Rolston officially #Sabres head coach

[Eleven]

I like him. I think he will even open up a little more in public now that the pressure is off to secure a full time gig.

 

I'm not sure he'll open up more in public; he seems uncomfortable in front of a microphone. Maybe he will.

 

I am sure that I don't care, since his job is to coach the team and not to be a public speaker. From the limited practice footage I've seen, he's just fine when it comes to communicating with the team.

[TrueBlueGED]

I don't know.....Ruff had 13 points in 17 games

 

Rolston had 35 points in 31 games while never having run a practice with these guys and jumping in on the fly. I'd say that's a very marked improvement.

 

While I wouldn't jump for joy over this, the overall team effort and feel was much more enjoyable under Rolston. He at least has the potential to be a solid NHL coach. We're f'd with Darcy no matter what.

 

And I wouldn't be so sure Rolston rolls over for Darcy on decision making. He may look and talk like Darcy, but his actions show me more initiative.

 

I'm fairly confident there's a significant amount of "he's not Ruff" influencing this particular opinion.

 

"it speaks to the job he did and the respect he got from the players in the exit meetings, it became more and more obvious we needed to continue with Ron".

 

So the inmates are literally running the asylum? What could go wrong?

[dudacek]

 

 

I'm fairly confident there's a significant amount of "he's not Ruff" influencing this particular opinion.

 

Not that I'm any more excited about this than the rest of you, but I disagree. The effort level, the physical play and the structure this year was significantly higher under Rolston than under Ruff.

 

Are we in for boring trap hockey? Until we get more talent, it's the only way we are going to win any games.

Pretty tough to pigeonhole Rolston for doing what he had to do to keep our sinking ship afloat.

[26CornerBlitz]

I really like Steve Ott, but nobody sells Sabres' Kool-Aid like he does.

[Sabres Fan in NS]

So the inmates are literally running the asylum? What could go wrong?

 

:flirt:

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sQvVTPXZuBo

[TrueBlueGED]

Not that I'm any more excited about this than the rest of you, but I disagree. The effort level, the physical play and the structure this year was significantly higher under Rolston than under Ruff.

 

Are we in for boring trap hockey? Until we get more talent, it's the only way we are going to win any games.

Pretty tough to pigeonhole Rolston for doing what he had to do to keep our sinking ship afloat.

 

I don't really think the effort was any better, it's just that as you said, the system Rolston ran was much better suited to this particular roster than Ruff's was. I absolutely believe playing the trap or a trap-like system is the only way this team will win at all....and that's part of my worry. Artificially inflating the points total will only serve to prolong the rebuild IMO.

[IKnowPhysics]

I might be the only one that doesn't have an opinion about this.

 

It's a curious move to not wait to see who's available after the playoffs, but then again, playoff coaches usually don't get fired. So who's freshly available this season: Joe Sacco (pass), Guy Boucher (pass). Not a big deal to execute this move now, especially since other non-playoff teams probably would have fired their coaches by now. So we don't hire Laviolette because he's not available, and I'm perfectly fine with that.

 

As for Rolston, he was dealt a pretty bad hand, but still ended up 15-11-5 (that's pace for 93 points in 82 games, borderline playoff hockey). He seems like he might have decent rapport with young players, which might be useful in our situation. It'll be interesting to see him compose a full body of work over the course of a season. It's easy to ###### all over him as an unexciting hire, but that's a ###### stupid criteria for judgement here.

 

I'll wait until I get to see about a month's worth of hockey in October before I go from "let's see how this goes" to "cautious optimism."

[nobody]

So what I got out of the Ott interview on GR is that the players don't liked to get yelled at and Rolston had to dumb down the system they played.

[26CornerBlitz]

Not that I'm any more excited about this than the rest of you, but I disagree. The effort level, the physical play and the structure this year was significantly higher under Rolston than under Ruff.Are we in for boring trap hockey? Until we get more talent, it's the only way we are going to win any games.Pretty tough to pigeonhole Rolston for doing what he had to do to keep our sinking ship afloat.

 

Except when the team faced a "pressure situation" or a so called "big game". Then we got the usual weak, timid, and uninspired effort where the team totally wilted.

[Ghost of Dwight Drane]

Not that I'm any more excited about this than the rest of you, but I disagree. The effort level, the physical play and the structure this year was significantly higher under Rolston than under Ruff.

 

Are we in for boring trap hockey? Until we get more talent, it's the only way we are going to win any games.

Pretty tough to pigeonhole Rolston for doing what he had to do to keep our sinking ship afloat.

 

Bingo.

 

You can give up more shots at net, but if everyone has their lanes and you have guys in back that will limit second chances, the shots the goalies eventually see will be of less quality opportunity. I don't think Miller or Enroth played out of their minds down the stretch.....there were just guys more commited to hunkering down in their own end. Sure, it limits transition chances on the fly, and you may not win games 5-3 in regulation....but you survive and eventually build a team atmosphere of effort and grind so when the talent infusion does make it here....you can actually do something with it instead of having a comfy atmosphere of entitlement which seemed to be the norm with so many of Darcy's hand chosen skill guys.

 

This team is still short on good/elite talent.....but the culture has been the weakest link. The Sabres made a run in '99 on the heels of the hardest working team in hockey. When they added guys like Sanderson, Satan and Wooley to an effort based core and attitude established of guys like Peca/Ward/Boughner/Burridge/May/Ray/Varada/Barnaby/McKee.......it was able to thrive. I think that's the key now......rebuild the culture of effort and grit first, and then take the shot with talent. It's sad because you could have had both over the past few years with Pegula's budget.....but the GM doesn't have it in his blood to know how to do it, and frankly, probably doesn't believe in it. At least what we have seen under Rolston is a step in the right direction...even if you need to rely on guys like Porter, Pardy, and Weber for now.

[papazoid]

yawn....

 

 

get ready for the Rochester Americans in sabre uniforms.

[Ghost of Dwight Drane]

Except when the team faced a "pressure situation" or a so called "big game". Then we got the usual weak, timid, and uninspired effort where the team totally wilted.

 

They did stop 2 giant Pens winning streaks.....

 

So what I got out of the Ott interview on GR is that the players don't liked to get yelled at and Rolston had to dumb down the system they played.

 

IE.....Ruff didn't work.

[26CornerBlitz]

They did stop 2 giant Pens winning streaks.....

 

 

 

IE.....Ruff didn't work.

 

Two meaningless (what have we got to lose) games IMO.

[Stoner]

My operating theory from February is down the drain. I gave Terry the benefit of the doubt that he retained Regier as a sort of experiment. The roster responds in a big way, makes the playoffs and makes some noise — Ruff is shown to be the biggest part of the problem and Regier is retained. Anything short of that, you clean house. (And, no, no way in hell does the outcome of this season vindicate Ruff and make me want him back; his time was done here.)

 

So here we are. I don't hate Ron. He did a decent job. But he's almost like the trade deadline acquisition who plays over his head in some meaningless games. You really won't know what you have until the next fall.

 

The fans are left with a choice. Be the good sports citizen and stick with it, or put the franchise in a world of hurt. Now that Ted had admitted the financial "viability" of the franchise is key, just as it was with OSP, the fans must know the power they wield. You want change? Don't spend your money. It's all these pricks understand.

[X. Benedict]

They did stop 2 giant Pens winning streaks.....

 

 

With Pittsburgh averaging 40 shots. I saw some pretty good goal-tending.

[TrueBlueGED]

My operating theory from February is down the drain. I gave Terry the benefit of the doubt that he retained Regier as a sort of experiment. The roster responds in a big way, makes the playoffs and makes some noise — Ruff is shown to be the biggest part of the problem and Regier is retained. Anything short of that, you clean house. (And, no, no way in hell does the outcome of this season vindicate Ruff and make me want him back; his time was done here.)

 

So here we are. I don't hate Ron. He did a decent job. But he's almost like the trade deadline acquisition who plays over his head in some meaningless games. You really won't know what you have until the next fall.

 

The fans are left with a choice. Be the good sports citizen and stick with it, or put the franchise in a world of hurt. Now that Ted had admitted the financial "viability" of the franchise is key, just as it was with OSP, the fans must know the power they wield. You want change? Don't spend your money. It's all these pricks understand.

 

This is a good point. People can point to the fact that the Sabres were on such-and-such a pace after Rolston took over and projects to a bubble playoff team....but his team didn't accomplish anything that the teams of the previous two years didn't. And actually, the previous two years had late-season rallies which put the team on pace for a President's trophy, and we all know how that turned out the following years.

[LabattBlue]

"Sprinkles on your kiddie cone?"

 

I took that as an insult

Seriously? For a second there I thought I might have slipped in one of my posts and called you an a$$hole? :lol:

 

I don't really think the effort was any better, it's just that as you said, the system Rolston ran was much better suited to this particular roster than Ruff's was. I absolutely believe playing the trap or a trap-like system is the only way this team will win at all....and that's part of my worry. Artificially inflating the points total will only serve to prolong the rebuild IMO.

^^^ Agree

[Stoner]

Bingo.

 

This team is still short on good/elite talent.....but the culture has been the weakest link. The Sabres made a run in '99 on the heels of the hardest working team in hockey. When they added guys like Sanderson, Satan and Wooley to an effort based core and attitude established of guys like Peca/Ward/Boughner/Burridge/May/Ray/Varada/Barnaby/McKee.......it was able to thrive. I think that's the key now......rebuild the culture of effort and grit first, and then take the shot with talent. It's sad because you could have had both over the past few years with Pegula's budget.....but the GM doesn't have it in his blood to know how to do it, and frankly, probably doesn't believe in it. At least what we have seen under Rolston is a step in the right direction...even if you need to rely on guys like Porter, Pardy, and Weber for now.

 

You won't be surprised to learn that I think Terry was making too many of these decisions. The idea that the team was closer in 2011 than it actually was, the idea to go on a spending spree that summer, the fast-track to a Cup... those have Terry's fingerprints, not Darcy's. I was hoping for a trifecta this summer of Darcy getting fired, a top-notch GM/coach combo coming in and Terry pulling out. If I get only the third thing, I'll still have hope. I guess I can live with Darcy having three to five years of practically no financial burdens and zero interference from the owner/business side. It sounds like a pipe dream, but that's all I have to hold onto right now.

[bills_fan_in_raleigh]

Wow Darcy must have done an exhaustive search.

[JJFIVEOH]

This place would bitch if the Sabres won the Cup and ruined their draft position.

[IKnowPhysics]

People can point to the fact that the Sabres were on such-and-such a pace after Rolston took over and projects to a bubble playoff team....but his team didn't accomplish anything that the teams of the previous two years didn't.

 

I did this, not as evidence of future success, but as a lack of evidence of enormous failure this past season. If Rolston posts a worse record than Ruff and gets hired, then it becomes a giant WTF moment. But he didn't, so it's not.

[inkman]

Didn't Adam have a good streak with the Amerks after Rolston moved up to the Sabres?

I think he had points in 4-5 games straight but he quickly disappeared after. Most likely a benefit of getting the extra minutes Porter and Flynn vacated.

[spndnchz]

Rolston says he expects next years team to be a playoff team.

[Trettioåtta]

Anyone want to summarise what has been said? And why is Porter happy? What did Ott say etc.

[WanderingEye]

A safe and completely predictable move so I can't pretend to be surprised. He's super dull and look like Ted Danson/a high school physics teacher so he'll be easy to make fun of. Let's see what he can do with a full season. I'm still more mad that Darcy is still here.