Believer

Neither exhibits the game in game out fire of a great C, imo… In their Clean Out interview, neither is sufficiently disgusted with missing the playoffs again this season and every season they have been Sabres… Five years and running for Dahlin… Three years for Tuch… Both lack a positive and determined persona, tone, and vocabulary… Cliches and excuses, mostly… (Okposo was an awful example for them)… Yet, one of them is likely the next C… Dahlin, if you believe the poll results. We aren’t privy to what is said off ice, at practice, in the locker room before, during, or after games… I do believe a gifted C can make a difference to any team.

Agree… I like Krebs… He has high compete and enthusiasm… Loves the wall battles… Always has a smile on his face when the camera catches him on the bench… usually talking to teammates… Kid has got to show his skills and embrace an identity if he’s not traded and given a chance by the new HC… Will be rooting for him.

Just listened to Adams’s presser… 44 minutes… First time he’s been humble in his public comments in my memory… Took his mask off… Admitted his failure as GM… Rightly took the bullet for Granato… without letting the players off the hook… First time Harrington, Lyskowski, Hamilton et al put hard questions to him publicly … and he answered every one he could with patience and intelligence… Provided great insight into his thinking, his relationships and his process… Bravo, Adams… Looking forward to his off season decisions.

If you’re asking is the poster Biron, the answer is can’t be. Biron is 46. Poster says he’s been a fan 50 years. I would hire Biron as an Assistant Coach in a skinny minute. Smart, huge hockey IQ, great analytical and communication skills, and enthusiasm for the Sabres and Buffalo.

Good question… We can assume it’s not because of his performance coaching the PP all season… He came to the Sabres in 2020 as Director of Player Development after his playing career ended, so he has worked closely with most of the kids on the roster. Think the best answer is his relationships… with Pegula, Adams, the hockey staff, and the players and prospects. Imagine he may be the eyes in the room for the owner to keep an eye on Adams… and the fraternal continuity Adams lost when he fired Granato. Bearing in mind… All business is people business.

Ha… If what might be “dangerous for his career” is a coach’s focus… we wouldn’t want him anyway… The focus has to be an “exciting opportunity.” The Sabres can offer their next HC every bit of an exciting opportunity… Only those who see it need apply.

Was an early critic of Granato and thought he lost all credibility when he was mum on the player rebellion and let it go on too long… Evidence for me he wasn’t strong enough for the leadership demands of the job… Despite excellent hockey IQ, analytical and verbal skills, players stopped listening to him… Wasn’t surprised… Most pro athletes are alpha males and don’t respond to weak leaders…They think they know better. Granato gave it his all… Walks away with some valuable experiences, great relationships and financial security… He will be fine whatever he ends up doing.

Without insight into the dynamic between Adams and Pegula, agree the firings were six months too late, but only if Adams had the ability to do it at any point sooner. Perhaps he didn’t. Expect any experienced NHL HC will want to partner with Adams on future changes to the roster he inherits. Unless the new HC is on board, offseason trades and FA pick ups will be all Adams and Pegula. Makes me think the new HC will be named soon.

Five months is a long time to be jonesing for a Sabres game… Let’s all enjoy tonight!

The end is nigh…

Pegula isn’t committed to the Sabres winning. It’s the investment appreciation and ownership status that keeps him an owner, imo.

UPL

Nice job, @PASabreFan…Solid list of Captains duties… Think you got them all… Dahlin could mature into a C in a few years… Too soon to say… Tuch is of the Okposo mold… Nice guy but not demanding enough of himself and his teammates, imo. Don’t see a long term C on the roster yet… Next C should be a bridge.

Well said, @Thorny and solely a result of this regime’s making… Also know when you change the conditions, you change the behavior… Abysmal starts went on for months… What did Adams and Granato change?… Nothing, really. Juggled a line or two. Cut minutes on a few guys late in the season. If it’s on the players as you say, management never got their attention… Adams, Granato, and Okposo failed as leaders. We got rid of Okposo, a good man but a miserable Captain, imo… Time to get rid of the others… Do it in the offseason or do it during the season on a probationary basis as someone suggested… But at the first whiff of complacency… as evidenced by a lack of Commitment to Winning… Cut bait.

Me, too. Earlier.

Got you snowed, too, @Thorny??… Any other NHL Coach with the same record would have been fired by now… You guys are getting as soft as the Sabres!

Granato is not HC material… He proved it again this year with his inability to send out a team prepared to play hard hockey from the first puck drop, to his line change management with the home ice advantage, to his wholly ineffective PP system, and his redundant postgame analytical explanations for poor efforts and results… I’m giving him a pass on spending the last few preseason games auditioning prospects instead of playing his starters for 60 minutes… No Commitment to Winning… And his inexplicable and unacceptable public reaction to the team’s adolescent stunt responding to the boos and fan chants for his firing… Absence of Leadership. Excited to hear the organization’s plans for next season.

Our Sabres headlining an NHL promotional tour to start the next season?… Wouldn’t have been my choice unless we are at the end of a rotation selection system… As if our youngsters need the distraction of a quasi European vacation to getting off to a winning start.

Or be expected to pay for season tickets, game day tickets, parking, and concessions with hard-earned wages or other income… when the owner doesn’t care enough to insist his GM, Coach, and Players commit to a winning effort every single game.

And, that has been Granato’s and Adams blind spot all season long. No “Commitment to Winning.”… Instead, they produced complacency with the goal of youth development… From the final three preseason games through 79 game nights… It’s as simple as that, I believe.

“Now, boys, when the horn blows I want you to skate off the ice with your shoulders back and your head held high.”

Don’t agree, @inkman… Adams got so caught up in his search for prospects with “high character” he neglected to select for players with “high competitiveness”… We only have a few on our roster… We are loaded with Wannabes… No hockey mind is going to fix this franchise without roster change.

Truth.

Quinn… Boom… Dallas announcers think it is a high stick… Yep.

Damn.