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Let the Fire Bylsma Watch begin

matter2003

By matter2003
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woods-racer First Liner

woods-racer

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Posted

Isn't that whats his name?

 

The name which we do not speak of?

 

 

 

I wonder if "every day" is just a throw-in phrase there. Does Tim really talk to the owners every day? Seems a bit much.

 

I did listen to DD's comments on WGR again. It was a hound's breakfast of a word salad, but he did clearly say, twice, that he reports to Tim, and once that Tim reports to the Pegulas. But the first time he said "we" report to the Pegulas. The problem is the word "ultimately": "I report to ultimately..." He stopped and started again, then said "we" report to the Pegulas. I think before he stopped he was on his way to saying ultimately he reports to the Pegulas, then thought better of it.

 

Bottom line, I don't think the Sabres have the same organizational setup as the Bills, thank God. What's unclear is who is going to fire Bylsma. It should be Murray. If Terry wants to fire DD, IMHO, he has to fire both of them.

 

 

Sounds like a small company hierarchy. Everyone know's who there boss is, but the owner has an open door policy and will sit with anyone and try to resolve a problem. They are also very inclusive along with being open to their lead company people, the coach and GM.

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woods-racer First Liner

woods-racer

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I am reasonably confident/optimistic/delusional that firing DDB will be GMTM's decision -- but that he, like 90+% of the other NHL GMs, will discuss it first with the owner, so that the owner (i) doesn't get blindsided by hearing it on the radio and (ii) has the opportunity to ask questions.

 

To extended on that, I'm sure he would need to run by any large trade deals that include large contracts and star players. I'm sure Terry and Kim would like to know if Jack or Sam are on the trading block, and give some sort of blessing for him to even accept offers.

Yeah, that's the guy.

 

That's who I'm thinking too.

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dudacek Hall of Famer

dudacek

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Posted (edited)

I listened to it - note the veryyyy long pregnant pause before he replied .... But why the pause?  Why such a stammering reply?   Interesting.   

 

 

Have you watched or listened to many Bylsma's interviews?

The pregnant pauses are common. He constantly takes a beat or two to take measure of a question before replying and quite often halts mid-statement to reconsider his phrasing.

It's a trademark tic with him.

 

Some people speak faster than they think. Bylsma thinks a lot faster than he speaks and continues thinking while he's speaking.

Edited by dudacek
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TrueBlueGED Hall of Famer

TrueBlueGED

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I wonder if "every day" is just a throw-in phrase there. Does Tim really talk to the owners every day? Seems a bit much.

 

I did listen to DD's comments on WGR again. It was a hound's breakfast of a word salad, but he did clearly say, twice, that he reports to Tim, and once that Tim reports to the Pegulas. But the first time he said "we" report to the Pegulas. The problem is the word "ultimately": "I report to ultimately..." He stopped and started again, then said "we" report to the Pegulas. I think before he stopped he was on his way to saying ultimately he reports to the Pegulas, then thought better of it.

 

Bottom line, I don't think the Sabres have the same organizational setup as the Bills, thank God. What's unclear is who is going to fire Bylsma. It should be Murray. If Terry wants to fire DD, IMHO, he has to fire both of them.

Why? Do you believe a GM should only get a single kick at the coach hiring carousel?

Do they employ a media relations person? Jesus fooking Christ

Sure. A good one? Eeeehhhhhh.

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woods-racer First Liner

woods-racer

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Posted

Have you watched or listened to many Bylsma's interviews?

The pregnant pauses are common. He constantly takes a beat or two to take measure of a question before replying and quite often halts mid-statement to reconsider his phrasing.

It's a trademark tic with him.

 

Some people speak faster than they think. Bylsma thinks a lot faster than he speaks and continues thinking while he's speaking.

 

Same tic here, and is quite noticeable with just about anyone that is not prepared for questions they don't see coming.

 

The Sabres PR department should have had someone brief Dan on what to expect from the press. Dan would have been more prepared and more at ease.

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Jsixspd Second Liner

Jsixspd

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I've been re-reading some of the articles from when the Pegulas bought the Bills;   I needed the reminder that overall, the Bills are Kim's team, and that the Sabres are Terry's team and real passion.  

Soooo,  if we're fortunate, the Sabres aren't run as dysfunctionally as are the Bills, because two different personas in charge.  Bylsma should report to Murray, and Murray to Terry.   And the GM should have wide authority to shape the team, unlike Doug Whaley at the Bills.   And hopefully THAT's the way it is in the Sabres' front office.  

Frankly, Murray strikes me as a heckuva lot more 'on the ball' than does Whaley anyway.  A smart, sharp guy can establish, and defend his own territory and position better than a dullard.      

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That Aud Smell Hall of Famer

That Aud Smell

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Posted (edited)

^

 

Interesting. I don't really buy it, though.

 

Also, I don't think that article necessarily stands for the proposition that Kim would chiefly run the Bills and Terry's principal passion would remain the Sabres.

 

Who returned John Wawrow's call yesterday? Terry. Not Kim.

Edited by That Aud Smell
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Randall Flagg Hall of Famer

Randall Flagg

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The topic of player improvement under Bylsma came up in the Around the NHL thread. A poster named Jame on hfboards ran through these numbers, which can be found at this link: http://hfboards.hockeysfuture.com/showthread.php?t=2140197&page=27

Here's the post:

Obviously, there are numerous variables here. But the theme is consistent. Bylsma craters offense. These guys werent coming from powerhouse teams. For the most part, their numbers away from Bylsma are on bad teams or at best a fringe playoff team... and many of them aren't coming from top tier coaches (Roy, Capuano, etc). Bylsma has simply been awful for Buffalo. We don't lack talent. We lack a decent coach, system, in game mechanics, etc

Bogosian

16-17 (Bylsma)
GF 1.30
GA 2.82
-1.52

15-16 (Bylsma)
GF 2.16
GA 2.52
-0.36

14-15 (Maurice/Nolan)
GF 2.22
GA 2.17
+0.05

13-14 (Noel/Maurice)
GF 2.52
GA 2.46
+0.06

Kane 

16-17 (Bylsma)
GF 1.49
GA 2.81
-1.32

15-16 (Bylsma)
GF 1.49
GA 2.63
-1.14

14-15 (Maurice)
GF 2.29
GA 2.40
-0.11

13-14 (Noel/Maurice)
GF 2.61
GA 3.18
-0.57

Okposo

16-17 (Bylsma)
GF 1.63
GA 1.40
+0.23

15-16 (Capuano)
GF 2.29
GA 2.19 
+0.10

14-15 (Capuano)
GF 2.63
GA 2.76
-0.13

13-14 (Capuano)
GF 3.24
GA 3.02
-0.22

Oreilly

16-17 (Bylsma)
GF 1.35
GA 1.20
+0.15

15-16 (Bylsma)
GF 1.97
GA 2.64
-0.67

14-15 (Roy)
GF 2.63
GA 2.31
+0.32

13-14 (Roy)
GF 2.62
GA 2.82
-0.20

Ennis
16-17 (Bylsma)
GF 0.88
GA 3.53
-a lot

15-16 (Bylsma)
GF 1.08
GA 2.35
-1.27

14-15 (Nolan)
GF 1.76
GA 2.33 
-0.57

13-14 (Rolston/Nolan)
GF 2.00
GA 2.93
-0.93

Kulikov 

16-17 (Bylsma)
GF 0.97
GA 2.27
-1.30

15-16 (Galant)
GF 2.18
GA 2.13
+0.05

14-15 (Galant)
GF 2.35
GA 2.15
+0.20

13-14 (Horachuk)
GF 2.11
GA 3.24
-1.13

Franson

16-17 (Bylsma)
GF 2.04
GA 1.56
+0.48

15-16 (Bylsma)
GF 1.35
GA 1.80
-0.45

14-15 (Carlyle/Trotz)
GF 2.72
GA 2.77
-0.05

13-14 (Carlyle)
GF 2.25
GA 2.79
-0.54

 

My take on the numbers - this team should probably be producing a lot more than it does, and lots of players have had huge dips in metrics that measure offensive output. Some of these players are a bit better at not allowing goals, but when the end result is winning 13 out of 36 games, it hasn't exactly been an effective strategy. 

 

It also looks like the eye tests of many are confirmed in that Franson is having himself a nice rebound year. Kulikov is definitely being misused, and the injury doesn't help either.

 

It was also noted that three of our top five even strength scorers are the third line, Gionta (who is freaking first on the team in ES production), Foligno (3), and Larsson(4). I don't think our stars are disappointing this year, and I don't think our 3rd line is super great. I think that this is a result of the way we play.

Edited by Randall Flagg
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Randall Flagg Hall of Famer

Randall Flagg

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My take on those numbers: they mean bupkis. 

 

I hate Bylsma, but there's nothing to see there. 

They definitely need to be taken with the idea that there are a lot of factors at play, but they help show that outside of our third pairing RD, there's been no improvement from guys that came from other systems. For lots of reasons, Ennis' injuries etc. It's nice to have some numbers on some things though.

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darksabre Hall of Famer

darksabre

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Posted

They definitely need to be taken with the idea that there are a lot of factors at play, but they help show that outside of our third pairing RD, there's been no improvement from guys that came from other systems. For lots of reasons, Ennis' injuries etc. It's nice to have some numbers on some things though.

I guess. At the end of the day we can just look at how this team is scoring and know that scoring is down for everyone under Bylsma. The question really is why? 

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Randall Flagg Hall of Famer

Randall Flagg

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I guess. At the end of the day we can just look at how this team is scoring and know that scoring is down for everyone under Bylsma. The question really is why? 

Because Bylsma's system is built around the way he had to play to try and stay in the league years ago, and not the way that you have to play now to be successful in the NHL. He has them sacrifice possession intentionally, and has the forwards evacuate the zone so early that the only options are a one-on-five carry or a low-percentage stretch pass. When we get the puck at some point in between those, say, a forward recovers in the top of the zone, there's no neutral zone puck support activity, and it's incredibly easy for other teams to adjust and make that guy either force a bad pass to guys who are along the boards on either side and easy to squeeze out, or dump away the puck.

 

The observation has been made that we don't seem to have the talent to make or receive passes. I don't think this is true. We have 7 guys capable of putting 20 goals up (the 06-07 team had 6 guys do it IIRC). I think we have plenty of players who would thrive in a puck support, whole-team-transition system like those employed by Tampa, Carolina, Boston, Chicago, Toronto etc. I think ROR and Reinhart would be devastating to play against in a system like this. But the way our players are positioned and the things they are instructed to do lend to a much larger percent of low-percentage passes than any other team that I watch, especially those possession teams. The only stretch passes I see those teams make are for breakaways. Speaking of, name the last 2 on 1 or breakaway this team has had. There are times where I laugh out loud at the sheer number of ###### pass attempts we make because there's no other option available to us, because unlike almost every good team, we don't have any puck support system set up to speak of. The only times I ever see it are on accident, usually after the other team turns it over and we start with the puck in an atypical spot. 

 

Also, when was the last time we had a defenseman truly activate in the offensive zone, without the puck on his stick? And I don't mean a simple cautious pinch attempt. I'm being completely honest when I say that the last time I remember this was last season, in Pittsburgh. I'll go find the video now.

 

Here it is: https://youtu.be/K3vESF8_yhA?t=12

 

It's not a coincidence that our defensemen, save Risto, are all having down years offensively. All they do is stretch pass and lob shots off their back foot from the point, facing a lot of pressure, into shin pads. 

 

But anyway, so many teams know what we're doing on transition and know exactly how to snuff it out, and more and more are trying to build mobile defensive corps, which happen to be extremely effective at taking away the chance of dump-in recovery. The result is stretches like the 2nd period against Carolina where we went six full consecutive minutes without the puck on our stick in the offensive zone. All even strength. And when it gets taken away from us, our coach hasn't attempted to, or doesn't know how to, adjust. The assistant coaches just come out for their intermission interviews and say we weren't taking the body and skating hard enough.

From SabresStats:

With Kulikov in the lineup, the Sabres are 8-7-5 (.525). Without him, they are 5-8-3 (.406).

I really truly believe that Kulikov's down year is more due to misuse than his injury. The things that Florida fans said to look forward to just don't happen the way we play hockey. All we ever get to see are his weaknesses on full display.

Edited by Randall Flagg
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That Aud Smell Hall of Famer

That Aud Smell

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Because Bylsma's system is built around the way he had to play to try and stay in the league years ago, and not the way that you have to play now to be successful in the NHL.

 

I said substantially this very thing (or, came to realize it ... because of this place) on NYE during a hockey fan chat at the hotel pool. 

 

Who here likes to talk about bias?

 

Bylsma's understanding of how hockey games are won and lost nowadays is fundamentally flawed. He's clinging to a truth that no longer exists, or at least no longer exists in sufficient quantity to allow him to be successful.

 

Good-bye, Dreary Dan. Good-bye.

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Thorner Hall of Famer

Thorner

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Posted

Randall, I have to thank you for that Gionta stat, even if it made me very sad. The fact that Brian Gionta leads our team in even strength scoring is insane and illuminates the failure of Bylsma's system as much as almost anything else I've read.

 

Truly mind-boggling.

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woods-racer First Liner

woods-racer

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Posted (edited)

Watching the WJC and one of the announcers made the comment...

 

* if a pass is so hard to make or so hard to receive that if missed just slightly it goes for icing, then the team is not well coached *

 

I'll be watching for this from now on.

Edited by Woods-Racer
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dudacek Hall of Famer

dudacek

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Posted

Watching the WJC and one of the announcers made the comment...

 

* if a pass is so hard to make or so hard to receive that if missed just slightly it goes for icing, then the team is not well coached *

 

I'll be watching for this from now on.

 

You wont be waiting long.

Although I must say it happens lees than it did earlier in the year.

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