dudacek

I hope nobody thinks my post upthread was me advocating for Ruff. Its me looking at the tea leaves and saying what I think will happen, not what I want to happen. I like Lindy and think he’s a good coach. Also think he’s easy to cheer for and can’t think of a better story than his return ending the nightmare Sabres fandom has been since he left. All that said, I think the team is better off looking ahead than looking behind. (Still think he’s going to be the guy, and sooner than you think)

It was my impression Adams had balanced off their smaller scouting staff by redeploying those resources into the analytics and player development staffs. Is that not the case? How do they now rank in terms of the amount of bodies in the overall hockey department? If my memory is correct part of the bloodletting when Kevyn was hired was due to Pegula thinking the hockey department was loaded with people who didn't do much. (A conclusion I think was fuelled by a review done by a pre-GM Adams.) That fits with when/why they dipped from 4th to 32nd.

Good call. He's not available today, but he could be very soon. Let me get this straight: Lindy Ruff was a hands-off figurehead leader content to run his assistant's system? Not the Lindy I remember.

Just read Fariburn's rundown of the candidates and walked away almost certain it's going to be Lindy. Adams had a plan in place and 4 watchwords: experienced, structured, accountable, immediately available. Of the candidates he listed: Woodcraft and Evason aren't that experienced, Boudreau and Gallant aren't that structured, Brind'Amour and Quenville (probably, for well-known reasons) aren't immediately available. That leaves Ruff and Berube. I don't know of any connection between Kevyn and Berube, or anything to feed the sense that he's a target Kevyn feels he can speak about with the kind of directness and certainty that Kevyn used yesterday. Lindy, on the other hand, is someone he knows well and has worked together with. Lindy is also someone who can not only fire up the players, he can fire up a moribund fan base. He's also won with youngsters and plays the uptempo style Adams prefers. What has Kevyn preached from day one? Passion for the jersey and for the city, people who want to be here and to win for the people of Buffalo. Nobody epitomizes the Adams checklist like Lindy Ruff, it's not even close. It's coming.

Adams addressed this twice and seemed to be saying he knows what he wants to do with all 3 but that the new coach will be a factor in the final decision.

Why does everyone point to Brunette as the main reason for the rise and fall of the Devils? Didn’t exchanging 3 veteran defencemen (Hamilton, Graves, Severson) for 3 rookies (Hughes, Nemec Bahl) in their starting 6 play a huge role? I mean, those are talented kids but we know 1st-hand about having too many young D. The vets were +66, the kids -31.

See, I saw the Mitts trade as exactly this. Do you disagree, or think it wasn’t enough?

This was a year where he needed to take a leap and the results were disappointing. Krebs has shown clear progress over the past 2 years defensively and has become pretty reliable in that area. He’s fast, relatively fearless and has some skill. But the skill has not manifested itself into enough production for the third line and the grit is less than ideal for the 4th. He’s at the cusp of the 200 games/3 seasons point where kids have to show what they are. What he is right now is a player who needs to be better to be part of this going forward. Im not ready to move on in the same sense I am with Jost. But I certainly would not be going into next season with him as a 3C. I want to see what a new coach can do for his game. But I fear Jost may be who he is.

My take was he clearly has a target, or a short list of targets and he is going to start chasing them immediately. Sounds like he has a very specific list of qualities in mind and not many people fit those criteria, but one or more that do is available right now. And they will all be names you've heard of.

Just out of curiousity, when was the last time you heard Adams going hard into the 'won't block prospects" thing? Weren't Lukas Rousek, Ryan Johnson, Jiri Kulich and Devon Levi "blocked" by more veteran players this year? My sense was that blocking was the byword in the fall of 2021 and had all but fallen by the wayside by the fall of 2023. He didn't want to block his young players 2 1/2 years ago because he wanted them to play and learn by doing, with the idea that they would get experience and get better. This year was the year that "better" was supposed to turn into good. But, instead, it kinda marked the first year in three they were supposed to be better than they were. I'm not sure about this being "sudden urgency." Isn't it more of a growing urgency as the plan slipped off the rails?

Berube has been an NHL head coach for 6 full seasons and parts of 2 others (he was hired and fired mid-season) He's also had 2 years as an NHL Associate coach, 2 as an AHL head coach and was an NHL assistant for 7 more. His head coaching record is 206/132/44 with the Blues, 75/58/28 with the Flyers and he has .584 career winning percentage. And he has a Stanley Cup ring. What kind of sample size are you looking for?

I've been banging the drum for awhile here on the 3 seasons/200 games for a while on here in terms of the Luukkonens and the Powers and the Quinns. you don't have to sell me on your point. But that cuts both ways: Tuch, Thompson, Skinner and Cozens were the season's big disappointments and major reasons why the Sabres are on the outside looking in. They are past that rationale. The concern about Granato prior to the year was "he's a great coach fro developing kids, is he a great coach for guiding an NHL contender?" I think Adams showed us he thinks he got his answer.

To me it just means the development portion of the build is over and the time to win portion is here. it isn't about bringing in more veterans to push the kids on the roster down, it's about pushing the kids already on the roster to a place where the need to do that becomes redundant. it's about getting the types of seasons out Thompson, Dahlin, Quinn and Power that Tocchet got out of Petterson, Hughes, Boeser and Demko. Adams expected the Power to Thompson age group to be better. They got worse and that's why Donnie got fired. His replacement will be the guy Adams thinks can make this group take another step.

It varies with the circumstances obviously, but I've always thought in a perfect world a "fair shot" for a GM is two coach hirings and/or 5 years.

The parallels between this year's Sabres and last year's Canucks, and between Rick Tocchet and Craig Berube are not lost on me.

I stand by my comments upthread about not having a real clue. But by appearances, he certainly seems an excellent fit: a no-nonsense presence with a track record of both winning and of coming in and quickly focusing a locker room that desperately needed it; experienced, but not too much of a retread; and despite his reputation as a player, he seems to have a brain in his head. His worst season was 81 points. His Blues weren't particularly loaded with high-end talent, at least for a cup-winner, but they were deep. Not sure he's got much of a track record with young players, but Kyrou and Thomas did emerge nicely under his watch.

That's quite the clickbait thread title and not in the way I think @inkman intended

I haven't had a favourite Sabre in a long time, but it dawned on me watching yesterday's game that he's it. This shouldn't be read as "he's going to be great and save the franchise". It's just me saying "I love watching him play". He plays the game the right way, every night.

No one is. I hate coaching searches because we have only the most peripheral idea of what any coach brings to the table, what the current needs of the team are, and how well those two situations match. There's a reason all coaches are hired to be fired. Most candidates are going to be qualified. It's all about trusting Adams to find the right match for these players in this particular place and time. Granato, in hindsight, was a good match for the summer of 2021, so I guess Adams has that going for him.

My point was simply to reply to what I thought was hyperbole and I explained why. I respect your opinion, and don't mind that you disagree. Ask Promo what the point of Captain Hindsight game is.

I'm aware of one for sure (Babcock) and likely 2 (McLellan). Each chose better offers, so it doesn't negate the point being made.

Really, it's about comfort level with Terry and whether he's going to be with you or an obstacle to what you want to do. If that's established, the situation should otherwise be enticing for most unemployed guys with egos.

There's a few who were shitting on him earlier in the year who should be thinking about apologizing Anyone paying attention over the years knows Webster is a credible source who talks to people. He's not always right, but he doesn't claim to be. He shares what he hears without embellishment and we're lucky to have him.

Picks in the 20s most often are Roslovics and Whites, so no. Look, GMTM was a ***** manager. No one in his right mind would support his tenure and I'm not aware of anyone who does. But his biggest failing was people: the types he chose for his organization, and how he treated them. The number of prospects he "squandered" is overrated.

But... what about Brind'Amour?