It looks like the Buffalo Sabres aren’t going anywhere unless they find a way to dig themselves out of this big hole they’ve dug themselves into.
Buffalo Sabres head coach Don Granato reminds me of former NFL head coach Chuck Noll in so many ways. For context, over Noll’s first three seasons as head coach of the Pittsburgh Steelers (1969-71), he went 12-30. Then in 1972, something Immaculate occurred, and the Steelers became a dynasty between 1974-1979…and the biggest thorn in just about every NFL team’s side for the greater part of 50 seasons.
In the NHL, I’ve always felt that, if you’re going to stick with a head coach, general manager, and a young nucleus, it takes longer to build that team from the ground up, a little longer than Noll and owner Art Rooney built the Steelers from the ground up.
Closer to four or even five seasons before a team, in reality, remotely contends in the NHL world during a complete rebuild. If you give it a chance to grow, that is.
That said, with Granato in his second full season and third season overall, the Sabres won’t realistically contend until 2023-24, or perhaps even 2024-25. But it doesn’t all have to be doom and gloom. Here are three ways that you, as a fan of the Buffalo Sabres, can put yourself at ease during the dark days.
1 – Applaud the Buffalo Sabres small improvements
The Sabres still looked every big as dysfunctional last night against the Toronto Maple Leafs as they had during this nightmare losing streak campaign that started in Carolina. But they also matched the Leafs physically, something I wasn’t expecting. They still created turnovers, and were a little more aggressive in the offensive zone.
Sure, they still mishandled the puck about 100 times, allowed too many breakaways, and at times, tried to rush things offensively, but this was by no means their worst game during the streak. In fact, it was one of their better games this month thanks to those small improvements. And during these dark times, those little improvements are something to recognize, acknowledge, and applaud, knowing they will only get better.
2 – Research teams that have “been there, done that”
Being from the Pittsburgh area, I look back at the early days of the Chuck Noll era often and I can make a plethora of correlations, despite football and hockey being entirely different sports. But that’s beside the point. When you dig deep, you will find plenty of examples in all four of the major North American sports regarding teams that have been through a similar process.
Problem is, fanbases grow impatient, which puts pressure on team owners and front offices. And the next thing you know, there’s another regime change, another system meltdown, someone pushes the reset button, and the team is set back another two seasons at the very least.
Sure, there are plenty of examples where a new regime turns around a franchise in a single season, or perhaps two seasons, but it’s not common. Check out teams like the Steelers of Old, and you will discover that good things happen to those who are persistent.
3 – Embrace the chaos
I remember when I first dived into freelance writing, which eventually led to a niche in sports. The first piece of advice I had gotten when I took the chance was to embrace chaos in those early years. Still in my first few years, chaos and dry spells still erupt every now and again; they are going to.
But the keyword here is persistency. And I’ve discovered that, no matter how badly things had gotten for myself, persistency led to better days, despite sheer chaos that involved hoping I’d break even for the month from a monetary standpoint.
Correlating this to the Buffalo Sabres situation, they are a team that is really only in Year 2 of the Kevyn Adams/Don Granato Era, Year 3 if you count Granato’s “interim” term. They are young, inexperienced, and are going to have some really bad stretches.
But what they are going through now is similar to what we’ve all gone through in life itself when we were trying to better ourselves, perhaps to enter a career path we wanted, or pursuing anything we decided was worth having. Honestly, I can write an entire book on the subject, but when you embrace the chaos, the Sabres are currently going through in the same way you’d embrace chaos when you pursued or are pursuing something, you will make a lot of correlations.
And when you do, you can sit back at ease and say, “This is all just part of the process.” And if you made it to the other side, so will they. But you need to give Adams and Granato a fair chance to make this work, and not the usual, two strikes and you’re out that have especially plagued this team’s coaches in recent memory.
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