Locker Clean Out Day 1, 4/17/2024; Day 2 4/18/2024

[ValJamesDuex]

Man those interviews are damning for Donny.

Lack of structure, lack of accountability, lack of consequences.

Those are all on the coach.

If those comments don’t make it obvious certain guys (Skinner) need to go then I don’t know what does.

A lot of respect for Tage for making it clear.

Not sure I entirely liked Tage's answer there, but agreed.

 

[Doug Prishpreed]

Man those interviews are damning for Donny.

Lack of structure, lack of accountability, lack of consequences.

Those are all on the coach.

If those comments don’t make it obvious certain guys (Skinner) need to go then I don’t know what does.

A lot of respect for Tage for making it clear.

Also damning for the brutally awful captain the team had, as others have mentioned. Thank god we don’t have to worry about him being here either. Clean leadership slate is needed.

 

[Dirty Dog]

The worst thing that happened was these players were over confident after the end of last season. Got way too comfortable and thought that everything would be easy for them. And Granato let this happen

 

[toddkaz]

After hearing the players talk you have to wonder how good this team can be with the right coach. I think they can compete for the division next year.

 

[slip]

I'll ask the question again: given the players' reactions in these interviews, why was replacing Granato mid-season not on the menu? Why was Adams was so obstinate to stick with something that was clearly not working? Was it hubris? --"hey, I promoted and extended this guy and I think he can do the job." Was it money? Was it the lack of a qualified replacement? Feels like an opportunity to salvage the season was squandered by managerial inaction.

 

[MOGlLNY]

I'll ask the question again: given the players' reactions in these interviews, why was replacing Granato mid-season not on the menu? Why was Adams was so obstinate to stick with something that was clearly not working? Was it hubris? --"hey, I promoted and extended this guy and I think he can do the job." Was it money? Was it the lack of a qualified replacement? Feels like an opportunity to salvage the season was squandered by managerial inaction.

He wanted to see if they could push through it, he admitted as much I don't see it as an egregious mistake as Granato had earned the trust up to that point.

Honestly, if their powerplay wasnt as bad as it was, they could've.

 

[OkimLom]

After hearing the players talk you have to wonder how good this team can be with the right coach. I think they can compete for the division next year.

Hearing them talk, I’m anticipating the reaction of the players in the dead times of the season when they are facing once again consistency issues and a head coach attempts to keep them accountable.

hopefully people are prepared for another season of growing pains which may not include playoffs again.

 

[slip]

He wanted to see if they could push through it, he admitted as much I don't see it as an egregious mistake as Granato had earned the trust up to that point.

Honestly, if their powerplay wasnt as bad as it was, they could've.

But given the multiplicity of issues -- the lax practices, the failure to prepare the team for game starts, absence of structure, the lack of accountability, the atrocious power play -- waiting around for the team to push through all of them seems, well, delusional in hindsight.

 

[MOGlLNY]

But given the multiplicity of issues -- the lax practices, the failure to prepare the team for game starts, absence of structure, the lack of accountability, the atrocious power play -- waiting around for the team to push through all of them seems, well, delusional in hindsight.

I think by the time Adams had made his decision it was a bit of a too late situation. Granato was better than his mid season replacement options.

Especially if he knew the assistants were going with him and he didn't want to leave Rochester stranded without Appert.

 

[sabresfan129103]

It's sort of vindicating that what so many have been saying for a while now around here has been echoed by the players. No accountability from the coaching staff. Maybe that works when you are trying to develop young players, but when you are trying to push past that and are actually trying to win then that coaching method just does not work.

 

[OkimLom]

I'll ask the question again: given the players' reactions in these interviews, why was replacing Granato mid-season not on the menu? Why was Adams was so obstinate to stick with something that was clearly not working? Was it hubris? --"hey, I promoted and extended this guy and I think he can do the job." Was it money? Was it the lack of a qualified replacement? Feels like an opportunity to salvage the season was squandered by managerial inaction.

It’s because the Sabres didn’t really face a long stretch of losing. Their longest losing streak was 4 games. Sabres hovered around .500 through the season in a season that nobody that was expected to be in the Wild Card spots, were pulling away from the pack. Playoffs were within reach for quite a bit of time. I honestly believe that Granato’s job was on the line after the last Detroit game and that’s when it was actively talked about between Terry and Adams.

A self-described patient guy that Kevyn is, I’d be willing to bet he was waiting to see if the players and coach would pull themselves out of the funks through the season.

A GM like Kevyn, and a mid team like Buffalo were stuck in spinning their tires. While there were concerning signs for fans, where they tend to look short term (that season), like not starting games well, the GM has to look at the bigger picture. Sure it may have been an issue they took note of, the team finished games decently, and with a young team finishing games may hav been the more important development they wanted to see.

 

[sabres4ever]

Sabre's need to hire a full time Sports Psychologist if they have not already.

"A healthy dose of consistent winning will fix all that ails you."

 

[ValJamesDuex]

"A healthy dose of consistent winning will fix all that ails you."

I've seen this team and players struggle too much with the mental parts to believe that.

 

[Gras]

What is the point of this post? Feels like projection.

Hes trying to get you to kill the Prime Minister of Malaysia

 

[Matt Ress]

Wonder if Mitts comment about sweating in practice in Colorado was a final nail

 

[Matt Ress]

What these players are saying is way too similar to what fans have been saying since October

It's actually starting to worry me that the players are actually just telling the media what they want to hear

That occurred to me as parroting Adams. They certainly couldn't come out and whine about the fans being meanies. Wonder if they were prepared for today for the first time this season.

 

[Chainshot]

Luukkonen talked to PHam -



Not sure why we don't have that video yet.

 

[debaser66]

And this is why the fans booed. Too many 'off nights' and not enough 'we're willing to bleed on this ice to make a play'. I really wish Adams would've fired Granato when this issue was apparent in December.

Im glad he did it, though. Hopefully, he makes changes in the locker-room. The bottom 6 needs to be revamped, and Im glad he mentioned that, but I think the top-6 needs a change, too.

Exactly, a proactive experienced GM would have realized that and made the changes necessary, not drag on until the season is over.

 

[Der Jaeger]

I have worked on teams where we as teammates could tell one another to get the f*** to work while also telling people outside the team to go f*** themselves for criticizing my teammate. And we got shit done.

22 years of my life.

 

[Der Jaeger]

I will always be grateful for Granato getting Dahlin, Thompson, and Mittelstadt on track. He may not be the right coach now, but imagine this team if he wasn’t able to accomplish that.

I’m also grateful that he fixed the culture. It was bad and he made it good.

Granato had a job to do and he did it very well. The job changed and he’s not the right guy anymore.

 

[SabresFan26]

I will always be grateful for Granato getting Dahlin, Thompson, and Mittelstadt on track. He may not be the right coach now, but imagine this team if he wasn’t able to accomplish that.

I’m also grateful that he fixed the culture. It was bad and he made it good.

Granato had a job to do and he did it very well. The job changed and he’s not the right guy anymore.

Not sure why everyone keeps crediting the development of certain guys but they were ultra talented before they got here and finally started hitting their potential. Sure he helped with that process.

The culture though is not good. It’s one of entitlement and country club. No accountability.

 

[MOGlLNY]

Not sure why everyone keeps crediting the development of certain guys but they were ultra talented before they got here and finally started hitting their potential. Sure he helped with that process.

The culture though is not good. It’s one of entitlement and country club. No accountability.

Are you confused? You literally answered your own question

 

[Fezzy126]

Finally got around to listening to everyone yesterday. The one thing that caught me off guard was the discussion around pressure. Adams kind of angrily debunked that narrative as nonsense, but then some of the players seemed to continue talking about it, which I found odd.

So was pressure an factor or not? I know PHam has been talking about how the Sabres wilt under pressure for as long as he's been a reporter, it's probably his favorite narrative. Has it been pressure Paul, or did they get beat by better teams? Honestly, it's not surprising that he continually falls back on one talking point, he has no idea how to diagnose systems and strategy, or recognize good play from the opposition.

I tend side with Adams, these guys have been the centerpiece of their teams going back to mite hockey, so I've never been a fan of using pressure as an excuse. The vast majority of players know how to perform at a high level in pressure situations or else they would have never made it to this level.

 

[Chainshot]

Finally got around to listening to everyone yesterday. The one thing that caught me off guard was the discussion around pressure. Adams kind of angrily debunked that narrative as nonsense, but then some of the players seemed to continue talking about it, which I found odd.

So was pressure an factor or not? I know PHam has been talking about how the Sabres wilt under pressure for as long as he's been a reporter, it's probably his favorite narrative. Has it been pressure Paul, or did they get beat by better teams? Honestly, it's not surprising that he continually falls back on one talking point, he has no idea how to diagnose systems and strategy, or recognize good play from the opposition.

I tend side with Adams, these guys have been the centerpiece of their teams going back to mite hockey, so I've never been a fan of using pressure as an excuse. The vast majority of players know how to perform at a high level in pressure situations or else they would have never made it to this level.

The Adams point that was backed up repeatedly by player interviews - when what they tried didn't work, they had nothing else to fall back on. Thompson and Clifton in particular mentioned the lack of structure, what to do when, and Cliffy was coming from one of the most accountable, most structured teams in the league.

 

[MOGlLNY]

Finally got around to listening to everyone yesterday. The one thing that caught me off guard was the discussion around pressure. Adams kind of angrily debunked that narrative as nonsense, but then some of the players seemed to continue talking about it, which I found odd.

So was pressure an factor or not? I know PHam has been talking about how the Sabres wilt under pressure for as long as he's been a reporter, it's probably his favorite narrative. Has it been pressure Paul, or did they get beat by better teams? Honestly, it's not surprising that he continually falls back on one talking point, he has no idea how to diagnose systems and strategy, or recognize good play from the opposition.

I tend side with Adams, these guys have been the centerpiece of their teams going back to mite hockey, so I've never been a fan of using pressure as an excuse. The vast majority of players know how to perform at a high level in pressure situations or else they would have never made it to this level.

I don't know if the players are the most eloquant so I wouldn't really take them at face value saying it was pressure that cause them to falter this season. Might just be the only word they could really think of on the fly.

Adams pretty much said the opposite as he felt the team was way too relaxed and didn't get the attitude coming from the locker room because they hadn't accomplished shit.