BUFFALO, N.Y. — When the NHL season went dark the Sabres were 13 points out of the final wild card spot for a playoff berth. They had 13 games remaining to play.
While there's no telling if or when regular season play ever resumes, with each passing day that gets less and less likely.
The Sabres would have missed the playoffs for the ninth straight year. Sunday would have been locker clean out day.
It's an annual exercise for every team, but the later in the year the better. It means the team had a good playoff run.
The Sabres haven't been in the post season since 2011, when they lost to the Flyers in the first round. The Sabres currently own the NHL's longest playoff drought.
For the second straight season the Sabres got off to a great start and had fans dreaming that the long playoff drought might actually be over.
New head coach Ralph Krueger had everyone buying into his way of doing things. The Sabres were 8-1-1 after a win against San Jose on October 23.
Then the harsh reality kicked in as the team won only 22 more games the entire season.
The Sabres, if the season is actually over, would finish with a record of 30-31-8.
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