AIDAN POLLARD
Sports Editor
Weird things have been happening in the NHL these past two seasons.
Buffalo was the talk of the league from the pre-season through the entire fall. Now that their hot-streak has settled, they’re overshadowed by an even stronger Cinderella story.
After acquiring star two-way defenseman and No. 1 draft pick Rasmus Dahlin in the draft, it makes sense that everyone even remotely interested in hockey was talking about the Sabres.
In an ESPN poll of 58 players and team management and staff, 29 indicated the Sabres as their sleeper pick for the season.
And in the beginning of the season, it seemed like they were right. Buffalo had everything lined up to be a low-key powerhouse.
And they were.
The Sabres had their best start to a season in over five years, and they’re enjoying their first point-percentage over .500 since 2012, as well as their best percentage since 2010.
They even matched their franchise record for most wins in a row with a 10-game streak that was ended by the Tampa Bay Lightning, the most dominant team in the league this season.
But the Sabres have been overshadowed by a team that no one wanted to give the time of day. Almost every pre-season article had them ranked as the worst team in the league, some calling them a dumpster fire. One simply saying they’re screwed, to paraphrase (and I think you can guess what the article’s actual words were). That Deadspin article bears the headline “A 2018–19 NHL Season Preview Of Every Team, From Best To Islanders.”
And that’s them. The off-Broadway Cinderella story that kicked the Sabres out of their comfy Broadway theatre.
After losing their captain and star player, John Tavares, to his hometown Maple Leafs over the summer, the Islanders seemed hopeless. But the team has shocked the NHL and is currently sitting at the top of the Metropolitan Division as the Sabres engage in petty battles for a wild card spot.
Don’t get me wrong: the Sabres have been great this year. They’ve been an exciting team with a roster that took them from the bottom to the top and then back to the middle. They’re worth paying attention to. They’re true contenders. But they’re not the story of the NHL anymore.
The same thing that they did to the Golden Knights, the Islanders are now doing to them.
And the reason the Islanders story is so hot is that by any metric available, the Islanders should have been absolutely terrible this season. Their star player is in his second year in the league, and they just found a new coach in Barry Trotz. Granted, Trotz brought the Capitals to a Stanley Cup last season, but it’s still to be expected that there will be some massive growing pains before a team can become true contenders.
It’s a close parallel to the Golden Knights last year. It just doesn’t make any sense.
And the Sabres are getting the short end of the stick because of it.
I think that what’s happening here with the Sabres is that unlike the Golden Knights last year and the Islanders this year: the NHL was prepared for a good team in the Sabres.
If 29 out of 58 NHL members thought the Sabres were going to be a force to be reckoned with, then obviously the Sabres weren’t written off in teams’ schedules like the Golden Knights were last year and like the Islanders have been this year.
Now it’s too late. The Islanders have done their damage.