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Is Don Granato the best coach the Sabres have had since Lindy Ruff?


LGR4GM

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This stemmed from a Paul Hamilton radio segment. Hamilton noted that for the first time in years a coach stopped practice and corrected things quickly and efficiently. Specifically the first drill the Sabres were doing a give and go passing drill and they were putting pucks in skates and such. Granato was unhappy with the effort and stopped practice, adjusted some things, and made them repeat the drill until it was correct. 

Now, I don't watch all the practices so maybe this happened under other coaches but it just seemed interesting that Hamilton specifically mentioned that and the pace in which drills were being run. Lackadaisical play was not tolerated and he noted it 100% was under Krueger. 

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6 minutes ago, LGR4GM said:

This stemmed from a Paul Hamilton radio segment. Hamilton noted that for the first time in years a coach stopped practice and corrected things quickly and efficiently. Specifically the first drill the Sabres were doing a give and go passing drill and they were putting pucks in skates and such. Granato was unhappy with the effort and stopped practice, adjusted some things, and made them repeat the drill until it was correct. 

Now, I don't watch all the practices so maybe this happened under other coaches but it just seemed interesting that Hamilton specifically mentioned that and the pace in which drills were being run. Lackadaisical play was not tolerated and he noted it 100% was under Krueger. 

I'm not saying this to bash Paul, but someone posted on twitter a whole bunch of tweets from Paul over the years mentioning former Sabre coaches angrily stopping practices. So this isn't close to being the first time.

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Ted Nolan was good with the Sabres in the 90's. His second stint wasn't so great which could have been a result of a gutted roster, or him being out of the league for a few years. Too early to say with Granato though. We really haven't hit a home run with coaches, and I'm not sure if Bylsma was given enough of a chance to put his mark on the team.

On a side note, does anyone know if Kevin Dineen has ever been looked at as a coaching candidate? Every time the Sabres do a coaching search I think of his time with Portland/Rochester and always thought highly of him.

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Well, if it’s true that he’s got Skinner to dedicate himself to getting better in practice, then yes, I’ll go out on a limb and say he’s the best since Lindy. It’s a low bar to be sure, but I like how he seems to conduct himself as a coach. 

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I will say yes and I’m not going to base it on wins and losses this year.

 

The team looks organized under him and they believe. He has them play fast and the passing hasn’t looked this good in years. The young players that should be developing look like they are developing for the first time in ages.

It will be a long year but I think it will be an entertaining year.

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4 hours ago, LGR4GM said:

Was just thinking that since Lindy was fired, we really haven't had any good coaches with the exception being Nolan perhaps. Random thoughts for a random thread. 

On the one hand, it's wayyyyy too early to say that.  On the other, yeah, all those coaches after Lindy and before Donny really, really sucked.  Nolan was not a coach, he was a motivator.  He had no system.  His success the first time around came from goaltending.

I really Like Donny Meatballs so far.  I hope he gets the results.

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