Buffalo Sabres set Sad New NHL Record

As if the 17 years that we had to suffer during the Buffalo Bills playoff drought wasn't enough, the Sabres now have made their way into the NHL record books with a drought of their own.

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Remember when the Sabres started their season at 3-0, and there was a buzz around town that this may actually be the year that the team made it back to the playoffs? Yeah, that buzz faded pretty quickly, and the team slowly sank down in the Atlantic Division standings.  They currently sit in 6th place with 63 points, and when Washington knocked off Tampa last night, the inevitable happened and the Sabres were officially eliminated from playoff contention.

So a game that the Sabres weren't even a part of has the dubious distinction of putting the team into the NHL record books, in an entry that they don't really want to be a part of.  They now hold the mark for the longest consecutive non-playoff seasons at 11.  The previous record was shared by the Florida Panthers of 2003 to 2012, and the Edmonton Oilers of 2008 to 2017.

To be fair, the team has seen a ton of change this season.  From the trade of one-time would-be saviour Jack Eichel to Las Vegas, to adding a bunch of new faces to the roster, to their long time Play-by-Play man Rick Jeanneret calling it a career.

The team has been playing better of late, and there is hope that maybe the 2022-2023 season is the one to end their now record-breaking drought.  I don't think that Western New York can take another 17-year playoff drought.