Who are the coaching options?

[OkimLom]

Marlies' Sheldon Keefe should be a wanted man after Calder Cup win | CBC Sports

I wouldn't mind Keefe if they want to go with another rookie NHL coach.

But, given how things are going, I'd prefer someone with NHL experience as the guy that replaces Housley long term.

I've been on the Keefe-train for a while now. If you're not interested in hiring someone with experience to get teach these guys how to win, look for someone with a modern NHL mindset that will utilize the team's offense at it's best.

 

[sabremike]

I've been on the Keefe-train for a while now. If you're not interested in hiring someone with experience to get teach these guys how to win, look for someone with a modern NHL mindset that will utilize the team's offense at it's best.

He would be the one non-NHL experienced coach I would be thrilled if we hired, but it has zero chance of happening because we are run by an idiot.

 

[Fezzy126]

I've been on the Keefe-train for a while now. If you're not interested in hiring someone with experience to get teach these guys how to win, look for someone with a modern NHL mindset that will utilize the team's offense at it's best.

I respect the hell out of what Dubas has done for that franchise, and the fact that Keefe has been beside him on their last 2 stops says a lot to me.

But what specifically enlightened you about Keefe? I've watched 0% of Marlies games the past several years, so I couldn't tell you a thing about his coaching style.

Sheldon Keefe. I think he's going to be a great NHL coach. But we have to wait until the offseason for him.

I assume it'd be Taylor, though, especially if the Amerks are gangbusters this year. (FTR, I wouldn't be a big fan of that hire.)

Why is that? Can Toronto block us from talking to him during the season? Or did you simply mean that they wouldn't overhaul the entire coaching staff during the season?

 

[Buffaloed]

The Ottawa Senators might like to have a word with you on that one.

Despite all of Eugene Melnyk's problems, his Sens have outperformed the Sabres by a wide margin since Pegula became an owner. That really illustrates just how bad an owner we have with Pegula. I even credited Pegula with the first half season where the Sabres made the playoffs though he didn't have anything to do with it.

 

[enthusiast]

I think Pegula is more incompetent than "bad." He's not trading late prime Jason Spezza to save money, or playing hardball with Erik Karlsson.

 

[dotcommunism]

This thread makes me sad. Seems like it was just yesterday we were all clamoring for Disco to be gone, and now here we are a year later clamoring for Housley to be gone. Same cycle - wash, rinse, repeat. I want Housley gone too, but it's incredibly alarming how the management group is routinely failing on coaches. At this point, Botts just needs to bring in a guy who can make this team competent again and not pathetic. Hell, who is the Jeff Fisher of the NHL? At least Fisher could take a bottom-feeder team and make them average again.

What management group?

I think Pegula is more incompetent than "bad." He's not trading late prime Jason Spezza to save money, or playing hardball with Erik Karlsson.

Being willing to spend money is certainly an important part of being an owner, and it's an area where Pegula hasn't been lacking over the years. But it's also very important to hire competent people and to let them do their jobs without interference and those areas haven't seemed to be Pegula's strong suit. Better a Jerry Jones than a Ralph Wilson, sure, but that doesn't mean the former isn't also bad.

I'd grant merely being incompetent if I thought Pegula was hands off and let the hockey guys do hockey things, even if he were bad at hiring the right people. It hasn't really felt like that's the case, though.

 

[jc17]

Sutter gets tossed around a lot, and I liked him but he's past his prime. I don't see him communicating well with this team.

It's a double edged sword because "proven coach" = retread most of the time.

 

[ZZamboni]

Thinking of all the other owners for the Sabres since the Knox bros... I think the Pegulas are the next best owners since the Knox’s.

Granted, they could be better and need to relinquish more control to hockey minds and proven effective leaders.

 

[sabremike]

Thinking of all the other owners for the Sabres since the Knox bros... I think the Pegulas are the next best owners since the Knox’s.

Granted, they could be better and need to relinquish more control to hockey minds and proven effective leaders.

For all the crazy stuff he did I'd put Gollisano above him because the team had far more success but he didn't have the money to keep the team together. And he really is one of the great unsung heroes in hockey history because in our darkest hour he literally saved this team from dying. Without Gollissano there would be no Buffalo Sabres.

 

[Ace]

Golisano has 3 billion dollars. The idea he didn’t have the money is a laugh. He ran it like a business and cared about profits over results. To a degree that results would be actively sacrificed for a few dollars more. Didn’t have the money. Now I’ve heard everything,

 

[Fezzy126]

For all the crazy stuff he did I'd put Gollisano above him because the team had far more success but he didn't have the money to keep the team together. And he really is one of the great unsung heroes in hockey history because in our darkest hour he literally saved this team from dying. Without Gollissano there would be no Buffalo Sabres.

Don't even get me started about Golisano, he is the devil... despite the many debates on these boards between TM and Botts, Golisano is the single biggest reason for the demise of this franchise.

 

[sabremike]

Golisano has 3 billion dollars. The idea he didn’t have the money is a laugh. He ran it like a business and cared about profits over results. To a degree that results would be actively sacrificed for a few dollars more. Didn’t have the money. Now I’ve heard everything,

I was always under the impression that wealth wise he was closer to, say, that slimeball in Carolina. Maybe I'm wrong. And again without him the team doesn't exist. He is actually very comparable to Charles Wang, a total lunatic who was far more destructive than Gollissano but if he doesn't step up the Islanders would be the new Nordiques.

 

[HaNotsri]

Rickard Grönborg. Head coach of the Swedish men’s national hockey team.

Busy with his newborn daughter and her health concerns.

 

[OkimLom]

I respect the hell out of what Dubas has done for that franchise, and the fact that Keefe has been beside him on their last 2 stops says a lot to me.

But what specifically enlightened you about Keefe? I've watched 0% of Marlies games the past several years, so I couldn't tell you a thing about his coaching style.



Why is that? Can Toronto block us from talking to him during the season? Or did you simply mean that they wouldn't overhaul the entire coaching staff during the season?

I’m not good with the breakdown of his system, but when I have watched the Marlies it’s aggressive pressure with levels of structure on the forecheck and he has a solid record of any roster he has had and what he has gotten out of his players.

This year they are faltering because of poor goaltending. He’s also had a hand in developing many of the prospects that come and plug right into Babcock’s system.

Not to mention he’s not even 40 and has had a string of success through the years.

 

[Der Jaeger]

I will coach the team. I coach our local squirt team, and we're pretty good. I think I've got what it takes. Start a billboard effort to get me in, folks.

 

[NotABadPeriod]

I wait for Minny to fire Boudreau (remember, they have a new GM this year), and then grab him. I don't know if this team will be good or not, but Boudreau coaching Eichel and Dahlin? It will be exciting, that's for sure.

 

[littletonhockeycoach]

Despite all of Eugene Melnyk's problems, his Sens have outperformed the Sabres by a wide margin since Pegula became an owner. That really illustrates just how bad an owner we have with Pegula. I even credited Pegula with the first half season where the Sabres made the playoffs though he didn't have anything to do with it.
View attachment 148239View attachment 148241

Sad but true I fear.....

 

[Not Sure]

We need a Torts style coach, someone who would call out lazy play, and doesnt care if he has to bench the teams best player to prove a point. Housley is too passive and seems like he doesnt care if he coaches past this year.

 

[Dex]

For how many years is Housley locked up to coach Buffalo?

 

[Buffaloed]

You would think somebody in the media might begin to analyze the connection between the Pegulas' ownership and the longest playoff drought in team history. We're not talking about complicated sleuthing here.

Something happened that caused the media to back off. The Pegula's were getting skewered in the Buffalo News. The Pegula's had the annual meeting with the BN editors in the Spring. When the buyout offers were made in the Summer, the Pegula's biggest critics, Jerry Sullivan and Bucky Gleason were told they were having their columns pulled. Sullivan tried to link it to the Pegula's pulling $250k of advertising from BN but there's a lot more money than that involved. The new stadium + convention center is a billion plus dollar project. Maybe The Black Widow made BN an offer it couldn't refuse.

 

[Rasmus CacOlainen]

Im fine with Taylor, it seems hes doing good job in the AHL so give the guy the chance. He already has good relationship with some of the players but to me it seems he will bring some much necessary changes compared to the current baffoon in charge.

 

[Buffaloed]

We need a Torts style coach, someone who would call out lazy play, and doesnt care if he has to bench the teams best player to prove a point. Housley is too passive and seems like he doesnt care if he coaches past this year.

I want a coach who brings the right tools to the job.