Ya gotta hand it to the hardy souls who were at the First Niagara Center enduring last night's excruciating 7-0 loss at the hands of a Minnesota Wild. A Wild team that came to town limping left looking like a four-time Stanley Cup Champion. It was an ugly game for the home crowd and although the boo-birds did come out, it was nothing like October and November of 2013, when a chorus of boos came raining down seemingly moments after the drop of the puck.
Throughout last night's the game the fans endured, moreso in state of shock then anything else, as a big mess unfolded before them. There was a brief moment of excitement when Buffalo's Nic Deslauriers got everyone's blood pumping in unanimous decision over Wild defenseman Matt Dumba. I'm pretty sure the 20 yr. old Dumba had no idea what he was getting into when he dropped the gloves with Deslauriers, but he eventually shook of the three shots he took to the head and went on to score Minnesota's fourth goal roughly half-way through the game.
Former Sabre Thomas Vanek had a goal and an assist, both on the power play. Another former Sabre Jason Pominville had three assists and somehow I get the feeling that if he managed to light the lamp last night the house may have erupted in applause as there was really nothing else to cheer for.
Last night's game was an ignominious exclamation point on record-extending stretch for futility as the Sabres have now lost their ninth in a row in regulation. During that stretch they've scored a grand total of nine goals while giving up 39 goals against. They've gone 2 for 24 on the power play while surrendering 9 pp goals on 29 opportunities. And they've given up three shorthanded goals in the process.
In spite of the cold hard numbers which have been a part of the team for the last season and a half, what's truly amazing, though, is the level of understanding that Buffalo Sabres fans have as to what's going on. At least in public. “The fact that they’re not booing louder and throwing stuff on the ice shows how nice they are, because if I was in their situation I would be a lot more upset than that,” said Tyler Ennis after the game.
In the chat rooms and other social media, it's a different story as some are seriously considering busting out the pitchforks and torches while others are reach for, or asking Sabres management to provide, paper bags to put over their heads. Others, like Chris D, feel the Sabres should do something for the fans, "They should definitely be giving out free booze and cab rides home at this point," he wrote in a comment section.
At least some have maintained their sense of humor.
A few years back as the Sabres missing the playoffs with regularity, there was a loud section of the fan-base calling for the team to blow up the roster and start fresh with high draft picks. Which the Sabres did. It's probably not too far-fetched to think that the same fans who vociferously lead the lynch-mob back then are the same ones sharpening the tines and loading up on lighter fluid.
This is a second season of a fully engaged tear-down of a roster that was on a treadmill to no where, but the build portion of the program is just beginning. Last year's Sabres squad finished the season with nary a star on their roster and was filled with rookies and young players. Although they began this season with some veteran players, they jettisoned any of their stars for picks, prospects as well as the occasional vet. There are no stars on this team this year. Now and for the foreseeable future they will live and die with the philosophy that the whole is greater than the sum of it's parts. And at this juncture of the season, some of those parts aren't worth much.
It wouldn't feel right blaming any individual player for the team's troubles, unless it's in the effort category. There are a few who looked as if they packed it in months ago and are counting the days before their traded. Unfortunately for them and the team, the more apathetic they are, the harder they are to move.
As for the rest, you can't blame a player who's put in a position that's way above his skill level and, unfortunately, it's nearly every player on the team. Nor can you blame any of the youngins going through growing pains and getting schooled by vets. Stuff like that happens to young players and they'll eventually be judged by how much they've learned from their mistakes.
You can take out your frustrations on head coach Ted Nolan and his staff, but what good would that do? Nolan has tried to ice a competitive team with limited talent. When it all comes together perfectly, they can put together a run. When it doesn't, which is way more often than not, you get what we've seen for the last nine games.
And you could blame GM Tim Murray if you'd like, but blame him for what? Following through with an organizational mandate of fashioning a complete rebuild with top picks?
This is what we signed up for.
Go back to when this team was making a noble run to 9th place every year with Vanek and Pominville leading the team. The first round picks in the double digits just weren't getting the job done and the whole concept needed to be blown up. That's what the organization did. I remember former GM Darcy Regier in October, 2013 saying that he knew it would be difficult, but didn't realize just how difficult it would be.
WGR's Paul Hamilton laid it out well last night during the post-game when it came to the status of the team and what the near future might hold. "Tim Murray asked for two drafts," said Hamilton of the plummet to the bottom of the standings, "that's all he asked for. The second one is coming up. He said that after two drafts [the team] would be better next year and competing for a playoff spot.
"[The two drafts] are all he asked for."
Although the playoffs might be a little optimistic for next season, the gist of it is that the "suffering" the fans went through last year is still a part of the equation, albeit unspoken, and that it looks as if it will continue for the remainder of the season. Yeah, it sucks, especially if you were in attendance last night paying good money for a miserable product. But there's not too much that can or will be done for the rest of this season.
There are as many as eight players unrestricted free agents on the roster who could conceivably be moved by the trade deadline and the time is fast approaching when it will happen. One thing Murray can do right now to appease the fan base and give this thing a little shake is move one of those malcontents. As much as it doesn't behoove me to point out a player, defenseman Andrej Meszaros just doesn't seem as if he's interested.
Not that he was the only player to have an atrocious game last night, or any other night, but his play almost from the beginning of the season speaks volumes. He signed with Buffalo last summer out of mutual necessity--he needed to revive his career a bit and the Sabres needed to add salary. Meszaros is a good, all-around defensemen who can play in all situations but has been hampered by injuries the last few seasons. This season he's been relatively injury-free, but has spent time as a healthy scratch due to poor play.
It may be in the best interest of all parties if the Sabres and Meszaros parted ways now. I don't think there's a fan out there who would chastise Murray if he received a lower draft pick in return now as opposed to a slightly higher one later. And I'd have to believe that Meszaros would be pretty happy about going to a playoff-contending team.
If there's a theme that should be promoted for the final 37 games of the season (17 home dates) perhaps it should simply be:
Suck it up, Sabres fans, no one said it would be easy. 
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