Now do you believe?

Thomas Vanek simply walking into Mordor

A funny thing has happened to the Buffalo Sabres since Terry Pegula purchased them from Tom Golisano towards the end of February: slowly but surely, they’ve actually managed to morph into contenders.  They’re probably no one’s idea of the next Eastern Conference Champions, not with 76 points and tied with the slumping New York Rangers for seventh in the conference. But the position the Sabres are currently finding themselves in was certainly all but unthinkable to a lot of people just two months ago. And not all of the team’s sudden revival is a direct result of their new owner.

Sabres Week in Review November 26/The Waiting is the Hardest Part

Even with all the holiday travel I’ve been doing this week, I probably would have had to wait until it was almost Saturday to write this post. It’s been just short of a week since my last Sabres post and yet the Buffalo Sabres have only played three games counting tonight’s 3-1 victory over the Toronto Maple Leafs. Because of every team in the league except poor Edmonton and Phoenix having Thanksgiving off, that doesn’t seem all that out of line compared to most other teams this week.

What is interesting is that the Sabres had four days off from their loss to Tampa Bay on November 20 to their loss to Pittsburgh on November 24. After tomorrow’s game at Montreal, they don’t play again until they face Columbus on December 3. They then get another four-day break from December 11’s home game against Pittsburgh to December 15’s home against Boston. In all three cases, the Sabres have had or will have a game the night after the game that ends these mini-vacations.

I Have to Admit it’s Getting Better, or Rangers 3, Sabres 2, Sabres 3, Capitals 2

At 6-9-3 and in fourth place in the Northeast Division, the Buffalo Sabres might still seem to be stuck in a rut. But after this past weekend’s overtime loss to the New York Rangers and overtime win over the Washington Capitals, one can no longer confuse the Sabres with the pathetic ragtag bunch that was the scorn of Western New York only two weeks ago.