Schedule impressions
First things that pop in my head off quick look at the Sabres' 09-10 schedule.
---Bummer the opener isn't a Friday night, but a Saturday will work too (Oct. 3 vs. Montreal).
---Great to see Patrick Kane, Brian Campbell and the Blackhawks coming to town (Dec. 11)
---Two killer road trips after the new year, one in January and one in March.
---Tough finish with three straight road games (Boston, Ottawa, New Jersey)
---NHL did Sabres no favors again with West at-large teams. Two games against both Detroit and San Jose. Ouch.
5 p.m. couple more updates:
---Breakdown by days: Mon-1; Tues-4; Wed-11; Thur-2; Fri-14; Sat-9; Sun-0. Huge amount of home Saturdays.
---Four Fri-Sat home combos: Oct. 16-17 (NYI-Atl), Dec. 18-19 (Tor-Pit) Jan. 8-9 (Tor-Col) and March 26-27 (Ott-TB)
Have your say here.
---Mike Harrington
Vandy Adam: NYI signed Roloson. I don't think you'll see much of DiPietro (except at the end of the bench wearing a baseball cap). But I'd rather have DiPietro as my back up than Lalime. (Of course I'd rather have Miller as my starter than Roloson).
Posted by: CalgarySabre2 | July 16, 2009 at 01:44 PM
Looks like having Friday night home games leads to way more back to back games. Which the Sabres always struggle with.
Posted by: Mike M. | July 16, 2009 at 12:24 PM
"When was the last time we saw forwards hustling back to help on D? When was the last time we saw them blocking shots like Jay McKee & Chris Drury? When was the last time they stood up for each other?
On talent alone their top lines would be 3rd rate players on any playoff teams. In terms of heart and guts, they have none and don’t deserve to be called professionals."
Great post Chris...about sums it all up. I have said a few times but the posts mysteriously have since disappeared???
In the not to distant future, the Sabres will be demoted by the NHL to a minor league franchise for a real NHL team somewhere in BFE.
I don't understand why the Sabres don't want to totally suck, they prefer to just suck...why not totally totally suck, gut the whole team of any talent and get some top 3 picks for a few seasons!!! Atleast then this all will make sense.
Posted by: Mike K. | July 16, 2009 at 12:18 PM
Calgary,
Compared to the Islanders, the Sabres have an all star roster. They are really that pathetic. The Islanders leading point producers in 2008-2009 had 56, 39 and 38 points, respectively. Ouch...that's ungodly bad. And not only are their skaters weak, but it doesn't look like Dipietro is even a top 15 goalie anymore and he's always hurt anyway. Tavares could be the second coming of Sidney Crosby this year and that team could still be really, really bad. The roster is just cringe-worthy.
It all stems from the fact that, in my humble opinion, Charles Wang is the worst owner in professional sports. It starts at the top, just ask Ralph Wilson and Larry Quinn.
Posted by: Vandy Adam | July 16, 2009 at 10:05 AM
Doesn't look like a banner year for the blue and gold, but it's always good to hear of the schedule, and watch the evolution of this team, or will it be dissolution? It's a good thing that they have extra blueliners with the compressed schedule, and many roadies toward the end of the season.
Posted by: Maverick | July 15, 2009 at 10:22 PM
Schedule is immaterial. Montreal has retooled and Devils hire cup-winning coach. They CARE about winning the Cup. Tommy Boy enjoys counting his pennies..
Posted by: Gomer | July 15, 2009 at 10:03 PM
Generally agree with Vandy Adam, except that I am not convinced the Sabres are better than the post-Tavares Islanders. Oh, and Brian: both Briere and Dumont DID have a choice about departing (I'm not saying I fault them for that, but they clearly had a choice).
Posted by: CalgarySabre2 | July 15, 2009 at 07:52 PM
We play Ottawa in the second to last game of the season. Great, the Sens will have the honor of eliminating us.
Posted by: Rip | July 15, 2009 at 07:51 PM
Glad you asked:
When was the last time we saw forwards hustling back to help on D? When was the last time we saw them blocking shots like Jay McKee & Chris Drury? When was the last time they stood up for each other?
On talent alone their top lines would be 3rd rate players on any playoff teams. In terms of heart and guts, they have none and don’t deserve to be called professionals. Honestly, they played one or two games like that the last 2 years. San Jose comes to mind and they almost blew that one. They must want to be like the Bills.
Yeah, I confess I'm frustrated by the teams.
Posted by: Chris | July 15, 2009 at 05:35 PM
30 games? According to last year's results, that give the Sabres the third worst record in the league. You think the Sabres are going to be a bottom five team in the NHL? Won't happen. Like I said, while they haven't gotten better this off-season, they haven't gotten much worse either. Spacek for Montador is a slight downgrade, but not huge. You're predicting that they win 10 fewer games. How would you account for that based on what they've done this offseason? Maybe they'll lose two games they wouldn't have because they lost Spacek, but 10?
Posted by: Vandy Adam | July 15, 2009 at 05:28 PM
Vandy & Co, Sabres players are lazy & have cr@p for attitudes. No motivation for them whatsoever to play hard and win. Ownership fosters this. Prove me wrong.
They may not go 1-8-2 to start, but they won't win 30 games for the season without major changes from top to bottom.
Posted by: Chris | July 15, 2009 at 05:23 PM
I'm sure the retarded fans at HSBC will boo Campbell upon his return, just like Briere, Dumont, Biron and others who had no choice in departing.
Posted by: Brian | July 15, 2009 at 05:14 PM
Since the front office is punting this season, can the fans hope the variable pricing reflects this new strategy?
And I actually like the fact that Buffalo has to play Western Conference titans like Detroit and San Jose ... it will clearly demonstrate how far this team has to go before it can be considered a contender (not that games in our own division won't send the same message).
Posted by: Beavis | July 15, 2009 at 05:11 PM
Sabreman,
In the first 11 games the Sabres play the Phoenix Coyotes, Atlanta Thrashers, Florida Panthers, Tampa Bay Lightning, and NY Islanders (twice). What part of that schedule leads you to conclude that they'll go 1-8-2.
I'm as down on the Sabres as anyone. They were not good enough last season and have not gotten better in the off-season. That said, they also haven't gotten much worse. They're a mediocre team, but they're still better than the Islanders, Thrashers and Coyotes of the league.
Posted by: Vandy Adam | July 15, 2009 at 05:09 PM
Chad - I got to thinking about this. You know how Leonsis HATES having visiting fans fill the building? Don't you think he provided some pressure to the schedule? He knows the Sabres are one of the two largest draws (pens being the other, don't know who has a stronger fanbase). So why wouldn't he be a proponent to host the Sabres when he knows all their fans go home for the holidays. I was ready to concede the Christmas game, and assumed they'd make the trip down at the end of the season as usual, but nooooo....
Posted by: dcs | July 15, 2009 at 05:08 PM
They won't win more than 30 games.
Posted by: Chris | July 15, 2009 at 04:59 PM
1-8-2 in the first month
Posted by: Sabreman | July 15, 2009 at 04:40 PM
They finish with 5 of 6 games on the road. I can see it coming already. This team likes to turn on the afterburners when it's too late or almost too late. If they wait until the last slate of games to make their playoff push this year, there's no way they make the playoffs.
Also, first and possibly last time I'll have an opportunity to see the Sabres play where I live, in Nashville. Anxiously waited all day for the release of the schedule just hoping and praying that the Sabres would play here. Sure enough...The Sabres are scheduled to play in Nashville...on the night of my wedding in New York. FML.
Posted by: Vandy Adam | July 15, 2009 at 04:30 PM
No games in Calgary. Or even Edmonton. Heavy sigh. Do I really have to make a road trip to Vancouver? Maybe I'll make the trip to Buffalo in November and I can cheer against the Oilers and the Flames in the space of 3 days.
Posted by: CalgarySabre2 | July 15, 2009 at 03:46 PM
And the DC-area Sabres fans lob a big middle finger at Bettman for putting Buffalo's two trips to the Verizon Center the night before Thanksgiving and two nights before Christmas. God, I hate Bettman.
Posted by: Chad | July 15, 2009 at 03:44 PM