Buffalo Sabres’ Worst Seasons Ever

Buffalo Sabres’ Worst Seasons Ever

The Buffalo Sabres’ Worst Seasons in Franchise History

When the Buffalo Sabres finished the 2012-13 season with only 21 wins, it wasn’t so bad. After all, it was a lockout-shortened season, and their record of 21-21-6 put them exactly at .500 — respectable, if not enough to make the playoffs. It was a different story when they finished the full 2013-14 season with the same number of wins (and a much less respectable winning percentage of .317), and after the 2014-15 season ended in a record of 23-51-8, some fan despair felt justified. Certainly any fan whose team is going through a slump feels the pain of the losses, but when it comes to the Buffalo Sabres from 2011 to 2015, even the most impartial observer has to admit things looked pretty bad. That stretch may be remembered as the Buffalo Sabres worst seasons in franchise history.

The Sabres’ Rocky Beginnings

The Sabres have had bad stretches before. Like many new teams, they had a rocky start, with only 24 wins in their 1970-71 season and a dismal 16 in 1971-72. In four seasons they made the playoffs only once — a series against the Montreal Canadiens they lost 2-4 — and had a regular-season winning percentage of .445 overall. Their worst year during that span was 1971-72, when they managed only 16 wins and finished with a .327 winning percentage, having scored just 203 goals on the entire season. The bad run ended when the Sabres put together their ‘French Connection’ line of Gilbert Perreault, Rick Martin, and Rene Robert. They reached the Stanley Cup Finals in 1975, and though they lost to the Philadelphia Flyers, it marked the start of a strong run in Sabres history — from 1974-75 to 1980-81 they were perennial postseason players, leading their division three times.

Comparatively Minor Slumps

Compared to their initial struggles, the other bad seasons in Sabres history seem like minor speed bumps. In 45 seasons, the Sabres ended up with fewer than 30 wins only eight times — and two of those don’t really count, since they were the lockout-shortened seasons of 1994-95 and 2012-13. The Sabres did have rough patches in the late ’80s and again in the early 2000s. In the mid-’80s, they missed the playoffs for two consecutive seasons and ended 1986-87 with only 28 wins. From 2001 to 2004 they missed three consecutive playoffs. These, however, were isolated periods in an otherwise strong history. Before 2014-15, the Sabres had never missed the playoffs more than three seasons in a row, even when they were a brand-new team.

Were the Early 2010s the Sabres’ Worst Stretch Ever?

That raises the question: were the early 2010s truly the Buffalo Sabres worst seasons, edging out even the rocky start of the 1970s? There’s no denying 2013-14 was their worst single season on record. Though they earned fewer wins in 1971-72, they also played fewer games and had more ties. The 2013-14 Sabres finished with a winning percentage of only .317 (compared to .327 in 1971-72) and scored just 157 goals on the season, the fewest by the team in any full season. That’s an average of only 1.9 goals per game — for comparison, the 1971-72 team averaged 2.6 goals per game. Taken as a whole, the Sabres from 2011-2015 had a record of 104-155-35, for a four-year winning percentage of .413, narrowly edging out the Sabres from 1970-74 for last place; that team went 109-143-60 over four seasons, for a .445 winning percentage. Of course, it’s a larger league and a different game from the NHL of the ’70s, but the Sabres stack up no better compared to the rest of the league. They had the fewest wins (and most losses) of any team in the NHL from 2011-2015, were last in goals scored, and ranked 28th in goals against. They were, unequivocally, the worst team in the NHL during the early ’10s, cementing that stretch as the Buffalo Sabres worst seasons of the modern era.

Looking to Chicago for Hope

It may provide Sabres fans some hope to think of the Chicago Blackhawks. From 2002 to 2007 they had one of the worst stretches in team history. They finished last in their division twice, saw no postseason play, and had a four-season winning percentage of .381. Chicago used their lean years to good advantage, picking up a new generation of stars with their high draft picks. By building a team around this young talent, they got back into playoff contention, and by 2010 had won the Stanley Cup. If nothing else, Sabres fans looking back at the early ’10s can tell themselves there’s no way things could ever get much worse.