Bowen Byram on his struggles

[Buffalonill]

Hopefully they get the right coach because I have felling this team will go on a rampage next year now

 

[Pimlach]

Crazy that learning the Granato system ended his good play. 

He stopped being a factor after about a week.  
 

Can’t wait for an NHL coach and system.  

[SDS]

This is a pretty damning statement.

[Sabres Fan in NS]

Maybe we should not read too much into this.

It's difficult for anyone in a new situation.

It takes time.

Cliffton struggled at first, but was much better in the second half.

That said, obviously Granato and the video guy and some other guy could not get the Sabres to play consistantly or to the next level.  They were fired (is Granato's contract guaranteed ? - his extension was to kick in now), but looks like Matt Ellis and the rest are good enough since they were not fired - at least not yet.

[Gatorman0519]

First Mitts statement about the lack of intensity at practices, now this. DG and the gang were not NHL coaches. If you applied this statement across the roster I wonder what would happen. We might actually have some really good players. 

Edited April 20 by Gatorman0519

[dudacek]

After that flashy start, Byram wasn’t very good.

Not sure his play was much different than it was earlier in the year in Denver though.

More than most, I thought his interview was safe and calculated.

The closest you got to real was when he talked about how disappointed he was in his own year.

He’s right there with his buddies Cozens and Krebs at a crossroads of his career.

Lot of skill there. More than most, he needs a big summer and the right coach.

[#freejame]

Granato was never some “development” coach. He was the Craig Patrick of the USNTDP, working in a role with already ultra-talented, NHL caliber prospects. 

[Stoner]

The players sure seemed to get on the same page for once and throw Donnie under the bus, albeit somewhat subtly.

They need a coach with structure who will hold them accountable.

Hockey player, heal thyself.

Randall has a theory that the message was coordinated from above.

[dudacek]

14 minutes ago, PASabreFan said:

The players sure seemed to get on the same page for once and throw Donnie under the bus, albeit somewhat subtly.

They need a coach with structure who will hold them accountable.

Hockey player, heal thyself.

Randall has a theory that the message was coordinated from above.

Adams explicitly said at his presser he was going to deliver that message to the players.

[Sabre The Cup]

What happened to the guys who were SO UPSET at the fans chanting “Fire Donnie”. 
 

I have a feeling these guys don’t know what they think. 

[Carmel Corn]

It proves Donny's system was garbage to me.  I'd like to see the Sabres change from zone to man-to-man....IMHO it is an easier defensive system to play.

[shrader]

2 hours ago, SDS said:

This is a pretty damning statement.

It’s a tale as old as time. Didn’t Casey fall off too after a bit?

[inkman]

2 hours ago, Sabre The Cup said:

What happened to the guys who were SO UPSET at the fans chanting “Fire Donnie”. 

In this forum?  I don’t recall that at all. You sure you aren’t thinking of elsewhere? 

[Doohicksie]

2 hours ago, Sabre The Cup said:

What happened to the guys who were SO UPSET at the fans chanting “Fire Donnie”. 
 

I have a feeling these guys don’t know what they think. 

This is actually a really good point, but on the other hand it's the way a lot of us on Sabrespace feel:  Donny is a helluva nice guy, just not an NHL caliber coach.

[kas23]

4 hours ago, Pimlach said:

Crazy that learning the Granato system ended his good play. 

He stopped being a factor after about a week.  
 

Can’t wait for an NHL coach and system.  

Thank God it’s going to change. We saw it with Robinson and Byram. They came in charging the net and standing in front of the net. Once they learned the “system”, this seemed to go away. The best part is that Benson didn’t seem to buy in. Thankfully he never changed. 

[JustOneParade]

56 minutes ago, inkman said:

In this forum?  I don’t recall that at all. You sure you aren’t thinking of elsewhere? 

I hope he comes back to clarify, but when he wrote ‘the guys’ I assumed he meant ‘the players’.

[Pimlach]

5 hours ago, PASabreFan said:

The players sure seemed to get on the same page for once and throw Donnie under the bus, albeit somewhat subtly.

They need a coach with structure who will hold them accountable.

Hockey player, heal thyself.

Randall has a theory that the message was coordinated from above.

No doubt the players were repeating what Adams told them, which is exactly what Adams told us in the presser. 

[Pimlach]

4 hours ago, Sabre The Cup said:

What happened to the guys who were SO UPSET at the fans chanting “Fire Donnie”. 
 

I have a feeling these guys don’t know what they think. 

Most were saying they need harder practices and to be pushed harder and held accountable.  

A few said they were in part responsible for his firing.  

 A very few said they need to be better.  

There is no Captain on this roster and we should go with three A’s until someone emerges. 
 

[sabrefanday1]

We must trade from our strength to address our weakness...trade  Byram if the right trade for a center comes along, one with grit and good at faceoffs. Kinda silly mind you when we had Mitts. Still do not like this trade. Good teams are built around strong centers and we have to greatly improve there. Dylan may be better on wing and Tage is no face-off demon. 

  As for Byram and his sudden struggles, I worry he may not be as good as many think. Time will tell but we really do not need more young defensemen.  

[Sabres Fan in NS]

2 hours ago, inkman said:

In this forum?  I don’t recall that at all. You sure you aren’t thinking of elsewhere? 

He meant the players that were expressing their dismay at the fan chants for Donnie's head.

[inkman]

3 hours ago, JustOneParade said:

I hope he comes back to clarify, but when he wrote ‘the guys’ I assumed he meant ‘the players’.

 

2 hours ago, Sabres Fan in NS said:

He meant the players that were expressing their dismay at the fan chants for Donnie's head.

Thanks 

[Night Train]

Speaking of struggles..

Mitts last 8 games of the year .. 0 goals 3 assists  -6 

[PerreaultForever]

I honestly believe it's not that it was a difficult system to learn. What they had to learn here was that the forwards weren't going to come back and help out. They (first Clifton then Byram) came from systems with very good back checking and forward responsibility, Clifton was lost at first. Byram got confused. We basically had no system and it was every man for himself. They learned that they can't do the things they were used to doing. 

[mjd1001]

I'm not worried about Byrum. You can see the talent there. He's a good skater, fast, carries the puck well. Has a decent shot for a Defenseman. I think the biggest thing is what he said, he was 'the new guy', he needs to find his role on the team and be confident in it.  

 

Interesting to me on both sides of the trade....contract. 

Byram.  He is signed just for next year. Do you try to extend him?  If so, for how much how long?

Mitts. He's an RFA for Colorado this summer.  His production, and ice time, went down with Colorado. He finished the regular season (combined) with 18 goals and 39 assists.

I'm interested to see what happens to both sides of this trade in the offseason.

[Thorner]

12 hours ago, Pimlach said:

Crazy that learning the Granato system ended his good play. 

He stopped being a factor after about a week.  
 

Can’t wait for an NHL coach and system.  

No, his “good play” was a product of a common post trade bump and he returned to the poor play he had demonstrably shown all year in Colorado. It wasn’t the “Granato effect”