Buffalo Sabres and NHL: 2019/20: Sabres season officially over. Draft lottery June 26th

[BillsFan4]

https://wgr550.radio.com/articles/news/best-case-scenario-is-phase-2-will-start-at-the-end-of-may

 

Quote

It seems pretty clear that the objective is to get the 2019-20 season completed in some fashion, and that NHL commissioner Gary Bettman has not even contemplatedcanceling the rest of the year. At the time of the league's shutdown on March 12 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, a majority of its teams had gotten in 68-71 games of the 82-game regular season.

 

As of right now, the NHL remains in Phase 1 of its return to play initiative, where players still remain in lockdown at home. However, TSN hockey insider Darren Dreger says that there is hope that the next phase of the NHL's return to action will come sooner rather than later.

 

"Phase 2 is bringing the players back, and then getting them not only in self-isolation, but when the league says it's ok and then allowing them to work out and skate in small groups, that's part of Phase 2," Dreger said with Andrew Peters, Craig Rivet and Rob Ray on The Instigators on Wednesday. "Phase 3 is reporting to the hub cities and going through that process, and then Phase 4 is ultimately game on. But all of this is being adjusted literally week-by-week.

 

"I have people at the Players' Association who believe the best-case scenario is that players will be brought back either at the end of this month, which isn't that far away, or in early June. Beyond that, there are so many complications because not every state is going to be at the same place. Likewise in Canada with every city and every province. The National Hockey League has made it clear that they can't initiate Phase 2 unless the large majority of NHL cities are in a place where they're ok with reopening and bringing these players back into that environment."

 

I don’t think this will apply to Sabres players since they won’t be playing if they go with that proposed 24 team format.

 

But I wonder if Buffalo is potentially being considered one of the hub cities for games? With a hotel + the 3 NHL sized rinks all within walking distance of each other.

[BillsFan4]

https://theathletic.com/1825510/2020/05/20/sabres-file-suit-against-immigration-officials-in-support-of-team-strength-coach/ (Athletic. sub. req)

‘Sabres file suit against immigration officials in support of team strength coach’

 

Crazy. Immigration says that he hasn’t risen to the top of his field, but how can they possibly say that? There’s only 31 NHL head trainer jobs in the entire world and he’s one of them.

[Nextmanup]

Checking in to confirm Jason Botterill is still employed in Buffalo.  

 

?

[BillsFan4]

 

They expand the playoffs by 8 teams and Buffalo is STILL missed the playoffs. Only 7 teams miss. ?

 

We better at least get a shot at the #1 overall pick.

 

Originally they were talking about only drawing for the #1 overall pick and only allowing teams to move up 4 spots (like the old rules before they made all the changes to the draft lottery and the start of the Sabres rebuild), which means the Sabres couldn’t win #1 OA.

But under that scenario they also would’ve been one of the 24 playoff teams, so I could’ve lived with it.

 

 

It would’ve been cool if they had taken the top 6 in each division like they originally talked about. Bummer that a team like Montreal gets in and not the Sabres. They have 3 more points but they have also played 2 more games than the Sabres (we were set to play them the day the season was postponed). Sabres also have 3 more Regulation wins, and 1 more OT win (Montreal has more shootout wins. They’re 4-1 in the SO). 

 

Sucks to miss by a hair like this. 

 

IMO they should have went with a 20 team play-in format. There was a good article about this on the Athletic.

https://theathletic.com/1817525/2020/05/19/which-teams-are-most-affected-by-the-nhls-potential-playoff-formats/

 

Quote

From the projected standings above, it should be obvious that a 20-team playoff is the best answer for the NHL. It includes the electric excitement that a play-in series can deliver while being fair to the teams that proved their worth over the first 70 games. Teams are significantly closer to their pre-stoppage odds.

In all, the total playoff inequity is just 158 percentage points, half the amount of the 24-team playoff (319 percent). Only two teams would see their playoff odds change by more than 20 percentage points: the Rangers (divisional format is the big issue here) and the Blue Jackets (a return to health and a switch to the Atlantic hub is the likely cause here). That’s compared with seven (Montreal, Chicago, Arizona, New York, Dallas, Carolina, Pittsburgh) in the 24-team format.

 

Going with 24 teams is unfairly changing the odds too much for teams that truly earned their playoff spots. This format kind of feels like it’s meant to get teams like NY, Chicago (huge playoff market)  and Montreal into the playoffs.

 

 

Edited May 23, 2020 by BillsFan4

[JohnC]

The below link is a column by Jourdon LaBarber writing for Sabres.com. It's about Arttu Ruotsalainen who had a successful season in Finland. I'm not sure he will make the NHL roster right away. He more likely will start off playing in Rochester in order to acclimate to the smaller NHL rinks. Playing in Rochester certainly benefited Olofsson in transitioning to the NHL game. And hopefully this scenario will work out for Arttu.

  

https://www.nhl.com/sabres/news/buffalo-sabres-prospect-rewind-arttu-ruotsalainen/c-317003272

[JohnC]

2 hours ago, BillsFan4 said:

 

They expand the playoffs by 8 teams and Buffalo is STILL missed the playoffs. Only 7 teams miss. ?

 

We better at least get a shot at the #1 overall pick.

 

Originally they were talking about only drawing for the #1 overall pick and only allowing teams to move up 4 spots (like the old rules before they made all the changes to the draft lottery and the start of the Sabres rebuild), which means the Sabres couldn’t win #1 OA.

But under that scenario they also would’ve been one of the 24 playoff teams, so I could’ve lived with it.

 

 

It would’ve been cool if they had taken the top 6 in each division like they originally talked about. Bummer that a team like Montreal gets in and not the Sabres. They have 3 more points but they have also played 2 more games than the Sabres (we were set to play them the day the season was postponed). Sabres also have 3 more Regulation wins, and 1 more OT win (Montreal has more shootout wins. They’re 4-1 in the SO). 

 

Sucks to miss by a hair like this. 

 

IMO they should have went with a 20 team play-in format. There was a good article about this on the Athletic.

https://theathletic.com/1817525/2020/05/19/which-teams-are-most-affected-by-the-nhls-potential-playoff-formats/

 

 

Going with 24 teams is unfairly changing the odds too much for teams that truly earned their playoff spots. This format kind of feels like it’s meant to get teams like NY, Chicago (huge playoff market)  and Montreal into the playoffs.

 

 

There is no designed playoff system that would have satisfied everyone. The proposed system is as fair as any other proposed system. 

 

I understand why some Buffalo fans believe that they were shortchanged. I'm not one of them. Quite the contrary. From a point standpoint the Sabres undeniably underperformed. There was one four game western road trip where they came away with zero points. If you can't eke out a point or two on an extended road trip then you don't deserve a playoff spot. But that wasn't the worst of our uninspired play in the season. There was a 10 game or so homestand that included some weak teams. The results were less than mediocre. My point is that we had our chances to put ourselves in a good position for a serious playoff run, yet we didn't seize the opportunity. That's on  us! 

[bbb]

Thank you, Sabres!  

[Beast]

2 hours ago, bbb said:

Thank you, Sabres!  

 

Honestly, this is the most satisying non-playoff season ever. The Sabres need drastic change at the top and missing a playoff pool of 24 teams is about as low as this franchise has ever been, especially with two recent #2 overall picks and a #1 overall in the lineup. Hopefully this embarrasses the Pegula's into changing the direction of this team.

Edited May 23, 2020 by Beast

[BillsFan4]

3 hours ago, JohnC said:

There is no designed playoff system that would have satisfied everyone. The proposed system is as fair as any other proposed system. 

 

I understand why some Buffalo fans believe that they were shortchanged. I'm not one of them. Quite the contrary. From a point standpoint the Sabres undeniably underperformed. There was one four game western road trip where they came away with zero points. If you can't eke out a point or two on an extended road trip then you don't deserve a playoff spot. But that wasn't the worst of our uninspired play in the season. There was a 10 game or so homestand that included some weak teams. The results were less than mediocre. My point is that we had our chances to put ourselves in a good position for a serious playoff run, yet we didn't seize the opportunity. That's on  us! 

I more/less feel the same way, that’s why if they weren’t going to go with the normal 16 team playoff format I thought it should have been 20 teams, or even 22.

 

Chicago and Montreal’s mathematical odds of making the playoffs were just as slim as the Sabres. But If they are determined to go with this 24 team format, obviously I wish the Sabres were included in it like was originally mentioned. They drew the line right above Buffalo’s name. But I get it, They had to draw the line somewhere and they may as well include a few big market teams (to try and make up for lost revenue) sitting on the bubble.

 

Im not mad or anything though. I accepted long ago that their playoff hopes were dead. That losing streak sealed it. Even if they were included and managed to make it past the 3 game play-in and into the playoffs, there’d be a big asterisk next to it. 

 

I will be pissed if we still don’t get a shot at the #1 overall pick though. IMO They have to at least let the 7 teams not included have a shot at the top pick. If they go with that other format that only allows the top 4 teams a shot at #1 overall I’ll be annoyed. 

[JohnC]

37 minutes ago, BillsFan4 said:

I more/less feel the same way, that’s why if they weren’t going to go with the normal 16 team playoff format I thought it should have been 20 teams, or even 22.

 

Chicago and Montreal’s mathematical odds of making the playoffs were just as slim as the Sabres. But If they are determined to go with this 24 team format, obviously I wish the Sabres were included in it like was originally mentioned. They drew the line right above Buffalo’s name. But I get it, They had to draw the line somewhere and they may as well include a few big market teams (to try and make up for lost revenue) sitting on the bubble.

 

Im not mad or anything though. I accepted long ago that their playoff hopes were dead. That losing streak sealed it. Even if they were included and managed to make it past the 3 game play-in and into the playoffs, there’d be a big asterisk next to it. 

 

I will be pissed if we still don’t get a shot at the #1 overall pick though. IMO They have to at least let the 7 teams not included have a shot at the top pick. If they go with that other format that only allows the top 4 teams a shot at #1 overall I’ll be annoyed. 

Assuming that we don't get one of the top two picks in the draft I would not be adverse to packaging the pick to get a young second line forward. We already have some young players such as Kahun, Cozens, Tage? and Mittelstadt? who hopefully are ready to contribute. The future is now because the battered and worn out fans deserve better. And so does Jack!

 

I want to stress that I don't want a deal that is made out of desperation that ends up being damaging like the ROR deal. If a fair value deal can't be made then it is better to just continue to bide one's time and wait for a more favorable/equitable trade proposal. 

Edited May 23, 2020 by JohnC

[BillsFan4]

On 5/18/2020 at 9:46 AM, BillsFan4 said:

 

 

 

 

I would almost think that Every player+coach+NHL & team employee would have to quarantine for 2 weeks upon return. Then they’d have to be kept in quarantine for the entire length of the playoffs (until they were eliminated) and have all of their interactions with anyone/everyone in the hotels limited to those who have stayed in quarantine. How else do you ensure that this virus doesn’t make it into one of the hotels the players are staying at? Imagine how quickly it could spread if it did? Or if it made it into a locker room?

 

 

 

There’s really no way to do it without any risk. So I guess it’s up to the NHL & NHLPA to decide if they’re willing to take the risk.

 

I’d love to watch some playoff hockey, but I also don’t want to see anyone put at risk.

 

https://theathletic.com/1833050/2020/05/23/why-the-lightning-were-one-of-two-teams-to-vote-no-on-24-team-format/

(Athletic sub. req.)

 

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Now, there are many other issues that have to be sorted out with this 24-team plan and other concerns Tampa Bay players might have had with it. You’d have to be quarantined in one of the two “hub” cities for the playoff run, away from families, which is likely something that would be challenging for some of the younger dads in the group.

 

“It’s going to be tough to be away, and we don’t know how long we’ll be away,” Killorn said. “We’ll be somewhere that’s foreign, but, like I said, no one is going to be in a comfortable situation. You don’t know how many chances you’re going to get at winning this (Stanley Cup), especially when you have a team that you think can compete for it. So you’re willing to make whatever sacrifices you need to do that.”

 

Killorn isn’t married, nor does he have kids, but there are other players with families who have weighed in on the subject of having to be separated for an extended period.

 

“Being away from my wife and (2-year-old daughter) Emma would be hard,” forward Yanni Gourde said. “But considering what scenarios we’re in right now, I’m all for playing hockey. And if it means being away from my family, for sure it’s going to suck a little bit, but I would definitely play hockey right now.”

 

Sounds like players will be quarantined. I kind of figured they’d have to be.

[shrader]

On 5/23/2020 at 11:34 AM, JohnC said:

There is no designed playoff system that would have satisfied everyone. The proposed system is as fair as any other proposed system. 

 

I understand why some Buffalo fans believe that they were shortchanged. I'm not one of them. Quite the contrary. From a point standpoint the Sabres undeniably underperformed. There was one four game western road trip where they came away with zero points. If you can't eke out a point or two on an extended road trip then you don't deserve a playoff spot. But that wasn't the worst of our uninspired play in the season. There was a 10 game or so homestand that included some weak teams. The results were less than mediocre. My point is that we had our chances to put ourselves in a good position for a serious playoff run, yet we didn't seize the opportunity. That's on  us! 

 

I wonder how they're splitting up the revenue from this whole thing.  I'd imagine they're splitting it evenly between all 31 because it would be a tough pill to swallow for those 7 teams to lose the remainder of their season and then get nothing back at the end.  All those players are going to get their portion, so the teams will need it too, particularly the Ottawas of the world who aren't exactly swimming in cash lately.

[eball]

Can I get a stick tap to commemorate the glorious end of this season?

 

Best thing about all of this is that the next time we see the Sabres, they'll be back in royal blue!

[JohnC]

34 minutes ago, shrader said:

 

I wonder how they're splitting up the revenue from this whole thing.  I'd imagine they're splitting it evenly between all 31 because it would be a tough pill to swallow for those 7 teams to lose the remainder of their season and then get nothing back at the end.  All those players are going to get their portion, so the teams will need it too, particularly the Ottawas of the world who aren't exactly swimming in cash lately.

I assume that the revenue will be divided among all the 31 teams. The league desperately needed these post season games to get some of the nationalTV revenue back that would have been lost if the play completely stopped. Make no mistake with or without the revenue because of the lost fan and local TV revenue many teams will be financially stressed, including the Sabres. 

[JohnC]

WGR's Joe DiBiase reported that the Sabres announced that Jason Botterill will return next season. I have no problem with keeping the GM who is on the last year of his contract. If he doesn't do enough to improve the roster this offseason then he will have sealed his own fate. 

 

https://wgr550.radio.com/articles/news/kim-pegula-says-jason-botterill-will-return-next-season

[BillsFan4]

 

 

 

 

 

Edited May 26, 2020 by BillsFan4

[4merper4mer]

1 hour ago, JohnC said:

WGR's Joe DiBiase reported that the Sabres announced that Jason Botterill will return next season. I have no problem with keeping the GM who is on the last year of his contract. If he doesn't do enough to improve the roster this offseason then he will have sealed his own fate. 

 

https://wgr550.radio.com/articles/news/kim-pegula-says-jason-botterill-will-return-next-season

COVID cost a lot of jobs but saved at least one.  This atrocity ends one year from now.

[plenzmd1]

1 hour ago, 4merper4mer said:

COVID cost a lot of jobs but saved at least one.  This atrocity ends one year from now.

"we see more than the fan sees"..not a great choice of words to be sure.

 

I would have respected more" we aint paying another guy to not work or us"

[4merper4mer]

44 minutes ago, plenzmd1 said:

"we see more than the fan sees"..not a great choice of words to be sure.

 

I would have respected more" we aint paying another guy to not work or us"

I don't know.  They have to try to build him up somehow.  They have no choice but to keep him despite the fact he will undoubtedly have us lagging behind Seattle.

 

 

[apuszczalowski]

On 5/22/2020 at 11:28 AM, BillsFan4 said:

https://theathletic.com/1825510/2020/05/20/sabres-file-suit-against-immigration-officials-in-support-of-team-strength-coach/ (Athletic. sub. req)

‘Sabres file suit against immigration officials in support of team strength coach’

 

Crazy. Immigration says that he hasn’t risen to the top of his field, but how can they possibly say that? There’s only 31 NHL head trainer jobs in the entire world and he’s one of them.

But if you view his job as being an 'NHL strength and conditioning coach' there are only 31 positions so if he isn't one of the best of those 31, hes not at the top  of his field. If you view it as just being a 'Hockey Strength and conditioning coach' he would be at the top if they think being at worst the 31st rated person at the top of their field.