Buffalo Sabres: Tanking Without Trying!
The Buffalo Sabres are looking at a juicy draft pick yet again – but not because of tanking!
One of my co-workers – a likable Maple Leafs fan, which seems to be an oxymoron, I know! – asked me the other day, “So, are the Buffalo Sabres tanking again this year? I expected them to be better.”
Oh, dear sir! How little you know!
Clearly, the Sabres are in really good shape to land a top five draft pick this season, possibly even a top two pick, so to the untrained eye, it might appear as if the Sabres front office had opted to take the tanking approach for the 2015-16 season. Hey: playing terrible hockey is what allowed the Buffalo Sabres to acquire Rasmus Ristolainen, Sam Reinhart, and Jack Eichel! Why not give it one more go?
A quick look at some numbers would appear to validate the “Buffalo is tanking” approach, too: the Sabres rank 26th in goals scored in the NHL, 27th in goals per game, 27th in penalty kill, and are tied with the Edmonton Oilers (you want to talk about a team that knows how to tank?!?) with 38 points, the second-worst point total in the league.
Recent reports that the Buffalo Sabres are once again in sell mode, and could be interested in offers for Tyler Ennis, only add fuel to the fire. General Manager Tim Murray even had this to say to ESPN’s Pierre LeBrun:
"This is the process. If I can acquire younger assets or future assets for some of our veterans, especially veterans on expiring contracts, I’m going to pursue that for sure."
Add it all up – the numbers, the record, the sell mentality – and you have to come to the conclusion that the Buffalo Sabres are still deliberately tanking, right?
Well, no.
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Buffalo Sabres fans get this: the Sabres are a better team in 2015-16 than they were last season, and the season before that. All you have to do is watch a game to see that much – the ol’ “eye test.” Tuning into a game last season was a mild form of self-abuse; making my children watch, child abuse. This season – I actually enjoy watching the Sabres play. Sure, they are going to lose more games than they win, but darn it all, the Sabres resemble a competitive squad right now! Baby steps!
For those of you not swayed by the incredibly subjective “eye test,” consider this: the Buffalo Sabres allow 2.65 goals per game this season, placing them squarely in the middle of the league (okay – technically 14th). Last year, the team allowed an atrocious 3.28, second only to those tank-a-licious Edmonton Oilers. One of the reasons for this turnaround? The Sabres are only allowing 29.9 shots per game (16th best in the NHL), compared to 35.6 last year (worst in the league).
Less shots = less goals per game = not tanking! It’s a mathematical formula!
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And even though the Sabres are still struggling to put the puck in the back of the net, the Sabres are averaging more shots per game (29.7) compared to last season (24.2, worst in the league), and actually own the NHL’s 9th most successful power play, scoring on exactly 20% of its man advantages so far this season.
The improvements don’t end there – Buffalo has been extremely successful in the face-off circle this season, thanks in large part to Ryan O’Reilly‘s herculean efforts, for example – but winners talk, and losers walk, so Sabres fans are going to have to endure talk of tanking for a little while longer, even though it is clearly not true.
Just tell yourself it builds character!