terms like “embrace the tank” have become common place among Buffalo Sabres fan boards.
The daily conversation about how can the team make the playoffs has turned to how can we get Connor McDavid or Jake Eichel on our team. This has
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at time caused some back and forth among the Sabres fan base but ultimately as the season nears its end fans seems to have come to understand that while their ideas may differ; they can all unite in hope.
No, Buffalo is not the only teams that is in the running for the coveted McDavid/Eichel sweepstakes, but let’s face it with a 38 points and a minus 91 goal differential they are by far the worst team to skate in the NHL is a very long time. Their leading scorer is Tyler Ennis a hard working forward with 32 points and a -19 rating. There is not a single Sabre who has a plus rating and yet fans wear their blue and gold and cheer.
Maybe this season is unconventional in how fans are gathering and in what outcome most of them want, but still even in losing the Buffalo Sabres have managed to unite the fan base in Buffalo.
With the March 2nd trade deadline quickly approaching the Sabres hopeful can only look forward to new faces and more draft picks. This year’s roster
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will be torn apart and a new foundation of hope will be put in place. By no means are the Sabres going to be Stanley Cup contenders next year, but the suffering should start to pay off.
Call it taking a diver or tanking I really do not care. Just don’t say a team’s fan base has no heart. Because more often than not you see the true colors of a team’s fans in how they handle seasons like this, and yes that goes for the Edmonton’s, and Arizona’s of the NHL as well.