rayonsports.com

We’re into November now and the Buffalo Sabres still haven’t won a game on home ice. Not only are they winless at HSBC Arena, they have saved some of their most putrid performances for the home fans. All of that would have to change on Wednesday night. The team was getting its’ first chance to avenge the stunning first round playoff loss to Boston so the team would surely be motivated and focused, right? The fans would see them flying out of the gate and swarming all over the ice to re-establish themselves in their own rink against a division rival, right? With Ryan Miller injured and  Jhonas Enroth starting in goal, the team would certainly rally around the young kid and play hard to make his job easier, right? Have you had enough sarcasm yet?

The Sabres did none of the above. Instead, they played like they’ve been playing all year at home, flat and lazy, giving up 3 first period goals, 2 of them shorthanded, in a 5-2 loss. Enroth wasn’t very good and was pulled early for Patrick Lalime, but when a team gives up 2 goals when they have the man advantage, it’s not the goalie’s fault. It makes you wonder if Lindy Ruff is losing this team. They seem to have forgotten how much work they put into last year’s successful division-winning regular season. If you look up “rest on your laurels” in the encyclopedia, it should have a Sabres’ team picture next to it. The head coach eventually has to take responsibility when his team continually underachieves. Actually, if you look at it objectively, even though the Sabres won the division last year, Boston and Montreal surpassed them in the playoffs, Ottawa has always had their number, and Toronto is vastly improved, so it’s a real possibility that Buffalo is the worst team in the division this year. They are certainly playing like it.

In most sports, teams tend to take on the personality of their coach. In hockey, teams usually follow the lead of the team captain. When Michael Peca and Chris Drury were here, the Sabres were known as “the hardest working team in hockey”. Now their captain is Craig Rivet, who was recently benched for poor play, so it seems the team is following their captain’s example. In reality, the Sabres can’t be this bad, and the expectation should be that they will eventually right the ship and start climbing in the standings. If not, Ruff may be in serious trouble. Who knows, maybe the Sabres are doing it right this year, getting the kinks out early and hopefully peaking at playoff time when it really counts.