Seth Appert will coach the Sabres Tonight due to Granato Illness

[Brawndo]

 

[Stoner]

Right off the top hope Don will be OK. He has a scary medical history.

Necessary to say bc given the state of the fanbase a good deal of snark will probably follow.

[JohnC]

What's telling is the Rochester coach is brought in to do the job rather than one of the coaches on his staff. 

[Porous Five Hole]

Get well soon Meatballs. 

Both the Amerks and Sabres play tonight, so it’ll be some firsts for both staffs. Seth in the show & Paetsch/Prospal sharing head coaching duties in the AHL. 
 

I hope it gets the boys fired up for both teams tonight!

[#freejame]

What PA said, but also…

This is interesting because it really shows how different the set up is between the Bills and the Sabres.

The Bills have a front office and coaching staff that other teams want to poach from whereas the Sabres lack the appropriate…depth (?) behind the bench to even have a qualified stand-in on a night where the fill-in is already supposed to be coaching a hockey game elsewhere. 

[Porous Five Hole]

Just now, JohnC said:

What's telling is the Rochester coach is brought in to do the job rather than one of the coaches on his staff. 

What is that telling you?

To me, the roles on the bench are defined and moving up Appert to take Ellis’s spot so Ellis can take Don’s spot makes less sense.  
 

Obligatory Matt Ellis is the Matt Ellis of temporary head coach candidates.  

[bob_sauve28]

Could be stress. Here is a man whose whole life is hockey, this is his time to prove himself and it isn't going well. That can hurt you. It's got to be hard on him. 

I really like Granato and hope he is ok. 

[Porous Five Hole]

1 minute ago, bob_sauve28 said:

Could be stress. Here is a man whose whole life is hockey, this is his time to prove himself and it isn't going well. That can hurt you. It's got to be hard on him. 

I really like Granato and hope he is ok. 

What? It said illness. It has been a brutal cold and flu season so far.  Read what’s there. Agree I hope he is alright.  

[Weave]

14 minutes ago, PASabreFan said:

Right off the top hope Don will be OK. He has a scary medical history.

Necessary to say bc given the state of the fanbase a good deal of snark will probably follow.

 

7 minutes ago, JohnC said:

What's telling is the Rochester coach is brought in to do the job rather than one of the coaches on his staff. 

Both of these were my first two thoughts.

I am curious of other examples of an AHL coach on the bench as the head coach for a short term interim.  I would have thought that an NHL assistant would get that nod in most instances.

[JohnC]

5 minutes ago, Porous Five Hole said:

What is that telling you?

To me, the roles on the bench are defined and moving up Appert to take Ellis’s spot so Ellis can take Don’s spot makes less sense.  
 

Obligatory Matt Ellis is the Matt Ellis of temporary head coach candidates.  

I disagree. There is nothing unusual that during the season the HC can't be behind the bench for a variety of reasons, such as illness or personal reasons. Usually, the replacement is a coach already on his staff. Often for a variety of reasons, the HC can't conduct practice. The assistant coaches take over. Supposedly, they know the players on the roster and their capabilities. Yes, coaches have defined roles. But they aren't so limited that they can't at time assume greater responsibilities beyond their normal roles. 

[Porous Five Hole]

1 minute ago, JohnC said:

I disagree. There is nothing unusual that during the season the HC can't be behind the bench for a variety of reasons, such as illness or personal reasons. Usually, the replacement is a coach already on his staff. Often for a variety of reasons, the HC can't conduct practice. The assistant coaches take over. Supposedly, they know the players on the roster and their capabilities. Yes, coaches have defined roles. But they aren't so limited that they can't at time assume greater responsibilities beyond their normal roles. 

But if Matt Ellis gets the call, who is going to talk to his wrist and who will talk to Rob Ray? That’s a job for one Matty Ellis and one Matty Ellis only.  

[JohnC]

6 minutes ago, Weave said:

 

Both of these were my first two thoughts.

I am curious of other examples of an AHL coach on the bench as the head coach for a short term interim.  I would have thought that an NHL assistant would get that nod in most instances.

Every once in a while, Torts would step aside to allow another coach on his staff to get behind the bench. He would do it to offer a different voice on the bench. He would then watch from another vantage point in order for him to also get a different perspective on his players and their play. He's basically trying to provide a different coaching dynamic to freshen things up. That's not the case here. DG went outside his coaching room to work the game. 

[bob_sauve28]

10 minutes ago, Porous Five Hole said:

What? It said illness. It has been a brutal cold and flu season so far.  Read what’s there. Agree I hope he is alright.  

Ya, and I said could be. stress makes people get sick easier

You think his position isn't stressful? 

Yes, read what I wrote, please 😇 

[JohnC]

2 minutes ago, Porous Five Hole said:

But if Matt Ellis gets the call, who is going to talk to his wrist and who will talk to Rob Ray? That’s a job for one Matty Ellis and one Matty Ellis only.  

Rob can instead chatter with the backup goalie to get the inside scoop. 😀

[LGR4GM]

16 minutes ago, Porous Five Hole said:

What is that telling you?

To me, the roles on the bench are defined and moving up Appert to take Ellis’s spot so Ellis can take Don’s spot makes less sense.  
 

Obligatory Matt Ellis is the Matt Ellis of temporary head coach candidates.  

You just have Ellis take Don's spot and have someone like Giardi or other dev coach fill in.  This is interesting

37 minutes ago, Brawndo said:

 

Best wishes to Granato and hope it's nothing too serious. 

[Scottysabres]

43 minutes ago, PASabreFan said:

Right off the top hope Don will be OK. He has a scary medical history.

Necessary to say bc given the state of the fanbase a good deal of snark will probably follow.

Completely agree PA, best wishes to a full recovery.

And remember Donny, time heals all wounds, so please, take as much time off as is necessary to get through thus illness.

[French Collection]

It’s not enough time to implement anything new but a different voice may inspire these guys to play a good game.

Besides, if they love DG so much, they can win it for him.

I hope DG is OK, he has had some medical challenges in te past and now his brother is facing a big one too.

[FrenchConnection44]

Wish the best for Granato’s health. And his family. Hate to see any serious issues. Life is bigger than hockey (even if hockey is life to some). 

[Brawndo]

Granato missed time in Covid Protocol during the 2020-21 Season.

Ellis filled in as HC, Seth Appert came up as an Assistant Coach. 
 

This is noteworthy change. 

[LGR4GM]

2 minutes ago, Brawndo said:

Granato missed time in Covid Protocol during the 2020-21 Season.

Ellis filled in as HC, Seth Appert came up as an Assistant Coach. 
 

This is noteworthy change. 

If Rochester didn't also play tonight, I might think nothing of it, but they do so bringing in Seth as specifically HC is interesting. I wonder if this summer Adams brings in a new hc and appert then gets promoted to be Adams assistant coach pick. 

[French Collection]

2 minutes ago, LGR4GM said:

If Rochester didn't also play tonight, I might think nothing of it, but they do so bringing in Seth as specifically HC is interesting. I wonder if this summer Adams brings in a new hc and appert then gets promoted to be Adams assistant coach pick. 

Could happen. I think Seth keeps the young players in mind as far as development goes while the new HC is driving the country club out of these guys.

[JoeSchmoe]

1 hour ago, PASabreFan said:

Right off the top hope Don will be OK. He has a scary medical history.

Necessary to say bc given the state of the fanbase a good deal of snark will probably follow.

An hour later, your prophecy appears to be fulfilled.

I'm surprised this type of thing doesn't happen more often. It's not uncommon for people to get hammered by a cold or flu every couple years or so. I can think back to some of the doozies I've had over the years and there'd be no way I could coach an NHL team in that condition.

[K-9]

This will be the start of an epic run and Seth Appert will Wally Pipp Donnie G. 

[Archie Lee]

27 minutes ago, Brawndo said:

Granato missed time in Covid Protocol during the 2020-21 Season.

Ellis filled in as HC, Seth Appert came up as an Assistant Coach. 
 

This is noteworthy change. 

I think it is unusual that they wouldn’t just have someone on staff takeover. This is likely going to be for tonight and tomorrow I would guess, so maybe with it being two games they wanted a more experienced voice. 
 

Also, my recollection is that Adams coached the game or games that Granato missed during the Covid year and that Alpert was brought up to assist. 

[Buffalonill]

So this means he will take over when hes fired. 

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