Granato Head Coach Presser: Thursday 11am

[Zamboni]

16 minutes ago, bob_sauve28 said:

I think its a good point and gives an idea why we won’t suck next year....assuming we get goaltending  help 

It really does primarily fall right around that position.

same level of goaltending… Most likely the same results. Better goaltending… That will elevate everyone else’s play in front of him. Resulting in a better record. hopefully that is KA’s primary focus. Everything else although very important… Should be secondary.

[IKnowPhysics]

34 minutes ago, IKnowPhysics said:

Any links to the video for this?  Sabres had it up on the fb page, but took it down after about 10 minutes.

https://fb.watch/6tK1--zs7h/

[CallawaySabres]

What type of info are people expecting on Eichel? I mean seriously, the guy is getting traded and you won't hear a peep about it until the trade goes down. Even then, all you will hear until this coach is fired will be...it was better for both parties that a split was made and we wish Jack all the best.

[Doohickie]

2 hours ago, PromoTheRobot said:

OMG Donny thanked Terry& Kim. He's under their spell!

No, it just means KA told Donny how to handle the Pegulas:  Praise them to the high heavens and then do good hockey business and tell them that's what they wanted you to do.

[Doohickie]

2 hours ago, bob_sauve28 said:

Wonder if it was about petty matters? 

Don't sweat the petty stuff, and don't pet the sweaty stuff.

[PromoTheRobot]

 

 

 

[PerreaultForever]

53 minutes ago, CallawaySabres said:

What type of info are people expecting on Eichel? I mean seriously, the guy is getting traded and you won't hear a peep about it until the trade goes down. Even then, all you will hear until this coach is fired will be...it was better for both parties that a split was made and we wish Jack all the best.

I don't. Wherever he goes I hope he's a frustrated player who fails to live up to his billing for the rest of his career and more importantly I hope he never gets to play for his beloved Bruins. 

[Sabres Fan in NS]

2 hours ago, Zamboni said:

Not all the answers… But a good chunk of the answers were very canned/standard/typical/run-of-the-mill. There were a few things gleaned from what DG and KA said. But like every other press conference… It was rather typical and uneventful.

*this is a press conference, the last thing I want to do is answer a lot of questions* ...

 

Edited July 1, 2021 by New Scotland (NS)
not goodly typing ...

[dudacek]

My takeaways:

First and foremost, Granato is a hockey coach; it’s what he does, it’s who he is, it’s what he cares about. @SwampD said it earlier: I like listening to this guy talk about hockey.

Any lingering concerns about experience were eroded. Every response leaned into his experience. He exuded unforced, natural confidence and he shared more about coaching philosophy and strategy in one presser than we got in four years of Housley and Krueger. 

The repeated references to a smart, passionate fan base and an obligation to them were interesting. I think it will be mantra of the culture change plan and one Adams and Granato appear on the same page with. Donnie was clearly trying to set a tone when he talked with such conviction about “wanting this so badly”

Whether it is primarily going to be a marketing strategy or a hockey strategy (I think it’s both) next year is going to be about forging a band of brothers identity for the team. The Peca Sabres had it, the Briere Sabres had it. Even if they had very different play styles, they had an attitude of being for each other that the community bought into and fed off, which the team then fed off. Granato’s anecdote about the alumni event and recapturing the identity he felt from those players was a perfect illustration of what this management team wants to recreate.

The above is why I believe Adams thinks Jack has got to go. Right now, we have an Eichel-centred culture, something Ralph fully embraced. I don’t think that’s automatically a bad thing; it worked for Michael Jordan. But I do think Adams believes it is a bad thing for this group, at least given Jack’s current state of mind. You can’t have a team-first mentality when one player is placed on a pedestal and that player does not respect or empower the pieces around him.

@Thorny has expressed some very pertinent concerns about this being another “evaluation” year that allows management once again kick the can down the road. I liked the way Donnie addressed that. His focus seems to be on active improvement. He wants to challenge his players reach and grow and believes they can. He basically said the talent around them in the division is irrelevant. It is their job to become better than them, and it is something within their grasp. “If we stay focused on getting better we will hit a tipping point, it’s inevitable.”

They want to get people here who believe, and who thrive on the above challenge. My favourite quote was “Don’t wait to win. Find a way,” and “We have talent in place to take big steps very fast.”

Donnie came across as a good choice for this situation and this plan.. Now it’s up to Adams to get him the right pieces.

 

Edited July 1, 2021 by dudacek

[pi2000]

the more things change....

this sounded just like the krueger and housley pressers.  

smh, isn't it obvious we just keep going in circles?   ***** laughingstock of the league, they should be embarrassed.

If I'm Eichel, Reinhart this hire is the nail in the coffin.

[BUFtoNCfan]

Excellent write up, couldn’t agree more. Thanks for taking the time.

That was directed at Dudacek.

[Gatorman0519]

2 hours ago, Taro T said:

Funny.  Keep Eichel & Reinhart, re-sign McCabe & Ullmark, add Danault & another goalie and that can start THIS season rather than hopefully in a couple.

I agree. But if those players don’t want to be here there is nothing you can do which seems clearly the case. 

[Gatorman0519]

13 minutes ago, pi2000 said:

the more things change....

this sounded just like the krueger and housley pressers.  

smh, isn't it obvious we just keep going in circles?   ***** laughingstock of the league, they should be embarrassed.

If I'm Eichel, Reinhart this hire is the nail in the coffin.

Except this man lives and breathes hockey with a 30 year track record. Ralph did not. 

[thewookie1]

I'd say the one thing about Granato I find very interesting is how while still giving "Front Office" vagueness as all coaches do; he still gave us clues to how he wants the team to play. For the 1st time since Ruff we may have finally found a coach interested in trying to build a structure around the players versus forcing the players into a specific structure. 

[PerreaultForever]

17 minutes ago, pi2000 said:

the more things change....

this sounded just like the krueger and housley pressers.  

Disagree entirely. I heard exactly what I was hoping to hear. Now I do recognize it's just words and until it's on the ice it means nothing, but this was not the same as those. 

Both of those guys presented themselves as if they had all the answers and they knew the magic formula. They were very opposite, but clearly neither did.

This one spoke about work, development, progress. there was no magic formula, but there was going to be a lot of practice .

I personally was very encouraged when he drew attention to the late season moments when Cozens and Thompson stood up for the team (and dropped the gloves). This doesn't mean rock 'em sock 'em hockey is coming but it does speak to team as a concept and cultural dynamic. They clearly get it, and they get what's missing. Don't know if they can deliver. We shall see. 

Clearly, Jack and Sam are gone. If either is still here it means they failed in their trading attempts and regardless of how they spin it, it will be a fail on KA. He clearly is designing the future without them. Risto not sure. Not sure it matters either. 

[GASabresIUFAN]

It all sounds like a proper rebuild; finally.  No short cuts.  I'm still not convinced that Sam and Jack need to go to accomplish this team first mission, but I recognize the likelihood.  

The proof about Granato is last season.  He took guys like Asplund, Mitts and Thompson, who most here wrote off at various times, and got them to play better hockey.  He got more out of Bryson then RK, and got Dahlin, Jokiharju and Skinnner out of the dog house and back to being themselves.  

Now can this teacher keep that momentum going.  I think so.

What I'm not convinced about is whether KA and Karmanos can get the right players in here to supplement the kids and make us a better team and move one step closer to contention.

Honestly it all starts with goaltending.  If they don't fix that nothing else really matters.

 

[Pimlach]

I missed the presser so thanks to PA and all for the comments.  You guys are a bunch of characters btw.   
 

I wish Granato well.  He will have a lot of challenges with this roster if it comes less Eichel, Reinhart, and Risto.  He showed us last year that he can get them playing decent hockey at times.  
 

I hope Adams can help him out  - start by getting him a dam goalie and a few players that hate losing.   

[PromoTheRobot]

 

Yeah, this sounds like every other answer. 🙄

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited July 1, 2021 by PromoTheRobot

[PASabreFan]

1 hour ago, Gatorman0519 said:

Except this man lives and breathes hockey with a 30 year track record. Ralph did not. 

Sure he did. And he impressed everyone here with his talk. Especially the story about coming into town and visiting bars on the down low.

Coaches are smart to try and get the fans on their side.

[PromoTheRobot]

@PASabreFan Glad you agree it was a great answer.

[pi2000]

2 hours ago, PerreaultForever said:

Disagree entirely. I heard exactly what I was hoping to hear. Now I do recognize it's just words and until it's on the ice it means nothing, but this was not the same as those. 

Both of those guys presented themselves as if they had all the answers and they knew the magic formula. They were very opposite, but clearly neither did.

This one spoke about work, development, progress. there was no magic formula, but there was going to be a lot of practice .

I personally was very encouraged when he drew attention to the late season moments when Cozens and Thompson stood up for the team (and dropped the gloves). This doesn't mean rock 'em sock 'em hockey is coming but it does speak to team as a concept and cultural dynamic. They clearly get it, and they get what's missing. Don't know if they can deliver. We shall see. 

Clearly, Jack and Sam are gone. If either is still here it means they failed in their trading attempts and regardless of how they spin it, it will be a fail on KA. He clearly is designing the future without them. Risto not sure. Not sure it matters either. 

Fair enough, but sorry I'm not convinced things will get better under his tutelage.   

Their metrics declined after he took over.

He's a developmental coach in the top pro league in the world.   Veteran NHL coaches will eat him alive.... I saw no indication last season he can make adjustments on the fly to counter what other teams are trying to do.    

This is another "we're gonna lose a lot of games, but our young players will get better" hire.   

[sabremike]

After hearing the press conference and seeing that Donny is an enthusiastic believer in the holy omnipotent Magic Giraffe Deity I now endorse his hiring 1,000%.

[JohnC]

49 minutes ago, pi2000 said:

Fair enough, but sorry I'm not convinced things will get better under his tutelage.   

Their metrics declined after he took over.

He's a developmental coach in the top pro league in the world.   Veteran NHL coaches will eat him alive.... I saw no indication last season he can make adjustments on the fly to counter what other teams are trying to do.    

This is another "we're gonna lose a lot of games, but our young players will get better" hire.   

What your metrics don't show is that he didn't have much practice time to work with the players he inherited. What your metrics don't show is that his team was stripped of many of his players in order to assess the young players, many of them brought up from the AHL. What your metrics don't capture is that he was working with an AHL level, or worse, caliber of goaltending

Regardless what his record was in his abbreviated stint behind the bench the eye test clearly shows that the players, young and old, demonstratively played better  with him at the helm. 

No coach is a miracle man. You work with the players that you are given. All you can ask your coach is to have them play with maximum effort and play up to their abilities. What more can you ask for?

Next year there will be some coaches who have more talented rosters whose teams underachieve. If he has a less talented team that overachieves and comes away with a poorer record compared to the more talented team that doesn't mean that he didn't do a better coaching job. 

 

[PerreaultForever]

1 hour ago, pi2000 said:

Fair enough, but sorry I'm not convinced things will get better under his tutelage.   

Their metrics declined after he took over.

He's a developmental coach in the top pro league in the world.   Veteran NHL coaches will eat him alive.... I saw no indication last season he can make adjustments on the fly to counter what other teams are trying to do.    

This is another "we're gonna lose a lot of games, but our young players will get better" hire.   

This is definitely possible. I hope not, but it is possible.

However, if the only thing we are complaining about 2-3 years from now is Granato's poor line matching and in game decisions I think we will have progressed quite far. 

This season is a new DAY 1. Like it or not. One step at a time. Complain when we start taking them backwards (again). 

[Rasmus_]

I like that Granato, gives a crap what the fans think and care about.  He admitted to the pressure under the current circumstance and his players will come in and thrive under this pressure.  So, I am all in on Granato.  The puppet, muppet, gave his schtick.  Kevyn Adams, infuriates me.