Buffalo Sabres Dan Bylsma Is Safe According To Recent Fan Poll
Buffalo Sabres fans appear to feel that the head coach is safe, according to a poll over at WGR 550. The results are interesting to say the least . . . .
If you bother to browse social media before, during, and after Buffalo Sabres losses – I mean games! – you almost certainly have either come across or even created a Tweet that goes something like this:
Yes, Dan Bylsma is the head coach that Sabres fans love to hate, and the “Fire Dan Bylsma” chant has been alive and well since, oh, October. Supporters of Bylsma point out that he won a Stanley Cup in Pittsburgh; meanwhile, detractors point out that he inherited a team with Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin, for goodness sakes, and that you literally could have sat a monkey on the bench and watched as the Penguins won the Cup.
Since 2009, Bylsma has done nothing but develop a reputation as a coach who cannot stop tinkering with his line combinations, and whose system is far too complicated than it has to be. In short, Bylsma has become the obvious scapegoat for Buffalo Sabres to blame for yet another season spent in the NHL’s cellar . . . or has he?
As I was getting caught up all the Sabres news I need in order to be prepared for tonight’s tilt in Ottawa, I found an article about Jack Eichel that took me to wgr550.com. As I was reading I noticed a poll on the right side of the page that asked, Do you think Dan Bylsma’s job is safe at least for the rest of the season? Naturally, I voted “No. If this thing goes south I think they’ll make a change,” and clicked the GO button . . . and damn if I wasn’t surprised by the results.
As of the time that I am writing this, 916 people have voted in the poll, and 65% of the people (594 votes) selected the option, Yes. The Sabres are ‘in the hunt.’ ”
To be honest, I’m not sure which part of the poll is more surprising: the fact that so many people feel Bylsma is safe, or that so many people honestly believe the Sabres are “in the hunt.” Strange days we live in.
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Clearly, it’s just one poll, but the sample size is large enough that you have to feel it is pretty indicative of how Buffalo Sabres fans feel. It will be interesting to see if fan opinion sours a bit if Buffalo falls back into the NHL’s bottom five, but for now, the people have spoken, and they have Dan Bylsma’s back.