Buffalo Issues

A friend of mine is a huge Buffalo Sabres fan, don’t ask me why, and asked me to write about the front office woes that the Sabres are having. So Draper this one is for you.

Over the past three NHL seasons the Buffalo Sabres have won an average of 48 games and averaged 96 points. Looks impressive but when you look at the number on a year-over-year basis they are nearly as impressive.

Season	GP	W	L	T	OTL	PTs	GF	GA	PIM	Finish	Playoffs
2005-06	82	52	24	-	6	110	281	239	1144	2nd in Northeast	Lost in Conference Finals, 3–4 (Hurricanes)
2006-07	82	53	22	-	7	113	308	242	1177	1st in Northeast	Lost in Conference Finals, 1–4 (Senators)
2007-08	82	39	31	-	12	90	255	242	1040	4th in Northeast	Did not qualify

Last season the problem for the Sabres was clearly that they didn’t have enough firepower on offense and that can mostly be attributed to the loss of Daniel Briere and Chris Drury. In 2006-07 the two combined for 164 points and at the end of the season instead of keeping both of them, or even one for that matter, GM Darcy Regier let them both go into free agency.

Sabres fans were very upset about this especially due to the fact that the previous off season the Sabres signed Thomas Vanek for $10 million a season making him the highest paid player in the NHL at the time. To make matter even worse Vanek only recorded 64 points last season which was 20 points below his previous year’s totals.

Even backup goaltender Martin Biron was let go and was subsequently signed by the Philadelphia Flyers. To make matters worse he led the Flyers to the playoffs last year where they made it all the way to the Eastern Conference Finals.

Buffalo fans thought things couldn’t get worse but unfortunately for them they did. Approaching the trade deadline of last year it was rumored that Brian Campbell wanted out of Buffalo. Fans were livid as this would be the 3^rd All-star to leave the team is less than one full year. They sat and watched in horror as on trade deadline day Campbell was traded to the San Jose Sharks for Steve Bernier and a 1^st round pick in the upcoming draft.

In an attempt to salvage something of a team Regier went out and signed Patrick Lalime this off-season as well as trading Bernier to the Canucks for picks and subsequently trading those picks to the Sharks for Craig Rivet. However these moves are clearly too little too late.

It’s unbelievable to see that Darcy Regier still has his job as so far he has lost Daniel Briere, Chris Drury, Martin Biron, and Brian Campbell. He also overpaid for Vanek who is clearly not worth $10 million a year. He went out and got Rivet who is not as good as Brian Campbell but should help keep his job for a little while longer.

Yes Buffalo Sabres fans have had it rough over these past 2 years as their GM appears to be a mole sent to infiltrate the organization by every other team in the NHL. However they can take satisfaction in knowing that at least they have a better team than the Toronto Maple Leafs.

Side note: It is also well known around the league that after this season Sabres goalie Ryan Miller will be leaving the club to join the Detroit Red Wings.