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Posted

Amongst all the issues, one of the biggest problems is that the Sabres Front Office, coaches players DON’T HATE TO LOSE enough. 

Message that they are ‘developing from within’, ‘young talent’, blah, blah…..hasn’t worked. 

Many players that have moved on are more successful because they HATE TO LOSE & go to teams that HATE TO LOSE.

Pegs (IDK why w Bills success?)& GMKA  = don’t mind losing & doing not enough to change this team. 

Pegs should do the BEANE, hire a Real RESPECTED hockey guy as POHO, let him have full control of the organization, give him spending to cap, and let him make smart hockey moves to build this team for real. 
 

 

Posted

To this kid's view, the team's key problems remain the key problems from last season. 

1.  The team is still too young.  Yes, the youth is talented but too large a portion of the top 6 F's and too large a portion of the D and too large a portion of the legit goaltending are still learning how to be professionals.  This issue was addressed with the bottom 6 F's and the whole group for the most part is a year closer to their primes which is why this team even after a rough start had enough talent to at least tease to a playoff spot at Thanksgiving.  But their margin for error/injury remained perilously thin and as we saw with the loss of Greenway and the even more important loss of Dahlin for ~3 weeks combined with STs still being woefully non-special (in the good way sense, they've been VERY special in a non-exemplary manner) that margin once again was too thin.  

2.  The entire coaching staff below Ruff, with the POSSIBLE exception of Bales, is in way over their collective heads and should not be coaching at this level.  It was frustrating that the only move they made was demoting Ellis and replacing him with Appert and in hindsight those that were saying they didn't see Ruff's Brunette on staff (and other complaints about the coaching staff) were right.  Know it won't happen, but would like to see the entire cadre of assistant coaches (again, am on the fence about canning Bales, so maybe keep him for "continuity's sake) canned as soon as this season is over and they should be putting together a list of who they're planning on calling in to restaff this crew right now so as soon as they're available they can be hired.  Improved coaching would go a LONG way towards helping these kids mature.

And, considering the GM was a part of a SC winning team, am mildly surprised that he's never (at least as far as we know) tried to bring in a guy like the one that IMHO was the key (along with crazy good injury luck that spring) to them getting their names on Lord Stanley's Chalice.  This team flat out doesn't have a Justin Williams.  That vet in his prime or just past it that is in the top 6 because he belongs there and flat out hates to lose and will do whatever it takes to give his team their best chance to win.  Williams was IMHO a dirty player (and Habs fans certainly would say that) but he also flat out hated to lose and he was a key piece, again IMHO,  to getting the rest of his teammates to do what they needed to win that year.  That guy isn't a Sabre and we haven't seen one on the roster during the Pegulas' ownership tenure except for the 1 guy that they couldn't wait to move out of town because apparently he's a pretty lousy driver (especially when ripped).

Even more than finding another top 4D man (which they still need) and an improved coaching staff (which they still need), they need that leader that simply hates to lose.  They aren't going to be able to bring a Mark Messier to town, but a Williams needs to happen.

Ruff usually has them ready to play.  But they simply aren't able to keep it going the entire game on far too many occassions.

  • Like (+1) 1
Posted
26 minutes ago, shrader said:

@Taro T, with all the coaching stuff you mentioned, I fully expect to see Peca as an assistant after the rags blow up their staff. I don’t know whether or not it’s a good move, but it just feels so sabre. 

That would be a very Sabry move.  Still not sure though why he wasn't promoted back when he left for the Rags.

If Ruff wants him, would be ok with the move.  But this team absolutely needs to either let Ruff choose his coaching staff or bring in somebody like Gallant who will.  (And there isn't a chance in heck that Gallant would ever even get interviewed to come here.)

Have absolutely no idea what sort of moves will be made this off-season.  As much as the fans want Adams gone, would be mildly surprised should that happen.  And if Adams is back, expect they'd try to bring in a mid-to-late-ish 20 top 4 D-man that is either stay at home or 2 way (basically bringing in the guy Samuelsson or Jokiharju were supposed to be by now).  Also expect that Johnson will be either the 6 or 7 with Henri and either Gilbert or Bryson gone (and the other the 8).

Expect they'll likely try to keep the F's fairly unchanged though don't see any way Aube Kubel comes back.  Would expect that Kulich gets that roster spot.  If they can't re-sign Greenway and Zucker then there are 2 other spots that they look to improve via vets; but Zucker is their best W and Greenway brings something nobody else skirting the top 6 can bring.

IF they revamp the coaching staff, that could work, but once again they'd be operating with a very narrow margin of error.

Personally, would like to see more changes in the roster as well as the coaching ranks, but not really expecting them.

Posted
Just now, Carmel Corn said:

So Marty Ellis wasn’t the problem after all???? 😁

Matt Ellis 100% was a problem.  Under Appert the team will at least on occassion move Thompson around and also move the puck down low on occassion.  But he uses the same assinine entries (or non-entries to be more accurate) that Ellis was a master of designing.

Posted
9 hours ago, Taro T said:

Matt Ellis 100% was a problem.  Under Appert the team will at least on occassion move Thompson around and also move the puck down low on occassion.  But he uses the same assinine entries (or non-entries to be more accurate) that Ellis was a master of designing.

IS still a problem.  Ellis is still in the organization as a coach.  I believe I posted before that one of his responsibilities is face-offs.  So.. that's going well.

Posted
On 1/19/2025 at 4:24 PM, Spoonman said:

Amongst all the issues, one of the biggest problems is that the Sabres Front Office, coaches players DON’T HATE TO LOSE enough. 

Message that they are ‘developing from within’, ‘young talent’, blah, blah…..hasn’t worked. 

Many players that have moved on are more successful because they HATE TO LOSE & go to teams that HATE TO LOSE.

Pegs (IDK why w Bills success?)& GMKA  = don’t mind losing & doing not enough to change this team. 

Pegs should do the BEANE, hire a Real RESPECTED hockey guy as POHO, let him have full control of the organization, give him spending to cap, and let him make smart hockey moves to build this team for real. 
 

 

I don't agree with this at all, I don't think there is a person, maybe a rare few who enjoys losing or is ok with losing (maybe to a child when they're young). I can't see a billionaire who is most likely used to winning on a daily basis now being called out as 1 of the worst NHL owners being good with that imo. I also don't think players are good with it either but you have to have more than just talent/potential stars to win because so does every NHL team. 

Posted (edited)

I'm going more and more away from 'its coaching' with the special teams and putting this more on the players:

1.)  PK is mostly a function of maintaining discipline.  Stay in the 4 point-box formation and let the other team pass the puck around the perimeter.  Its a battle of willpower, will the PK get anxious and try to make a move toward the puck and break discipline BEFORE the PP unit forces a pass or shot before it is available?

Sure there are great plays made out there, but when I watch PK and PP units around the league, it is just as much about the very simple to teach (by the coaches), hard to play (by the players) art of above. When you watch the Sabres PK goals allowed, I would dare say most of them are when they lose discipline and start chasing.  When you watch one of their effective PK's, it is USUALLY when they stay 100% discipline and stay in their positions most of the time, with only an 'occasional' move SLIGHTLY out of their spot to pressure the puck when a sloppy pass is made.

We can think back to many PP's the Sabres are on where the other team stays 100% discipline against them, they stay in the perfect rectangle formation and it is so frustrating because when you play that discipline, unless your last name is McDavid or Gretzky and you can do something phenominal with the puck, there usually is nothing to do except kill off your own penalty by passing it around and around.

Penalty Killing there is one team that has been in the top 5 overall every year for the last few years, and they also are the best combined over the last few years. Carolina. What do they do?  The guys that get minutes are mostly older, taller (cover more territory with their reach when they are stading still) guys. Vets who don't take chances.  Watch their PK when the Sabres play them.  They probably maintain discipline in their rectangle 80%+ of the time. They don't go chasing pucks into the corner when they have a teammate there already.  Their effectiveness is not a Hasek-like goalie (that helps), but it for sure isn't the coach re-inventing the PK. That is the coach demanding guys do what they all KNOW they have to do, and the players being veteran, and discipline enough to do it.

Now, the Hurricanes DO pressure the puck more than some teams, they will have ONE guy but ONE guy only go to the puck when its loose (they have a somewhat high-pressue) system, but the key to it, if you watch replays, is that they almost always maintain that rectangle formation.  If a Forward goes to the puck on the boards, everyone usually slides over SLIGHTLY but maintain position/discipline. It is the players discipline, their quick thinking, their experience that allows them to do what they do, not coaching x's and o's.

That is very simple coaching, it is on the players to execute, and we have some guys that just don't do it.

2.)  PP. Yes, there is a little more complex coaching here, but nothing is re-inventing the wheel.  There are only so many zone entries to try, so many ways to break a PK discipline, and I'm sure that every coach around the league knows every single one (and if you don't, you can easily see them watching film of other teams.). The only real 'coaching' here is to yell at your guys when they don't do what they are supposed to do, or to maybe advance scout the other team and to see where THEY are not discipline and do your entries/formation to take advantage of that. Again, very easy stuff.

There was a night a couple of months ago I was home alone and went to NHL's web site and watched every single PP goal scored (since then I followed up and did that again but on nights with lesser games), and what I observed was this:  More than half of PP goals scored were a result of scrums in front of the net where someone whacked away at the puck and it went in (luck), or a bad rebound by a goalie (bad goalie play), or a deflection (luck or the defense failing to clear out someone), or a weak shot that the goalie didin't see that was screened (luck/not clearing out).  Basically, the majority of goals scored were not about coaching (good or bad on the PP or the PK) but rather players doing a SIMPLE job that college, junior, or even high school hockey players know to do.  

There is one team that is always seems to be in the top 5 in PP (over the last few years). Its NOT Edmonton, NOT Toronto....it IS Tampa.  Why Tampa?  They are a veteran team, a very discipline team in the offensive zone, and they have talented players, not the MOST talented, but above average talented guys who have played with each other SOOO much that there are very few surprises.  When you watch their PP, the coaches don't have any magic, there is little to nothing you see them do that other teams don't do. No magical zone entries, no plays/passing formations that are inventive. Its just talented guys that stay VERY discipline, make few mistakes, and know each other very well.

So maybe the failure of coaching is not just telling the players what to do, but getting it through their heads when they don't want to follow instructions. But to me I think the PK and PP failures are less the coaches not teaching or not knowing the X's and O's, but rather this falls on the players not being discipline.  I mean, many on this forum think this team has hardly any discipline in their 5-on-5 play, why would the PP and PK be any different?

Edited by mjd1001

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