dudacek

Not sure what the hate for Wilford is based on. I don’t follow Sabres Twitter. Dahlin just put up his 2 best seasons, Jokiharju his best, Bryson got pulled out of the trash heap, Clifton and Power were course-corrected nicely after rough starts… What is the big knock there? (Not debating, honestly curious.)

Adams has publicly graduated firmly to the “time is now” mindset. Unequivocally repeated it’s about winning. (I’m so happy for so many of you @Thorny, @PerreaultForever, @PASabreFan…😜) Lindy very much seemed to believe in the talent. And you know he’s going to believe in his own ability to unleash it. Really broad brush here, but I feel positive his presence is going to resonate with our growing Western Canadian group: Krebs, Cozens, Byram and Benson. And you know he’s going to challenge Power. Very interested in seeing the response.

Are these guys who are settled in Buffalo? I know Tage and Dahlin have settled into homes there as well, but they seem to summer "back home". Most have seemed to only be Buffalonians in the winter, although I suspect that changes as they grow up.

I mean the reasons why are obvious, but I thought Lindy came across as kinda old. Not as quick, not so much a force of nature.

That is an exceptional Tweet in relation to what the team did this year. As @Thorny has been pointing out, Sabres PR has become pretty sharp.

I think Lindy’s head coaching record is a great indicator of how much a coach’s success is tied to his players. He started in Buffalo with an improving team and a superstar goalie and enjoyed a string of contention that ended when the superstar left. He then had a few mediocre seasons as the GM slowly reset the roster, great success when the roster reset was complete and a slow decline as the talent drained away again. He took an average Dallas roster that had missed the playoffs 5 years in a row to 91 and 92 point seasons, followed by a sudden spike to 109 and a collapse to 79. They put up 92 and 93 points the 2 year after he left. And then he took over a New Jersey team that had missed the playoffs 8 of the past 9 years, floundered for 2 years as they reset the roster with youth, led that young team to one of the biggest improvements in league history the following year, then regressed this year after losing half of his veteran defence core and getting some of the worst goaltending in the league, while his star centre was wracked with injuries. Like most coaches, he’ll be as good as the players he’s given.

Arbour has zero loser points, Lindy 153. Doesn’t show how many OT wins he had. I agree that career winning percentage isn’t great proof of a coach’s ability. And I agree with your point, even if it wasn’t the one I was trying to make. Mine was that it’s kinda like ranking goalies based on the same stat. Too many underlying variables.

Nothing comes to mind for me. I don’t know that many ever get rehired, let alone find glory in their return. https://www.thescore.com/nhl/news/1043798

Ties count as zero. This is wins as a percentage of games coached.

Agreed. A lot of teams, I think most, will release an assistant from his contract to pursue a promotion. So if it’s Peca it would be for the “coach in waiting” role @Brawndo referenced them looking at and probably an associate coach title. Judging by Sabrespace he meets all the right qualifications: you know, warrior, former Sabre 😁 i have no problem with using my top players on the PK. I want the best PKers to play the PK. Marchand and Bergeron killed for years and the same is true for many other 1st-liners. Injuries happen in all facets of the game.

I think it’s kinda interesting that career winning percentage is being used as a mark against Lindy. Here are 10 of his peers: Darryl Sutter .498 Pat Burns .492 Pat Quinn .489 Jacques Lemaire .489 Lindy Ruff .487 Al Arbour .487 Mike Keenan .485 John Torterella .480 Dick Irvin .477 Paul Maurice .470 And for fun: Punch Imlach .452

I find the "Bring back the same roster" thing usually comes with arbitrary rules around what that means. Knowing what those ground rules helps me understand the conversation. It looks like you want to frame it around how many new players will we add this summer who aren't here today. Which is fine, but it doesn't reflect "bring back the entire failed roster" because that roster included Mittelstadt, Okposo, Johnson, Girgensons, Jost, Olofsson, Robinson and Comrie, who all spent at least half the season on that roster. Byram — who was not a significant part of the failed roster — effectively replaced Johnson, but the rest of them still need to be replaced. Rousek and other prospects may take some of their slots, but there are clearly more spots open to add bodies from outside the organization than your ??? would lead one to believe.

Not sure I'm going to enjoy everyone this hire is pulling out of the woodwork, but we sure missed your takes around here.

So longevity means nothing? Being good over a long haul means nothing? You’ll take Mogilny’s 1 70-goal season over Rico’s 8 30-goal seasons every time? Yep, you can accuse @lgr’s post profile as being intense or even black-and-white, but it is always informed. Unrelentingly negative ain’t his thing.

How should we define that? 25 players were on the roster for at least half the season. Mittelstadt, Johnson and Okposo were regulars from this year’s rosters who won’t be back. Girgensons, Jost, Olofsson, Robinson and Comrie are unsigned free agents who may not be. 8 of 25 constitutes roughly 1/3 of the failed roster. Is that a fair over/under? Does a player have to be high on the roster to count? A core player? Do prospects becoming regulars count? Do the deadline moves count?

To be clear fans judge coaches by two things: wins versus expectations; and demeanour. We know ***** about how they game plan or lead people because we rarely get to see them do either. At least this time we know we got someone who cares.

It may have been the part that confirmed it for me.

Go rewatch Adams’ presser and tell me that this wasn’t Plan A from before he fired Donnie. He knew who he wanted and he went out and got him. If there were other interviews they were of the courtesy kind. Yes, it was Lindy or @Doohickie. My god, this stuff is so tired and so tiring. Well, if we were looking for the kiss of death…

This isn't a hire for the hardcore fans like us. It's a hire for the next level on the pyramid of Buffalo hockey fans. Not the guy I would have picked, but if I'm honest with myself his resume probably ticks a lot of boxes if his name wasn't Lindy Ruff and this wasn't the Buffalo Sabres. I suspect he's going to flame out spectacularly. But I'm going to go with the way @Thorny is reacting because if I squint really hard I can kinda see it, and giving the latest move a chance is just the way I roll. Now where's my Scotch?

Better player than this year showed. Bad fit with this team. He's an NHL player in the right situation, incredible success story for his draft pedigree and he carried himself well his entire career. Time to move on was a year ago. Wishing him luck.

Even a broken clock....

I worry about Benson’s shot in the bumper. He’s got the rest of the package though. Quinn is very good at the right half wall. But he’s too good at too many things to bury on PP2. IMO he’s got the best PP tools on the team outside Dahlin and Tage. I think we’re in agreement that there is PP talent on the roster that deserves its shot given the failures of Granato’s chosen 5.

It’s clearly a one-note song: let Ras play catch until we get it to Tage for a shot. Its no wonder it stinks. Is that coaching, too much deference, or not enough ability/willingness to try other things? There is no doubt in my mind that Quinn would add someone who would both want the puck, and be able to do things with it. He was a PP monster in Rochester.

I think Quinn can play either low spot and I am with you 100% on this. JJP would be the guy at look at next on left high spot after Byram. He’s more dangerous from distance, but I think Byram might bring more of the distribution/playmaking.

The guy on the left half-wall needs to be able to pass to both sides, have a dangerous shot from distance, and have the ability to drive the net. I say that’s Byram. The guy in the bumper slot needs to be able to find cracks in traffic, be fearless and aggressive in tight, have quick hands and a fast accurate release, and some passing ability. Quinn? And I wonder if Benson has enough retrieval and entry skills to replace Tuch as the low man?