Why should the Prospects Challenge still matter for Sabres fans, anyway?

Okay, in a possible make-it-or-break-it season, the Prospects Challenge shouldn’t mean a thing to Sabres fans. The Sabres aren’t preseason favorites to contend, and rightfully so, but fans still want a good team without worrying about the prospects pool, and they have every reason to while the front office will face intense pressure anyway.

These last 13 years have been the worst-case nightmare scenario for fans, and I don’t need to explain why. They’ve been the New York Jets of hockey, and with a strong Atlantic Division to contend with, maybe the strongest one in a while, that streak probably won’t end this year. 

But the days of saying, “Yeah, well, we have a strong prospects pool,” are finished. It shouldn’t matter that the Blue and Gold have a top-five prospects pool, so why should fans want to tune into the Prospects Challenge game tonight vs. the Columbus Blue Jackets, a team that will put more weight on their prospects than the Sabres?

Why did anyone care to watch the Hall of Fame Game in the NFL back in early August, a game where those playing are more likely to end up on a practice squad and subsequently in the UFL? It’s because the Prospects Challenge, much like the Hall of Fame Game, is a sign that the sport’s back for the next several months. 

Prospects Challenge should still matter for Sabres fans

Nothing screams the fall more - and yes, I like the fall a hundred times more than the summer - than seeing players take the ice in blue and gold uniforms. No, none of them will be on the team this season, or at least they won’t be full-time, but that’s beside the point. 

Hockey is back, and there’s something right about that. It means the summer’s over, the days are shorter, and the nights are longer. But that’s not a bad thing because we can finally sit down and watch a hockey game for the first time in what feels like forever. 

And if that answer isn’t good enough for you, then know this: You should still want the Sabres prospects to go out and dominate. Why? Because if the team’s any good and they’re playing well enough to contend for a wild card spot and decent contention at that, then guess who the team will be moving?

Yeah, a few of those playing tonight and this weekend. That said, the Prospects Challenge should still be relevant to Sabres fans, even if it doesn’t look like it should be on the surface. For one, it’s great to watch Sabres hockey again, and for another, these players, if they perform well, they won’t just impress the Blue and Gold’s, but multiple front offices.