In a Word, Yes

by Ryan

From the always link-able Sabres Edge comes this story about Ottawa’s dominance of the Sabres over the season and since the lockout. Here are the first 113 words of that story, it’s about all you need:

In late January, during his final unhappy days as head coach of the Ottawa Senators, Craig Hartsburg ran over the reasons he thought his team was already too far behind to make the playoffs.

Toward the top of his list was toughness.

“You want to know why we do so well against the Sabres?” he asked. “They’re probably the only team in the league softer than we are.”

It was the kind of tart, unguarded comment you’d expect from a man who believed his players had let him down, and who knew he’d be lucky to keep his job another week (he lasted another 10 days).

But that doesn’t mean he wasn’t right.

God I wish I knew about that quote when it happened. I think that’s about as good as it will get when an explanation for a 20-6-3 record against the Sabres is asked for. As fans we talk about toughness almost daily, but when another team’s head coach can call into question his own team’s toughness and still criticize yours, that’s pretty bad.

Still, Jason Pominville thinks he has the answer. Later on in the story:

But it took Sabres forward Jason Pominville to get close to the heart of the matter.

“I just think we match up pretty well,” he said.

“There are a lot of similarities between the teams,” Pominville added.

That’s right Jason, both teams will have a very, very long summer.