In the dressing room afterward, they proudly donned caps commemorating the Northeast Division title and enjoyed the moment if only for a short time. At 9:47 p.m., Ryan Miller glanced at the clock and announced he had 2 hours and 13 minutes, until midnight, to celebrate before getting back to work.
Borderline irrelevant sidenote to the entire NHL season: the Sabres have won the Northeast Division.
The Sabres all season have emphasized the need to temper their emotions in good times and bad. Miller, their franchise goaltender and primary source of hope, wasn't about to go overboard Tuesday night after they clinched the division with a convincing 5-2 victory over the New York Rangers.
The New York Rangers are captained by Chris Drury.
"It's a stop along the way," he said. "In baseball, they win the pennant and everybody goes crazy with champagne at the end. I never understood it. We have our hats and T-shirts, smile and have a little fun, crank a little music. You have to take time to say it feels good, but we're not going to be satisfied."
Pretty reasonable quote from Miller (assuming it's Miller talking and not just Bucky making things up again.
It explains why the Sabres weren't overly jubilant after the game, but they understood this season has been nothing to sneer at, either. Division titles don't come around often in this town. The Sabres won their division just six times in 40 years since joining the NHL. Overall, it has been a pretty good season.
Get the sense we're in the midst of another shining example of Bucky's persuasive writing? I do. "The Sabres have, overall, played well. They've done something relatively rare, and deserve to be patted on the back. So, in conclusion, they suck."
Funny, but the Sabres' rise in the division and flirtation with the top of the conference has been met mostly with disenchantment or guarded optimism. HSBC Arena often felt like a morgue before coming to life Tuesday night. The irrepressible buzz that comes with a playoff team has been mysteriously absent.
It's been met "mostly" with "disenchantment or guarded optimism" because they've had a playoff spot wrapped up since January, and Ottawa gifted them the division in the first week of March. Will someone1 please remind everyone that Buffalo hasn't had to play a hockey game with any actual legitimate meaning since Christmas? Please? The "irrepressible buzz" isn't mysteriously absent. We have to suffer through three completely pointless regular season games before the playoffs start. Why get excited about the playoffs now, when we still have to endure 180 minutes of throwaway hockey? Saying the fans aren't excited about playoff hockey because there isn't a "buzz" is like saying your kid's not excited about Christmas because he's not bouncing off the walls on Christmas Eve.
My sense is that this isn't a Buffalo sports thing, where fans are reluctant to climb aboard because they fear getting their hearts broken. They simply haven't been able to trust the Sabres' success, haven't been overly impressed and aren't about to shower the organization with praise until it's worthy.
Northeast Division title, toying with second overall in the conference. At least one win against nearly every top team in the league. All-world goaltender, plus a Calder trophy candidate on the blue line AND promising rookies for next year. The team seems pretty worthy of praise to me.
The Sabres released 2,000 playoff tickets for sale on Monday. In the first season after the lockout, when they showed more promise despite finishing second in the division, the tickets would have been gone in about 15 minutes. There were still a few available Tuesday.
This isn't apples to oranges, this is apples to chocolate ice cream. Playoff tickets sold out quick in 2006 because we had just had a full season of hockey stolen from us because the owners and players are stupid. Also, the economy was in a much better state than it is now. But way to take one small, marginally applicable fact and essentially use it as the basis for your entire argument.
See, you can't fool Buffalo fans.
Sure you can. You've been fooling them into thinking their team sucks since October.
The Sabres have a 16-14-6 record since Jan. 9. They have seven wins in 20 games over teams that were still in the playoffs Tuesday night. We're not talking about a little hiccup here. Thirty-six games is a large enough sample size, especially in the second half of the season, to create doubt.
First, hat tip to Fire Joe Morgan. I think those guys single-handedly inserted "sample size" into the modern sports lexicon. More importantly, Bucky, while "correct" is also a cherry picking bastard. He picked the 36 games that prove his point while ignoring the previous two (both wins, of course) that would round out the whole "second half of the season."
Also, there is no qualitative analysis. Just a random mention of "sample size" to make it look official, plus reference to ominous stats. Two can play that game, friend. Over the course of the entire season (a bigger sample size), Buffalo has collected wins against each of the top two teams in each conference. You know who has lost all twelve games against those same teams? Nobody important.
Plus, every single effing team has room for doubt. When has there ever been a team that could say "Hey, these playoffs are a mere formality. Just give us the Cup." Never.
Just know they have the X factor in Miller, who had fans on their feet in the second period Tuesday when he robbed Marian Gaborik with a ridiculous blocker save that warranted time in the state pen. (legal metaphor tag!) It was the kind of stop that reassured people that anything can happen if he gets on a roll in the postseason.
So, the Sabres suck, but even sucky teams can accomplish something too. Stay tuned, I guess.
Remember, too, that winning in the playoffs is a learning process. It often takes a few years before players understand how to play under pressure. They need to regain that experience, from their veterans down to their good young players, knowing they're onto something special in the coming years.
Regain what experience? I thought you had to learn it, and we don't have it, so wouldn't we have to "gain" that experience? If we already have it, which "regain" suggests we do, we should be good to go. What the hell?
Sabres managing partner Larry Quinn said a few years ago that the master plan called for winning the Cup and giving Buffalo its first major sports championship. He didn't have a specific timetable, which always makes you curious,
No it doesn't. It makes sense. Why the hell would you put out a specific timetable? "We're going to win the Cup within five years, book it." You look like every other idiot who makes guarantees in sports.
but common sense suggested it would take four or five years. This is the third season.
So, we're right smack dab in the middle of a rebuilding process. Not only should we be excited about how well they're playing now, we should also be excited about how well we could be playing next year or the year after.
The buzz should return in the first round. Perhaps they can gain some momentum if they reach the second round. You would certainly like their chances with Miller if they somehow played in the conference finals. There's also the likelihood, after watching them for the past three months, of them being eliminated in the first round.
Wooo! Prediction central!! The Sabres may reach the second round. Or maybe they'll play in the conference finals. Or may they'll get eliminated in the first round. Any more bold prognostications there Nostradamus? How about "the Sabres will play hockey later next week" or "at some point, during their first round match-up, one of the teams will score a goal." This qualifies as compensable sports commentary and analysis?
For now, tip your cap to them and enjoy the moment while you can.
I'm going to enjoy it for a while. Only one team wins the Cup, only one team gets to skate on into the offseason sunset happy. I hate this bizarre "second place is the first loser" mentality that says because you didn't win it all your entire season was pretty much a waste and we should all really shoot ourselves. The Sabres have played well this year, and I've had fun watching them. Why should I get all bent out of shape because the Sabres may (gasp!) lose in the playoffs?? I've been buzzing about the playoffs since Buffalo started strong out of the gate, and can't wait for it to start. Bring it on, it's going to be one hell of a ride. I'm ready.
1 - Besides me.
