Looks like we all had the same view of this one.
There is so, so much to say about this game and this season, and it will all be said later today. For now I ask you to tell me one thing: what were your expectations of this season and how has this team reached or fell short of these expectations? I'm guessing most of you fall within the latter of those choices but I'd like to know to what degree.
I assure you it will make all the difference.
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I seriously expected them to at LEAST win the division. I never expected them to be clawing and scratching their way through an entire season. Huge, Huge disappointment for me.
ReplyDeleteI DID, however, expect that Tim Connolly would sustain some catastrophic injury that would ultimately end his season, and Oh, lookie, I was not let down...
The logical part of my brain knew sometime in the fall that we weren't going anywhere. The emotional part still thinks we can pull it off, somehow.
ReplyDeleteAs a "glass half-full" sort of person, I think that once Miller has the spring & summer to wrap his brain around his cousin's death and move forward, he'll be more consistent. I also think we need a good backup/competitive goalie, just in case.
Disappointed? Yeah. Devastated? No. Stuff happens, and there's always next year...
Those who think this is the end of life as we know it really need to add some other interests to their lives.
Before the season started I expected them to make the playoffs fairly comfortably--I was also expecting there to be more separation in the conference than there is--but wasn't expecting them to win the division or wind up with home ice in the playoffs.
ReplyDeleteAlso there are things I've been pleasantly surprised by even in what hasn't been a particularly pleasant season: the play of Paille, Pominville being as good as he has been (I didn't expect him to fall off the map but I didn't think he'd be leading the team in points either), etc.
Like Becky, I think it's been a disappointing year but they're hopefully on track to have a better one next year.
This is my first season watching hockey. I started watching hockey during the playoffs last year. I picked a rough year to become a Sabres fan, but it's also sort of fitting. I got sucked into the sport by the crazed "WE'RE ABOUT THE WIN THE CUP" playoff vibe, and now, like the actual Sabres, I'm sitting here thinking "I guess hockey teams can't waltz right into the finals. Huh."
ReplyDeleteI didn't have many specific expectations going into the season, but I really thought they'd be....scrappier. The number of games in which they seemed disinterested and heartless has been a huge disappointment.
The other big expectation I had was that over the course of the season we would get to watch a leader emerge, and that expectation has really been met by Jason Pominville. Who can claim they saw that coming? For a long time this year I just didn't see steady leadership coming from anywhere within the team, and Pommers' emergence has been such a relief. I don't know if he'll get a permanent C, but I feel satisfied going forward that the right captain will rise to the top and that even if we don't see him now, there really are good leaders in that room.
Blah.
ReplyDeleteI figured since we did so well last season, people would want their revenge. Came true. I'm pretty overly optimistic about things so I figured they could pull off more than they did.
I was surprised they let Connolly play for so long. I thought they should just make him get his surgery and be done with it. Get a jump start on being healthy for next season.
I also agree with Katebits on the whole "C" deal with J Poms. Where did that come from? Although, I'm sure he learned a lot from Dru/Briere. Go Pommers!
I thought we'd finish in the middle of the pack in the conference but be comfortably in the playoffs. I wouldn't have pegged them to make the ECF again (realistically) but I wouldn't have been shocked if they'd made it through a couple of rounds.
ReplyDeleteI'm with Kate though with my biggest disappointment being how half-hearted they've looked for parts of the season. Even if they didn't match last year's record I expected them to fight like hell to show people they were more than just Drury and Briere. In retrospect I shouldn't be completely surprised because they were starting to get lazy halfway through last season and were terrible in the playoffs but I don't know, I did expect more character.
That said, I do think it might, in the long run, be good for them to miss the playoffs and realize just how much their bad habits kicked their asses. And I do agree with others who have commented that there has been some good developments: Paille's play, Pominville's growth on and off the ice, Roy and Vanek producing good numbers despite some definite first half struggles, Roy cutting down on the diving (some) and the whining (a lot), Sekera stepping in and looking pretty good, Hecht upping his always steady play even after signing his deal.
So I'm disappointed but not ready to jump off a ledge or anything. I think with some tweaking the current line-up will be fine next year. Maybe a year away from the previous success and the Drury/Briere junk will be helpful.
This is what I wrote last Sunday, before the recent highs and lows. I still didn't get much into specifics, like how much Pomminville has improved, or how very disappointed I am in the play of the player whose name my jersey wears (61)...but there's more than i wrote here:
ReplyDeletehttp://clarencegrad72.blogspot.com/2008/03/now-do-you-believe.html
Coming into this year I expected the Sabres to skate like they had something to prove, although I did think they would struggle to find leadership and an identity. In the end I expected them to finish in the 6th or 7th seed.
ReplyDeleteThat being said they have no doubt fallen short of my expectations for them to be a competitive team every night - mostly because they've been so inconsistent. I guess I gave some of the Rochester call-ups (like Stafford and MacArthur) a little too much credit.
With all their struggles I love the play of Pomers, Spacek, Miller, and even Vanek.