Buffalo Sabres: 2015-16 Winners And Losers
The dust has settled, and the Buffalo Sabres have wrapped up the 2015-16 season. We look at who came out smelling like roses, and who came out smelling like . . . well . . . .
The Buffalo Sabres ended their 2015-16 NHL season on a winning note Saturday, defeating the New York Islanders 4-3 in overtime.
That victory put the appropriate finishing touches on what was, for the most part, a successful regular season. I say “for the most part,” due to the fact that the Sabres are once again not headed to the playoffs. Let’s face it: when you see a team like the Detroit Red Wings, who qualified for the playoffs for the 25th straight season, it’s tough to label what the Buffalo Sabres did a rousing success.
Still, there is no denying the fact that the Sabres were a better team in 2015-16 than they were in 2014-15, not just in the standings, not just in points, but pretty much in ever facet. They scored more goals; they allowed less goals. They were one win away from being a .500 team as late as April 8 – that alone shows you far this team has come.
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More importantly, the Sabres were fun to watch this season, with the exception of a few games that made you feel like pulling the paper bag out of the closest. The way I see it, if the Buffalo Sabres made my ten year-old kid want to watch them every night – definitely not the case last season – then mission accomplished.
With that being said, I present to you my Winners and Losers for the season.
I’m going to keep the overall vibe of this piece upbeat, because the team is clearly moving in the right direction and I’m excited for the future. Not every “loser” in this post will be a full-fledged disappointment. Still, for all of the progress that was made, there were some players or incidents that stood out under the category of “room for improvement.”
With a list like this, there is bound to be plenty of discussion generated below – which is entirely the reason why we do this stuff! I am limiting the list to 5 pairs of winners/losers, so if I left someone out, feel free to address him (them) below! I didn’t want this thing to become overkill, and while 2-3 pairs seemed too short, 5 seemed just right.
Let’s go!
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