Rolston officially #Sabres head coach

[thesportsbuff]

Sad. Didn't even have a search. LOL. Man, I defend Darcy sometimes but this is just like him to hire Rolston without even interviewing another candidate.

[Jsixspd]

Here's why this was the move to make: This team is devoid of talent and is in full rebuild mode. Any "name" coach won't want to come to Buffalo for fear of being fired before the rebuild is complete.

 

Also, what big name coach would want to come here with nitwit Regier at the helm? The product he has built isn't exactly stellar.

[LabattBlue]

Also, what big name coach would want to come here with nitwit Regier at the helm? The product he has built isn't exactly stellar.

 

Don't kid yourself. There are only 30 head coaching positions in the greatest hockey league out there. There would be a line of candidates a mile long from experienced to the Ron Rolston's of the world if DR decided to do a legitimate search.

[26CornerBlitz]

Also, what big name coach would want to come here with nitwit Regier at the helm? The product he has built isn't exactly stellar.

 

Particularly true with the GM talking of "suffering". The next coach (now Rolston) may not get enjoy the eventual harvest after tilling the fields through the lean years. Of course that assumes that DR knows what he's doing in the first place.

 

Don't kid yourself. There are only 30 head coaching positions in the greatest hockey league out there. There would be a line of candidates a mile long from experienced to the Ron Rolston's of the world if DR decided to do a legitimate search.

 

Buddy Nix also said this before hiring Chan Gailey.

[Jsixspd]

Don't kid yourself. There are only 30 head coaching positions in the greatest hockey league out there. There would be a line of candidates a mile long from experienced to the Ron Rolston's of the world if DR decided to do a legitimate search.

 

Yeah, that must be why the big name coaches were just lining up to work for old Ralph Wilson Jr. when the Bills have had open coaching positions? LOL

[Kelly the Dog]

I'm underwhelmed by the choice and announcement and news conference, although I do think that under the crappy circumstances, Rolston did a much less than crappy job, and as good as he probably could have done overall. "Much less than crappy" is not really what you want out of your HC though.

 

Like most, I would have preferred if Darcy was gone, and we would be going in a new direction. I did get the feeling though, from the press conference, and the way Darcy answered the question, that "multi-year" meant perhaps "two", or maybe three. I didn't at all get the sense it was a long term commitment, and I doubt very much that it needs to be. After one year, a whole year, with training camp and his own assistants, and practices, etc., we should be able to get a much better read on Rolston and whether he is going to be a solid NHL HC. It's totally up in the air right now.

[TrueBlueGED]

Side note: as much as I jump on the Buffalo media, I would like to congratulate them on asking relevant questions today.

[X. Benedict]

Don't kid yourself. There are only 30 head coaching positions in the greatest hockey league out there. There would be a line of candidates a mile long from experienced to the Ron Rolston's of the world if DR decided to do a legitimate search.

 

I'm going to be a little miffed if Babcock, Vineault, Tippet, or Tortorella become available next month.

 

What was the hurry to take the interim label off?

[LabattBlue]

Yeah, that must be why the big name coaches were just lining up to work for old Ralph Wilson Jr. when the Bills have had open coaching positions? LOL

What can I say. Convince yourself that no one wanted this job, therefore there was no need to conduct any interviews, and that Ron is the perfect fit. I can't believe how perfectly this all came together. :doh:

[Jsixspd]

What can I say. Convince yourself that no one wanted this job, therefore there was no need to conduct any interviews, and that Ron is the perfect fit. I can't believe how perfectly this all came together. :doh:

 

Elite coaches have reputations that they value a lot. The Sabres have a bunch of strikes against them that would send up red flags.

 

Strike 1 - new owner, somewhat naive, doesn't seem to be very knowledgeable.

 

Strike 2 - Darcy Regier - say no more - a coach's ultimate success is limited by the talent of the roster the GM provides.

 

Strike 3 - The roster - other than a couple names like Vanek and Miller (who both seem on the verge of leaving) you have a highly paid roster - highest in the NHL - of mid-tier talent.

 

Strike 4 - Pegula might finally decide to can Regier after another year or two of fail, which a change in GM might endanger the coach's position.

 

There is a lot going against Buffalo that may very well discourage really good coaches from even considering this city.

 

And the same has happened with the Buffalo Bills..... none of the really good coaches wanted to come work for a controlling, meddling owner who knows next to nothing about football operations but acted like he was the be-all and end-all. The dynamic is different here - but any good coach would be saddled with Regier and Pegula's man-crush on Regier. That's a lotta baggage.

[LabattBlue]

Elite coaches have reputations that they value a lot. The Sabres have a bunch of strikes against them that would send up red flags.

 

Strike 1 - new owner, somewhat naive, doesn't seem to be very knowledgeable.

 

Strike 2 - Darcy Regier - say no more - a coach's ultimate success is limited by the talent of the roster the GM provides.

 

Strike 3 - The roster - other than a couple names like Vanek and Miller (who both seem on the verge of leaving) you have a highly paid roster - highest in the NHL - of mid-tier talent.

 

Strike 4 - Pegula might finally decide to can Regier after another year or two of fail, which a change in GM might endanger the coach's position.

 

There is a lot going against Buffalo that may very well discourage really good coaches from even considering this city.

 

And the same has happened with the Buffalo Bills..... none of the really good coaches wanted to come work for a controlling, meddling owner who knows next to nothing about football operations but acted like he was the be-all and end-all. The dynamic is different here - but any good coach would be saddled with Regier and Pegula's man-crush on Regier. That's a lotta baggage.

Not to repeat myself, but keep convincing yourself that no coach would want the job. Click your heels of your ruby sneakers 3 times and say "there is no coach but Ron, there is no coach but Ron, there is no coach but Ron..."

[Guest]

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

 

Thanks Ron, we've NEVER heard that one before as Buffalo sports fans. Thanks for the heads up, I am totally geeked for next season now. Ok, now you can go back to picking at your ear and adjusting your collar.

 

Before he does anything, he needs to name Ott El Capitan. That would be a good first move.

[Kelly the Dog]

Thanks Ron, we've NEVER heard that one before as Buffalo sports fans. Thanks for the heads up, I am totally geeked for next season now. Ok, now you can go back to picking at your ear and adjusting your collar.

 

Before he does anything, he needs to name Ott El Capitan. That would be a good first move.

Would you prefer he say we are not looking to be in the playoffs? We hope to be a .500 team?

 

I understand completely that everyone says that and we heard it all before, but I don't understand anyone criticizing someone for that. It's pretty much the only thing he could possibly say to that question. Hell, I would not have minded if he said, "We plan on winning the Stanley Cup next year", but I wouldn't hold him to it.

[thesportsbuff]

Elite coaches have reputations that they value a lot. The Sabres have a bunch of strikes against them that would send up red flags.

 

Strike 1 - new owner, somewhat naive, doesn't seem to be very knowledgeable.

 

Strike 2 - Darcy Regier - say no more - a coach's ultimate success is limited by the talent of the roster the GM provides.

 

Strike 3 - The roster - other than a couple names like Vanek and Miller (who both seem on the verge of leaving) you have a highly paid roster - highest in the NHL - of mid-tier talent.

 

Strike 4 - Pegula might finally decide to can Regier after another year or two of fail, which a change in GM might endanger the coach's position.

 

 

While maybe one or two of those are valid concerns, that is the life of a head coach looking for employment. You don't see many Stanley Cup champions, or even playoff teams for that matter, in dire need of a new coach.

 

Lindy Ruff may be looking for a coaching opportunity. He's won a Jack Adams and been on the Team Canada coaching staff on several occasions. He is quite obviously considered a good coach around this league. Guess what? He's more than likely going to have to coach a non-playoff team next season.

 

If Bylsma was fired today, there would be probably 20+ teams wishing they could hire him. But is Ottawa, Montreal, Toronto, Boston, Washington, NYR, NYI, Vancouver, San Jose, Los Angeles, St. Louis, Chicago, Minnesota, Detroit, or Anaheim going to immediately fire their coach in order to hire Bylsma? Very unlikely. Maybe one or two teams from that list would consider making a coaching change.

 

The point is, despite all the negative things you can conjure up about the Sabres, coaches are aware that's part of the job. You have to coach a bad team before you coach a good team. There were candidates out there waiting to be interviewed by the Sabres. We'll never know who, but Ron Rolston was not the only person on the planet the Sabres could have hired.

[Jsixspd]

Not to repeat myself, but keep convincing yourself that no coach would want the job. Click your heels of your ruby sneakers 3 times and say "there is no coach but Ron, there is no coach but Ron, there is no coach but Ron..."

 

Well, why are you telling me this? Tell it to the Sabres, because obviously the SABRES seemed to think that was the case, and there was some big hurry to get Rolston on board. Why did they so hurriedly hire a coach before the season even ended?!

 

They had the luxury of time - I am guessing that nobody was gonna just scoop up Ruffton in a big hurry. Remember when Ralph Wilson so stupidly re-signed Jauron to a big contract as HC when the Bills were 5-1? Obviously there was no need to do so - nobody else wanted Jauron - they would have wiser to let the season pan out a bit more. Same when they threw Ryan Blitzpatrick a big contract a few games into the season - then the wheels came off his train immediately thereafter. No other team in the league was anxious to sign a unproven journeyman, ham & egger backup QB, one whose long terms stats were decidedly mediocre, away from the Bills.... but nonetheless they did!

 

Well, now we have two instances this year of the Sabres aping the idiotic knee-jerk signings of the Bills - first, Pegula resigns Regier even before the disastrous season had hardly begun. Now, the playoffs aren't even over, and we're signing a minor-league hockey coach right away as HC.....

 

Buffalo is becoming famous as the capital of stupid sports management - jeebus Christmas...... it's just so maddeningly illogical and stupid!!!!

[26CornerBlitz]

Of course he did:

@BillHoppeNHL

Steve Ott said Ron Rolston is "100 percent" the perfect hire for the #Sabres. #Buffalo

[X. Benedict]

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

I wouldn't want a coach to think any differently on that one.

[Formerly Allan in MD]

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.

Yes, it really matters what he looks like. You can't build a winning team unless you've modeled for Esquire or GQ. Makes perfect sense to me.

[nobody]

Before he does anything, he needs to name Ott El Capitan. That would be a good first move.

 

I'll be happy when he does become C - but I think, just like every thing this team does, it is the obvious thing that will happen. There is no one on the team who publicly supports Rolston more than Ott.

[Kelly the Dog]

The real problem with the Rolston hire and the "teacher" approach is that if Rolston does a good or even great job, there will be no reason whatsoever to fire him, but rather to let him try to be the overall great coach for a few seasons once he has built the team up. If he is, great -- but that may be a longshot -- and we wouldn't know for 4-5 years.

 

If, of course, he is not even the great teacher at the NHL level for these guys we have wasted two years on him.

 

So I don't really see any way at all we use him to build this team up and then hire a name guy to take them over the top.

[bcsaberks]

Rolston is pretty boring but I'd bet if he was new to the org today (as opposed to 1.5 years ago) people would be more welcoming like we were when he was brought on for the Amerks.

 

Also I assume he's the one who ######-canned McKee last year. And based on McKee's twitter antics (which i know came after the firing/non-renewal) looks like a pretty smart move. Are Patrick and Teppo next? Not that they seem unprofessional, but the D was a mess this year and they should be held accountable to some degree, especially for Myers' play.

[Guest]

Would you prefer he say we are not looking to be in the playoffs? We hope to be a .500 team?

 

I understand completely that everyone says that and we heard it all before, but I don't understand anyone criticizing someone for that. It's pretty much the only thing he could possibly say to that question. Hell, I would not have minded if he said, "We plan on winning the Stanley Cup next year", but I wouldn't hold him to it.

 

I'd prefer the truth, like maybe.....we are in a rebuilding phase and it may be a few years before we are where we want to be. With the roster the way it is now, this team is gonna be a long shot at making the playoffs. There needs to be some big time moves to improve this team drastically. I think most Sabres fans can see that.

[LabattBlue]

Well, why are you telling me this? Tell it to the Sabres, because obviously the SABRES seemed to think that was the case, and there was some big hurry to get Rolston on board. Why did they so hurriedly hire a coach before the season even ended?....

Maybe because you are the one stating that no legit coach would want to come here?

[Ross Rhea]

Come talk to me when you dig your head out of the sand, and take off the rose colored glasses. No coaching search, and you are okay with it? Ron will be waiting for you at Cone King. Sprinkles on your kiddie cone?

 

why do I have a feeling you would have bellyached no matter who was named coach. you don't like the Rolston hiring, for what this team is who would you have hired?

[Kelly the Dog]

I'd prefer the truth, like maybe.....we are in a rebuilding phase and it may be a few years before we are where we want to be. With the roster the way it is now, this team is gonna be a long shot at making the playoffs. There needs to be some big time moves to improve this team drastically. I think most Sabres fans can see that.

You want to tell any one of your players you don't think they have a shot at the playoffs this year? And it's going to be three years before we're going to be any good? I think that is insane regardless of whether it's possible or likely or not. That's like telling them before a Penguins game, "We have VERY little chance of coming out of here with a win, so don't get your hopes up. I'm just being realistic." That's like telling your child, "Look kid, realistically, you have very little chance of doing anything whatsoever with your life and for a long time your life is going to suck."