Sabres fire Don Granato, hire Lindy Ruff as head coach

[KeydGV21]

Crazy idea, but stick with me….

Why don’t we hire a coach with….any experience at all as an NHL head coach this time?

I know, I know. It sounds dumb. But ya never know, it could be crazy enough to work.

Krueger had experience…so did Nolan…Bylsma won a cup…all have been part of the drought…

 

[Mattilaus]

So not the goaltender and not the coaching. What is the issue then? IMO it’s the key core guys. The top minute guys need to commit to playing winning hockey. It’s fun to win but it’s not so much fun for some guys to play the way needed to win. Maybe the Sabres have too many of those players types of guys in their core?

What do you mean "not the coaching". Where did he or anyone else defend the coaching?

 

[57special]

Didn't you try that with Bylsma and Krueger?

Maybe Pegula will luck into something like he did with Beane and McDermott with the Bills. But, I'm not sure he's more likely to hit on a retread than an upcoming assistant.

Krueger was hardly an accomplished NHL head coach when they hired him.

 

[BB79]

Thank God. Should have been done before Christmas

Pegula will just bring in another bargin basement coach though. He's the problem

 

[JianYang]

My bet is Lindy coming back for a reunion


Holy shit… posted at the exact same time

Come back full circle to where it all started..... feels very bownessy.

 

[sxvnert]

About f***in time.

 

[57special]

Probably the stage at which we hire a good coach.

(I do think Granato is an excellent developmental coach, but he wasn’t cutting it for a team that needs to start actually winning more games than we lose, and he shot himself in the foot by saddling himself with inexperienced assistants who ran our special teams into the ground.)

I wish Donny the best, but this absolutely needed to happen.

Yup, i thought he was good for a while, and brought some positivity, but enough Mr. Rogers, time to bring in someone who will get some results. I have been banging the drum for Berube for a long time. KA needs to get one or three solid, mentally tough veterans to round out the lineup, but if they have indeed now got a goalie it fills a huge hole.

Sabres play careless hockey. That's got to change.

 

[Jeremy2020]

Sullivan would be the favorite if the pens do what they should do and fire him.

ewww. no.

 

[Fatass]

What do you mean "not the coaching". Where did he or anyone else defend the coaching?

Several posts indicating Granato was the six highest tenured coach in the league when let go. What does that suggest? Imo The club has issues in its core players. They need core guys who enjoy playing winning hockey.

 

[Chainshot]

Five months too late.

 

[These Are The Days]

I almost feel like bringing back Ruff would be crazy enough to work

 

[HaNotsri]

Is their GM going to make a trade, or two to actually help the team, or just let the next coach sort of tread water ?

Unfair comment that he doesn't make trades.

He did trade away our best center three times over in exchange for futures. Eichel, Reinhart and Mittelstadt.

 

[Perfect_Drug]

We have the same coaching carousel in Edmonton.


The coach that turned us all around was actually Todd McLennan. He's a decent guy to get everyone into more of a professional mindset, but he has a short shelf-life. 2-3 years.
But at that point, we were a headless chicken team playing run and gun pond-hockey.

The unfortunate by-product of TMac teams, is that he might be able to instill structured play, and get you to the playoffs, but you'll get absolutely railroaded there. He can't and won't make in-game adjustments. He wants the other team to play to HIS gameplan.

And he sucks with development of younger players. All the key minutes will go to veterans.
TMac fits the same mould as Babcock, Tippett, Guy Boucher, Claude Julien, Michelle Therrien. They're all sort of interchangeable. All 1st round choke artists.



Another coach that could probably get you into the playoffs is Alain Vignault. He's interesting because his approach seems to be developing a team identity, and running with it. He coaches a style that best suits the team. Coaches with similar approach would be Jay Woodcroft, Bob Hartley and maybe Bruce Boudreau.

The cool thing about Jay Woodcroft, is he's more diligent with scouting opponents weaknesses and trying to exploit them with the tools at his disposal. That said he was thoroughly outcoached by Bruce Cassidy, who was able to create tactics and strategies that cut up the Oilers defense like swiss cheese.



That said, I think the coach that might benefit the Sabres the most, is John Tortorella.
He grinds his players into being an "outworking" team that grinds and grinds and plays with pace. I think similarly would be Daryl Sutter. Once the players get tired of the relentless nagging, they tune them out, and it ain't pretty. You'll also see all of your best players asking to leave.

 

[HaNotsri]

Let's run with 3 unproven goalies. Gms that decide this should be fired long before the coach

Comrie was proven... to be bad

 

[Strexvale]

Adams has to nail this next hire or there’s little reason to think he’s not next.

What an absolute tire fire list of coaches since Ruff. Granato somehow managed a worse winning percentage than his predecessors, Krueger and Housley.

The team will never get even “decent” without a competent coach behind the bench.

"Granato is the seventh coach Pegula has fired since he bought the team in 2011. Granato coached the most games (274) and had the best points percentage (.495) of any coach Buffalo had since it fired Lindy Ruff in 2013."

Granato is a very good coach who helped the team take the next step, but he did not do a great job this season. Too many bad starts, a train-wreck at when to pull the goalie, a terrible PP, and comments from traded players indicating the pace the Sabres practiced wasn't up to the level of competitive teams. (Which is saying something because during the Krueger years, I remember hearing reports that the team consistently went offside, flubbed passes, and essentially had a very lazy non-details oriented thing. Granato improved on that stuff considerably and it STILL wasn't up to NHL standards)

He should find work again, and I could even see him getting a head coach gig with a young team that needs to unlock some players potential, he's really good at that. Sabres need a coach who'll help them take the next step.

So of course this means that they're going to hire either another inexperienced coach nobody really knows, promote Appert from the AHL, or go back to Lindy Ruff because of nostalgia and Buffalo connections. Sigh.

 

[Mattilaus]

Several posts indicating Granato was the six highest tenured coach in the league when let go. What does that suggest? Imo The club has issues in its core players. They need core guys who enjoy playing winning hockey.

It suggests that he wasn't a good coach? He has had this long and failed?

Or is your assertion that him being the 6th longest tenured coach and having never made the playoffs means he is somehow a good coach?

Like I don't understand how people saying he was the 6th longest tenured coach somehow means to you that people are saying coaching isn't a problem. They are saying it's about time he was fired.

 

[tsujimoto74]

Several posts indicating Granato was the six highest tenured coach in the league when let go. What does that suggest? Imo The club has issues in its core players. They need core guys who enjoy playing winning hockey.

It suggests that we held onto him for too long when he clearly didn’t know how to get this team to turn the corner. The roster is not hurting for talent. It’s hurting for identity and preparation. That’s 100% coaching.

 

[Thallis]

You're making a big bet on Berube considering Thompson really struggled to be an NHL player under him. Context and circumstances have changed obviously, but coaches can often be creatures of habit.

 

[Stringer Bell]

Last 10?

Don Granato
Ralph Krueger
Phil Housley
Dan Bylsma
Ted Nolan
Ron Rolston
Lindy Ruff
Ted Nolan
John Muckler
Rick Dudley

At this point we're at 1988. Lindy was with the team for 15 years. Bylsma had a cup as a HC.

My bad. I should not have said last 10. Thought there may had been more than there was going to Lindy Ruff.

I'm skeptical to include Bylsma in a list of established. You can't take away a cup but you had to wonder what he was away from a prime Crosby and Malkin etc.

But Granato, Krueger, Housley, Ron Rolston...what are you thinking. They executed the right strategy in courting Babcock. Get a coach who without fail always finds himself in the playoffs and then go from there. I don't count Berube as such a coach. Go for a Gallant, a Boudreau, etc. As soon as coaches like Laviolette, DeBoer, and Maurice were without work they should have jumped on one.

 

[Zman5778]

You're making a big bet on Berube considering Thompson really struggled to be an NHL player under him. Context and circumstances have changed obviously, but coaches can often be creatures of habit.

????

Berube was named StL's head coach after the ROR/Tage deal. Yeah, Berube was an assistant there for the year that Tage was up and down in the AHL/NHL. But I don't think that has any bearing anymore.

 

[BobRossColton]

He's probably content at DU but make Carle an offer

 

[Thallis]

????

Berube was named StL's head coach after the ROR/Tage deal. Yeah, Berube was an assistant there for the year that Tage was up and down in the AHL/NHL. But I don't think that has any bearing anymore.

Oh true, you're right. For some reason I was misremembering Tage on that Stanley cup roster

 

[BKarchitect]

"Granato is the seventh coach Pegula has fired since he bought the team in 2011. Granato coached the most games (274) and had the best points percentage (.495) of any coach Buffalo had since it fired Lindy Ruff in 2013."

Granato is a very good coach who helped the team take the next step, but he did not do a great job this season. Too many bad starts, a train-wreck at when to pull the goalie, a terrible PP, and comments from traded players indicating the pace the Sabres practiced wasn't up to the level of competitive teams. (Which is saying something because during the Krueger years, I remember hearing reports that the team consistently went offside, flubbed passes, and essentially had a very lazy non-details oriented thing. Granato improved on that stuff considerably and it STILL wasn't up to NHL standards)

He should find work again, and I could even see him getting a head coach gig with a young team that needs to unlock some players potential, he's really good at that. Sabres need a coach who'll help them take the next step.

So of course this means that they're going to hire either another inexperienced coach nobody really knows, promote Appert from the AHL, or go back to Lindy Ruff because of nostalgia and Buffalo connections. Sigh.

You’re right, I misread the records.

 

[Dirty Dog]

Crazy idea, but stick with me….

Why don’t we hire a coach with….any experience at all as an NHL head coach this time?

I know, I know. It sounds dumb. But ya never know, it could be crazy enough to work.

You mean like Stanley cup winning disco Dan Bylsma!

 

[Reddawg]

As soon as coaches like Laviolette, DeBoer, and Maurice were without work they should have jumped on one.

Free agent coaches are really no different than free agent players...you can't force one to take your offer if another team they like better comes courting. We don't know that Terry didn't try to back up a Brinks truck for Laviolette only to be told "no" and that was that. We do know that he tried to back up a huge truck for Babcock only to see El Doucherino parlay that into a much more attractive offer from the team he really wanted to coach.