Don Granato as a HC

[JoeSchmoe]

I like him, and what he's been able to get out of this group. Especially the young guys. 

With Eichel out of the lineup, we shouldn't even be in any of these games.

Dahlin is starting to look like the 1st overall we drafted.

Mittelstadt, Thompson, and Aspland are showing signs they could be the 3rd line on a cup contending team.

Though still a work in progress, Skinner is starting to show signs of his former self.

The big one for me though is he's playing the young guys in favour of the old washouts. You see this all through the league... It's like a respect thing where coaches play the old guys even when they're terrible. You bring in an old guard guy like Boudreau, and I guarantee you he's going to be playing the Eakins, Sobotkas, and Bogosians of the world in favour of Cozens, Quinn, and Peterka.

So I say IF we finish the season playing like we are now, Granato should get the job.

[Huckleberry]

I'm not decided on this one yet, But I don't like how he turned the spirit of the team around.

[PromoTheRobot]

I hope everyone takes a fair account of what Granato does over the next 17 or so games. I think there will be a tendency to discount Granato because he's just the interim.

[Huckleberry]

1 minute ago, Huckleberry said:

I'm not decided on this one yet, But I don't like how he turned the spirit of the team around.

sorry meant to say, I do like lol

[Zamboni]

I’d want someone better. Much better.

[Huckleberry]

7 minutes ago, Zamboni said:

I’d want someone better. Much better.

That is the thing, I don't know if its time to gamble another year away on a coach.

[klos1963]

GM has to look at if Granato is the coach that will take you to the playoffs, not just get more out of some players. He might be the right choice, but regardless of how the rest of the season plays out, the new coach search needs to be extensive. He certainly has earned an interview. Rochester might be great fit for him.

It's not too unheard of to take a team that goes 0-18 and improve on that, nowhere to go but up, but can Granato help the take the team to the next step?

[Taro T]

3 minutes ago, klos1963 said:

GM has to look at if Granato is the coach that will take you to the playoffs, not just get more out of some players. He might be the right choice, but regardless of how the rest of the season plays out, the new coach search needs to be extensive. He certainly has earned an interview. Rochester might be great fit for him.

It's not too unheard of to take a team that goes 0-18 and improve on that, nowhere to go but up, but can Granato help the take the team to the next step?

Good take.

🍺

[mphs mike]

What I like, so far, about Granato is that he is putting players in a position to succeed. He’s getting the best out of what he has, rather than senselessly pounding a square peg into a round hole.

he may be what this team needs right now and has plenty of ahl (developmental) experience.

 

[Taro T]

31 minutes ago, realtruelove said:

Granato is the best coach the Sabres have had since Lindy Ruff.  What role did he have on the former staff?  Why hasn't he  had an opportunity sooner?  Who hired Granato?

 

What makes you think he is better than Bylsma or Nolan?

He's 0-2-0 vs the Bruins.  Krueger didn't coach against them.  But he's avoided the Aisles so far & Krueger didn't get that break after the COVID shutdown and got pounded.

He's 1-1-1 vs the Rags.  Under Krueger they were 1-0-1 prior to Ullmark breaking and were 0-1-0 after.

He lost a close one at home against the Caps.  Krueger was 1-3-1 against them w/ 1 of those L's being the Staal turnover game.

He's 0-1-0 vs the Pens.   Krueger was 0-2-0 vs them.  

He's 1-1-0 vs Joisey; Krueger was 3-2-1 against them and the OTL was a game they were winning until Ullmark broke.

He's 1-0-1 with a 6-1 win and a huge blown lead against the Phlyers.  2 of the Krueger coached games were identical.  The other 3 were SO losses that came before the Filly goalies were officially tire fires & while Elliott still owned the Sabres.

Yes, they are playing looser under Granato than earlier.  But the results are,  in the grand scheme, no different.  Good on him, he's getting to put together a resume that does look promising.  But there are so many examples of coaches getting brought in mid season and turning things around THAT season but being unable to bring that same improvement the following year; that my earlier question needs to be asked.

Especially when comparing the actual results now & earlier this year.  Under Krueger they had a 3-1-2 stretch w/ a 5 game point streak when there were 2 games vs the Rags, 2 vs the Devils, and 2 vs the Caps.

Granato had the same results which brought so much exuberance, but his 6 games swapped the Caps for the swooning Phlyers.

Krueger couldn't find a win while Ullmark was out in 12 tries, Granato couldn't in 3 and had 2 more losses after Linus came back, blowing 3rd period leads in both.

ST's do not look appreciably improved.  How much of the improved 5v5 scoring is due to a steady diet of backup goalies?

They have 15 games left (16 if the skipped B's game gets played).  7 (8) are against their personal horror shows the B's & Aisles.  Can they sweep the other remaining 8 to be 0.500 the rest of the way?  There are only 3 remaining btb's, so Ullmark can carry nearly all the remaining load and that provides hope.

A week ago, my expectation was they'd play 0.500 the rest of the way.  If they get there, give Granato the courtesy interview, but would prefer somebody else get named 21st HC.   If he can go 0.650, give him a real look.  Much under 0.500, why bother?

[Gatorman0519]

Granato was basically handed a glorified AHL level roster. He is intriguing for sure. Great development of the youngsters so far.

[JoeSchmoe]

8 minutes ago, Taro T said:

But the results are,  in the grand scheme, no different. 

Results no different, but the lineup he had to work with most certainly is.

[PromoTheRobot]

10 minutes ago, Taro T said:

What makes you think he is better than Bylsma or Nolan?

He's 0-2-0 vs the Bruins.  Krueger didn't coach against them.  But he's avoided the Aisles so far & Krueger didn't get that break after the COVID shutdown and got pounded.

He's 1-1-1 vs the Rags.  Under Krueger they were 1-0-1 prior to Ullmark breaking and were 0-1-0 after.

He lost a close one at home against the Caps.  Krueger was 1-3-1 against them w/ 1 of those L's being the Staal turnover game.

He's 0-1-0 vs the Pens.   Krueger was 0-2-0 vs them.  

He's 1-1-0 vs Joisey; Krueger was 3-2-1 against them and the OTL was a game they were winning until Ullmark broke.

He's 1-0-1 with a 6-1 win and a huge blown lead against the Phlyers.  2 of the Krueger coached games were identical.  The other 3 were SO losses that came before the Filly goalies were officially tire fires & while Elliott still owned the Sabres.

Yes, they are playing looser under Granato than earlier.  But the results are,  in the grand scheme, no different.  Good on him, he's getting to put together a resume that does look promising.  But there are so many examples of coaches getting brought in mid season and turning things around THAT season but being unable to bring that same improvement the following year; that my earlier question needs to be asked.

Especially when comparing the actual results now & earlier this year.  Under Krueger they had a 3-1-2 stretch w/ a 5 game point streak when there were 2 games vs the Rags, 2 vs the Devils, and 2 vs the Caps.

Granato had the same results which brought so much exuberance, but his 6 games swapped the Caps for the swooning Phlyers.

Krueger couldn't find a win while Ullmark was out in 12 tries, Granato couldn't in 3 and had 2 more losses after Linus came back, blowing 3rd period leads in both.

ST's do not look appreciably improved.  How much of the improved 5v5 scoring is due to a steady diet of backup goalies?

They have 15 games left (16 if the skipped B's game gets played).  7 (8) are against their personal horror shows the B's & Aisles.  Can they sweep the other remaining 8 to be 0.500 the rest of the way?  There are only 3 remaining btb's, so Ullmark can carry nearly all the remaining load and that provides hope.

A week ago, my expectation was they'd play 0.500 the rest of the way.  If they get there, give Granato the courtesy interview, but would prefer somebody else get named 21st HC.   If he can go 0.650, give him a real look.  Much under 0.500, why bother?

So you're metric is wins and losses with no regard for what the rosters were in each of those games?

[Doohicksie]

1 hour ago, realtruelove said:

Granato is the best coach the Sabres have had since Lindy Ruff.  What role did he have on the former staff?  Why hasn't he  had an opportunity sooner?  Who hired Granato?

He was hired along with Krueger.  I don't know if it was primarily Krueger or JBot that was responsible for hiring him.

[Marvin]

I like what they have done under Granato.  However, we need to see how they play the rest of the season against the Capitals (1), Islanders (2), Penguins (4), and Bruins (6).  That's quite a gauntlet with only 1 against the Flyers and 2 against the Rangers.  I have the following criteria:

1. No blowouts or getting massively outplayed.  This means winning 2-1 while getting outshot 45-15 is not acceptable -- even though that result is preferable to losing an even game.

2. Defence: Improved defencive awareness by everyone, but Dahlin and Jokiharu in particular.  This is both in the zone and on the rush.

3. Offence: more consistency in general.  Aside from getting Skinner back to scoring semi-regularly, Olofsson to improve at even strength, and a better power play, I want to see better decisions away from the puck when we have possession.

4. Continued improvement in execution.  I want the passing to get better.  I need better recognition of the opposition's players -- I hate that sometimes no one on the ice is aware of the trailer on a rush or the back door set-up.  I want to see better reads to maintain pressure in the offencive zone and greater disruption of the opposition in the defencive zone.

[Brawndo]

I do really like how he is putting the young kids into all situations to accelerate their growth. 
 

That being said I would like them to interview as many candidates as possible. 
 

My worry is this is going to be a similar situation to you finally break up from the worst relationship you ever had and the first person you meet is nice to you, so you jump right back into a relationship without seeing what’s out there. 

[PerreaultForever]

I think this idea is jumping the gun a little. 

The season was already over and with Kreuger's firing a cloud and weight were lifted so Granato played the kids and opened it up so it looks better. It's faster, more entertaining, more goals, but there's still tons of mistakes. These guys are playing loose, but that's not a winning formula really. Maybe wait until we see how they handle the Bruins who will need their wins against us to hold onto the playoffs. 

Also remember it's the return f Ullmark as much as anything that has kept some of this closer or led to a win. If he'd been here all season it wouldn't have put us in the playoffs, but it might have won us a few. 

The Dahlin thing will be interesting to see. He came in too fast with a desperate team and didn't learn his defensive fundamentals early with a slow easing in as it should have been and then he struggled as they tried to make him more defensively responsible and now he's let loose and on the surface it seems better but the question will be if any of that defensive teaching stuck or can be built on. If not, he's going to end up like Gardiner was in Toronto. Big points producer but a total liability come playoff time. I'd rather not follow that path. 

[bunomatic]

I’d rather none of the actual coaching that Krugeur did stick with these guys. Hopefully they take what Granato has thrown at them and suck it up like sponges. That being said KA and whomever else is brought on board need to do their due diligence and hire from that pool. Maybe when all is said and done Granato wins the job on merit. Maybe he doesn’t but this team needs to start making sound decisions.

[Doohicksie]

1 hour ago, Taro T said:

What makes you think he is better than Bylsma or Nolan?

He's 0-2-0 vs the Bruins.  Krueger didn't coach against them.  But he's avoided the Aisles so far & Krueger didn't get that break after the COVID shutdown and got pounded.

He's 1-1-1 vs the Rags.  Under Krueger they were 1-0-1 prior to Ullmark breaking and were 0-1-0 after.

He lost a close one at home against the Caps.  Krueger was 1-3-1 against them w/ 1 of those L's being the Staal turnover game.

He's 0-1-0 vs the Pens.   Krueger was 0-2-0 vs them.  

He's 1-1-0 vs Joisey; Krueger was 3-2-1 against them and the OTL was a game they were winning until Ullmark broke.

He's 1-0-1 with a 6-1 win and a huge blown lead against the Phlyers.  2 of the Krueger coached games were identical.  The other 3 were SO losses that came before the Filly goalies were officially tire fires & while Elliott still owned the Sabres.

Yes, they are playing looser under Granato than earlier.  But the results are,  in the grand scheme, no different.  Good on him, he's getting to put together a resume that does look promising.  But there are so many examples of coaches getting brought in mid season and turning things around THAT season but being unable to bring that same improvement the following year; that my earlier question needs to be asked.

Especially when comparing the actual results now & earlier this year.  Under Krueger they had a 3-1-2 stretch w/ a 5 game point streak when there were 2 games vs the Rags, 2 vs the Devils, and 2 vs the Caps.

Granato had the same results which brought so much exuberance, but his 6 games swapped the Caps for the swooning Phlyers.

Krueger couldn't find a win while Ullmark was out in 12 tries, Granato couldn't in 3 and had 2 more losses after Linus came back, blowing 3rd period leads in both.

ST's do not look appreciably improved.  How much of the improved 5v5 scoring is due to a steady diet of backup goalies?

They have 15 games left (16 if the skipped B's game gets played).  7 (8) are against their personal horror shows the B's & Aisles.  Can they sweep the other remaining 8 to be 0.500 the rest of the way?  There are only 3 remaining btb's, so Ullmark can carry nearly all the remaining load and that provides hope.

A week ago, my expectation was they'd play 0.500 the rest of the way.  If they get there, give Granato the courtesy interview, but would prefer somebody else get named 21st HC.   If he can go 0.650, give him a real look.  Much under 0.500, why bother?

I like Granato a lot and I hope he stays with the organization in some capacity but this will keep me from getting my hopes up too high/falling in love with Granato as HC.

Edited April 11, 2021 by Doohickie

[darksabre]

48 minutes ago, Brawndo said:

I do really like how he is putting the young kids into all situations to accelerate their growth. 
 

That being said I would like them to interview as many candidates as possible. 
 

My worry is this is going to be a similar situation to you finally break up from the worst relationship you ever had and the first person you meet is nice to you, so you jump right back into a relationship without seeing what’s out there. 

The thing I keep coming back to with Granato is that the kids are thriving under him because that's what he knows. He knows how to deal with young players. But what about beyond that?

I think, in all seriousness, that Ted Nolan could have accomplished the same thing here. 

We all know this team needs a coach that can take things to the next level. Granato as that guy? I don't know. I would bet not.

[JoeSchmoe]

My biggest worry though as I mentioned in my initial post, is they bring in an old guard guy and he'll try to ride his washed up vets who's contracts we're stuck with just like they all seem to do. 

With the cap being what it is, KA is no question going to have to bring in some low cost veteran fillers with zero upside again this off season, and old guard guy is going to ride them until we're out of the playoffs.

[JoeSchmoe]

As well, I don't want old guard guy locking down Dahlin, Cozens, and our other young guys into rigid systems.

[Thwomp!]

I'd like to see a veteran coach in here.

I can see Terry being enamored with Granato though, for several reasons.

[pi2000]

I like what he's done.  He knew what things were wrong and has tried to correct them.

That said, do better.

[triumph_communes]

Wish we get to see Eichel under Granato