The Buffalo Sabres’ nightmare just keeps getting worse. Their crushing 6-1 loss to the Montreal Canadiens on Tuesday marked their 11th straight defeat – and this one really stung.
Just 24 hours earlier, team owner Terry Pegula had flown to Montreal to rally the troops. He told everyone the solutions were right there in their locker room.
They weren’t.
What makes this loss particularly painful? The Canadiens came into the game dead last in the Eastern Conference. Now the Sabres have taken over that unwanted spot.
It’s not just about losing streaks anymore. The Sabres are staring at their 14th straight season without making the playoffs – already the longest drought in NHL history.
Something’s got to give.
General manager Kevyn Adams is in over his head. He stepped into the role four years ago with basically no experience building an NHL team, and it shows. The roster just isn’t good enough.
They tried bringing back Lindy Ruff, the last coach to get them to the playoffs back in 2011. But that’s turned out to be nothing more than a nostalgia trip.
Between Ruff’s first stint and now, they’ve burned through six different coaches. None of them could turn things around. That tells you the problem runs deeper than whoever’s behind the bench.
The real issue? It starts at the top with Pegula. He’s cut back on scouting, slashed the hockey operations budget, and somehow left $5 million in salary cap space unused when the team desperately needed improvements.
Things could get even uglier soon. The Sabres face Toronto at home on Friday, then head to Boston. That home game might be particularly rough – not just because of angry Buffalo fans, but because Maple Leafs supporters might take over their arena.
When you keep changing coaches and players but get the same results, it’s pretty clear where the problem lies. Pegula might shake things up again, but until there’s real change at the top, don’t expect different results.
