Buffalo Sabres Baby Steps: Where Will The Sabres Wind Up In The Power Rankings?
The Buffalo Sabres have been making slow but steady improvements throughout the season – how much will the NHL power rankings reflect this?
It’s no secret that Buffalo Sabres fans are looking ahead to next season, and with good reason: Buffalo is a team that has improved in almost every area, and there is reason to believe that this team just might be able to compete for a playoff spot in the 2016-17 season.
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The Sabres currently sit in 24th place in the NHL with 70 points, which is a clear improvement over Buffalo’s last-place finish the past two seasons. Even better, as many astute readers have already pointed out, the Sabres have scored 176 goals so far this season and only allowed 200, a difference of just 26 goals. Compare that to last season’s totals of 153 scored and 269 allowed, for a goal differential of -116, and you almost have to do a double-take: that is an astounding turn-of-events.
Factor in the fact that the Sabres have been playing without 20-goal scorer Tyler Ennis for a huge chunk of the season, and you have to wonder just where this team would be in the standings today had everything gone according to plan.
Buffalo’s improved play has not gone unnoticed by the various sports writers who put together the NHL Power Rankings. ESPN, Fox Sports and CBS Sports currently have the Buffalo Sabres sitting in the 25 spot, while USA Today has the team one spot better at 24. Meanwhile, both Bleacher Report and Sports Illustrated actually had the Sabres ranked 22nd, which is the highest I can recall this team being ranked this late in the season for . . . well dammit, I can’t remember when!
Most fans would rather see the Sabres lose at this point, as every win cripples the team’s chances of landing a sweet pick in the 2016 NHL Draft. For those of us who are tired of watching the Sabres be the punchline to jokes, though, watching the boys in the 716 climb up the rankings is gratifying, as it means a little more respect is being shown to Buffalo each and every week.
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With 8 games left, half of which are against non-playoff teams and three of which are against teams below Buffalo in the standings, can this team continue to climb up the NHL power rankings? Could the Buffalo Sabres even – gasp! – crack the top 20 of a handful of sites? Certainly, this team is not pulling a tank job, and the way the team rallied late on the road against the Carolina Hurricanes proves this group of players is trying to build a winning mindset, now.
Take the time to chat with me in the comments section below about where you think the Sabres will wind up in the end-of-the-season power rankings!!!