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


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15 hours ago, PerreaultForever said:

True, and not only is the Reinhart option gone, so is the Risto option. I'm actually curious to see who ends up there. Tage? Big for a screen but not tough enough. Cozens? Maybe. I saw him do that with Team Canada but is he strong enough yet? I'm really not sure this roster can put any sort of decent PP together aside from Dahlin on a point and Olofsson as a high sniper. 

Could see Thompson getting a shot at the low slot spot but expect he'll be too slow at reacting to be effective there.  Really expect Ruotsalainen to be effective there, but who knows if he gets the chance.

Would have Mittelstadt in the high slot & Cozens along the boards opposite Olofsson.

Not an ideal PP, but can probably be middle of the pack.

Not sure what the 2nd PP unit is other than Miller or Butcher at top & likely Skinner down low.  If Peterka makes the team, he's there as well.  Would probably have Asplund & Okposo rounding it out.  Thompson in Peterka's spot if JJ ends up in Ra-cha-cha.

Edited by Taro T
Just noticed autocorrect changed reacting to reaching.
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22 hours ago, Taro T said:

Rolston had absolutely no business being behind a bench in the NHL.  Not even as an assistant coach.  His team out of the gate using his own system was truly unwatchable and he ran practices that would embarrass Bantam level coaches for their simplicity.  Yeah, Krueger's team after getting gutted by injuries became unwatchable (just like several other Sabres teams) but Rolston's was unwatchable right out of the gate, & Nolan had the same crew playing watchable, though not good hockey.

Housley managed to finish dead last even WITH an actual C spine.  He followed that up by also setting Skinner up to get the monster deal after it was clear that he himself was history by moving him back onto Eichel's line to end the season.  No way does a 38 goal Skinner get $9MM.  So, Housley is STILL hosing the Sabres.

Can't honestly say Krueger was worse than either.

…but no one could organize a center ice dance off like Ron did.  What a guy!

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5 hours ago, Taro T said:

Could see Thompson getting a shot at the low slot spot but expect he'll be too slow at reaching to be effective there.  Really expect Ruotsalainen to be effective there, but who knows if he gets the chance.

Would have Mittelstadt in the high slot & Cozens along the boards opposite Olofsson.

Not an ideal PP, but can probably be middle of the pack.

Not sure what the 2nd PP unit is other than Miller or Butcher at top & likely Skinner down low.  If Peterka makes the team, he's there as well.  Would probably have Asplund & Okposo rounding it out.  Thompson in Peterka's spot if JJ ends up in Ra-cha-cha.

What you write here is probably what it will be, but you have to realize (and I think you do) that none of these options is the making of a good power play. 

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1 hour ago, PerreaultForever said:

What you write here is probably what it will be, but you have to realize (and I think you do) that none of these options is the making of a good power play. 

Which is why the hope/expectation is that's a middle of the pack PP.  (Likely lower middle of the pack, but it shouldn't be as bad as last year's one was for large stretches.)

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  • 2 weeks later...

 

Excerpts below from Lysowski's piece on Granato in today's online BN. The team has one of the least impressive rosters in the league. But I cannot help but be encouraged by what I read about/from the HC.

He had a style of play in mind – fast-paced, relentless and, in many ways, simple – to challenge young players and coach to their strengths. 

...

“I felt our team, through the Covid issue, through no training camp, we never got in the game condition that we needed. ... The third periods weren't good. We were losing puck battles, conserving energy, because we didn't have it. I felt practice intensity was going to be important."

...

When the Sabres were ready, Granato implemented changes to their 5-on-5 game. Defensemen were allowed to carry the puck into the offensive zone. Forwards were able to use their speed and skill on the rush. There was no overthinking. Young players didn’t fear making mistakes and were challenged to handle difficult assignments.

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On 9/28/2021 at 10:52 PM, GASabresIUFAN said:

Can we all agree the RK aka Rasputin was the worst of the bunch?

He definitely sent the franchise back. The most damaging aspect of his coaching and philosophy to the game was how he straitjacketed the young players and stifled their development. When you have young players you have to have an allowance for mistakes and not create a negative environment of playing not to make a mistake. Once the coaching change was made the players played as though they were liberated. There were still plenty of mistakes but the over-thinking and hesitancy was gone. 

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5 hours ago, JohnC said:

When you have young players you have to have an allowance for mistakes and not create a negative environment of playing not to make a mistake. Once the coaching change was made the players played as though they were liberated. There were still plenty of mistakes but the over-thinking and hesitancy was gone. 

I remember that being a Lindyism. Something to the effect of  "let's be falling forwards when we make our mistakes."

Edited by That Aud Smell
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On 9/28/2021 at 6:59 PM, klos1963 said:

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.

Angrily stopping practice doesn't mean they actually corrected what was going wrong.

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Am really coming around to Granato.  But these next 2 games will be very telling.  Vancouver is better than either team they've faced yet and the Bruins are used to coming into town and blowing stuff up.Really looking forward to seeing how they do against both a team that on paper should beat them and 1 that should on paper destroy them.

Don't see this team getting blown out but really don't have a good read about how either game will go.  

The encouraging thing is the players really seem to like what Granato is asking them to do and he seems to be both a teacher & a motivator.  The scary thing is the Sabres looked like world beaters 2 seasons ago in beating Pittsburgh & then destroying Joisey.  They went 9-2-2 in October but then when the calendar flipped so did their results with no more than a 2 or 3 game win streak surrounded by lots of L's except for a 7-3-1 run at the start of February which did not fully offset downturns of 1-7-1 & 0-6-0, the latter which kept them out of the expanded playoffs.  

Hoping this play is sustainable.  The fear is getting kids playing at a playoff pace of game in October isn't sustainable as other teams get out of their "it's only October" mindset. 

(Too early for BSFS to kick in?)

At some point things have to get better.  Hoping we're at that point.  

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1 minute ago, Doohickie said:

?

Instead of BBFS (Battered Bills Fan Syndrome), BSFS (Battered Sabres Fan Syndrome) which seems more insidious because unlike the Bills that always seemed to "win the offseason" (well minus finding a QB, details) but show their true selves by week 3 at the latest, the Sabres typically hold a very frustrating off-season under the current owners and then start the year very well.  (1st in the league ~Thansgiving 3 years ago, 1st in the league through October 2 years ago)  Which builds false hope and then absolutely crash to the Earth HARD after temporarily climbing that peak.

3 minutes ago, HoosierDaddy said:

Buffalo Sabres Fan Syndrome. 

Close - BATTERED Sabres Fan Syndrome.

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