General coaching talk thread

[jc17]

Silly tweet for so many reasons.

Implying that the Sabres should fire their coach because other teams have, when 4 of the teams at the bottom made changes before the season (really helped!) and those that changed mid-season have mixed results

 

[BananaSquad]

Couldn’t agree more. Granato is a joke lol. Hilarious at the people saying Granato was gonna be the one to get the Sabres to the playoffs. Krueger hired this guy, enough said lol.

 

[Zman5778]

Silly tweet for so many reasons.

Implying that the Sabres should fire their coach because other teams have, when 4 of the teams at the bottom made changes before the season (really helped!) and those that changed mid-season have mixed results

Agreed. There are PLENTY of legitimate, actual arguments to be made for firing Granato and/or staff.

"Other teams have so therefore we should too" is not a legitimate, actual argument.

 

[toddkaz]

Longest tenured coaches in the NHL + Points % (through 22/23)
Cooper .644
Sullivan .609
Bednar .592
Brind-Amour .661
Keefe .678
Ruff .553
Granato .484

This should upset every sabres fan. Why is the bar so low here???

 

[Deep Blue Metallic]

Longest tenured coaches in the NHL + Points % (through 22/23)
Cooper .644
Sullivan .609
Bednar .592
Brind-Amour .661
Keefe .678
Ruff .553
Granato .484

This should upset every sabres fan. Why is the bar so low here???

"We want people who want to be here." "We've got a plan and we're sticking to it."

And, coming soon to a presser near you: "We regard our coaching staff as a position of strength."

 

[Zman5778]

"We want people who want to be here." "We've got a plan and we're sticking to it."

And, coming soon to a presser near you: "We regard our coaching staff as a position of strength."

"The injuries that Donnie and the coaches had to deal with.....they'd be tough for any team to overcome"

 

[Chainshot]

 

[Sabresfansince1980]

I want Carolina to cheap out so badly and let him walk this summer. But then, it will only hurt that much worse when Buffalo passes up the chance to make a HUGE improvement to the organization.

 

[TheDawnOfANewTage]

Longest tenured coaches in the NHL + Points % (through 22/23)
Cooper .644
Sullivan .609
Bednar .592
Brind-Amour .661
Keefe .678
Ruff .553
Granato .484

This should upset every sabres fan. Why is the bar so low here???

Sabres brass: “well ya, and Ruff is available now. I assume that’s a scream of joy, please pound the table with less vigor.”

 

[littletonhockeycoach]

Colorado beat Edmonton last night in regulation with like .5 seconds left on the clock.

I was so impressed with the play of Casey Mittlestadt in that game. I have honestly not seen him skate with such intensity in 5 years of watching him in Buffalo. He fore checked and back checked his butt off while maintaining the skill set that he had on display with the Sabres. His pass to a charging Walker for the tying goal was just crazy.

It's clear from watching positive Bo Byram's impact on the Sabres that there is deficiency in technical coaching, accountability and discipline on the Sabres bench.

When the new guy has to tell team mates how to properly run a power play, the diagnosis and prognosis for the coaching staff should be clear.

 

[sabremike]

In all my years of watching the sport I have never seen a team more unprepared to start a season than this team. The preseason preparation was absolutely shambolic and that act of malfeasance alone should cost Donny and his entire staff their jobs and would if this was an actual credible organization with standards.

 

[littletonhockeycoach]

In all my years of watching the sport I have never seen a team more unprepared to start a season than this team. The preseason preparation was absolutely shambolic and that act of malfeasance alone should cost Donny and his entire staff their jobs and would if this was an actual credible organization with standards.

"If this was an actual credible organization with standards", then they certainly wouldn't be the Buffalo Sabres.

The Sabres haven't been credible since Pegula bought them.

 

[toddkaz]

Sabres brass: “well ya, and Ruff is available now. I assume that’s a scream of joy, please pound the table with less vigor.”

A couple might bite the dust after the playoffs. Granato will get first at something.

 

[TageGod]

Maybe swap Byram onto powers line for more offense.

Donnie is smart, he will adapt over time. Too little too late probably but he has them playing good hockey for 3 months now. I’m sure they will take a long hard look at why they struggled to start. Also, less optional skates, more conditioning early in the season.

 

[Chainshot]

Maybe swap Byram onto powers line for more offense.

Donnie is smart, he will adapt over time. Too little too late probably but he has them playing good hockey for 3 months now. I’m sure they will take a long hard look at why they struggled to start. Also, less optional skates, more conditioning early in the season.

Look squarely at the failings of the powerplay all season. 14th overall in goals for at 5-on-5 and now 12th overall at goals against 5-on-5 is middle of the pack enough to be the foundation for something more. Being 28th in PP goals for and 29th in PP goal differential (PPG's minus SHGA) is one glaring area that needs improvement.

 

[TageGod]

Look squarely at the failings of the powerplay all season. 14th overall in goals for at 5-on-5 and now 12th overall at goals against 5-on-5 is middle of the pack enough to be the foundation for something more. Being 28th in PP goals for and 29th in PP goal differential (PPG's minus SHGA) is one glaring area that needs improvement.

No question. How much of that is also just the PP goal scorers all having really down seasons? If we assume that has a part of it, we can probably say hey Skinner Thompson Tuch and Cozens are good for maybe 15 more Pp goals total if they were shooting like last year.

 

[Chainshot]

No question. How much of that is also just the PP goal scorers all having really down seasons? If we assume that has a part of it, we can probably say hey Skinner Thompson Tuch and Cozens are good for maybe 15 more Pp goals total if they were shooting like last year.

Perhaps rely upon the structure and execution of the PP instead of hoping people outshoot the issue? They have very little net-front game, if at all. They over-rely upon trying to set up Thompson for a point-to-flank one-timer which most teams have figured out how to limit not just when the Sabres do it (it's down leaguewide per Woodley using data from Clear Site Analytics. I won't even get into their stationary nature and the poor passing fundamentals that aren't going to open shooting lanes for anyone.

One is a personnel issue - they don't have a reliable person to park at the crease to take away eyes, get deflections and keep rebounds alive. And they have a serious design flaw in how they try to execute the one play they have that used to work but has been figured out. This is not a problem one can simply assume will go away. They need to alter how they approach their PP and need to find at least one player to improve the skillsets they deploy when they do so.

 

[paulmm3]

I'm massively biased from having grown up a Cornell season ticket holder. But imo the best coach in all of sports is Mike Schafer. Cornell never actually gets that great of talent. The last player taken higher than the third round was Riley Nash in 2007. Yet Cornell overperforms. Schafer gets the most out of everyone, every year. They're generally always in the 16 team NCAA tournament and do well against good ECAC competition. It's a defense first style and I'm not sure it would translate to another league or Schafer would leave Cornell, but just a thought.

 

[EichHart]

No question. How much of that is also just the PP goal scorers all having really down seasons? If we assume that has a part of it, we can probably say hey Skinner Thompson Tuch and Cozens are good for maybe 15 more Pp goals total if they were shooting like last year.

Maybe if they went in front of the net they would score more. It has been an obvious flaw all season long in trying to get the perfect one timer every power play. It’s a terrible strategy. Took them 75% of the season to make a change

 

[oldgoalie]

When was the last time the Sabres had a roster when people actually had a front of the net presence?
These guys have been so outside that front of the net area, they have name plates where they hang out on the boards.

 

[kirby11]

It took them 2 weeks to Sabreize Byram on the powerplay. Now he’s an unmoving pylon, programmed to do nothing but pass to Tage to shoot well-covered one timers.

They’d be better off if they just threw out the system and played somewhat like they do at 5 on 5. At least they try to get the puck to dangerous areas then

When was the last time the Sabres had a roster when people actually had a front of the net presence?
These guys have been so outside that front of the net area, they have name plates where they hang out on the boards.

Reinhart is the only guy who comes to mind lately. By and large, they’ve been a butter soft team up front during the drought (some exceptions in guys like Sam, Gus, Larry, and Okposo) and generally refuse to take any sort of physical punishment to make plays on a consistent basis

 

[old kummelweck]

When was the last time the Sabres had a roster when people actually had a front of the net presence?
These guys have been so outside that front of the net area, they have name plates where they hang out on the boards.

Greenway is it.

One of the problems is the structure of the offense that is designed around skill. Generate a rush from the D zone or neutral zone, and try and force the opposing team to make a mistake in coverage, creating an odd man chance or an open shooter. But when that doesn't happen, you get that low danger shot with no net front, or the puck ends up behind the goal line with the opposing team connecting on their break out. Sabres are happy to pressure that in the neutral zone, reload, then do that once again. It feels like they possess the puck this season, but with little to no offense. I do give them credit for finally learning how to play in their own end, improving the PK, and only recently have they started to play a fore checking game, but getting those bodies to the front of the net continues to be a problem.

This is why there are very few untouchable prospects not on the Sabres IMO. The drafting has really been hyper-focused on BPA, and with high picks, those are skill guys. "I know what people are going to say, another small forward." Yes, Kevin, we do say that because it's true, but switch small with soft, and we'd have more honesty. Benson was a rarity and the Sabres got really lucky there. Can this team really afford a season or two of Savoie figuring out his game to add that gritty skill set? I'd hang on to Poltopov and Wahlberg, but anyone else should be leveraged to refactor on the wing and the bottom six.

And ameteur scouting needs a change in philosophy as well. They have a lot of picks, stop trying to hit a home run on that hidden gem, and draft some character, grit, and yes, toughness.

 

[CaliSabresfan24]

 

[Sabresfansince1980]

It's no surprise...ZERO...that the Sabres don't practice as hard as better teams. They have looked like they're stuck in the mud to start the majority of games this season. It's been plain as day that they aren't prepared to go 100% at puck drop.

 

[sabremike]

It's no surprise...ZERO...that the Sabres don't practice as hard as better teams. They have looked like they're stuck in the mud to start the majority of games this season. It's been plain as day that they aren't prepared to go 100% at puck drop.

It's just so depressing when you read things like that because it's painfully obvious that the coach and his staff ARE the problem and hiring a competent coach and staff would literally turn everything around almost overnight.