Okay well my prediction right now is that the Sabres are eliminated from the playoff race on April 11th vs. the Rangers leaving one meaningless game against the Bruins to end the season.
Just like every other year in recent memory when the Sabres finish the year out against the Bruins.
07-08 Last game against the Bruins (Missed playoffs)
08-09 Last game against the Bruins (Missed playoffs)
09-10 Last game against Jersey (Made playoffs, eliminated by Bruins in first round)
10-11 Last game against Columbus (Made playoffs, eliminated by flyers)
11-12 Last game against the Bruins (Missed playoffs)
12-13 Last game against the Bruins (who knows?)
Kind of brings back memories from the 80s and 90s when the Sabres seemed to open against Montreal or Quebec every season....
This was an issue that I argued about vehemently on other boards - that the Sabres were giving up points due to all the back-to-backs. I think the winning % league wide on the 2nd night is in the .300 range. I'm going to number crunch for a little while to see just how many pts Buffalo has dropped since 2005-06.
This was an issue that I argued about vehemently on other boards - that the Sabres were giving up points due to all the back-to-backs. I think the winning % league wide on the 2nd night is in the .300 range. I'm going to number crunch for a little while to see just how many pts Buffalo has dropped since 2005-06.
blame BTG/Quinn for requesting back to backs to make more money
We always seemed to get the Bruins a lot on Saturday nights after a Friday home game and we always lose. I'm so happy this is a thing of the past. I always used to watch a Saturday night game expecting to lose. No more
2005-06 - 2nd night games - 9-6-1...rest of schedule - 43-18-5
2006-07 - 9-9...44-13-7
2007-08 - 10-9-1...29-22-11
2008-09 - 5-9-3...36-23-6
2009-10 - 6-9-3...39-18-7
2010-11 - 11-8-3...32-21-7
2011-12 - 8-9-5...31-23-6
So since 2005, the total record for Buffalo's 2nd night games was 58-59-16 (win % of .496). The total record for the rest of their schedule was 254-138-49 (win % of .631). If you apply the .631 win % to those 2nd night games, it comes out to 36 pts lost, or 5 pts each of the last seven seasons.
Assume all other teams suffer at about the same rate, and you can still suggest that Buffalo lost an extra pt or two each season due to having played more back-to-backs. Obviously just one point can make a big difference, so even if they still can't stay healthy, at least they'll have one less factor against them. It's about time.
blame BTG/Quinn for requesting back to backs to make more money
Bullseye!
Quote:
PITTSBURGH - The Sabres already have their first victory of the 2012-13 season.
Buffalo achieved its goal of playing fewer back-to-back games with Thursday's release of next season's schedule. The Sabres, who have led the NHL in back-to-backs since 2005-06, will have just 11 such sets next year. It will be the fewest ever for the club, which has averaged 20 back-to-backs per season throughout its existence.
Quote:
"Terry Pegula tasked us with getting the best possible schedule for our players regardless of whether it meant sacrificing prime home weekend dates," Buffalo Sabres President Ted Black said. "As such, our schedule-making requests and decisions this year were driven by a 'Hockey First' philosophy that sought to reduce back-to-back situations and maximize the amount of recovery time between games."
Quote:
The Sabres' healthy season-ticket base and run of sellout crowds have made the move away from Fridays possible. The team stacked up Friday dates to try to attract fans, especially following the 2003 bankruptcy, but with the building nearly full before individual tickets even go on sale, the team can afford to host games during the week and not experience a significant drop in attendance.
We believe that the earlier 7 p.m. start time will make the travel schedule easier for our players and will make it easier for our younger fans to follow the team on school nights,” Black said.
