After three games into the 2025-26 season, it should be all but over for the Buffalo Sabres, and some fans have already started getting in on the fun. Following their 3-1 loss on Monday, a disgruntled fan let their feelings known when they tossed a jersey onto the ice, and it was a long time coming.
Other fans should follow suit, given how inept this team has been since its 4-0 shutout loss to the New York Rangers to kick off the campaign. Through three games, opponents outscored the Sabres 10-2, and the Blue and Gold have yet to even lead a game, let alone come anywhere close to winning.
Josh Norris, who was supposed to transform into a star this season, is out indefinitely. Since coming to Buffalo, Norris has been banged up, and there appears to be no end in sight. Young talents like Zach Benson, Jiri Kulich, and Owen Power haven't played like first-round picks, and seasoned veterans like Alex Tuch, Jason Zucker, and Ryan McLeod haven't been able to pick up the slack.
The Sabres are also banged up, with players like Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen, Michael Kesselring, and Jordan Greenway all missing time. That said, fans don't need to root for this team to finish anywhere close to the top of the standings. So, to those fans considering tossing their jerseys and Sabres merchandise to the ice when this keeps up, finding something that resembles the opposing team's colors to wear to the next home game should be the go-to.
Why spend the 2025-26 season rooting against the Sabres?
One reason is that the Blue and Gold can finally be bad enough to draft a surefire star who can immediately transform a franchise. Gavin McKenna has been impeccable with the Penn State Nittany Lions, snagging five points and a goal in his first four college hockey games.
This is coming off a historically good season with the Medicine Hat Tigers of the WHL when he put up 129 points and 41 goals in 56 regular season games. Tack on another 38 points and nine goals in 16 playoff games, and McKenna already proved that he is an NHL-caliber player. Putting up gaudy stats in the NCAA further proves he can dominate across different landscapes.
The Sabres have no franchise-changing talent
Right now, fans need to be honest with themselves: Rasmus Dahlin and Tage Thompson may be stars, but they don't have franchise-changing potential. If that were the case, then the Sabres would have ended this postseason drought in 2022-23 when they finished just one point outside of the Eastern Conference's top eight.
They're not saving the franchise, so why even root for them? If Sabres fans want to see this nightmare end, they need to show up to games wearing opposing team colors, sell tickets to fans of those opposing teams, and essentially give the Blue and Gold a 79-game road schedule.
Sure, they would ultimately need to win the draft lottery, and using this tactic has backfired on them in the past, such as in 2014-15 when they lost the McDavid sweepstakes. But the decade since that draft hasn't been kind to them, so why not try again? Maybe they'll hit the lotto this time around?