Phil Housley discussion thread

[Chainshot]

The revolving door of bad players on the point is working great as the only changes to it. Please put Dahlin there for awhile, at least as long as he gave KO to prove he couldn't handle it.

Having two players who can gain the zone would be novel.

 

[26CornerBlitz]

12-11: Phil Housley with Howard and Jeremy on WGR (11:11)

#Sabres head coach Phil Housley joins Howard and Jeremy next for his weekly visit on WGR! Tune in:

Housley - it's one of those things. You get into a bit of a rut. I haven't minded the way we've played over the last few games, but we have to find ways to win games. Saturday was one of those days, though, where we were off. #Sabres

Housley - There were certainly some areas of concern with our game Saturday, especially our play away from the puck. The shorthanded goal took the wind out of our sails and we didn't respond the right way. There will be games like that, but I didn't like how we finished. #Sabres

Housley - We need to finish games. Especially the games in Tampa and against Toronto, we have to keep putting the puck behind them and force them to make mistakes. We did a terrific job of that during the win streak. #Sabres

Housley - If we play the right way, we will get results. If we play more consistently, we will give the fans the best play we can. #Sabres

Housley - if you're having trouble scoring, you have to go to the net and pay the price to score. We've gotten away from that in the last five games. Those are things that can help us turn things around. We have to get pucks to the net. #Sabres

Housley - Our breakouts and timing is a bit off where we're not connected and can't gain entry into the offensive zone. We have to simplify things, get the puck on goal and converge to the net. Let's get set up and start firing pucks. #Sabres

Housley - After Saturday's game against the Flyers, we came together and addressed some things that need to get better and move forward. We did a good job of recognizing those things and had a good practice yesterday. Hopefully that will reflect in our game tonight. #Sabres

Housley - Our work, our checking detail and our work away from the puck was there for during the winning streak. We got away from that lately, and we have to get back to work as a five-man unit if we want to have a consistent result. #Sabres

Housley - Hutton looked good yesterday, liked how he practiced. We'll see how things are this morning with him getting back tonight. #Sabres

Housley - All of our injured guys are skating on their own, which is good to see with their rehab. #Sabres

 

[26CornerBlitz]

12-18: Phil Housley with Howard and Jeremy on WGR (14:18)

#Sabres head coach Phil Housley joins Howard and Jeremy next for his weekly visit on WGR! Tune in:

Housley - Eichel has been playing very well right now. He's got a lot of confidence, and he's working extremely hard and getting rewarded for his work. #Sabres

Housley - Every game he's tried to make a difference. Once he accepted the captaincy, he's done a terrific job of leading by example. The work he puts into practice has transitioned into his game play. He's been very consistent. #Sabres

Housley - He's a true competitor, he wants to win, he's very coachable and he listens to his teammates. It says a lot about his maturity and how he has evolved as a player and a leader. #Sabres

Housley - I think Eichel has a unique chemistry with Skinner, and Reinhart for that matter, with where they are on the ice. I can put them out there at any point of the game, and it says a lot about how they're playing in both ends of the ice. #Sabres

Housley on Reinhart - Him and Jack have a unique relationship. They grew up together in Buffalo and spend a lot of time together off the ice. He's completing the line of Eichel and Skinner by making some great plays in traffic areas. (1/2) #Sabres

Housley - He's also the one getting to the net and paying that price to make a play. (2/2) #Sabres

Housley - We have to get more guys contributing offensively, need to get more scoring behind our top line. #Sabres

Housley on Mittelstadt - We're playing some very good teams lately, and he's getting great experience playing against some top line guys and trying to find his way through that. (1/2) #Sabres

Housley - l I like where his development is right now. Moving forward, we'll try to keep things fresh and keep the speed and pace up. (2/2) #Sabres

Housley - There's nothing more that I know with the Patrik Berglund situation. #Sabres

Housley - Scott Wilson and Jake McCabe will be joining us for the pre-game skate this morning. It's good to get these guys back on the ice. #Sabres

Housley did specify though that neither player will play this evening against Florida. #Sabres

As per Phil Housley: Lawrence Pilut IR is retroactive to last Friday so he would be eligibe to play this Friday at Washington

Housley - There's time where we need to tighten things up defensively. We can't rely on our goaltender too much. I'm just happy that both guys are playing as well as they have. We have to focus on getting better defensively in order to shut teams down. #Sabres

 

[26CornerBlitz]

Jack Adams Award

The candidates: Phil Housley, Buffalo; Bill Peters, Calgary; Claude Julien, Montreal; Jon Cooper, Tampa Bay; Mike Babcock, Toronto; Paul Maurice, Winnipeg; Barry Trotz, N.Y. Islanders.

My take: What’s funny is that I’m guessing Cooper, Babcock and Maurice actually don’t get a sniff at season’s end even if their teams end up 1-2-3 in the standings. This award is almost exclusively about awarding the coaches on teams which surprised/overachieved. And I mean, how could you not give it to Gerard Gallant a year ago? Of course, he was the logical choice on a historical expansion team. But it’s not like he’s gotten dumb a year later and yet with the Golden Knights no longer the most fanciful story and the team “just” a playoff team, well, watch how Gallant won’t get hardly any votes. And somehow Cooper or Babcock or Maurice aren’t having great years? OK, my rant is over.

My pick: In keeping with the spirit of how this award is handed out, hard not to think Housley isn’t your runaway leader right now for coach of the year. And good on him, like his young core of players he, too, came back with lessons learned from last season. The surprising Sabres are as good a story as any in the NHL right now.

 

[26CornerBlitz]

1-2: Phil Housley with Howard and Jeremy on WGR (13:34)

#Sabres head coach Phil Housley joins Howard and Jeremy next on WGR! Tune in:

Housley on Jack Eichel - He's day-to-day. We'll know more today after he's further evaluated this morning. Don't think it will be a long-term case, but we'll know more once we talk to our doctors. #Sabres

Housley - Our goal is the process. We have a lot of young guys we have to develop and we have to remain patient. We have to focus on getting back to work today, work on areas of improvement and get ready for Florida tomorrow night. #Sabres

Housley - If you look at our 40 games, we've played some really good hockey. Right now, we've dropped three in a row, and there are some teams who are playing really good hockey. We played some solid hockey before the break, but we haven't gotten the results since. #Sabres

Housley - My expectations have never changed. We've never talked about overall expectations throughout the year because we are so young. We're focused on our day-to-day business. What we can control is how we prepare for the next game. #Sabres

Housley - We have to get back to what has made us successful, and that is testing us. What do we need to do to get back to the right side of things? That's what we need to focus on. #Sabres

Housley - These games coming up are important for our group. This is great for the development of our group. We put a lot of pressure on ourselves, and we have to focus on what's important. We can't control what's 10 games down the road. #Sabres

Housley - I believe we can get on the right side of things and turn things around. #Sabres

Housley - Whether Eichel is in or out, this is a great opportunity for other to show what they can bring to this team. #Sabres

Housley - I thought Reinhart had a solid third period on Monday, much like most of our team. We gave him a look at center just to see what he can do. #Sabres

Housley on Lawrence Pilut - I thought the St. Louis game he wasn't on top of his game. We wanted to get Beaulieu back in, but I like what Pilut brings to our game. I see him getting in another opportunity soon. #Sabres

Housley on C.J. Smith - I really liked how he attacked the game. He brought speed through the neutral zone, and he was trying to make plays. There's a reason why he's got 29 points in 32 games with the #Amerks. He provided a spark for us. #Sabres

Housley - He got a lot of different looks, but no matter where he was, good things were happening. #Sabres

 

[HaNotsri]

His answers doesn’t really put my mind at ease...

 

[Washed Up 29YearOld]

Never talked about overall expectations? Why not just believe in your group and have the expectation to make the playoffs.

 

[26CornerBlitz]

Never talked about overall expectations? Why not just believe in your group and have the expectation to make the playoffs.

Why add additional pressure to a team that's struggling with the possibility of Eichel being out?

 

[Beerz]

Housley is an idiot.

 

[26CornerBlitz]

1-8: Phil Housley with Howard and Jeremy on WGR (15:04)

#Sabres head coach Phil Housley joins Howard and Jeremy right now on WGR! Tune in:

Housley on Jack Eichel - We'll know more this morning. He practiced yesterday, and that will be a decision around game time. #Sabres

Housley - Sam Reinhart is still feeling under the weather, but he still hasn't arrived this morning. That will be more of a game-time decision. The good news is that Zemgus Girgensons is expected to return to the lineup tonight. #Sabres

Housley - whether Jack is in or out, we still have to prepare the same way. I liked the way for a majority of the last two games. The attention to detail might not have been there against the Bruins, but I like how we responded in the third period. #Sabres

Housley - We're going to have to prepare for a big game tonight against New Jersey. They're playing some strong hockey right now, so we'll have to play them accordingly. #Sabres

Housley on Mittelstadt - I think he's done a terrific job. I'm sure he'd like to produce a little bit more, but he's trying to do the right things in the defensive zone. That's huge for the system we play. It's a big responsibility, and he's playing some big matchups. #Sabres

Housley on Dahlin - He has to recognize what the game is giving him in some tight situations. For the most part, he's done a good job. I would expect him to bounce back, he's been pretty consistent for us. I like his game, and now it's just about simplifying things. #Sabres

Housley - When you go through the times when you can't generate much offensively, we have to simplify things. We've lost our shot mentality a bit, and we need to get to the net and get to the dirty areas to score goals. That will create some offense for us. #Sabres

Housley - We're well aware of where we are in the standings. What we focus on is our day-to-day routine. It's great that we're playing these tough games, and it's great in our process. #Sabres

 

[Jim Bob]

 

[beerme1]

I felt like he had until Christmas at the start of the season. After the ten game streak I felt he was in long term. After tonight I'm opening my options again and I hate that. Unlike most of you I'm hesitant to blame Bots. He gave Housley a vastly different roster to work with this year and we seem to be sliding back to crap.

I highly doubt any coaching move is in store until next Christmas if warranted at that time. Just sucks having to accept this after the start we had. I don't want Bots to give up our picks cause I'm sick of losing and want long term winning and those picks will help achieve that. I'm not sure what the hell to do about Housley though.
If you look at the score tonight I could see someone saying the team quit on him. I think his player usage sucks but I don't have the experience he does so what do I know.

 

[GellMann]

I felt like he had until Christmas at the start of the season. After the ten game streak I felt he was in long term. After tonight I'm opening my options again and I hate that. Unlike most of you I'm hesitant to blame Bots. He gave Housley a vastly different roster to work with this year and we seem to be sliding back to crap.

I highly doubt any coaching move is in store until next Christmas if warranted at that time. Just sucks having to accept this after the start we had. I don't want Bots to give up our picks cause I'm sick of losing and want long term winning and those picks will help achieve that. I'm not sure what the hell to do about Housley though.
If you look at the score tonight I could see someone saying the team quit on him. I think his player usage sucks but I don't have the experience he does so what do I know.

Botterill has shown to be worse at evaluating NHL depth players than the guy before him, as measured by lineup production projections with only Jack out being notably worse despite a much higher scoring league. Don't be too easy on him.

 

[Howie Hodge]

 

[OkimLom]

Botterill has shown to be worse at evaluating NHL depth players than the guy before him, as measured by lineup production projections with only Jack out being notably worse despite a much higher scoring league. Don't be too easy on him.

I’m not going to dive too much into the Botts talk, but he has a longer leash than Housley, but by year 3 he is 100% responsible for this team and it’s success or failure. 3 offseasons should be enough to cut some bad talent off this team. If you continue to keep bad talent on the team, and are adding bad talent to the roster, then that team falls on your shoulders.

Housley, I believe you can judge coaching separately even without talent on the team. For me, wins/losses don’t mean THAT much when analyzing him as a coach(though I made a comment in another thread about his record). How are the standards on the team? Are they being equally used in his team across the roster? Are the players aware of what is expected out of them, and is he holding them accountable? How quick is he to see something not working, is he capable of see what Isn’t working bs what is working? Is he capable of adapting to other teams and their game plans? How quickly can he adjust? How does he handle rookies and players continuing to develop? Is he a guy who is capable to correctly deciding to sit or let the player “play through their mistakes” meaning, is he patient where he can understand when a player had a bad game vs when a player needs to sit?

All these questions plus others are on my mind when looking at a coach and figuring out how they look to me. They were there for Bylsma and they are there for Housley.

 

[Aladyyn]

The bad decisions Housley makes are no different than any other coach. Quenneville was routinely scratching Kempny in Chicago and look at how that turned out.

The bad decisions you don't see around the league are going into the season with Sobotka/Berglund/Mittelstadt as your 2C options.

 

[BuffaloKatanas]

Botterill has shown to be worse at evaluating NHL depth players than the guy before him, as measured by lineup production projections with only Jack out being notably worse despite a much higher scoring league. Don't be too easy on him.

But how much of the players looking bad is on Housley? What I've seen from this team for most of the year is a team that can win against any team when they play they asses off and have purpose. Talent is there, this group of players, while they can still be upgraded, is capable of much more than Housley is getting out of them. But I will say, Botts has to so SOMETHING! I understand not selling the future, but this team needs a boost some way. Fire Housley.

 

[PegulasSportsEmpire]

Housley should be fired. But he won't go anywhere.

All we here from our local media is that we can't keep firing coaches every 2-3 years.




Which is why Pegula was painfully slow in firing Ruff, Regier, Bylsma, Murray, Rex and Whaley.

 

[Aladyyn]

Botterill has nothing to gain by firing Housley now. All it does is put him on thin ice.

 

[GellMann]

But how much of the players looking bad is on Housley? What I've seen from this team for most of the year is a team that can win against any team when they play they asses off and have purpose. Talent is there, this group of players, while they can still be upgraded, is capable of much more than Housley is getting out of them. But I will say, Botts has to so SOMETHING! I understand not selling the future, but this team needs a boost some way. Fire Housley.

It's a reasonable topic for discussion, but I think it's quite clear (and non-B&G-tinted-glasses analysis of the roster after certain offseason moves could have explained such, though those posts were not well-liked here or elsewhere when it was sunny and warm still) that the roster structure versus what is required for good NHL play was under par to begin the offseason with, worse than it was after crawling away from Tim and Dan, and was sandbagged by the subtraction of all center depth. Phil is irritating and might not be right for the job, but EVERY coach will be within an order of magnitude of this level of irritating (though might be more right for the job). Our organization has basically spent a decade alternating between kicking the can further away and just plain looking at the wrong things in attempts to compete, and until they meaningfully address this, the coach is not the big thing keeping us from success.

We got really goddamn lucky with Dahlin. Like, he will basically ensure that Jack gets some playoff series wins here. And Jack will help him ensure that too. Outside of Dahlin, when comparing what Mitts actually is in college and in the NHL, and looking at other prospect pools, am I really supposed to look at our 2nd line, our 3rd line, our 4th line, and our center spine, and think Casey, Asplund, Oloffson, Davidsson, and Nylander just need to get here, and we're all set? Is this seriously what gives people optimism? Should I start listing off U25 players for other teams? I don't think people really want to see that.

We've whiffed on quite a few things and I'm worried that it's going to show for a long time.

 

[sabremike]

Housley should be fired. But he won't go anywhere.

All we here from our local media is that we can't keep firing coaches every 2-3 years.




Which is why Pegula was painfully slow in firing Ruff, Regier, Bylsma, Murray, Rex and Whaley.

I'm going to send Harrington a get well card for the head wound he clearly suffers from.

 

[sabremike]

What do you guys think the naked pictures of Terry and Kim Pegulia that Phil obviously has in his possession look like???

 

[Chainshot]

What do you guys think the naked pictures of Terry and Kim Pegulia that Phil obviously has in his possession look like???

Perhaps he is in those pictures and Sobotka has a copy of them, thus explaining his ice time.

 

[Dubi Doo]

Fire the baffoon!

 

[Gordo21]

The team obviously wasn't as good as their start showed, but they're not as bad as what they've accomplished in their last 20 either .

I personally think they can get it together and end up with a season that still meets or exceeds expectations going in.

This is a TEAM game though. Everyone needs to do their job.