Sabres Faced Leadership Questions After Lack Of Response To Hit On Tage Thompson

The Buffalo Sabres have had wild swings of inconsistency, with a 13-game winless skid derailing nearly any chance of snapping their 13-year playoff drought.

Despite a recent turn for the better on the ice, the lack of response to the hit on Tage Thompson on Sunday has brought concerns about the club's leadership to the forefront.

Thompson was laid out by New Jersey’s Stefan Noesen early in the third period of the 4-3 win over the Devils, but none of the players on the ice at the time of the hit or in the subsequent remaining 15 minutes responded to the hit. Noesen was given a match penalty and game misconduct, but after the game, Sabres players responded that it was important to get the two points.

The club cancelled a scheduled practice on Monday and instead held a team meeting to address the situation, but the repercussions from the lack of response are still being felt.

Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reported in his 32 Thoughts column on Thursday that a player who's friends with a current Sabre heard of talk that the club’s leadership group and/or alternate captaincies were being changed because of the lack of response.

On Wednesday, Ruff denied that not assigning new alternate captains for the injured Thompson and Mattias Samuelsson for Tuesday's game against the Columbus Blue Jackets had anything to do with Sunday’s incident. Dylan Cozens and Alex Tuch are also part of the leadership group and wore A's earlier in the season.

Gilbert vs Olivier dropped the gloves to start the game #Sabrehood#CBJpic.twitter.com/4sW8QLjo06

— Buffalo Hockey Moments (@SabresPlays) February 5, 2025

"(There was) nothing behind that," Ruff told reporters. "The sharing of the letters is based on the first 40 (or) last 40 (games). The two (Thompson and Samuelsson) that were out had the letters on them."

Jason Zucker said on Thursday that despite the outside noise, they took the situation very seriously and handled things internally.

In the end, the fight between Sabres blueliner Dennis Gilbert and Mathieu Olivier of the Blue Jackets on Tuesday felt a day late and a dollar short. The response needed to be immediately after the Thompson hit against either Noesen or in the time remaining against a star Devils player to send a signal that Buffalo backs their own.

Anything less than that was simply inadequate.