Buffalo should fire Granato

[Thorner]

7 minutes ago, PerreaultForever said:

So how come his bio says:

After the game, Roy was sent to Sherbrooke to observe how the minor pro game was played. Sherbrooke had two netminders, and Patrick was certain he would not play, but fortune smiled on him once again. The one night he was the backup, the starter had equipment troubles early in the game. Subsequently Patrick came in and played well, and the starter never played another game the rest of the season. In the AHL playoffs, Roy established what was to be his finest attribute -- the ability to play under pressure. He led the team to a Calder Cup championship, and the next fall, he was at Montreal's training camp looking to join the club full time.

13 playoff games plus 1 regular season game, true, fair enough. But he functionally made the jump from full time Junior one season to full time NHLer the very next, even including the AHL tune up the same year he was a full time junior player. I’m not sure the 14 AHL games were critical in the jump being possible, but, it’s plausible 

[PerreaultForever]

I find it strange that the Sabres had today off after that effort against Nashville. Just doesn't seem right. 

[Skooby]

No owners steering this ship, management hired losers for assistants who can’t teach 

[Taro T]

4 hours ago, PerreaultForever said:

I find it strange that the Sabres had today off after that effort against Nashville. Just doesn't seem right. 

Blame the CBA for that.  Players have to get a day off every so often.  

[Curt]

4 hours ago, PerreaultForever said:

So how come his bio says:

After the game, Roy was sent to Sherbrooke to observe how the minor pro game was played. Sherbrooke had two netminders, and Patrick was certain he would not play, but fortune smiled on him once again. The one night he was the backup, the starter had equipment troubles early in the game. Subsequently Patrick came in and played well, and the starter never played another game the rest of the season. In the AHL playoffs, Roy established what was to be his finest attribute -- the ability to play under pressure. He led the team to a Calder Cup championship, and the next fall, he was at Montreal's training camp looking to join the club full time.

Because I didn’t scroll over to look at playoff games.

In the 1984-85 Roy played 44 reg season games in the QMJHL, 20 mins of action in one NHL reg season game, a full 60 mins in one AHL reg season game, and then 13 AHL playoff games.

 

[inkman]

His post game press conference has given me a lot of cause for concern. Basically saying the players are gripping their sticks and trying too hard, afraid to make mistakes.  He says they aren’t handling pressure well.  
 

What if they never get past that?  🫤

[Gatorman0519]

15 minutes ago, inkman said:

His post game press conference has given me a lot of cause for concern. Basically saying the players are gripping their sticks and trying too hard, afraid to make mistakes.  He says they aren’t handling pressure well.  
 

What if they never get past that?  🫤

All the psycho babble stuff is weird. How about play d better. The Boston players don’t seem to have a psychological problem. It’s hockey. Jeesh. 

[Stoner]

When or if the Sabres are ever going on playoff runs, DG will not be the coach. That's evident to me. He probably knows it too. He was given a job and has done it well enough. We're starting to see signs he's taken this team as far as it will go. The question is how cold hearted and rational KA wants to be. I'd have no problem with a new coach next fall (duh). Go get an established winner and make a definitive statement. I wouldn't be fooled into thinking the young core is in love with DG. They are mini corporations and want to make money and want to win. Likely what KA will need is a pretense to fire... Slow start next season for example. Or missing the playoffs again. Of course that'll put KA on the hot seat too.

Edited March 23, 2023 by PASabreFan

[steveoat87]

57 minutes ago, PASabreFan said:

When or if the Sabres are ever going on playoff runs, DG will not be the coach. That's evident to me. He probably knows it too. He was given a job and has done it well enough. We're starting to see signs he's taken this team as far as it will go. The question is how cold hearted and rational KA wants to be. I'd have no problem with a new coach next fall (duh). Go get an established winner and make a definitive statement. I wouldn't be fooled into thinking the young core is in love with DG. They are mini corporations and want to make money and want to win. Likely what KA will need is a pretense to fire... Slow start next season for example. Or missing the playoffs again. Of course that'll put KA on the hot seat too.

You can always move Granato management and make him Director of Player development (or some title like this).  And get a real manager -- no Mr. nice guy like Aaron Boone, but someone like Buck Showalter.

[thewookie1]

2 hours ago, inkman said:

His post game press conference has given me a lot of cause for concern. Basically saying the players are gripping their sticks and trying too hard, afraid to make mistakes.  He says they aren’t handling pressure well.  
 

What if they never get past that?  🫤

I'd say its unlikely that all of them never move beyond that; its quite literally the 1st time for the vast majority there to actually be in a playoff race and deal with weighted games with all that entails. Hell the rules practically change for the last 30 or so games.

 

1 hour ago, Gatorman0519 said:

All the psycho babble stuff is weird. How about play d better. The Boston players don’t seem to have a psychological problem. It’s hockey. Jeesh. 

..... Yes obviously it makes so much sense to compare a team with the youngest roster to a team with one of the most experienced rosters in the league. Just in case you've forgotten, the players are living and breathing humans; not robotic automatons. They feel and think just like us.  

[Marvin]

11 minutes ago, thewookie1 said:

I'd say its unlikely that all of them never move beyond that; its quite literally the 1st time for the vast majority there to actually be in a playoff race and deal with weighted games with all that entails. Hell the rules practically change for the last 30 or so games.

 

..... Yes obviously it makes so much sense to compare a team with the youngest roster to a team with one of the most experienced rosters in the league. Just in case you've forgotten, the players are living and breathing humans; not robotic automatons. They feel and think just like us.  

The two points about the rules evolving or changing after the All-Star Break and the players being so inexperienced work together to make their current slide more precipitous.  Most of them have no real idea on how much officiating changes at this time of year.  (Recall that last year's team was more of a veteran team.)  It is really a flaw in the NHL's system that officiating standards change so drastically and these guys are, in part, learning to deal with that frustration.  It is part of their growth.

[SwampD]

1 hour ago, PASabreFan said:

When or if the Sabres are ever going on playoff runs, DG will not be the coach. That's evident to me. He probably knows it too. He was given a job and has done it well enough. We're starting to see signs he's taken this team as far as it will go. The question is how cold hearted and rational KA wants to be. I'd have no problem with a new coach next fall (duh). Go get an established winner and make a definitive statement. I wouldn't be fooled into thinking the young core is in love with DG. They are mini corporations and want to make money and want to win. Likely what KA will need is a pretense to fire... Slow start next season for example. Or missing the playoffs again. Of course that'll put KA on the hot seat too.

So you think a different coach could have gotten more out of this team this year? I just don’t see that. He’s got one more year in my book. I want to see the growth of these boys into men, juxtaposed with Granato’s growth (hopefully) as a coach.

Gettin in on the big word craze that’s going on.

[Stoner]

32 minutes ago, SwampD said:

So you think a different coach could have gotten more out of this team this year? I just don’t see that. He’s got one more year in my book. I want to see the growth of these boys into men, juxtaposed with Granato’s growth (hopefully) as a coach.

Gettin in on the big word craze that’s going on.

I'll give you a facile answer. If you had told Barry Trotz "go make the playoffs," the arena bunting would be stacked in the corridors. One of my fave memories of the Aud... The playoff bunting.

And yes it's unfair of me. I think I'm mad at Don for things he can't control.

[Taro T]

40 minutes ago, SwampD said:

So you think a different coach could have gotten more out of this team this year? I just don’t see that. He’s got one more year in my book. I want to see the growth of these boys into men, juxtaposed with Granato’s growth (hopefully) as a coach.

Gettin in on the big word craze that’s going on.

He definitely gets next season.  And that year the goal has to be playoffs.  And winning can no longer be subservient to "development."  

It really is hard to evaluate Granato because the goal wasn't the one that it normally is with professional sports teams.  And both the coach and GM were on record as saying they weren't going to "sacrifice the future for short term gains."  So, with them both being consistent (to be generous) or stubborn (to be less generous) it's hard to evaluate how they'd've done with winning now being a top line goal.

And there are indications that he can be a good coach when winning is THE goal.  The way how they've actually played defensively sound hockey on occassion shows that they can actually do it.

And there are indications that he's in way over his head.  Their inability to play defensively sound on more than just a 1-2 game stretch here or there.  His saying that lineup decisions would be based on trying to win the games these last couple of weeks but them not winning.  (Which might simply be doomed regardless of the lineups with the injuries and the goaltending quality dropping precipitously over that same time period.)  Leaving Comrie in the net to become the only goalie in Sabres history to give up 10 goals in a single game.

Am still hopeful he can step up next year.  Making a change to his assistants would be an indication that he will.  The special teams are attrocious.  (And don't care that the PP is ranked highly.  They rode a 5-6 week hot streak to that ranking and have been hot garbage before and since.)  Sometimes you have to make the tough choices when you're the HC.  That would be one of them that shouldn't actually be a tough choice.

[Pimlach]

11 hours ago, PerreaultForever said:

I find it strange that the Sabres had today off after that effort against Nashville. Just doesn't seem right. 

 

Too late in the season for this. ^

 

 Maybe rest is more important right now, but a light skate with PP and PK work is in order.  Same with film work of all the defensive lapses.   

[Buffalonill]

11 hours ago, PerreaultForever said:

I find it strange that the Sabres had today off after that effort against Nashville. Just doesn't seem right. 

 Shows they  given up 

[Ross Rhea]

On 3/22/2023 at 11:08 AM, Claude Balls said:

I'd fire Adams before Granato. He's made more blunders.

My only question about this is how do we know Adams hasn't tried to bring in all sorts of talent, FAs and that talent said no because of Buffalos current loser reputation. Trades are different, but NMCs. 

Edited March 23, 2023 by Ross Rhea

[pi2000]

4 hours ago, inkman said:

His post game press conference has given me a lot of cause for concern. Basically saying the players are gripping their sticks and trying too hard, afraid to make mistakes.  He says they aren’t handling pressure well.  
 

What if they never get past that?  🫤

Ha, it's coach speak for "Our goalie sucked so we lost". 

[PerreaultForever]

1 hour ago, Pimlach said:

 

Too late in the season for this. ^

 

 Maybe rest is more important right now, but a light skate with PP and PK work is in order.  Same with film work of all the defensive lapses.   

I know I know, but that's why I said it doesn't "seem right". 

It still appears that there's a lack of accountability and expectation on this team and without that you're not going to be successful in building that winning culture they and we have talked about. 

All the development talk is fine, but I still think the performance standard is far too low. 

After this season is over I personally don't want to hear any more about patience and trust the process. I want to hear anything less than playoffs will be considered as failure. Because it will be. 

[SwampD]

2 hours ago, PerreaultForever said:

I know I know, but that's why I said it doesn't "seem right". 

It still appears that there's a lack of accountability and expectation on this team and without that you're not going to be successful in building that winning culture they and we have talked about. 

All the development talk is fine, but I still think the performance standard is far too low. 

After this season is over I personally don't want to hear any more about patience and trust the process. I want to hear anything less than playoffs will be considered as failure. Because it will be. 

I would bet that DG and KA agree with this.

[FrenchConnection44]

5 hours ago, SwampD said:

So you think a different coach could have gotten more out of this team this year? I just don’t see that. He’s got one more year in my book. I want to see the growth of these boys into men, juxtaposed with Granato’s growth (hopefully) as a coach.

Gettin in on the big word craze that’s going on.

for me, the evaluation of Granato, whom I like a whole lot, is not grounded in whether he makes the playoffs or not. But it’s just evaluating the play on the ice. Obviously, there are personnel moves that need to be made to add additional players to strengthen weak areas. But on the ice, I find that his defensive system in particular is just so bad. When the Sabres are in their zone, they just don’t seem to have a good system. They stand around, don’t back check well, they don’t play aggressively on the defensive end, there are just so many problems compared to some of the better teams, it’s almost night and day. 
 

Of course, some of the main questions you have to ask if you are considering firing a coach, is who is available to replace that coach? And do they want to coach your team? And are they a fit with the personnel on your team? They need a coach with some better, defensive prowess, but they don’t need a guy who can’t coach offense either. Our identity is not going to be a grind it out, 2-1 scoring, defensive team. We are always going to be an offensive team with the talent that we have, but we do need a coach who can still have a solid defensive system in place. 

[Marvin]

4 hours ago, Buffalonill said:

 Shows they  given up 

False.  By the last CBA, teams must give their players something like 5 days off a month.  These dates are pre-approved by the NHL and the NHLPA before the season begins.  The only exception allowed is for a rescheduled game.

[JohnC]

17 hours ago, PerreaultForever said:

I find it strange that the Sabres had today off after that effort against Nashville. Just doesn't seem right. 

I don't find it strange at all that players get days off. Whether this was league mandated because of union contract stipulations or periodic days offs to freshen the legs or give players a break from the grinding routine there is nothing wrong with judicious decisions not to practice. The neanderthal era of coaching and handling players is in the past, the very long past. 

[Quint]

Did anyone ever find out what that laughter in the background was during DG's postgame presser vs Nashville?

[Pimlach]

1 hour ago, JohnC said:

I don't find it strange at all that players get days off. Whether this was league mandated because of union contract stipulations or periodic days offs to freshen the legs or give players a break from the grinding routine there is nothing wrong with judicious decisions not to practice. The neanderthal era of coaching and handling players is in the past, the very long past. 

Lol.  Not everything in the past is Neanderthal is it?   
 

They played home on Monday.  Did they practice Tuesday, rest Wednesday, and then another home game on Thursday?  Or did they get 2 days off?   I dont know the answer but  two days off is often a bad thing unless you’re nursing an injury.   They didn’t have to travel either.  
 

Light skating, special teams practice, and defensive positioning all need a lot of attention.   Even video sessions of the recent error prone defensive play would help.  
 

I don’t know what the union negotiated, if anyo, but they don’t always serve the players best interest with back to backs and travel.