The Buffalo Sabres have a winning record for the first time in 2,081 days
It’s been a long time coming but the drought is finally over, the Buffalo Sabres finally have more wins than losses for the first time since 2013.
The Buffalo Sabres picked up a well deserved 4-2 win on Monday night over the Vegas Golden Knights on home ice, and the Sabres improved to 2-1-0 in the young 2018-19 NHL season with the victory. It’s a decent start to a season that is finally beginning to show some promise for the Sabres faithful, but unbeknownst to them, it goes a bit deeper than that.
The win over Vegas on Monday night gave the Sabres their first winning record in 2,081 days. For perspective, that’s about 5.7 years. Think about everything that’s changed over that time period. The Vegas Golden Knights, who they beat to snap the drought, weren’t even an idea in Gary Bettman’s head yet. Hockey in Vegas, in general, was considered a laughable concept. Also, Martin St. Louis wasn’t just still playing hockey back then, he won the scoring title that year.
The last time the Sabres had a winning record was the beginning of the lockout-shortened 2012-13 season. Buffalo started the season 2-0 with wins over the Flyers and Maple Leafs but lost the next game to the Carolina Hurricanes to put them at 2-1-0. They lost the next night on January 25th to the Hurricanes again to even their record, marking the final time they would have a winning record for 2,081 days.
Jan.25 2013 was a different time for the Buffalo Sabres. The only player remaining on the roster for that game against the Hurricanes is Jason Pominville, and he was traded to Minnesota later in the season before being traded back last season. It really puts into perspective the extent the Sabres have gone to to burn the team to ash over the years in an effort to rebuild.
Jack Eichel, the current captain of the Buffalo Sabres, was a 16-year-old high schooler in Michigan 2,081 days ago. The other prize from Buffalo’s rebuild, 2018 first overall pick Rasmus Dahlin, was 12 years old.
Even though it’s only three games into the season, newly named captain Jack Eichel feels this is the start of a change in Buffalo.
“I think we’re playing with a bit more confidence,” Eichel said. “The things we can control is compete and attitude.”
“I think we’re coming together as a group,” Eichel continued, “We’re not a finished product, by any means, but I think you can see the togetherness we’re starting to play with. There are still a lot of things we can get better at and clean up, but there are a few things you can control, and one of them is your compete level. I thought we competed the past few games.”
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It does feel a bit ridiculous to praise a team for having a winning record just three games into an 82 game season, but it’s deeper than that. The Sabres as an organization haven’t really taken a positive step forward since they last made the playoffs in 2011, and even doing minuscule things like ending this absurdly long drought is something this team must embrace moving forward. It’s been a dark couple of years for Sabres fans, but they’re finally beginning to emerge into a team this city can believe in again.