Hockey’s Time Dilation
I have intentionally not said too much about the Buffalo Sabres since their initial two game loss to start the season versus the Washington Capitals. Basically there isn’t too much to say regarding the team in spite of recent changes.
A new GM. An updated roster, but not one that has completely been turned over. Yes, there are the additions of Hall, Staal, Eakin, and a sprinkle of others. However, the mainstays are still there. The same goaltending tandem in Hutton and Ullmark. Dahlin remains. So does Skinner, Reinhart, Olofsson, and of course, Jack.
The results remain the same as well. A 6-4 loss followed up by a 2-1 offensively challenged drop in a two game series to the Capitals in which they went 0-5 on the power play. It wasn’t like they didn’t have their opportunities. They did, but like so many rosters before they failed to cash in on multiple occasions.
It’s an abbreviated Pandemic Season of 56, and I’m certainly not going to write here that I’m sounding the alarm that it’s getting late early as Yogi would say, but I am going to offer up a small organizational take. They should at least be concerned because the trends are not in their favor.
For full transparency I had no expectations for this club in 2021. Now, no expectations should not have any negative connotations with it. No expectations means exactly that. Neither positive or negative. I neither thought they would crash and burn; no did I think they were a playoff contender. I didn’t know what to think. I am actually tired devoting gray matter to figuring out what they are going to do — this hockey club will drive you batty. Like many I saw the roster changes by new general manager Kevyn Adams and thought they were good maneuvers. I’m certainly not going to criticize him. He’s the new man on the job, but he is in an unfortunate situation given the history of organizational floundering over the past decade. I’m at a point where I ask the organization as a whole, just show me. Start filling the W column, and start doing it consistently. I cannot lower the bar more than that. Like many I saw the acquisitions of Hall, of Eakin, and of Cozens — the latter fresh off the World Juniors. I’m not criticizing any of them.
However, I also saw the team struggle offensively on Friday night. I saw Dahlin turn the puck over just as he did two seasons ago with no sense he’s improving. Yes, it’s two games, but it seemed a lot more than that — it felt like 10 seasons. Maybe we’re all feeling some weird hockey time dilation? It felt like every season that preceded it. Truthfully, it was difficult at some points on Friday to find any difference between the 2021 play and that of 2015, 2013, or any other season over the past few. It was by its very definition more of the same. That isn’t something the organization needs as it competes against its PSE sibling Bills. The Bills were much in the same predicament as the 2000s clicked by with new found ineptitude that exceeded the low bar of the previous year. Roster changes. Front office changes. Always making the same mistakes that got them no where each season. It wasn’t until Brandon Beane and Sean McDermott arrived on the scene that there was a sense by many that finally there were competent hands at the football helm.
Now I said I’m not going to criticize Kevyn Adams and I’m not. Such a notion is unfair and laughable at this point, but what I am saying is that hockey operations needs to start showing improvement. Friday night it looked like more of the same, and unless they come out against the Flyers on Monday night and at the very least look different they are going to be continuing to be couched in a bad light. That is how low the bar has dropped. A win against Philadelphia would be great, on the road no less, but at least look different. Don’t make it look like the same loss from 2019, 2017, and before. If, in a post-game interview, any member of the organization player or coach utters the line, “Well, we had our chances but we ran into a hot goalie” it’ll be a giant signal that things have yet to change.
In 2021 Pandemic Hockey is resembling baseball with a shorten season. There is a two game series starting in Philadelphia followed by a two game series next weekend in Washington. A team that has already handled the Sabres early. They could very well be 1-5 or 0-6 by next Monday. That seems alarmist but with high probability if the first two games are any sampling. The organization should feel a sense of urgency given the 56-game schedule combined with the past decade results. Again, I’m not saying the sky is falling on such a small sample size, but maybe Buffalo isn’t Hockey Heaven after all. Maybe its the epicenter of hockey’s time dilation? All I know is the older I get the faster time appears to be flying by.