When asked about the Sabres memorable playoff run during the 2005-2006 season Thursday, Tim Connolly summed it up best – “woulda, coulda, shoulda.”

The star centerman suffered a concussion in the Eastern Conference Semifinals that sidelined him for the rest of the postseason, a harbinger of the team’s maladies to come. As many Sabres fans remember, Game Seven of the Conference Finals saw the blue and gold compete without four of their top six defensemen.

That team has become one of the great “what-ifs” in recent hockey history; could a healthy Sabres team have won the Stanley Cup that year?

“Still to this day, I felt we were the team, out of the last four, that we were the best team remaining,” said former captain Daniel Briere with zero hesitation. “I realized along the way that to win a Stanley Cup, you need more than just a good team. You need some breaks to go your way.”

Of the 2000s alumni to visit KeyBank, Briere was the most forthright in stating that the team was injuries away from hoisting the cup. Connolly and Jason Pominville were more reserved, stating that while injuries didn’t eliminate the team’s cup hopes, they just made the path more difficult.

“There's nothing they could do about their injuries,” Pominville said. “Sometimes if it's just a shoulder, something you can battle through with, like an ankle, you can battle through. Those guys, there was no chance that any of them would be able to play."

“I think we would have had a good shot to win it,” Connolly said. “Every team goes through some kind of adversity. That's what happened. Unfortunately we came a goal from making it to the cup finals.”

Since that heartbreak, the Sabres have made just three playoff appearances, and none since the 2010-2011 season.