BUFFALO
Marcus Foligno Jersey , N.Y. (AP) Ryan O’Reilly was unable to hide his dejection as he acknowledged that the Sabres‘ latest last-place finish led him
to question his love for hockey.If that wasn’t enough, the high-priced center
accused the Sabres of adopting a mindset of ”being OK with losing.””It’s crept
into all of our games. Yeah, it’s disappointing. It’s sad,” O’Reilly said
Monday, two days after Buffalo closed one of its worst seasons in franchise
history. ”I feel throughout the year I’ve lost the love of the game multiple
times, and just need to get back to it because it’s eating myself up, and eats
the other guys up, too.”Losing is all O’Reilly knows in the three seasons since
being acquired in a trade with Colorado, after which the Sabres signed him to a
seven-year, $52.5 million contract extension.Rather than being part of a
rebuilding plan, which included Buffalo selecting Jack Eichel with the No. 2
pick in the 2015 draft
http://www.officialwild.com/authentic-adidas-matt-dumba-jersey , O’Reilly and company find themselves back at square one. They became the NHL’s
first team to finish 31st – following this year’s addition of the expansion
Vegas Golden Knights – after back-to-back 30th-place finishes in 2013-14 and
2014-’15.This year’s collapse is considerably worse given that Buffalo’s
trajectory was supposed to be trending upward under the new regime of general
manager Jason Botterill and coach Phil Housley. They took over last spring after
the Sabres underachieved in finishing 26th under GM Tim Murray and coach Dan
Bylsma”We have to evaluate everything, coaching staff, the players. What are
they willing to change?” Housley said. ”There comes a point in your career where
you have to realize what’s important. Obviously, winning, what it takes to win,
the commitment to win in this league. And that’s what we talk about change.”Very
little went right in a season Buffalo opened 1-5-2 and closed 2-9, extending the
franchise’s longest playoff drought to a seventh straight year.Buffalo matched a
franchise low for home wins by going 11-25-5, including a 3-2 overtime loss to
the Rangers in the Winter Classic at New York City. The Sabres finished last in
the NHL with 199 goals scored, 91 goals at home and in being outscored by 81
goals.Their best run was a three-game win streak, all on the road, while the
Sabres went winless over four or more games seven times
Mikael Granlund Jersey , including an 0-5-2 skid from Nov. 10-22.The reality of how bad the Sabres were, set in at the midpoint of the season for
defenseman Rasmus Ristolainen.”It was around Christmas and we were done, and we
still had 40 games to play,” Ristolainen said. ”Everyone wants to make the
playoffs so bad, and we weren’t even close.”LIKING EICHEichel led Buffalo with a
career-best 25 goals and 64 points in 67 games, despite missing 15 games with a
sprained right ankle.
