There likely is a nuanced description out there waiting to be told of living through the chase to acquire Jack Eichel, his eventually being drafted, then playing for the Buffalo Sabres.
The conflict of the "tank". The hopeful beginning of his career in Buffalo. The frame-by-frame highlight breakdowns we’d do of his best plays on our show.
Then there's the bitter end resulting in Eichel eventually being traded to the Vegas Golden Knights, fueled by a disagreement on how best to treat a herniated disk in his neck.
I can appreciate nuance. Not everything is easy to lay out in easily digestible form.
For me, the Eichel in Buffalo story doesn’t really come down to subtle details and a bunch of yeah but what about-isms.
It was a disaster. In the end, that’s all that matters.
Blame for that lies with both team and player. So my predominant feeling as the Sabres host Eichel and the Golden Knights is that I just want to get it over with.
Sure, it’s interesting anytime there’s a divide of opinion on an issue. Boo him? Cheer him? Blame him, blame the team, blame the fans who supported tanking. Hey, knock yourselves out dividing up the pity pie any way you like. In the end it was mostly all gross.
How disastrous was it? Well, when Eichel got here in 2015, 10,000 fans packed KeyBank Center on a July night to watch the Sabres scrimmage.
A scrimmage! There haven’t been 10,000 people at a Sabres game all season. You could probably count up the actual number of people at three games this season and not get to 10,000.
The 2021-22 season will mark 11 seasons in a row without a playoff appearance. A truly amazing run of ineptitude in a league where half of the teams make the playoffs every year.
Did you know that prior to the Pegulas' ownership, from 1970 through to 2011, the Sabres missed the playoffs a total of 11 times.
Good times in Downtown Buffalo.
Eichel performed like a star player, that much is inarguable. Pointing out the organizational failures and the absolutely dreadful state of the franchise’s popularity is not to pin it all on the 25-year-old.
What went wrong?
*Looking around, waving arms in all directions…*
Literally everything else.
So look, have your night on Thursday. I’m certainly not here to begrudge you that. You want to support Eichel, knock yourselves out. You want to boo him mercilessly, go nuts.
Me, I’ll be watching, waiting for it to end, and wondering what the future holds amidst rumors of the team being for sale and a quarter-full building most nights.
