A Glorious Rebuttal of Mr. Wyshynski
December 22nd, 2009 | by Vance |Yesterday, Puck Daddy featured a post on the East, and its hierarchy of power. Left out? Your Buffalo Sabres. It may be true that the media touts the Devils, Pens, and Caps as the teams to beat, but in reality, it’s a terrible disservice to the Sabres accomplishments to date to lump them in with the likes of the Flyers. Not only a disservice, but bulletin board material.
Why? Hell, let’s look at the facts. Greg uses the Sabres record against the East (16-10-3) as the main detriment to their argument as East power. Of course, they have 2 games in hand on the Pens, 1 on the Caps, and the same amount played as the Devils, but that’s not mentioned. A minor point; but a point nonetheless.
How about the records against the West? The Eastern Conference overall is just plain abysmal. Abysmal I tell you. 42-78-16 abysmal. But how about the 4 teams in question?
| Wins | Losses | OTL | |
| Devils | 2 | 2 | 1 |
| (ANA, DET) | (DAL, VAN) | (NASH) | |
| Sabres | 6 | 0 | 0 |
| (PHO, NASH, DET, EDM, CAL, CHI) | |||
| Penguins | 5 | 4 | 1 |
| (STL, CLB, ANA, ANA, COL) | (PHO, MIN, LA, SJ) | (CHI) | |
| Capitals | 5 | 2 | 1 |
| (SJ, NASH, MINN, COL, EDM) | (DET, VAN) | (CLB) |
So here you see two teams, Buffalo and Washington, pretty well dominating the West, while the two Atlantic teams hovering around .500. Can’t help but notice who leads that group, can you? With wins against 5 of the 8 current Western playoff seeds, one would think that would warrant the label of Eastern power no?
But maybe we should then take a look at how all 4 stack up against each other, because if College Football has taught us anything, it’s head to head matters. So hey, another table!
| Wins | Losses | OTL | |
| Devils | 7 | 1 | 0 |
| (WASH, PITT, WASH, PITT, WASH, BUF, PITT) | (BUF) | ||
| Sabres | 2 | 2 | 1 |
| (NJD, WASH) | (WASH, NJD) | (PITT) | |
| Penguins | 1 | 3 | 0 |
| (BUF) | (NJD, NJD, NJD) | ||
| Capitals | 1 | 3 | 1 |
| (BUF) | (NJD, NJD, BUF) | (NJD) |
So I think it is safe to say that the Devils own Pittsburgh and Washington. If we go by this, it seems that it’s New Jersey and everybody else. Then again, can’t help but notice how Buffalo has the better record than the Pens and Caps.
I realize the Sabres do themselves no favors, having a goals per game average that ranks 22nd in the league, a goal total that ranks 24th, only 1 scorer with 10 goals (Clarke MacArthur what?), their leading scorer ranking 53rd in the league.
Of course the media play the Sabres do get, it’s not about the team, but about Ryan Miller. Miller of course deserves all the kudos, but if the Devils have taught us anything over the past decade, it’s that a defensive system means much towards aiding those numbers. Not to take anything from Miller, he’s fantastic, but he’s not winning crucial defensive zone faceoffs (Gaustad), he’s not leading the team in ice time…as a 19 year old rookie.
But it’s not ,the name on the back that matters, it’s that hideous logo on the front. And that team has a 6 point division lead and a 22-10-3 record, and that’s what matters.
Tags: Buffalo Sabres, New Jersey Devils, Pittsburgh Penguins, Washington Capitals
By Eric on Dec 22, 2009
I think that a lot of people are really underestimating the Buffalo defense. Especially since it’s only allowed one more goal than the Devils. It’s in the top five in the NHL, which to me, is better than having a top five offense.
However, they do need to score more goals. I think that they’re relying a little too much on Miller, but, who cares, so far it’s been working out.
By Steve on Dec 23, 2009
I think we need to prove we can beat Ottawa and Atlanta before we’re on the same level as New Jersey. I’d say New Jersey and probably Pittsburgh are the top teams in the east, us and Washington are pretty even especially considering how we handled them last game. Will make for a great game tonight!