WGR

'Buffalo had just two shots 12 minutes into the third and they both went in. Don Granato praised his team for improvement and yes, there were pockets of pace, but you can’t be happy when you get very little offensive zone time and give up 40 shots while having only 42 shot attempts of your own. I just can’t sit here and say they played well when they were outshot 40-19. By … [Read more...] about Opinion: Sabres couldn’t keep up pace, winless in 14 games

'"I don't see any concern at this point, certainly none that's going to disrupt what we're doing and what we want to do and lay out as a staff," Granato said following Sunday's practice.' … [Read more...] about Dan Girardi relishing opportunity to help coach Sabres

'Sportsnet hockey insider Elliotte Friedman had said in the past that Johansson's name was garnering interest around the NHL, and he brought his name back up again on Friday. Friedman specifically mentioned the Colorado Avalanche as a team that had looked into his services before.' … [Read more...] about Sabres trade goaltender Jonas Johansson to Colorado

'Both the Sabres and Bruins were forced to cancel their morning skates on Thursday after having members of each organization enter the NHL's COVID-19 Protocols. The Sabres had a team staff member enter the league's protocols, while Boston had their first player go into the league's protocols.' … [Read more...] about Sabres’ Saturday matchup with Bruins postponed due to COVID-19 protocols

'This is not ideal circumstances for Granato to come into and he doesn’t even know if he can practice on Saturday, “There would be an option to wait a day. I mean take a day to wait it out and I think we’re leaning that way.” Granato said he needs to meet with Kevyn Adams to decide what’s best for the organization.' … [Read more...] about New coach Don Granato got to work in his first practice with the Sabres

'NHL Network analyst Kevin Weekes reports that the Sabres and Colorado Avalanche are closing in on a deal to send the Swedish netminder to Denver.' … [Read more...] about Report: Sabres are trading goaltender Jonas Johansson to Colorado

'Just hours after the firing on Wednesday, TSN hockey insider Pierre LeBrun shared a text conversation he had with the former Sabres head coach. When asked about his brief time in Buffalo, Krueger was nothing but class, as usual, in his response.' … [Read more...] about Krueger ‘loved every minute’ of tenure as head coach in Buffalo

'Unfortunately for Granato and the Sabres, the song remained the same. The blue and gold were defeated for the 13th-straight game as they were downed by the Bruins by a final score of 4-1. It was the first of these team's eight meetings in the shortened season.' … [Read more...] about Winless streak reaches a baker’s dozen for the Sabres

'The Sabres are horrendous with their execution in practice. It’s something that hasn’t been lost on Granato and he said, “We will be practicing differently and there will be quite a difference there because habits do go from practice to games.” The new head coach added, “We need to demand more, push harder and practice is another opportunity to do those things.”' … [Read more...] about Opinion: The Don Granato era has started in Buffalo

'New interim coach, same permanent results.' … [Read more...] about Opinion: Three observations: New coach doesn’t lead to spark from losing Sabres

'Ownership is the constant in all of this failure. That failure has, of course, led to all of this turnover. There are an awful lot of body bags stacked up outside. My sense is that with each failure, from Pat LaFontaine all the way to Ralph Krueger, the owners have trusted the people they hire a little bit less, and with that have become more involved in hockey decisions than … [Read more...] about Opinion: What now?

'With Granato shifting to become the interim head coach, director of player personnel Matt Ellis will step in behind the bench to serve as one of his interim assistant coaches. Meanwhile, player development coach and former NHL defenseman Dan Girardi will also step in behind the bench to replace Steve Smith.' … [Read more...] about Sabres fire Ralph Krueger as head coach

'I have never seen a team sloppier in practice than the Buffalo Sabres. Simple passes aren’t completed on a regular basis, and going offside during drills is a regular occurrence that is never corrected.' … [Read more...] about Kevyn Adams: Many reasons went into firing Ralph Krueger

'The Sabres had a response in the second period, as the team scored twice in a span of 57 seconds to tie and claim their first lead of the night. Tobias Rieder's fifth goal of the season evened the score, before Jeff Skinner turned the tides and made it 2-1 with his second of the campaign.' … [Read more...] about Sabres’ winless streak reaches a dozen

'Skinner scored a nice goal and was feisty and getting under the other team’s skin. To me, that had been missing during his slump and it’s a big part of his game, to get the opponent to concentrate on getting him back and not him scoring.' … [Read more...] about Opinion: The good effort doesn’t matter. The Sabres still haven’t won in 12 games