Confirmed with Link: Sabres have promoted Seth Appert to assistant coach/Amir Gulati to video coordinator/Girardi let go

[Doug Prishpreed]

Rivet and Peters view on the coaching staff seem partially agenda driven clouded by their friendship with Matt Ellis and love of Mike Peca.

Rivet describes Ellis as an "insanely good" development coach while Peters says the coaching staff overall is a "weak coaching staff". Peters also says it would be better if they had someone "cool" like Peca.

They had profuse praise of Lindy's coaching ability.

They blamed Granato for the PP because of his "terrible decision" to put Ellis in charge of it.

They also say the team has needed identity players for a long time, which is absolutely correct.

Just like all of us (except for Chain), half the stuff they say is nonsense, half of it is solid.

 

[Chainshot]

They also say the team has needed identity players for a long time, which is absolutely correct.

Just like all of us (except for Chain), half the stuff they say is nonsense, half of it is solid.

Yes, I would agree - most of my stuff is nonsense.

 

[MeenOlViks]

Yes, I would agree - most of my stuff is nonsense.

Such a contrarian

 

[Chainshot]

Such a contrarian

I see you have read me.

 

[Jacob582]

Yes, I would agree - most of my stuff is nonsense.

I knew Chain has been duping us for years!

 

[Jacob582]

half of it is solid.

One of their solid takes:

Peters: "we don't need four coaches on the bench"

Rivet: "I don't think you do either"

 

[WeDislikeEich]

I don’t think Berube not being hired had anything to do with money.

I think it’s just as simple as Kevyn Adams wanted Lindy Ruff. I don’t know why that would be hard to believe. Lindy gave him his first job in the NHL after his playing career ended. He coached side by side with Lindy and knows him intimately.

If Adams think Lindy is a great coach (which I think it’s obvious he does) and knows the owner he works for loves Lindy too, why wouldn’t he hire him over a coach he doesn’t know? Especially if his job is on the line… he placed a bet on a coach he knows, has worked with and thinks is the right guy for the job at hand.

Edit - now the assistant coaching staff, that I DO think could’ve had to do with money, at least in part.

 

[joshjull]

Finally listened to Lindy on Sabres live. His comments on the coaching breakdown…

Lindy/Appert will collaborate on the forwards/PP.
Wilford will run the dmen/PK
Ellis will be the eye in the sky/work with centers on faceoffs.

 

[Willgamesh]

Finally listened to Lindy on Sabres live. His comments on the coaching breakdown…

Lindy/Appert will collaborate on the forwards/PP.
Wilford will run the dmen/PK
Ellis will be the eye in the sky/work with centers on faceoffs.

Yeah.... Ellis is a career loser in faceoff% so im sure we will still suck at that.

 

[joshjull]

Yeah.... Ellis is a career loser in faceoff% so im sure we will still suck at that.

Coachs didn’t have to succeed at something in the NHL to be effective coaching it at that level. Though it would be nice.

I’m just glad Lindy sees it as something that needs to be focused on and has a coach dedicated to it. It should mean a lot of practice reps and probably video work.

 

[Jim Bob]

Coachs didn’t have to succeed at something in the NHL to be effective coaching it at that level. Though it would be nice.

I’m just glad Lindy sees it as something that needs to be focused on and has a coach dedicated to it. It should mean a lot of practice reps and probably video work.

Scotty Bowman could barely skate and Wayne Gretzky was a horrible head coach.

Playing ability has no correlation to coaching ability.

 

[Diaspora]

Sabres fans: Ellis has to go.
Adams: Ellis has to stay.
Analytics guys: faceoff % doesn't correlate to winning.
Lindy: Matt Ellis is our faceoff eye-in-the-sky.
Rob Ray: I was texting with Matty Ellis between periods, and he said . . . .

 

[Jacob582]

Rob Ray: I was texting with Matty Ellis between periods, and he said . . . .

Change of subject but I hope they interview Appert on camera between periods next season.

 

[Willgamesh]

Scotty Bowman could barely skate and Wayne Gretzky was a horrible head coach.

Playing ability has no correlation to coaching ability.

however showing that you're a shitty assistant coach doesn't really show you can now teach faceoffs because you aren't behind the bench.

 

[joshjull]

however showing that you're a shitty assistant coach doesn't really show you can now teach faceoffs because you aren't behind the bench.

He was also coaching when the PP was 9th in the NHL the season before. Tage breaks his hand this season and they were unable to adapt the PP. It happens.

I have no idea if Ellis will be good at working with guys on the faceoffs. I’m just not going to write him off yet based on a crappy PP this season.

 

[Willgamesh]

He was also coaching when the PP was 9th in the NHL the season before. Tage breaks his hand this season and they were unable to adapt the PP. It happens.

I have no idea if Ellis will be good at working with guys on the faceoffs. I’m just not going to write him off yet based on a crappy PP this season.

unable to adapt? They didn't even try to adapt.

 

[dire wolf]

Finally listened to Lindy on Sabres live. His comments on the coaching breakdown…

Lindy/Appert will collaborate on the forwards/PP.
Wilford will run the dmen/PK
Ellis will be the eye in the sky/work with centers on faceoffs.

It was a short and not very in-depth interview. However, listening to Lindy discuss the PP gave me some hope. He seems to be a student of the game and keeps up with how the game evolves. He talked about how, in order to improve the PP, you need to first understand how teams are penalty killing these days, and that they key to breaking the PK is deception and lots of movement. He said the bumper player is almost the most important player now on the PP in part because they can help the flank players create 2 on 1's on both sides and down low. But mostly, he talked about the importance of movement, which was the most glaringly-obvious problem with our PP this past year.

The other thing I liked is that he said he is going to place a huge emphasis on the importance of winning 50/50 battles, puck tracking and back checking and these are the non-negotiable aspects of the games. I think he means that he doesn't expect every player to play the same way and they should use players to their strengths, but certain things are expected of everyone.

Anyway, it all sounds good. Let's see if he can implement it.

 

[joshjull]

I didn't bother with per/60 because the rankings were the same in 23-24 vs total and I'm feeling pretty low effort on my give a crap about the Sabres based on these hires.

But now that you brought it up...

PK
ga/60
21-22: 23rd
22-23: 29th
23-24: 14th

xga/60
21-22: 18th
22-23: 29th
23-24: 17th

ga/60 includes the play of the skaters and goalie, xga/60 only looks at the skaters.

Large year over year improvement from the skaters this season compared to last, but basically the same as they were 21-22. Still bottom half of the league. if just barely.

Large improvement in goaltending this year compared to either of the last 2 seasons. Which dragged us just barely into the top half of the league in overall PK.

You shouldn’t bother with per/60 because it’s a pretty useless measure of special teams for a variety of reasons.

I don’t know why you keep ignoring the best measure for PK success/failure we have at the moment (% of PKs killed). It has flaws but is infinitely better than GA/XGA or any per/60 stat.

They were better this past season PKing than the prior season. I agree with you that goaltending was the likely reason for it.

Btw, I’m not commenting on the PK coaching prowess of our coaching staff. Just the flaws with the stats you’re using.

unable to adapt? They didn't even try to adapt.

They did try to adapt and failed miserably.

 

[HogtownSabresfan]

Getting your facts from After The Whistle.....

Getting your facts from local media who are too scared to even ask the question?

Lindy had a multi-year deal with Devils that kicked in with Devils next year, Gallant had one year.

After the Whistle guys may be idiots, but they are not the total butt-kissers in the media who just get spoon-fed and accept whatever the team tells them. Get your news from Paul Hamilton and Harrington. Absolute jokes.

Yesterday, I was fed some ideas of Seth Appart being a logical choice for the #2 job and how he was convinced to join the Sabres. Seriously, the guy just got the major coaching of his career.

Who in their right mind thinks Appart had anywhere to go but another head coach job in AHL or assistant job in NHL? Nobody was making him a head coach. It doesn't mean Sabres can't be successful with the current crew but it is becoming very obvious this saved them money on top of the move being done as a great marketing tool to sell tickets.

You have to be in a fantasy world to believe a team that was $8 million under cap last year and $20 million + the year (trading for Ben Bishop to reach the floor) is using all their resources. I like Kevyn Adams a lot, but is he spinning some tales lately?

Pegula should come clean on his spending plans. My trust in him is getting beyond low.

 

[HogtownSabresfan]

They also say the team has needed identity players for a long time, which is absolutely correct.

Just like all of us (except for Chain), half the stuff they say is nonsense, half of it is solid.

Yes, a ton of what they say is nonsense. They are not journalists. But the journalists in Buffalo are soft. I don't know why the Buffalo News does exactly but repeat scoops from Elliott Friedman and others and offer opinions. There is so little scrutiny. It's getting embarrassing. I cancelled my subscription, there was so little info. The bloggers like Chad are doing more meaningful work. There are people commenting here with more insightful takes than local media. So when peoplke tell me After The Whistle is crap, I say what else is out there.

 

[May Day 10]

Pegula essentially shut down any semblance of a critical local media presence.

 

[Chainshot]

Pegula essentially shut down any semblance of a critical local media presence.

Not as though there was much of one to begin with.

 

[Jacob582]

Getting your facts from local media who are too scared to even ask the question?

Lindy had a multi-year deal with Devils that kicked in with Devils next year, Gallant had one year.

After the Whistle guys may be idiots, but they are not the total butt-kissers in the media who just get spoon-fed and accept whatever the team tells them. Get your news from Paul Hamilton and Harrington. Absolute jokes.

Yesterday, I was fed some ideas of Seth Appart being a logical choice for the #2 job and how he was convinced to join the Sabres. Seriously, the guy just got the major coaching of his career.

Who in their right mind thinks Appart had anywhere to go but another head coach job in AHL or assistant job in NHL? Nobody was making him a head coach. It doesn't mean Sabres can't be successful with the current crew but it is becoming very obvious this saved them money on top of the move being done as a great marketing tool to sell tickets.

You have to be in a fantasy world to believe a team that was $8 million under cap last year and $20 million + the year (trading for Ben Bishop to reach the floor) is using all their resources. I like Kevyn Adams a lot, but is he spinning some tales lately?

Pegula should come clean on his spending plans. My trust in him is getting beyond low.

Until he tells us otherwise, assume Pegula is operating under the following words: "effective, efficient and economic". He also mentioned needing to get leaner during the same press conference.

I think they made the best hire possible. NONE of these other established coaches were coming to Buffalo. And I'm sure that Pegula didn't want to be used by Berube to negotiate more money from Toronto. He already learned that game from Babcock.

So call Pegula cheap because I'm pretty sure he didn't want to be the team to pay the (premier) coaching candidate $7M a year as Kevin Weekes reported could happen.

 

[HogtownSabresfan]

Until he tells us otherwise, assume Pegula is operating under the following words: "effective, efficient and economic". He also mentioned needing to get leaner during the same press conference.

I think they made the best hire possible. NONE of these other established coaches were coming to Buffalo. And I'm sure that Pegula didn't want to be used by Berube to negotiate more money from Toronto. He already learned that game from Babcock.

So call Pegula cheap because I'm pretty sure he didn't want to be the team to pay the (premier) coaching candidate $7M a year as Kevin Weekes reported could happen.

I agree with everything you have said other than what he says means nothing to me. I will focus on what he does. I don't resent him not spending and demanding the team not lose money, but he was the guy vocal about previous ownership shortcomings. He should really come clean. I would like a middle ground with Terry where we are close to the cap and we have some experienced leadership. He could just say Ruff was our guy all along. He's available, he's a fit. Instead, they gave us some bullshit about a coaching search. Move all these guys up in a house in the coaching shift. Maybe, it's about loyalty but let's be honest that it saves money. And if doesn't want to spend, don't waste money on crap like $2.5 M for Okposo and $2 M for Jost. So many ridiculous dumb contracts. Paying Krueger 3 x $3.75 M -- nobody else was going to pay an unemployed soccer executive that. Why extend Granato for no reason? There was a long line to hire him? Be smart with money. I'm hoping that is happening now. It sure didn't happen last season.

 

[Beerz]

Yes, a ton of what they say is nonsense. They are not journalists. But the journalists in Buffalo are soft. I don't know why the Buffalo News does exactly but repeat scoops from Elliott Friedman and others and offer opinions. There is so little scrutiny. It's getting embarrassing. I cancelled my subscription, there was so little info. The bloggers like Chad are doing more meaningful work. There are people commenting here with more insightful takes than local media. So when peoplke tell me After The Whistle is crap, I say what else is out there.

While you're not wrong about local media. Rivet and Peters are the ones that tap into the raged fan.. they get people fired up to bash the team