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Official Don Granato Named New Sabres Head Coach

Brawndo

By Brawndo
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Gatorman0519 First Liner

Gatorman0519

Posted
Posted (edited)
1 hour ago, Thorny said:

Can I say I didn't necessarily see this, without saying I have no hope for Granato? 

When we tout all year how bad of a coach Krueger was, and by data it seems to be true, and we see literally zero uptick in overall metrics after he goes, and we win a little more, is it possible the small improvement we saw was down to, if not luck, a regression to the mean of coaching aptitude?

Candidly, I think anyone would be hard pressed to make a compelling argument that the small performance uptick we saw was more due to Granato, an unknown at the NHL head coaching level, than it was due to simply the dismissal of Krueger. 

Would you be shocked to learn Krueger was a net negative behind the bench and that you or I standing behind it, and doing nothing, would be an improvement?

Maybe, but Granato has a large body of work that has shown success and knows hockey quite well. I’ve been watching his coaching videos. Very impressive. 

Edited by Gatorman0519
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Thorner Hall of Famer

Thorner

Posted
Posted
1 minute ago, Gatorman0519 said:

Could it be that maybe we were that bad at developing? 

My theory is that it's more often a failure to meet self-imposed expectation, than outright failure. Often, the expectations are unreasonably high for our prospects because, being unable to field a competent NHL roster, we've chosen to necessarily require and expect too much from them too soon. Take your pick of prospect. The extent to which they get perceived as failures of development could be impacted by this. 

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Marvin First Liner

Marvin

Posted
Posted
26 minutes ago, Stanley Lombardi said:

Godspeed, Coach Granato.  I think they finally found the right man.

Welcome to the board.

Speaking of God, I hope to God you are right.

  • Thanks (+1) 1
Weave Hall of Famer

Weave

Posted
Posted
1 hour ago, Thorny said:

My theory is that it's more often a failure to meet self-imposed expectation, than outright failure. Often, the expectations are unreasonably high for our prospects because, being unable to field a competent NHL roster, we've chosen to necessarily require and expect too much from them too soon. Take your pick of prospect. The extent to which they get perceived as failures of development could be impacted by this. 

Been that way since Pierre Turgeon.

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Radar Second Liner

Radar

Posted
Posted
35 minutes ago, Mike Honcho said:

why do i get the impression this will be no better than the last few coaches

Please!! Tell us.

46 minutes ago, CallawaySabres said:

It would be interesting to know if anyone they interviewed even wanted the job

So, why would tbey interview? Asking for a friend.

Claude Balls First Liner

Claude Balls

Posted
Posted

10 years with no playoffs, what's another 3+ gonna matter. I liked what I saw for the first month under Meatballs, but then they seemed to regress again. Once Adams gets taken to the woodshed with the Sam and Jack inevitable trades, all I can say is thank God for the Bills. I don't know how any coach could turn this dumpster fire around. I truly wish you well Donnie. I think you're a great person, but, you gotta huge mountain to climb. My question is, who goes first, Adams or Granato??

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Randall Flagg Hall of Famer

Randall Flagg

Posted
Posted

I'm good with this. Was a different story when I was under the assumption that we were keeping Eichel. I think Don knows hockey better than anyone, and his passion for the game seems up there as well. That'll rub off on players, and I think it already has - I wouldn't be surprised if he got glowing reviews from the guys that Kevyn deemed the "young core," who fired him up with their end of season meetings. 

Regarding "metrics" before/after Donny, part of that had to be the fact that Ralph got 20 games with Jack and his entire season with Hall - they obviously weren't playing good hockey this year, but they both put up good "metrics", and without them, Don's top six centers were Reinhart playing C for the first meaningful stretch of time in his career, and Mitts, who Don resurrected from Sabres fans' mental prospect cemetery. Don's typical day to day roster was far more inexperienced than Ralph's, and had to face teams ramping up their play for the playoffs - a stretch of the season where the Sabres would typically wilt, not compete, and go on extended losing streaks throughout the last decade. Don had this team frustrating very good playoff-bound teams during this time, and you'd be lying if you said that was something we've seen even once in recent springs. Just looking at xGF% and things like it without taking these things and more into consideration isn't really something worth worrying over IMO.

If Kevyn can put a real roster together, I'm confident that from what I've seen and heard, Don at the very least won't be a problem, and could be a real asset. His knowledge and passion are clear, genuine, honest, his humility is respectable, his resume is impressive, and he got something I never expected out of at least 3 players I was very worried about 

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JohnC First Liner

JohnC

Posted
Posted
28 minutes ago, Randall Flagg said:

I'm good with this. Was a different story when I was under the assumption that we were keeping Eichel. I think Don knows hockey better than anyone, and his passion for the game seems up there as well. That'll rub off on players, and I think it already has - I wouldn't be surprised if he got glowing reviews from the guys that Kevyn deemed the "young core," who fired him up with their end of season meetings. 

Regarding "metrics" before/after Donny, part of that had to be the fact that Ralph got 20 games with Jack and his entire season with Hall - they obviously weren't playing good hockey this year, but they both put up good "metrics", and without them, Don's top six centers were Reinhart playing C for the first meaningful stretch of time in his career, and Mitts, who Don resurrected from Sabres fans' mental prospect cemetery. Don's typical day to day roster was far more inexperienced than Ralph's, and had to face teams ramping up their play for the playoffs - a stretch of the season where the Sabres would typically wilt, not compete, and go on extended losing streaks throughout the last decade. Don had this team frustrating very good playoff-bound teams during this time, and you'd be lying if you said that was something we've seen even once in recent springs. Just looking at xGF% and things like it without taking these things and more into consideration isn't really something worth worrying over IMO.

If Kevyn can put a real roster together, I'm confident that from what I've seen and heard, Don at the very least won't be a problem, and could be a real asset. His knowledge and passion are clear, genuine, honest, his humility is respectable, his resume is impressive, and he got something I never expected out of at least 3 players I was very worried about 

Granato's success is predicated on KA adding enough talent to give him a chance to succeed. If the expected departing assets don't bring enough of a return to spread out and add to the talent base, and if the increased cap room is not smartly utilized then Granato is not going to succeed, or would any other coaching hire. The one position that would have the most positive influence is solidifying the goaltending. It's unlikely that the talent that will be shipped out will be matched with the talent coming, at least for the short term. But that doesn't mean that next year's roster can't be thickened and improved upon. What it comes down to is that Granato's chances of succeeding is predicated on Adams doing a smart job this offseason.  

Zamboni First Liner

Zamboni

Posted
Posted

If a goaltending improvement is not addressed, Granato will fail. That MUST be priority #1. The other pieces are important for sure. But solidify the goaltending KA. Don’t screw over Meatballs. If KA doesn’t improve that position, I’d like to see him gone before the end of next season. Yes, I would give KA a few months to try to improve goaltending. I’m not as hair-trigger to fire the guy like some of you.

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