I love the sound of the “the Sabres will always be the best team in hockey” talking like they know anything about hockey.
Acknowledging that the team has a serious problem is not bandwagon hopping. It isn’t 10 games in anymore where you can just talk about how they’ll come around. The season is half over and they’re still playing below playoff level. Everyone thought the Vanek, Roy, Stafford/Afinogenov line could be a #1 line and still put up the same points they did as a #2 line. Everyone thought the return of Timmy C would replace the loss of Briere. Everyone thought the Rochester callups or one of the veterans would just step up their game and someone would replace Drury.
None of that happened. Against the top D lines the pretty passing of V,R,S/A gets picked off before the play can develop. Timmy has played ok but he hasn’t earned the right to lift Briere’s jock strap this year. The cupboards in Rochester must be looking pretty bare if you keep dressing Peters every night. And finally, you don’t replace a guy like Drury. He’s been a winner and a leader all his life, the caliber of which doesn’t just step up from someone who hasn’t been a leader all his life.