Ryan O'Reilly Rips Sabres; Calls Missing Playoffs "Pathetic"

"We're not a very good hockey team. We've let a lot of things go that we normally shouldn't," O'Reilly said during a six-minute session at his locker Wednesday before the team's final home game of the season, against Montreal.

 

"It's so frustrating coming to the rink right now. Practicing. There's no purpose to it," he added. "I'm sick of losing. It's getting exhausting and it's not fun. It sucks the fun out of the game."

 

O'Reilly blamed the Sabres' troubles on season-long struggles with consistency and players falling back into bad habits. He also blamed himself for a failure to assert himself more in a leadership role.

 

"I really didn't step up and hold guys accountable and be a voice, and it's tough," he said. "I think at times I didn't say enough, and at times I maybe said too much."

 

Though second-year coach Dan Bylsma is taking much of the heat for the team's troubles, O'Reilly said the criticism should fall on the players.

 

"We're the ones on the ice," O'Reilly said. "You can't look at him to take the fall. It's a lot of us. We've all kind of let it slip here."

 

http://www.espn.com/nhl/story/_/id/19086938/ryan-oreilly-sums-buffalo-sabres-missing-playoffs-pathetic

I think the Sabres, like the Oil were a few seasons ago, are one or two pieces away from really exerting themselves again. Lots of big, young talent over there, and we've obviously seen how good Eichel is. Maybe a good trade partner in the offseason for some of our veteran leadership since it seems like they need it.

I think the Sabres, like the Oil were a few seasons ago, are one or two pieces away from really exerting themselves again. Lots of big, young talent over there, and we've obviously seen how good Eichel is. Maybe a good trade partner in the offseason for some of our veteran leadership since it seems like they need it.

They're closer to the Coyotes than to the Oilers.

 

Their d-corps is a disaster and they have virtually no scoring depth, but injuries didn't do them any favors this year either.

Yeah, they need a ton of help. There's not a lot coming through their system right now.

 

Missing out on McDavid fucked them.

 

 

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I dunno, Eichel is pretty good.

 

I think the '14 Draft hurt them. They missed out on Ekblad then took Reinhart over Draisaitl. Reinhart is oatmeal as a hockey player.

Yeah, I can buy that. Reinhart was a huge whiff, for sure.

I dunno, Eichel is pretty good.

 

I think the '14 Draft hurt them. They missed out on Ekblad then took Reinhart over Draisaitl. Reinhart is oatmeal as a hockey player.

Reinhart is 21 and is a 20-goal guy. That's not really a miss. McDavid has a point 39 of Draisaitl's 77 points. It's not really fair to compare the two, I don't think, though Draisaitl would probably have been the better pick.

 

Buffalo's problem is all on the defensive end. They have nothing except Risto.

 

They've also had a ton of injuries

Reinhart feels like he's 27 already, but he's milquetoast.

Reinhart is 21 and is a 20-goal guy. That's not really a miss. McDavid has a point 39 of Draisaitl's 77 points. It's not really fair to compare the two, I don't think, though Draisaitl would probably have been the better pick.

 

Buffalo's problem is all on the defensive end. They have nothing except Risto.

 

They've also had a ton of injuries

 

How is it not fair to compare the two?

 

Draisaitl is dynamic and his own special talent, don't think for a second that McDdavid's success isn't also linked to Draisaitl's. This isn't Kevin Stevens we're talking about (Or Ryan Gropp ha).

 

Reinhart is a fine player, but I don't see that same total package.

 

 

I went to a lot of Oiler games this year and it only took one to get just as excited about watching Draisaitl as I was about McDavid.