The daily main story at Hockey Hot Stove is powered by Watrhouse Brands, dedicated to quality, consumer education, and awareness: Benevolent Bakery, SoSHEL beverages, and Smokiez vegan fruit chews. Today: Sabres back atop the Atlantic.
The Buffalo Sabres have enjoyed one of the most remarkable turnarounds in NHL history. It seems almost surreal to compare where the team was after 29 games to where they are now.
On December 8, already two months into the 2025-26 season, the Sabres (11-14-4 at the time) were mired at the bottom of the Eastern Conference. Shortly thereafter, Buffalo ousted the beleaguered Kevyn Adams as general manager.
Since then, fairly or unfairly, it’s felt like the fresh start under new general manager Jarmo Kekalainen lifted an anvil off the team’s shoulders. It’s not like Kekalainen overhauled the roster.
Nevertheless, on April 1, the the Sabres sit atop of the Atlantic Division standings. On Tuesday, the team reached the 100-point mark. Now, as soon as Thursday, the Sabres can officially end their 14-year playoff drought. Heading into the next game, the Sabres’ playoff magic number is down to two.
Sabres turnaround started vs. Oilers
The Buffalo turnaround actually started before owner Terry Pegula fired Adams on Dec. 15. The fortunes actually started to shift with a Dec. 9 road victory over the two-time defending Western Conference champion Edmonton Oilers. .
Few noticed at the time. Sure, beating the Oilers in their home building was a nice accomplishment. But upsets happen all the time. Even the absolute worst team in hockey wins about one in four games on average. (That’s part of why hockey is a notoriously bad betting sport).
Fan apathy was at an all time high for a once-proud franchise. Three-plus months later, no one considers wins a fluke. It’s not explained away by saying the other team was too fatigued or banged up. No one asks, “What’s ALWAYS wrong with that Buffalo team?”
More accurately, there’s now a positive connotation when someone says, “What is it with those Sabres anyway?”
From disinterest to excitement
Disinterest from the fan base has been replaced by enthusiasm, excitement and sellout crowds.
This from a team that has found ways to stay positive in the face of adversity, stick to a team concept that is working and winning hard fought hockey games.
“It’s important that you gotta grind through games,” Sabres head coach Lindy Ruff said. “The experience of going through a segment of games like this and then leading up to the playoffs, you’d like it to be hard and I think every game has been hard.”
“You can live on every puck play, you can hate some bad plays and love some great plays. You have to have a lot of discipline to do the right thing at the right time. I think all year long our team has gotten a lot better at that.”
With a win at Ottawa on Thursday night, the Sabres can pun their ticket to the 2026 Stanley Cup Playoffs. Who’d have believed that back in early December?
