I'm friends with a guy that's worked in youth hockey in that part of the country for a number of years (originally from WNY), and he was extremely excited by the Leone hire for the Amerks. Had nothing but good things to say about him and his character. I hope the coaching chops are a good fit!
Confirmed with Link: Amerks name Mike Leone Head Coach
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old kummelweck
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- Nov 10, 2003
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His press conference - yes, he knew Appert, no he did not work for him.
It's another nobody hire, probably done on the cheap. Those two are the only media in Buffalo who remotely call anything out. Buffalo News/WGR cheerlead.
Laughable is local media coverage where no one has broken a story in like five years and they accept ridiculous assertions by Kevyn Adams. Peters and Rivet cab be clowns but they are cowards/
Jim Bob
RIP RJ
Local writers rarely "break stories" because most come from agents who work with national reporters and not local writers.
Tim Graham breaks local business side stuff because of all the sources he has on the business side of the Bills and Sabres, for instance.
Jim Bob
RIP RJ
Jon Cooper, other NHL coaches helped Rochester Amerks’ Mike Leone grow: ‘People I lean on’ - Buffalo Hockey Beat
As a teenager with the Texarkana and St. Louis Bandits, new Rochester Americans coach Mike Leone played for future Tampa Bay Lightning coach Jon Cooper.
www.buffalohockeybeat.com
Yes. Meant NOT cowards. But they are 100% clowns often. No argument from me on that. But at least they ask some tough questions. It is a dumb show, but I will take it over what I get from Paul Hamilton, which is this moral superiority with almost zero insider knowledge even though he has covered the team forever. And the newspaper columnist is a joke. His hot takes stink but the worst thing about him is he cannot admit he's wrong ever. I blocked the guy just so I wouldn't be tempted. Lance is okay. He works hard covering stories and has made some inroads. I wish Tim Graham would switch from Bills to Sabres
He has sources. The Buffalo News had a long history of breaking stories in Bucky Gleason days. Sorry. Local guys break tons of stories in other markets. The Dean of Sabres in this town is lazy and arrogant. That video of a certain reporter shooing away a little wannabee girl journalist said so much about the longest-tenured Sabres writer at the paper.
Then why such a detailed vehemently against post?
Idk shit about the dude so I just sit back and read what others say and try to learn lol.
Bucky broke things? I remember how they went from Kelley to Graham to Gleason and the quality took a marked hit. There is a reason he sells real estate now. Harrington is a terrible person and reported, Hamilton is not a good reporter.
I think I made my position pretty clear if you cared to read all of my posts on the topic, and I feel the concerns are well justified. If you can't take the time to read the posts, here are the cliff notes -
This organization continues to draw from the same well for their coaches, and their coaches continue to have the same shortcomings. People are pleased with the development job Appert did because the prospects are putting up points in the minors, but if you delve into the situation there, it becomes apparent that the players are playing the same shinny hockey that Granato was running in Buffalo - puck chase and ignore all passing lanes and discipline and just outwork your opponents. No discipline. No details. No on ice communication. No Teamwork. Just go play harder as individuals.
I devoted a huge chunk of my life to playing and coaching hockey and I have some pretty strong opinions on how the game should be coached and played. These are my opinions and I am entitled to them. If you read all of my posts you would see that I am willing to give the guy a chance, but I was voicing my concerns, as I believe the coaches that the USNT churns out are very homogenous in their style and philosophy, and that style lacks the details that all the current players seem to be lacking, so bringing in more of the same when it is failing the organization seems a bit insane to me.
Nah, I get it. This place is so filled with negativity, that it would be nice to have a piece of news and not have one poster shit on it, but it is the slow season before the draft and I wanted to get the discussion going, which actually motivated @Chainshot to post some info on his coaching history which was not on his profile and I was not aware of, so more info came out, which is always a positive.
And, if he turns out to be an awesome development coach, I get to come back in here and eat a a bunch of Crow and @Dingo44 gets to make fun of me, and that should be pretty entertaining for the board, so win-win
Jim Bob
RIP RJ
And Jim Kelley operated in a completely different media environment that we live in today.
To compare the current state of things to the way that they were pre-internet and social media isn't doing it right to me.
He didn't break the Lafontaine/Nolan coming-back story? For starters. Bucky took a buyout because the newspaper industry is broken. He broke tons of stuff. Tim Graham still does and it's not just because of "business contacts" -- the guy works stories hard and doesn't sit on Twitter all day insulting people or waiting to be spoon fed by team
Character is great, actual skills matter. His experience and success seem on the light side. What's new?
Jim Bob
RIP RJ
He did a solid job in Green Bay.
21-22 - The season before Leone was hired as GM/HC, they had 51 points and finished 8th and last in the Eastern Conference of the USHL.
22-23 - In Leone's first season, they had 71 pts and finished 4th out of 8 in the East.
23-24 - In Leone's second and final season, they had 78 pts and finished t-2nd in the East.
Jim Bob
RIP RJ
There is a huge gap between "the next Scotty Bowman" and a coach that could be a good AHL coach for this stage in the development of the prospect pool.
Only time will tell if Leone is a solid AHL coach for what the Amerks and Sabres need right now.
The biggest complaint that I think is valid is that he only has two seasons of HC experience. But, that does not mean that he will not work. It is the one thing that I do not like about his resume.
But, if someone would have been OK with Paetsch or Prospal getting the job, then I don't think it is fair for that person to have a huge issue with Leone's lack of HC experience.
Karmanos interviewed 25 different candidates and selected Leone. You would think there were all different types of coaches in different stages of their career.
For the people complaining - and honestly it's just to complain - please give me who you would have wanted the Sabres to hire.
Remember that the coach in question must:
- Want to coach in the AHL
- Want to coach in Rochester
- Willing to put development before winning
- Be aligned with how the Sabres want their players to play
- Had success in previous coaching jobs, with both wins and player development
I'd also be curious on the amount of AHL coaches had their first pro coaching job at that level.
Plus it's not like we haven't had success in hiring coaches with no pro coaching experience in the past: Van Boxmeer, Keenan, Tortorella, Taylor, then Appert...
For the people complaining - and honestly it's just to complain - please give me who you would have wanted the Sabres to hire.
Remember that the coach in question must:
- Want to coach in the AHL
- Want to coach in Rochester
- Willing to put development before winning
- Be aligned with how the Sabres want their players to play
- Had success in previous coaching jobs, with both wins and player development
I'd also be curious on the amount of AHL coaches had their first pro coaching job at that level.
Plus it's not like we haven't had success in hiring coaches with no pro coaching experience in the past: Van Boxmeer, Keenan, Tortorella, Taylor, then Appert...
Jim Bob
RIP RJ
The big challenge is that we don't know the 25 nor the final 5.
That lack of information creates a vacuum that usually gets filled by preconceived notions.
Very true. Vinny and Nate could’ve been two of those 25. Hell they could’ve been to the final five for all we know.
OK sure - but when has any team talked about the coaches they interviewed and didn't hire? Never.
That wouldn't be fair to them, because the next question would be "Why didn't you hire X instead?"
That's not a big challenge - that's just reality.
