Sabres fire Don Granato, hire Lindy Ruff as head coach

[ES]

The stigma against "retread" coaches is strange

If Lightning loses on round one this year and Cooper is sacked, I wonder how many consider him as a retread when he gets a new job.

 

[BB79]

Does anyone remember the last playoff game this franchise played, since it gets brought up frequently?

Game 7, with win or go home on the line, Lindy and the Sabres get outshot 19-1 in the first period by the Flyers. Man he really had that team prepared to come out that gate.

So....he's no different than Don Granato?

 

[KeyserSoze81]

Think teams would start looking outside the old guard.
The 3 longest tenured coaches in the league were "inexperienced" at the NHL level compared to most of these retreads.
(Sullivan did have a previous HC gig).

A new coach presents higher risk and higher reward. Yes it could go well and you can be set for 5-10 years, or it could be mind-bendingly awful. At this point, the Sabres cannot afford the downside risk. No one wants to sign here. The loyal fanbase is apathetic after a revolving door of coaches and 13 years of no playoffs. The accumulation of young talent remains at a tipping point.

So, as with all things, context is important. The Sabres need middling success at this point (ie a wildcard appearance, accountability among the players, and an experienced voice). This should help develop the young talent and help breed longer term success, where one can compete for advancing in the playoffs. Failing that, we will see talent start to ask out once again.

 

[SnuggaRUDE]

It's foolish to hire an old coach, they're retreads
It's foolish to hire a new coach, they're inexperienced

What you want to do is a hire the coach who's going to win the Stanley Cup

 

[Magic Mittens]

Always like Lindy in Dallas. Buffalo could certainly use his experience. Gotta wait and see how the season plays out to make a judgement on this move.

However, I probably would have waited to see if any coaches get fired from the playoff teams.

 

[JianYang]

Just like Rick bowness, things have come for circle for lindy, and I suspect these will be the last stops on their respective coaching tours.

 

[dire wolf]

It's foolish to hire an old coach, they're retreads
It's foolish to hire a new coach, they're inexperienced

What you want to do is a hire the coach who's going to win the Stanley Cup

That's the Craig Conroy plan

 

[ijuka]

It's foolish to hire an old coach, they're retreads
It's foolish to hire a new coach, they're inexperienced

What you want to do is a hire the coach who's going to win the Stanley Cup

Yeah, except when you're hiring a coach, 31 other coaches already have a job over the one you're hiring, so your coach is expected to be #32 in the league by default.

 

[Voight]

The stigma against "retread" coaches is strange

It honestly makes me laugh. Like guys aren't allowed to get more head coaching jobs after they've already had three or four? Hiring first timers can work sometimes... or it can blow up in your face (see the Sabres the last decade). At least you know what you're getting with a retread.

People really criticized the Panthers for hiring a retread coach in Maurice and he made the finals in year one (they rent exactly on anyones bingo card) and lead them through a great regular season this year.

If Lightning loses on round one this year and Cooper is sacked, I wonder how many consider him as a retread when he gets a new job.

Highly highly doubt Cooper gets sacked. Winning back to back cups and making three straight finals (four total in his tenure) gives you a lot of leeway. It's not like the Bolts are heavy favourites this year, they're still a contender but they already peaked and probably need a year or two to build their depth back up.

 

[Mattilaus]

I get the sentiment about the old boys club, but you need to remember that for a bunch of these GMs, its their job on the line too if the coach doesn't perform. Given that, one has to wonder why a bunch of knowledgeable hockey minds keep hiring some of the same old man coaches over and over. Maybe, just maybe, it's because they are good at coaching?

 

[sabremike]

The amusing thing is people are complaining about hiring retreads when the last 3 Sabres coaching hires were essentially entry level (yes I know Ralph coached the Oilers in the shortened season. Whatever, it was like 48 games).

 

[Chainshot]

The amusing thing is people are complaining about hiring retreads when the last 3 Sabres coaching hires were essentially entry level (yes I know Ralph coached the Oilers in the shortened season. Whatever, it was like 48 games).

We know that if they had hired someone new, that would also be shit on. The only thing that matters is how they perform next season. People will find a way to complain about it.

 

[Uncle Scrooge]

I truly believe that Buffalo would've been the best team in the playoffs out of any of the wild card teams in the race. They were a tough team to beat for a couple months there despite never getting on an actual run, something that cost them in the end alongside a slow start. They stabilized things, got better defensively, had games they ripped open offensively and were rarely outclassed.

I feel better about the team going into next year than either of these two previous seasons, so hopefully Ruff is the right guy. I don't really have a good grasp on how he is as a coach to be honest. Results have been very mixed and he's kind of a tough guy to get a read on.