It feels like it's over, huh? Here we are, just 11 games from the close of the regular season and we already are putting it to rest. I've done it at least a dozen times since Monday's shootout loss. It just feels like too much to overcome for a team that isn't showing signs of fight. There is no fire, no passion left in this team. Too many injuries, too much inconsistency, and not enough time left to mount an improbable comeback to seize position #8.
Wait, take a look at that sidebar, aren't we in exactly the same position we were on Wednesday? Isn't that crazy? All this negativity and we still have the same four points to overcome with only one less game to do it. Heck, even Boston lost last night, we are still five back of them.
Yeah, we have three usable players rotating on the blueline at the moment. Yeah, most club hockey teams have more depth than that. Yeah, there is nothing in the last 180 minutes of hockey that says we will make that final push, but you have to look at the glass as half full, don't you?
Sure, that glass is teetering on uneven ground with cats circling and a strong crosswind threatening to spill it's contents all through the city of Buffalo, but that glass is still half full, isn't it?
(Brief aside: I found this picture a few days ago:
When did Lindy start using an O Stick?)
Anyway, the better half of me has been trying to convince my gloomy side that the glass is indeed half full. This is an underachieving team capable of much better with a goaltender that called them out after last game. As much as I think the building will be dead tonight, maybe the crowd shows a desperation that the players can't help but follow and the unlikely finish we'd like to see so badly will begin. I'm not going to stop watching these games so why not hope for the best, right?
When things go badly I resort to biting sarcasm, which explains the last two posts. The truth is that this team has been a monstrous letdown and I've been taking it hard. It is no longer the team we sold ourselves on last year, and I had made peace with that. However, the group we've watched play out this season can't even be described as a "shell of its former self." This team isn't even in the same class of candy coated chocolate confections as far as I'm concerned.
If the first two post-lockout teams were M&Ms, this year's Sabres are Necco Wafers. Sure, they have their moments, but sometimes you just can't stand some flavors and most of them are broken anyways. While M&Ms may defy the ads and leave some chocolate behind on your hands, it's a much more satisfying letdown then all that freaking powder left by those freaking wafers.
Readers that have been around a while may have seen this before: "I have no idea what to think about this team." I've typed that verbatim at least a half dozen times this year, and at least another half dozen I've implied it. Well guess what? Same story today. I have no idea what to think about this team. I have no idea what to expect tonight.
I've watched every game this year, some more than once, all in the hopes of figuring out what is going on with this team. After tonight you can count games remaining on your fingers and I still have no freaking clue. This team is an enigma. A conundrum. A complete mystery to even the educated observer.
Let's hope it's not another licorice one tonight.
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"It's the stick with the holes in it!" I almost got that for my bro for his birthday b/c he loves Pavel but I decided that ones too much. I opted for the $100 one instead... like thats any better. I went in, picked it up @ Great Skate, and paid for it. The guys acted like they never saw a female before. Stare. Stare. Can I help you...? ha.
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