Don Granato as a HC

[#freejame]

8 minutes ago, JoeSchmoe said:

Lazar, Okposo, and Girgensens would make a nice looking 4th.

Though he has some warts as a checker and playmaker, putting Olofsson on Eichel's wing as a finisher makes him a top 6. Add in Skinner, Reinhart, Cozens, and a yet to be named free agent W acquisition, and we're set. 

And this says nothing about R2. 

I'm less confident about filling out our D. Dahlin, Risto, Bryson, and Joki should be good to go. Hopefully Borgen's small sample size of what he gave us would put him as a future bottom pair guy. Would Samuelsen be ready? 

You really believe we are one player away? In the absolute best-case, everything pans out scenario we have:

Skinner (maybe)-Eichel-Reinhart

gaping hole-Cozens (maybe)-gaping hole

Asplund-Mitts-Tage

Girgs-small hole-small hole

Lazar

I’d much sooner bump a third line winger down to the forth so Olofsson can play on the third line than move any of that third line or Victor up to the second. Like I said, it’s great we look better but we have a ways to go. We have one win against a team slated to make the playoffs and that was back in January. 

[JoeSchmoe]

2 minutes ago, #freejame said:

You really believe we are one player away? In the absolute best-case, everything pans out scenario we have:

Skinner (maybe)-Eichel-Reinhart

gaping hole-Cozens (maybe)-gaping hole

Asplund-Mitts-Tage

Girgs-small hole-small hole

Lazar

I’d much sooner bump a third line winger down to the forth so Olofsson can play on the third line than move any of that third line or Victor up to the second. Like I said, it’s great we look better but we have a ways to go. We have one win against a team slated to make the playoffs and that was back in January. 

Flyers are sitting cozy in a playoff spot in any other division but the East.

And wait until Eichel gets healthy!

I choose to be optimistic, and I'm having a lot of fun watching the team right now. I don't think we're a cup contender next year, but I think we can be good. 

You don't think Lazar, Okposo, or R2 have any place in the lineup next year?

[pi2000]

13 hours ago, PromoTheRobot said:

Can you clarify? Better in name recognition? Resume? Winning record? Retread? Total unknown?

In the land of the blind, one-eyed man is king.

[JohnC]

10 hours ago, Doohickie said:

We've half-baked this for so long.  I like Granato but what if we're just seeing a rebound from the Krueger regime and this is as good as it gets?  We're playing better but still not playoff caliber.  I don't want to be a Bubble Team I want to be a Contender.  I think Granato's a good guy, even a good coach, but at this level he has very limited experience.  I would love to be wrong and Granato is the right guy, but it's hard to get my hopes up.

No he hasn't, not yet.  Let's see how the rest of the season plays out.  If they have the same effort to the end, then yes, he has earned it.

I agree with you that as this roster is currently constituted this team is not a playoff team. We simply don't have enough talent to compete with the upper echelon teams. That's obvious to all who have a penny's worth of objectivity. But the makeup of the roster is not the fault of the coach. It is a front office responsibility. All you can ask the coach to do is work with the players he has and put them in a position to succeed. And all you can ask the coach is to make the players accountable. And that is what he has done. 

With respect to the second highlighted comment we agree. That's exactly what I have repeatedly stated with my comments on this topic. No one is being given a job because they are entitled to it. If the current coach earns it then he deserves it. So far I believe he is putting himself in a good position to have the job next season without the interim designation. 

[PromoTheRobot]

8 hours ago, pi2000 said:

In the land of the blind, one-eyed man is king.

Profound, but you didn't answer the question.

[WhenWillItEnd66]

Him and his staff are slowly getting to be deserved as decent contenders to stay in the position IMHO. They are getting more out of the younger players then ANY coach before them has. The team seems to be listening and responding to him and his current staff. NHL network had a bunch of good things to say about him. Would be happy to see how the season plays out. If they are playing hard and .500 i would consider letting it ride with him and his staff.

[pi2000]

2 hours ago, PromoTheRobot said:

Profound, but you didn't answer the question.

Do better.

[PromoTheRobot]

11 minutes ago, pi2000 said:

Do better.

Meaningless.

[pi2000]

Just now, PromoTheRobot said:

Meaningless.

See a penny, pick it up, and all day long you'll have a penny.

[PromoTheRobot]

Just now, pi2000 said:

See a penny, pick it up, and all day long you'll have a penny.

But you haven't answered which coach is better. It's easy to say "do better."  But tell me what metric you use to determine who's better.

[pi2000]

4 minutes ago, PromoTheRobot said:

But you haven't answered which coach is better. It's easy to say "do better."  But tell me what metric you use to determine who's better.

Why do you think DG is a better HC than any of the available candidates?  

[PromoTheRobot]

21 minutes ago, pi2000 said:

Why do you think DG is a better HC than any of the available candidates?  

Why do you think he isn't?

[#freejame]

1 hour ago, pi2000 said:

Why do you think DG is a better HC than any of the available candidates?  

42 minutes ago, PromoTheRobot said:

Why do you think he isn't?

Oh yeah well my dad can beat up both of your dads at the same time! 

[Thorner]

If they bring in a Rutherford in a meaningful position, and Granato stays, fine

If they brining in no advisory help and they retain Granato: No Bueno 

and an awful look 

[LGR4GM]

Adams thinks Granato should be part of the HC conversation. Calls him Donny. "For sure Donny Granato is a person who is in the mix for this (head coach)"

[Taro T]

2 hours ago, Thorny said:

If they bring in a Rutherford in a meaningful position, and Granato stays, fine

If they brining in no advisory help and they retain Granato: No Bueno 

and an awful look 

If they increase the hockey management side, and have at least 1 experienced AND respected voice helping so there's more than just Adams (or Adams & ownership) doing this on his own, and they perform an extensive search where they actually interview candidates AND THEN Granato is chosen to stay on, so be it.  Won't be thrilled but at least he'll appear to have earned the full time promotion.

Anything less & he's back then it'll smack of the Rolston coaching search & will likely be roughly as successful.

[Thorner]

5 minutes ago, Taro T said:

If they increase the hockey management side, and have at least 1 experienced AND respected voice helping so there's more than just Adams (or Adams & ownership) doing this on his own, and they perform an extensive search where they actually interview candidates AND THEN Granato is chosen to stay on, so be it.  Won't be thrilled but at least he'll appear to have earned the full time promotion.

Anything less & he's back then it'll smack of the Rolston coaching search & will likely be roughly as successful.

Yup. If they bring in no one and Granato is the coach they are full of sh*t. Really, they are that if they don't bring in help for Adams, regardless of Granato 

[JohnC]

3 minutes ago, Taro T said:

If they increase the hockey management side, and have at least 1 experienced AND respected voice helping so there's more than just Adams (or Adams & ownership) doing this on his own, and they perform an extensive search where they actually interview candidates AND THEN Granato is chosen to stay on, so be it.  Won't be thrilled but at least he'll appear to have earned the full time promotion.

 

As was side by the TV hockey commentators in the Philly game it is a joke to have a skeleton scouting department within the organization for pro and prospect ranks. As you point out in order to make good hockey decisions you have to have a solid staff in order to internally challenge and hear different voices before making critical player decisions. The Pegulas thought that a cheaper thinned out staff would be able to do as well as a full staff. Especially this year how this organization was austerely structured was a big factor as to why this franchise became a league eye sore and an embarrassment.   

[Taro T]

14 minutes ago, JohnC said:

As was side by the TV hockey commentators in the Philly game it is a joke to have a skeleton scouting department within the organization for pro and prospect ranks. As you point out in order to make good hockey decisions you have to have a solid staff in order to internally challenge and hear different voices before making critical player decisions. The Pegulas thought that a cheaper thinned out staff would be able to do as well as a full staff. Especially this year how this organization was austerely structured was a big factor as to why this franchise became a league eye sore and an embarrassment.   

As non-encouraging as this trade deadline activity was (though in fairness, it wasn't discouraging in & of itself), there still being no real hockey management group and a minimal scouting department are what remain the most discouraging things moving forward with this team.

Regardless of who gets named coach this off season, if those don't get fixed, next year remains promising only via a huge helping of hope (wishing?).

[pi2000]

6 hours ago, PromoTheRobot said:

Why do you think he isn't?

They're playing looser, he's letting guys utilize their natural abilities at a high pace and as a result they're finding more success on the offensive side of the puck... great.

Defensively they're still a mess.    I don't see any in game adjustments happening when they're getting out played... other than "try harder".      He's Ron Rolston all over again.... this may be peak Donny, I'm not sure he hasn't already his his ceiling with this team.     

There's more to coaching than just letting guys play their game at a high pace... there are better strategists, better in-game managers, better game planners out there.     Settling for Granato because some guys are playing well isn't enough for me... DO BETTER... have a higher standard... stop settling for "lets hire this guy because he doesn't suck as bad as the previous guy".

[Radar]

20 minutes ago, pi2000 said:

They're playing looser, he's letting guys utilize their natural abilities at a high pace and as a result they're finding more success on the offensive side of the puck... great.

Defensively they're still a mess.    I don't see any in game adjustments happening when they're getting out played... other than "try harder".      He's Ron Rolston all over again.... this may be peak Donny, I'm not sure he hasn't already his his ceiling with this team.     

There's more to coaching than just letting guys play their game at a high pace... there are better strategists, better in-game managers, better game planners out there.     Settling for Granato because some guys are playing well isn't enough for me... DO BETTER... have a higher standard... stop settling for "lets hire this guy because he doesn't suck as bad as the previous guy".

Specifically who would you hire. Why? Is he wi!ling to come? How much would you pay? Ect,ect. I know I'm frustrated to but it's getting more frustrating with postings here. Guess I need to take a break.

 

 

[PromoTheRobot]

40 minutes ago, pi2000 said:

They're playing looser, he's letting guys utilize their natural abilities at a high pace and as a result they're finding more success on the offensive side of the puck... great.

Defensively they're still a mess.    I don't see any in game adjustments happening when they're getting out played... other than "try harder".      He's Ron Rolston all over again.... this may be peak Donny, I'm not sure he hasn't already his his ceiling with this team.     

There's more to coaching than just letting guys play their game at a high pace... there are better strategists, better in-game managers, better game planners out there.     Settling for Granato because some guys are playing well isn't enough for me... DO BETTER... have a higher standard... stop settling for "lets hire this guy because he doesn't suck as bad as the previous guy".

I'll give you those points but let's not be too quick to dismiss what we see. If it's so easy to get guys who haven't done anything with the Sabres to suddenly look effective, why hasn't it happened before?

[Stoner]

38 minutes ago, realtruelove said:

So you have a higher standard than winning?  

How much do you weigh a victory under current circumstances vs., say, next October/November?

[Flashsabre]

8 minutes ago, PASabreFan said:

How much do you weigh a victory under current circumstances vs., say, next October/November?

What people forget is that watching the team now when they are out of it and a win is nice but a loss is just “oh well they are out of it” is a lot difference then losses to start next season when everyone is still in it.  They are still 1-17 against teams in playoff spots.

[pi2000]

3 hours ago, Radar said:

Specifically who would you hire. Why? Is he wi!ling to come? How much would you pay? Ect,ect. I know I'm frustrated to but it's getting more frustrating with postings here. Guess I need to take a break.

 

 

That's the job of the GM, I'm not privy to those conversations.   Do you trust Adams to make the right hire?