Confirmed with Link: Lindy Ruff named Head Coach, Press Conference at 1:00 PM EDT
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sabremike
Kemonito superfan
old kummelweck
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- Nov 10, 2003
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He is ABSOLUTELY RIGHT and it was my criticism of Granato when they fell of a cliff. Instead of recognizing the league figured them out, he chose to blame the players by saying they weren't executing.
I'm glad to hear Ruff say this. Fixing the problem of course is one thing, but understanding what it is... that's where you start.
Basics of the game - go to the net with and without the puck - are not part of Granato's approach. He wanted rushes, not settled offense. They want to fix why they don't score? They don't knock people off the puck and win pucks in the offensive zone to establish a cycle, don't go to the net when they have the puck deep and don't stay there when they are near it.
Collectively, they have played spinelessly. But I'm sure they weren't bruised nearly as much as some others and for that bit of candy-assnesss, they got a decent man fired.
As someone who loves to carry the puck into the offensive zone I am always yelling "Go to the net!" That's where the goals are scored.
blackrock
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- Feb 8, 2007
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jc17
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regarding fixing it, I think that's where having strong athlete leadership comes in. Lindys statement sounds a lot like the sheldon keefe clip from a few years ago that was cycling around. Leafs were informed but didn't care, and I got the impression apathy started from the top
Dubi Doo
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- Aug 27, 2008
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I'd cover Ruff's and McD's tabs at the bar (depending on what theyre drinking
) to listen to them talk about coaching philosophies.This is what the players SAID they wanted; we'll see soon enough if it's what they really want. The results will speak for themselve.
old kummelweck
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- Nov 10, 2003
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I was more focused in on the "elite coaching in the league" and it being the reason why the Sabres O dropped. Granato was just being out-coached and with his development background, was more focused on how the team with effort and commitment, could overcome their short-comings, which he attributed to something within the individual players. Adam's remarked how the Sabres "never changed their system," but it wasn't in the context of attributing an overall strategic deficiency, which it was.
"Why won't they go to the net and dirty areas? Must be on the players, and not how they are being coached." You need a good forecheck and puck retrieval before you can even think about getting to the front of the net. Sabres just liked to wind it up in their own zone or in the neutral zone, and rush-attack.
The more the season is in the rear view mirror, the more hope I have they will get a big boost from an elite, veteran coach. Adams needs to change the mix a bit on personnel, which is also an issue, but I think this team will turn it around pretty quick.
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old kummelweck
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Maybe, but the coach has a lot to do with how the players approach the game. The practicing and system need to support the game-time approach. The players still have some growing up to do, and yes, maybe bringing in a few hard-nosed role players will bring more out of them.
joshjull
Registered User
He does. But in fairness to Granato, they spent the two years prior focusing on developing players and growing their confidence through their offensive game. The approach was essentially “lean into your offensive game and don’t worry about f***ing up”.
Coming into this past season Adams/Granato talked about “cleaning up their game”. Which is another way of saying, “Remember when I told you guys not to worry about f***ing up? Well now I need you to worry about it”. Which is a tough 180 for a coach.
Granato made adjustments within their system but the players never bought in. We saw how disjointed they were the first couple months of the season trying to adapt. After the first couple months, Granato gave up and went back to the previous approach.
Cleary a different voice was needed to make the necessary changes to the player’s mentality. It would have also helped had Adams brought in more players to help reinforce the change in mentality. It still may not have been enough without a new voice.
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Jim Bob
RIP RJ
Adams wants to dismiss it, but consistently having one of the youngest and least experienced rosters in the league makes it tough on the coaching staff to get them to play consistently enough over an 82 game season to be a playoff team.
The best teams have a solid veteran core to mentor the minority of young players that come onto the roster. It is not something that the coaches alone can do.
And we have seen throughout the drought that they have consistently relied too much on young players.
sabremike
Kemonito superfan
The fact that his philosophy was that learning defense is the easy part should've been a huge red flag Granato was not cut out to be a head coach at this level.
Doug Prishpreed
Registered User
He didn't say it was easy, he said it was "easier" -- which is true.
sabremike
Kemonito superfan
And last season we focused on the supposedly easier thing and everything went straight to Hell in spectacular fashion.
Doug Prishpreed
Registered User
It's because of what Lindy said at the presser -- other teams just figured out how to stop Buffalo's offense. That would have happened whether they starting focusing more on defense or not.
Fact is, most players on the team improved dramatically on the defensive side of the puck last season. Maintaining offense is much more difficult, so they weren't able to do it. Because it's more difficult than defense.
MeenOlViks
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- May 25, 2015
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Lindy wants a fighter. He needs his "tools" What's John Scott up to these days?
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I haven't been on the "we have to have a fighter" board for a while but hearing Lindy talking about having the right tools and having a guy like that who can help protect the young players is bringing me around. They need to be able to play and not drag the team down but it would help prevent taking liberties - especially if anyone ever "hits our captain!"
MeenOlViks
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jc17
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Idk if he wants to dismiss it as much as he doesn't want youth to be an excuse, which I think is valid.
If these guys constantly are told, or even infrequently, that they're young and have time to figure it out, they won't have the daily sense of urgency that is important. Not to say I want guys dejected because they think they should be perfect already, but I don't want guys waiting for success to come with age, or waiting to get more experienced teammates
Adams needs to help them out this year, but I'm ok with him publicly calling it a need. We got older with guys like hall, Staal and EJ and it obviously didn't help. The vet leaders that actually might help build a culture won't necessarily be easy adds.
Jim Bob
RIP RJ
It's not an excuse. It is the reality of the situation.
To think that the Sabres can do something that other teams cannot is some kind of arrogance.
And doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results is the definition of insanity.
One or two vets and the youngest roster in the league hasn't worked for the past 4 seasons. I doubt it will work again if they are bottom 5 in youth and NHL games played experience to start the season yet again.
Andre Palot
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I'm just here so I can get more mileage on this name until I can think of a suitable alternative.
Fjordy
Soul Dancing in the Dark
- Jun 20, 2018
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For this to work, you have to have the right puzzle. The right coach, the right veterans (not just good personalities, but good players). I don't want Scott Laughton (just an example) on the team, just because he's a good guy in the locker room, if he's going to lose games to us sometimes because he plays badly.
Doug Prishpreed
Registered User
I don't see any way where they're not the youngest again. Is there a way to look up the number of player-NHL games each team has? We may not be the absolute "youngest" when you measure that way...but we probably still are.
