New York State of Mind: The Sabres, Rangers and Islanders All Combined To Get Their Asses Kicked 12-1 Last Night
It's hard because the state of New York is actually great. There are a lot of beautiful spots filled with terrific people. Upstate rules. Lakes are pretty chill. Lake Placid is home to the greatest moment in American sports history. Buffalo is a great time. There's a lot to love about New York.
And all of it is completely ruined by New York City. It's a giant floating island of trash, filled with the most hateable pieces of shit the world has to offer. There are 50 reasons to hate NYC for every 1 redeeming quality the city might have. Just a bunch of pretentious assholes who think the world revolves around them constantly. Especially when it comes to sports, despite the fact that they have like 20 teams and most of them suck.
So with that being the case, it's truly been the most wonderful time of the year. Not because of the holidays, but because the state of New York is currently home to 3 of the most dog shit dumpster fire hockey teams in the NHL.
Truth be told, I often forget the Islanders even exist. If it weren't for Frankie Borrelli tweeting about every single shot on net they have, I'd never remember the Islanders are in the NHL. I know they've had some injury issues so far this year, but what an awful hockey team. 12-14-7 on the year, and 2nd to last place in the Metro. I know Barzal just came back, but let's not act like this guy is some 40-goal, 110-point scorer. He's a very good player in the NHL, but he's not a superstar. So getting him back means nothing when the team is already this bad.
The Buffalo Sabres actually break my heart.
11 straight losses for the Sabres. They even had the team owner fly into Montreal to talk to the boys before their game against the Habs last night. Terry Pegula goes into that locker room to have a meeting with the boys, and what is the message?
The team lost 10 games in a row, and the owner says the solution is in the room. Not that any help is on the way. Not that any changes are going to be made to get this thing back on the right track. Pretty much just a "fuck, you guys are on your own here". Way to get the boys fired up, Terry! Really got the job done!
11 straight losses. It's a shame that the NHL would categorize this as a "winless streak" as opposed to a losing streak considering they've had a few overtime losses in there. Because this deserves to be remembered as one of the most historic losing streaks in NHL history. But that's not what it'll go down as. Either way, the Buffalo Sabres are such a mess that the fine people of Buffalo have just given up on them completely. Buffalo used to love their Sabres, and now they're so bad that they can't even muster up the energy to get mad about them anymore. Just complete indifference. It's a sad sight to see, but at least Terry Pegula has faith in the guys…..
Now the Rangers? Well this is a downfall that I want first row tickets to watch. This is a team, and a fanbase, that deserves absolutely everything awful that is coming their way. Watching this team go 3-7 over their last 10 games, and lose 4 out of their last 5 games since trading their captain away, has been quite arousing. Keep in mind, their only win since trading Trouba came against the Sabres who have lost 11 in a row.
Chris Drury threatening to put the captain on waivers if he didn't waive his NTC. Kaapo Kakko throwing an absolute bitch fit over getting healthy scratched, taking zero accountability and throwing his teammates under the bus.
Peter Laviolette losing the locker room. Igor Shesterkin holding the Rangers hostage to make him the highest paid goalie in the league, just to become maybe the 20th best goalie in the league. Everything about this Rangers downfall has been glorious to watch.
The team is in total disarray. The coaches hate the players. The players hate management. The team just flat out sucks in general. All from an Original 6 team who has had just as much success over the last 80 years as a team like Vegas who didn't even exist a decade ago. Inject it into my veins.