News Article: Granato Exclusive with Matthew Fairburn

[Ace]

I don’t know but every team I have been on they gave me a schedule and a start time. The players know when the game starts. A lot is on their shoulders.

When people talk about not prepared to start they don’t mean they come out lazy and don’t try. They’re saying they have no idea what to do. They are woefully unprepared for opponents and get outcoached over and over again. And they have no idea what to do when that leads to an early deficit because they have no basic structure to fall back on to stem the tide and get their adjustments in place. As if there were adjustments,

I get its funny to think that 23 people somehow refuse to try at the beginning of 82 games. The reality is they go out with a flawed game plan, nothing to revert to when they’re in trouble and no adjustments to beat what the other team is doing.

They’re not ready to play because they are being prepared by a coach with no answers. Not because they haven’t prepared.

That’s why it was so consistent. The league adjusted. Don never figured it out. Ever.

 

[Jeremy2020]

Does it seem to anyone else that he seemed to be enjoying coaching in the previous seasons, and this year, he seemed miserable and tense? I used to enjoy his postgame comments, but found this year’s to be almost unwatchable.

When you're expected to lose and do.. party time! When you're expected to win and can't.. well, that's not fun.

 

[Jim Bob]

Yeah, like others said...you can't just talk about what it means to be accountable and expect young guys to understand and change. You have to impose discipline at various levels and if none of those efforts succeed, you start talking about how a guy or guys are actually NOT accountable. It can be in private and maybe even publicly, first stating there is a problem among the roster and then even naming guys. You go to the GM and tell him somebody might need to be traded even at a loss, if it means sending the right message. Or in our case, KA can trade one of the hardest working players for a dude-bro pal of some of the slackers.

As someone that has coached plenty of kids, managed adults, worked for a D1 hockey team, and has a son currently playing D3 college lacrosse, I think Don Granato said the quiet part out loud.

You could have the hardest of hardass coaches and it won't matter if the players refuse to listen and are unable to be accountable and change.

Exhibit A: Rod Brind'Amour reportedly wanting nothing to do with Jeff Skinner. Why is that? I would bet money is that it is because he is one of those "not accountable" guys. And a guy that RBA couldn't coach accountability into was the highest paid forward on this roster.

And given the contract with the NMC that the previous GM gave Skinner, it's not like Granato could demand that they move him.

 

[jc17]

As someone that has coached plenty of kids, managed adults, worked for a D1 hockey team, and has a son currently playing D3 college lacrosse, I think Don Granato said the quiet part out loud.

You could have the hardest of hardass coaches and it won't matter if the players refuse to listen and are unable to be accountable and change.

Exhibit A: Rod Brind'Amour reportedly wanting nothing to do with Jeff Skinner. Why is that? I would bet money is that it is because he is one of those "not accountable" guys. And a guy that RBA couldn't coach accountability into was the highest paid forward on this roster.

And given the contract with the NMC that the previous GM gave Skinner, it's not like Granato could demand that they move him.

I think the difference between today's team potentially held to a higher standard and the skinner vs Krueger "accountability " failure is that kreuger let other guys half ass things with seemingly no consequences.

And regardless of if skinner specifically changes, I don't see most of this group refusing accountability if the message is clear and a few key guys are on board. If dahlin, tage, tuch show support for a new coach with a higher standard, I don't see sammy, dozens, Quinn, peterka, power, etc dissenting. Sure Carolina moved skinner out, but I don't think he's guaranteed to pull people down

 

[5 Minute Major]

Whatever the case may be you’d hope Adams would have a good idea as to what went wrong as an unbiased insider. If he doesn’t know we have even bigger issues.

 

[Nikolajs Sillers]

Can the clone Tortorella and Babcock into one and make that person Sabres coach?

 

[tsujimoto74]

I like how he says accountability was a point of conversation between him and the players like it’s not something he alone is responsible for. If guys aren’t doing what they should be, bench/demote them until they do. It’s not even that complicated.

 

[Willgamesh]

I like how he says accountability was a point of conversation between him and the players like it’s not something he alone is responsible for. If guys aren’t doing what they should be, bench/demote them until they do. It’s not even that complicated.

Reminds me of this meme.

It isn't just about the message but the failure is not explaining why. What were Donnys repercussions. Did players get rewarded for being accountable? No. Did players get punished for not being accountable? also no. Thats why Okie was gifted a slot and cant even crack the 4th line of a playoff team.

 

[Sabresfansince1980]

As someone that has coached plenty of kids, managed adults, worked for a D1 hockey team, and has a son currently playing D3 college lacrosse, I think Don Granato said the quiet part out loud.

You could have the hardest of hardass coaches and it won't matter if the players refuse to listen and are unable to be accountable and change.

Exhibit A: Rod Brind'Amour reportedly wanting nothing to do with Jeff Skinner. Why is that? I would bet money is that it is because he is one of those "not accountable" guys. And a guy that RBA couldn't coach accountability into was the highest paid forward on this roster.

And given the contract with the NMC that the previous GM gave Skinner, it's not like Granato could demand that they move him.

Most players on any team will eventually slack off if the HC is not holding them to a standard and using discipline to maintain it. Only a few teams with the most obsessive/committed leaders can get away with a HC that doesn't do this...guys that can pick up that slack so to speak. If Granato thought guys weren't listening, there is hardly any hint that he did anything significant to address it. Talking alone isn't enough, especially with a young roster and a lame captain that might not even know just how deep they have to dig to be successful. We never saw or heard of certain players getting benched or scratched, other than a few young guys who "weren't going well" or however Granato put it. Never heard about bag skates or some equivalent, never saw Granato go ballistic during a game or otherwise publicly shame a guy who needed it. Some of this may have happened to a small extent, but if the team was full of guys not listening, then it's Granato's fault for not delivering the message effectively or taking another action to drive it home.

I totally get that the roster could be at least half full of lazy brats who don't have what it takes, but almost any group of guys that have made it to the NHL have potential to be coached and disciplined into a cohesive unit that should at least come out like they have a clue at puck drop. My own personal experiences have proven that a good coach, supervisor, team leader, etc, can take almost any group worth half a damn and make it successful to some extent, or at least functioning properly.

I like how he says accountability was a point of conversation between him and the players like it’s not something he alone is responsible for. If guys aren’t doing what they should be, bench/demote them until they do. It’s not even that complicated.

Generally, guys will get away with what you allow them to. Don't allow them to. It might be hard in some ways, but you're right...it's not complicated.

 

[Matt Ress]

As someone that has coached plenty of kids, managed adults, worked for a D1 hockey team, and has a son currently playing D3 college lacrosse, I think Don Granato said the quiet part out loud.

You could have the hardest of hardass coaches and it won't matter if the players refuse to listen and are unable to be accountable and change.

Exhibit A: Rod Brind'Amour reportedly wanting nothing to do with Jeff Skinner. Why is that? I would bet money is that it is because he is one of those "not accountable" guys. And a guy that RBA couldn't coach accountability into was the highest paid forward on this roster.

And given the contract with the NMC that the previous GM gave Skinner, it's not like Granato could demand that they move him.

I've led several teams of young adults also and it's not "hey, you're letting me down." It should be " hey, the other guys are working their butts off and have to work harder because you're not x, y and z." And that's generally not the first conversation so by the time it reaches that point, it should be accompanied by tangible corrective measures

 

[Chainshot]

I've led several teams of young adults also and it's not "hey, you're letting me down." It should be " hey, the other guys are working their butts off and have to work harder because you're not x, y and z." And that's generally not the first conversation so by the time it reaches that point, it should be accompanied by tangible corrective measures

With how many of them weren't doing some very basic things, that sort of conversation may not land the same. Some of it has to be the people in the room being, in the words of Harry Neale, willing to punch someone in the face in practice to get their teammate to knock it off.

 

[Sabresfansince1980]

With how many of them weren't doing some very basic things, that sort of conversation may not land the same. Some of it has to be the people in the room being, in the words of Harry Neale, willing to punch someone in the face in practice to get their teammate to knock it off.

Like at the top of this page was said, I think some of the problem is not having the necessary drive, and some of it is literally not knowing what to do/where to be. Poor Xs and Os can have guys looking really lazy or undisciplined because they're getting out of position, because they don't trust their teammates. Whatever the ratio is, this is not a roster full of hopeless slackers...absolutely not. They're young and dumb and don't know how far they have to push themselves yet to be better at the NHL level, with no vet leadership that can truly show the way.

 

[joshjull]

As someone that has coached plenty of kids, managed adults, worked for a D1 hockey team, and has a son currently playing D3 college lacrosse, I think Don Granato said the quiet part out loud.

You could have the hardest of hardass coaches and it won't matter if the players refuse to listen and are unable to be accountable and change.

Exhibit A: Rod Brind'Amour reportedly wanting nothing to do with Jeff Skinner. Why is that? I would bet money is that it is because he is one of those "not accountable" guys. And a guy that RBA couldn't coach accountability into was the highest paid forward on this roster.

And given the contract with the NMC that the previous GM gave Skinner, it's not like Granato could demand that they move him.

He certainly could be that type of player. But it could also be that Skinner simply didn’t fit the style of play he wanted to implement. So they traded him.

 

[joshjull]

Bakes/Fairburn brought up an interesting point about the players comments. Wondering how many were just parroting what Adams said the day before. They also pointed out that much of that was on Wednesday. By Thursday it was a more balanced ith some players putting some blame on themselves.

 

[Matt Ress]

With how many of them weren't doing some very basic things, that sort of conversation may not land the same. Some of it has to be the people in the room being, in the words of Harry Neale, willing to punch someone in the face in practice to get their teammate to knock it off.

Yeah unfortunately as it usually goes, there's going to be several issues with culture that cultivate into disorganization and indifference.

If there's a strong core theme (ex. We are the hardest working team in hockey) and the players buy in then you can tweak Xs and Os individually. Maybe Granato skipped a step or failed to instill a strong core theme.

 

[Chainshot]

Yeah unfortunately as it usually goes, there's going to be several issues with culture that cultivate into disorganization and indifference.

If there's a strong core theme (ex. We are the hardest working team in hockey) and the players buy in then you can tweak Xs and Os individually. Maybe Granato skipped a step or failed to instill a strong core theme.

Granato salvaged a bunch of guys by letting them play to their strengths, Skinner among them. It's almost untenable to go from "hey, do that thing that works" back to "you will lose ice time if you do that thing that works for you but costs us goals against" when the player will point to what works working (scoring) and the group collectively being on the wrong side of the puck.

One hope I have is that Cozens does have that in his game. He showed it in flashes and then he too got the "go score goals" thing and stepped away from playing winning hockey to play shinny instead. If there is someone in the room who can start setting that tone, he is very much one. Tuch is another with his experience of the Knights and how he played there. They have a third in Quinn who despite getting ragdolled, very much does the right things defensively as part of his basic game.

So many of their issues defensively start and end with the forwards not being back with effort so the defense can step up early and not staying back when the puck is being contested in their own zone. Kicking these guys in the ass to stay on the right side of the puck is big.

 

[joshjull]

Granato salvaged a bunch of guys by letting them play to their strengths, Skinner among them. It's almost untenable to go from "hey, do that thing that works" back to "you will lose ice time if you do that thing that works for you but costs us goals against" when the player will point to what works working.

Yep.

Granato for two years was saying to “don’t worry about it, just do you”.

It’s hard to switch from that to the guy yelling/punishing them for the same things he said “don’t worry”about for two years.

The players say they want accountability. Can’t wait to see how they handle it. I don’t think it’s going to go well for all them.

Is it wrong I want Therrien to come in and scare the shit out of them.

 

[Chainshot]

Yep.

Granato for two years was saying to “don’t worry about it, just do you”.

It’s hard to switch from that to the guy yelling/punishing them for the same things he said “don’t worry”about for two years.

The players say they want accountability. Can’t wait to see how they handle it. I don’t think it’s going to go well for all them.

Is it wrong I want Therrien to come in and scare the shit out of them.

I'm in that same thought - Therrien or Julien coming in to crack the whip so they never ever forget it.

 

[Matt Ress]

Granato salvaged a bunch of guys by letting them play to their strengths, Skinner among them. It's almost untenable to go from "hey, do that thing that works" back to "you will lose ice time if you do that thing that works for you but costs us goals against" when the player will point to what works working (scoring) and the group collectively being on the wrong side of the puck.

One hope I have is that Cozens does have that in his game. He showed it in flashes and then he too got the "go score goals" thing and stepped away from playing winning hockey to play shinny instead. If there is someone in the room who can start setting that tone, he is very much one. Tuch is another with his experience of the Knights and how he played there. They have a third in Quinn who despite getting ragdolled, very much does the right things defensively as part of his basic game.

So many of their issues defensively start and end with the forwards not being back with effort so the defense can step up early and not staying back when the puck is being contested in their own zone. Kicking these guys in the ass to stay on the right side of the puck is big.

Good points. Maybe Granato failed at pivoting team goals. That would explain the horrific inconsistencies and unorganized look. Are we a team playing a team game or am I worried about my next contract and cheating a bit or allocating my energy? Everyone has different answers.

Furthermore, do I even care because I'm already getting paid. I think all of that is on the coach to instill a clear core goal and be sure that everyone is pointed in the same direction. Really just notions that are central to leadership.

 

[Chainshot]

Good points. Maybe Granato failed at pivoting team goals. That would explain the horrific inconsistencies and unorganized look. Are we a team playing a team game or am I worried about my next contract and cheating a bit or allocating my energy? Everyone has different answers.

Furthermore, do I even care because I'm already getting paid. I think all of that is on the coach to instill a clear core goal and be sure that everyone is pointed in the same direction. Really just notions that are central to leadership.

Having a voice tell you "do that thing, you will score" now saying "don't do that thing like that, you will cost us chances so do this instead before you do that" leads to guys clearly thinking about the game. We witnessed a lot of that at the start of the year.

 

[TheMistyStranger]

I'm in that same thought - Therrien or Julien coming in to crack the whip so they never ever forget it.

I'm thinking of an old Sega Saturn hockey game that had intermission coaching by "Jacques Labeau" which features him kicking a garbage can over before laying into you, the player.

 

[toddkaz]

From what Mittelstadt said after leaving and the players locker cleanout it sounds like the issue is more about structure than discipline.

It sounds like Granato had no plan in place. It really sounds like there was lack of any structure or system top to bottom in this organization.

People want to say oh they are adults getting paid millions they should know what to do. As individuals they probably do but if you want to play together as a team you need structure and everyone on the same page.

You saw a lot of pucks lost entering the offensive zone, pucks being thrown away from the defensive zone, guys not standing up for each other. It sounds like the issue isn't so much discipline as it is structure that builds cohesiveness as a unit. There was no set plays entering the offensive zone.



As a Broncos fas I remember Mike Shanahan(won 2 superbowls) he scripted like the first 10-12 plays of the start of every game.
Now thats some serious structure and the players know whats expected.

I wonder what Granato did to get the team prepared before the puck dropped. Sounds like not much. It sounds like he had no script for the players, no structure, no plan. Just go out there and play thats it.

 

[Matt Ress]

Having a voice tell you "do that thing, you will score" now saying "don't do that thing like that, you will cost us chances so do this instead before you do that" leads to guys clearly thinking about the game. We witnessed a lot of that at the start of the year.

Exactly. It was apparent that the boys were drastically unprepared mentally and perhaps physically and I get that nobody in the organization should have a clear conscience. They may have even undone some offensive confidence that was built up. The next coach will have to untangle a lot of Christmas lights.

 

[Jacob582]

Bakes/Fairburn brought up an interesting point about the players comments. Wondering how many were just parroting what Adams said the day before. They also pointed out that much of that was on Wednesday. By Thursday it was a more balanced ith some players putting some blame on themselves.

I thought it was an astute observation by Bakes/Fairburn.

They basically said that since Adams said that stuff (accountability, etc) it gave them "permission" to parrot his messaging.

 

[GellMann]

From what Mittelstadt said after leaving and the players locker cleanout it sounds like the issue is more about structure than discipline.

It sounds like Granato had no plan in place. It really sounds like there was lack of any structure or system top to bottom in this organization.

People want to say oh they are adults getting paid millions they should know what to do. As individuals they probably do but if you want to play together as a team you need structure and everyone on the same page.

You saw a lot of pucks lost entering the offensive zone, pucks being thrown away from the defensive zone, guys not standing up for each other. It sounds like the issue isn't so much discipline as it is structure that builds cohesiveness as a unit. There was no set plays entering the offensive zone.



As a Broncos fas I remember Mike Shanahan(won 2 superbowls) he scripted like the first 10-12 plays of the start of every game.
Now thats some serious structure and the players know whats expected.

I wonder what Granato did to get the team prepared before the puck dropped. Sounds like not much. It sounds like he had no script for the players, no structure, no plan. Just go out there and play thats it.

This is a common thing - it lets OCs figure out how the opponent will respond to various looks/personnel packages