Montreal, Quebec (WGR Sports Radio 550) - The Buffalo Sabres are now the worst team in the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League.
Just let that soak in for a moment.
Kevyn Adams has been the general manager of this team for four years and 32 games, and after Tuesday’s 6-1 loss to the Montreal Canadiens, he has built a team that is the worst in the conference.
Adams has also built a team that is four points from being the worst team in the NHL. Buffalo is currently 30th with a .406 points percentage. Both the Nashville Predators and Chicago Blackhawks are the only teams worse at .355.
That is a hard truth, plain and simple.
You could say the Sabres are a better team than this team or another team, but just like this organization, you’d be kidding yourself.
The Sabres aren’t in last place in the Eastern Conference by accident. They’ve earned their way there.
By official league terms, the Sabres haven’t lost 11-straight games. The team is 0-8-3 in their last 11 games, so they have a four-game losing streak and an 11-game winless streak.
The team was so upbeat at the morning skate on Tuesday after, what they felt, was a good day in Montreal on Monday, hearing from team owner Terry Pegula. They were told by Pegula, the general manager and the coaches that they believe in them, and they are confident that this group of players are the right group.
After Tuesday night's game, we were starting to hear cracks from the players.
"Outcompeted, lost battles, not good on the PK," said defenseman Connor Clifton after the loss.
"You’ve got to look in the mirror. We expect better, and it starts from within. I think we’re looking around and waiting for somebody else to do something and make something happen. But we’ve got to find our way out of it."
I mean, you can just see it by watching this team.
Blowing a 4-0 lead and losing to the Colorado Avalanche has just destroyed this group. They are not mentally strong. At the first sign of adversity, they crumble, and the Colorado game was the worst loss at home in the franchise's history.
I have to be honest, I just don’t understand. I don’t understand how an owner or general manager can look at this team and watch the way they don’t respond to two different coaches, crumble under pressure, almost lead the league in penalties even though their coach has been telling them all season they have to stay out of the penalty box, and think that all is well and this group will just all of a sudden become winners.
It doesn’t work that way.
This is the third season this core group has been together, and they just keep getting worse.
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I will never understand what Pegula thinks, because the last time he spoke to the media was back in 2020. He apparently thinks this is OK, and staying the course is the answer.
Since he doesn’t talk, I can’t say for sure, but his lack of action, in my mind, speaks very loudly.
Pegula's players totally embarrassed him on Tuesday. If there's no action from this organization soon, he will just continue to embarrass himself.