Per Botterill: Sabres have relieved Phil Housley of his Coaching Duties

[In The Buff]

7 minutes ago, Scottysabres said:

Q Is most likely going to Florida, further ahead in roster development most likely.

AV? I just don't know.

Trots please.

Also Coach Q has that relationship to Florida GM Dale Tallon, who was the one who hired Q to coach the Blackhawks back in the day. With how fast the news came, it would lead one to think they had been having discussions for some time.

AV I definitely wouldnt want. Boudreau would be cool if Minnesota fired him

Trots? Who's that? Barry Trotz?

[LTS]

2 hours ago, Eleven said:

The wheels were coming off in December, FFS.  If Botterill thought Housley was the reason why, he should have acted sooner.

He basically said he gave Housley a chance to see if he could get the players turned around and he failed.  That's the way it goes.  The guy was only in his second year.  You have to give someone a chance.  Based on his comments during the 10 game win streak it wasn't as though he expected this team to make the playoffs, just improve.  They had improved but then dropped, like an anvil in a Road Runner cartoon.

36 minutes ago, TrueBlueGED said:

Translation: Dale Tallon hopes to close quickly now that he has completion. 

As an aside, this is why you make a move on Housley sooner than the last game of the season. So you don't miss out on the big fish. 

The discussion with Quennville can happen the entire season.  The only thing they wouldn't do is hire the guy while Housley is the coach.  No one was missing out on the big fish.  The timing of the firing may indeed have been driven by the Panthers moving quickly.  The press would now be all over the Q watch and any Sabres discussion would likely come out. So, you have to make the change in order to pursue at a deeper level.  If they had fired Housley 4-10 games ago then they have to put someone else in charge, etc.  At that point, let the guy finish, it makes no difference.

Bottom line? The Sabres have every chance of landing a coach, but may not simply because of past relationships.  

[TrueBlueGED]

7 minutes ago, Die Hard said:

 

I thought Boughner and Housley were fired hours apart?

I don't mean the actual firing, I mean the decision to move on. Listening to the respective GMs it strikes me Tallon knew he was getting a new coach before Botterill.

It's also entirely possible I'm just being cranky about missing out on my preferred coach again and feel the need to complain. 

[LTS]

Just now, TrueBlueGED said:

I don't mean the actual firing, I mean the decision to move on. Listening to the respective GMs it strikes me Tallon knew he was getting a new coach before Botterill.

It's also entirely possible I'm just being cranky about missing out on my preferred coach again and feel the need to complain. 

I vote the latter.  But yes, it is possible that Tallon knew he was getting Quennville and may have known for some time. In which case, there was never a chance of getting Quennville and as such... no need to be mad.

[TrueBlueGED]

1 minute ago, LTS said:

He basically said he gave Housley a chance to see if he could get the players turned around and he failed.  That's the way it goes.  The guy was only in his second year.  You have to give someone a chance.  Based on his comments during the 10 game win streak it wasn't as though he expected this team to make the playoffs, just improve.  They had improved but then dropped, like an anvil in a Road Runner cartoon.

The discussion with Quennville can happen the entire season.  The only thing they wouldn't do is hire the guy while Housley is the coach.  No one was missing out on the big fish.  The timing of the firing may indeed have been driven by the Panthers moving quickly.  The press would now be all over the Q watch and any Sabres discussion would likely come out. So, you have to make the change in order to pursue at a deeper level.  If they had fired Housley 4-10 games ago then they have to put someone else in charge, etc.  At that point, let the guy finish, it makes no difference.

Bottom line? The Sabres have every chance of landing a coach, but may not simply because of past relationships.  

I hope my post above clarified. It doesn't seem to me that Botterill had decided to move on until very recently. I could give a hoot about actually firing him versus just letting him coach out the string. 

Again, I could be off on that as it's pure speculation. 

Just now, LTS said:

I vote the latter.  But yes, it is possible that Tallon knew he was getting Quennville and may have known for some time. In which case, there was never a chance of getting Quennville and as such... no need to be mad.

I meant getting a new coach as in making a change, not necessarily the specific one he'd land. Anyway, moving forward, I am concerned about the timeline in Botterill's head irrespective of its effect on Quenneville. Did it really take until late March or early April for him to know Housley had to go? If so, yikes.

[Brawndo]

 

[Ducky]

Could do a lot worse than McLellan.

[Eleven]

2 hours ago, Curtisp5286 said:

Quennville previously made the playoffs and won playoff rounds with Colorado and St. Louis.  What’s your definition of success?

Quenneville should have gone further with those St. Louis teams than he did.

My definition of success, for a coach, is getting more out of less.

[Die Hard]

12 minutes ago, Brawndo said:

 

Interesting. Offered complete transparency on who made the decision and is running the show.

[Eleven]

1 minute ago, Die Hard said:

Interesting. Offered complete transparency on who made the decision and is running the show.

And yet some posters still won't believe it.

[Zamboni]

Terry, Kim ... I love ya both ... but PLEASE stay out of any coach hiring/interviewing/opinion giving.

Let the GM have 100% autonomy.

[PerreaultForever]

2 hours ago, Doohickie said:

Not sure what your point is.  The staff (office administrators most likely, but possibly as high as VP of Media Relations) that set things like this up were not in that "inner circle" so were under the impression that there would be a standard end-of-year presser. 

Looking at the team staff directory, my guess is that no one outside of this list knew anything about the firing:

Kim & Terry

General Manager Jason Botterill

Assistant General Manager/Rochester Americans General Manager Randy Sexton

Assistant General Manager Steve Greeley

Vice President of Hockey Administration Mark Jakubowski

EVP & General Counsel, PSE Gregg Brandon

VP of Legal Affairs David S. Zygaj

EVP & General Counsel, PSE Gregg Brandon

Human Resources Manager David McNall

No one on the media relations side would have any inkling about the firing.

 

No point really just an odd thought. See if I'm the boss my admin assistant checks with me to set up meetings and things and I can see my calendar electronically so I'd see that and I'd call or text him or her and tell them to change that before it was announced at the last game. So to me, you either have a change of position OR a little office incompetence. Could easily be the latter. Doesn't really matter.

[DarthEbriate]

Apology accepted, headcoach Housley.

And, like everyone else... I agree we need an established coach. No first timer Youngling-helpers who are baffling in their decisions (Qui-Gon-Rolston), or "I inherited a great roster and won a battle but then completely lost the team the next season" (Bylsma-Tyrannus), or "I rode the coattails of a great coach and people liked me but I never proved anything except that I had 4 great defensemen and am still a first timer coach when it comes to padawans" (prequel Obi-Wan).

[PerreaultForever]

32 minutes ago, MillerVaive said:

Also Coach Q has that relationship to Florida GM Dale Tallon, who was the one who hired Q to coach the Blackhawks back in the day. With how fast the news came, it would lead one to think they had been having discussions for some time.

AV I definitely wouldnt want. Boudreau would be cool if Minnesota fired him

Trots? Who's that? Barry Trotz?

The hockey night in Canada guys on Saturday were clear and adamant that although many teams were interested in Q, he was only interested in teams where "he could see a clear path to a cup." Florida? Don't think so. Point is he isn't into rebuild situations unless he sees that they are almost ready. 

Boudreau no thank you. Trots is Torts no? Tortorella. I'd like that. 

[Broken Ankles]

9 minutes ago, PerreaultForever said:

The hockey night in Canada guys on Saturday were clear and adamant that although many teams were interested in Q, he was only interested in teams where "he could see a clear path to a cup." Florida? Don't think so. Point is he isn't into rebuild situations unless he sees that they are almost ready. 

Boudreau no thank you. Trots is Torts no? Tortorella. I'd like that. 

Both Trotz and Torts have jobs.

[In The Buff]

11 minutes ago, PerreaultForever said:

The hockey night in Canada guys on Saturday were clear and adamant that although many teams were interested in Q, he was only interested in teams where "he could see a clear path to a cup." Florida? Don't think so. Point is he isn't into rebuild situations unless he sees that they are almost ready. 

Boudreau no thank you. Trots is Torts no? Tortorella. I'd like that. 

Yeah Torts would make more sense than Trotz since he's with the Isles, but Trots was closer to Trotz so i had no idea which way that one was going. Torts would need to be fired though but rumor is that could happen

Thing with Q is that ive read he already turned us down once before. I read the same thing about him wanting to go to a contender, but would the Sabres be that much closer to the Cup than Florida? One could argue Florida is closer. But I'm sure theres other factors as well. Prior relationships are one thing in Florida's favor. Economics & financials are another. Salary aside, he'd pay less taxes in Florida & that's something else he'd have to factor in I'm sure.

I don't know much about Boudreau, but I know he's been very successful thruout his career. Pretty much taking every team he's coached for a full year to the playoffs, some teams that weren't necessarily that great either. Either one would be an improvement over what we've had in years & given where we've been, we could do & have done much worse.

Edited April 7, 2019 by MillerVaive

[Doohicksie]

26 minutes ago, PerreaultForever said:

See if I'm the boss my admin assistant checks with me to set up meetings and things

That's my point:  The media department wouldn't have known.  And frankly when I've been at companies where they're letting people go, they try to keep the facade of normalcy right up until the hammer falls.

[Pimlach]

35 minutes ago, Eleven said:

Quenneville should have gone further with those St. Louis teams than he did.

My definition of success, for a coach, is getting more out of less.

I remember Q coaching those St Louis  teams.   They problem with those Blues, and it’s still there today, was goaltending in the playoff.   They always seemed to faced top goaltending and never seem to get it consistently in the playoffs. 

[klos1963]

35 minutes ago, Eleven said:

Quenneville should have gone further with those St. Louis teams than he did.

My definition of success, for a coach, is getting more out of less.

Where does winning 3 cups fall into that definition?  It's really hard to argue that Quenneville isn't one of the most successful coachs in NHL history.  Getting more out of less shouldn't be a gauge, winning is. And who determines what less is? Maybe they were just underestimated, something that happens all the time.

[LGR4GM]

8 minutes ago, Let's Go B-Lo said:

With Botterill's admiration for NCAA hockey I wonder if we could be looking there. If not for the HC, for people to fill out the staff.

Albie O'Connell of BU, David Carle of Denver

he didn't fire the rest of the staff. Said it's up to the new head coach. 

[Radar]

9 minutes ago, Let's Go B-Lo said:

With Botterill's admiration for NCAA hockey I wonder if we could be looking there. If not for the HC, for people to fill out the staff.

Albie O'Connell of BU, David Carle of Denver

Please. Let's get people with a proven record. No more inexperienced coaches.

[TrueBlueGED]

Just now, Radar said:

Please. Let's get people with a proven record. No more inexperienced coaches.

Yes, Bylsma was a splendid hire. And Jon Cooper? Who wants to find the next one of him? 

[Radar]

1 minute ago, TrueBlueGED said:

Yes, Bylsma was a splendid hire. And Jon Cooper? Who wants to find the next one of him? 

How did Housley work out? Sure we can find exceptions but this team is young top to bottom and I hope we we get experience.

[Kruppstahl]

Interesting that Botterill said the decision to fire Housley was totally his and he contacted Pegula this morning to tell him.

That's not a good look for Pegula IMO; it suggests he wasn't aware he had a coaching problem.

And that jibes with his comments made recently at the NFL meetings in support of Housley. 

 

 

 

 

[kas23]

1 hour ago, nucci said:

A good GM should always have a short list and have contact with available coaches...Plus Boughner was just fired as well

Correct. If he didn’t contact Q’s agent a week ago, I’d say he’s incompetent. That is, if Q signs with Florida, it doesn’t mean we were late to the game, it means he didn’t want to sign here.