The best coach in the NHL?

[dudacek]

"Donny is just such an outstanding coach. He does such a great job of trying to help you with the mental side of things, too. That’s 90 percent of the game these days and Donny gets that. He’s really good with the younger players, including myself. He just helps you play your game, play with confidence, play without fear. That’s huge. I think that helps and then just playing your game and you’re not worried about outside noise. They really stress that. That’s part of the organization and the culture here. It’s why I have so much faith in this organization and know it’s in such good hands and I want to be a part of this organization because they get it for sure.” — Tyson Jost

“We’re never scared. It doesn’t matter the score of the game or what’s going on in the game, we’re always just going to press. That’s the way we are. We’re an aggressive team, we have a lot of fun doing it. Donny is the best coach in the National Hockey League and we have a lot of fun with him because he trusts us and he gives us full confidence to do what we want to do. We can score with the best of them, so we’re never worried about any game.” — Eric Comrie

Comments from a couple of the new guys. Thoughts?

[spndnchz]

No

[Night Train]

I get the loyalty of his players. Nice to know the locker room is happy. 

Who is the best coach in the NHL ?  I'll leave that for others to debate. 

 

[Weave]

He’s not even expected to win yet.

A Captain isn’t made on calm seas.

[Flashsabre]

11 minutes ago, dudacek said:

"Donny is just such an outstanding coach. He does such a great job of trying to help you with the mental side of things, too. That’s 90 percent of the game these days and Donny gets that. He’s really good with the younger players, including myself. He just helps you play your game, play with confidence, play without fear. That’s huge. I think that helps and then just playing your game and you’re not worried about outside noise. They really stress that. That’s part of the organization and the culture here. It’s why I have so much faith in this organization and know it’s in such good hands and I want to be a part of this organization because they get it for sure.” — Tyson Jost

“We’re never scared. It doesn’t matter the score of the game or what’s going on in the game, we’re always just going to press. That’s the way we are. We’re an aggressive team, we have a lot of fun doing it. Donny is the best coach in the National Hockey League and we have a lot of fun with him because he trusts us and he gives us full confidence to do what we want to do. We can score with the best of them, so we’re never worried about any game.” — Eric Comrie

Comments from a couple of the new guys. Thoughts?

Two guys that want more icetime😀 Ask Asplund his thoughts on the coach right now.

[msw2112]

Jost had been with 3 different NHL organizations and Comrie with 4, so I think their opinions mean something.  Jost is getting plenty of icetime and Comrie was given an opportunity to be the guy earlier in the season and is still getting some games now.  If he got hot, I think they'd let him take over the crease.  I trust their sentiments and opinions to be genuine.

As a fan/observer, I am very impressed with Granato.  Young players have developed (Dahlin, Thompson, Cozens, Olofsson, Jost) and veteran players have improved or re-gained their form (Skinner, Tuch, etc.)  Mittlestadt may be in the next wave of developed/improved players.  The team has also climbed the standings each season that Granato has coached.  Is the the BEST coach in the NHL?  I can't say, but I am happy that he is the Sabres coach.

[Flashsabre]

5 minutes ago, msw2112 said:

Jost had been with 3 different NHL organizations and Comrie with 4, so I think their opinions mean something.  Jost is getting plenty of icetime and Comrie was given an opportunity to be the guy earlier in the season and is still getting some games now.  If he got hot, I think they'd let him take over the crease.  I trust their sentiments and opinions to be genuine.

As a fan/observer, I am very impressed with Granato.  Young players have developed (Dahlin, Thompson, Cozens, Olofsson, Jost) and veteran players have improved or re-gained their form (Skinner, Tuch, etc.)  Mittlestadt may be in the next wave of developed/improved players.  The team has also climbed the standings each season that Granato has coached.  Is the the BEST coach in the NHL?  I can't say, but I am happy that he is the Sabres coach.

Good post. Donny is a great developmental coach. Young players improve. 

The defensive structure and special teams have not been good. PP has had good stretches, PK has been bad for a couple years. They might need to look at changing up the assistant coaches to improve those areas. 

I don’t know if Granato’s philosophy is let the young players run and gun to get their confidence in the league and then we can look at locking things down but if they want to be a successful playoff team those areas are crucial to improve upon.

[dudacek]

Does anyone remember a Sabre previously calling their coach the best coach in the NHL?

[Weave]

11 minutes ago, dudacek said:

Does anyone remember a Sabre previously calling their coach the best coach in the NHL?

Most of Ted Nolan’s roster.

[msw2112]

16 minutes ago, Flashsabre said:

Good post. Donny is a great developmental coach. Young players improve. 

The defensive structure and special teams have not been good. PP has had good stretches, PK has been bad for a couple years. They might need to look at changing up the assistant coaches to improve those areas. 

I don’t know if Granato’s philosophy is let the young players run and gun to get their confidence in the league and then we can look at locking things down but if they want to be a successful playoff team those areas are crucial to improve upon.

Yes, I believe he's on record saying that offense is eaiser to teach with younger players and that the focus on that is intentional to get the team to improve/develop/gain confidence.  It also may have to do with the team's personnel.  Right now, there is just more offensive talent than defensive.  Signing Samuelsson to a long-term deal was a big step in the right direction.  Dahlin's defensive game has advanced quite a bit and Power's needs some work, but again, he's gaining confidence as a full-time NHL player by skating the puck up the ice and getting invovled in the play.  I think that the focus on veterans in free agency should be on defensive defensemen.  I think that Granato will start to incorporate more defensive concepts into the team as the team matures and/or gets more defensive personnel.  I certainly hope so.  As to special teams, all Power Plays have ups and downs, but the Sabres' has been good overall and I don't see much of an issue there.  They could stand to take more shots to create rebounds, rather than always looking for the perfect pass, but they seemed to be doing that last night, so maybe they've figured that part out a bit.  The Penalty Kill is terrible, for sure, but I think that ties directly into the defensive conversation.  More time and focus, with some better defensive personnel, should improve the PK.

[Buffalonill]

Make the playoffs first

[msw2112]

6 minutes ago, Buffalonill said:

Make the playoffs first

If you are saying that they should first focus on being good enough to make the playoffs before focusing on being a successful playoff team makes sense.  I think that's where this team is at.  If being offense-focused can get them to reach the playoffs at all, let the chips fall where they may after that.  In the future, they can worry about advancing through the playoffs and adding playoff-style play to their repertoire.  I think that's what the Bills did.  In McDermott's first season(s), they had a "playoff caliber" mantra.  After reaching that level, they switched it to a "championship caliber" mindset.  Unfortunatley, they got over the first hurdle, but are a little bit stuck trying to get to the next one.  For the Sabres, merely reaching the playoffs would be a huge step in their development as a team (different from individual player development, which is clearly happening).

[PerreaultForever]

I can see the young guys feeling this way and why wouldn't they? Everybody likes to attack and play offense. Scoring goals is fun. Playing defense is hard, sometimes boring, and takes a lot of work. Those two guys also have a vested interest but what they say isn't wrong. As for best coach, not at this point.

I wonder what Jersey players are saying about Lindy these days?

[Buffalonill]

18 minutes ago, msw2112 said:

If you are saying that they should first focus on being good enough to make the playoffs before focusing on being a successful playoff team makes sense.  I think that's where this team is at.  If being offense-focused can get them to reach the playoffs at all, let the chips fall where they may after that.  In the future, they can worry about advancing through the playoffs and adding playoff-style play to their repertoire.  I think that's what the Bills did.  In McDermott's first season(s), they had a "playoff caliber" mantra.  After reaching that level, they switched it to a "championship caliber" mindset.  Unfortunatley, they got over the first hurdle, but are a little bit stuck trying to get to the next one.  For the Sabres, merely reaching the playoffs would be a huge step in their development as a team (different from individual player development, which is clearly happening).

If they dont make the playoffs this year or next he can be fired. 

I dont care how great the players think he is the goal is to win championship not having fun and missing playoffs 

Edited February 16, 2023 by Buffalonill

[mjd1001]

I don't think anyone can proclaim who is the best coach in the NHL and be 100% correct:

1.)  Just don't have a 'bad' coach. that is step 1

2.) Then there is a 'best' coach based on how he works with the current team YOU have

3.) how good is he based on coaching against other teams (strategy)

4.) how good is he based on current league trends. A coach may do well in the current NHL environment, but maybe not 4-5 years ago.

 

Who is the 'best coach' will be based on a combination of factors 2-4 above, and some guys will be better for some teams and some situations compared to others.

 

 

[GASabresIUFAN]

I hate to agree with @Buffalonill, but if DG doesn't get this team to the playoffs this year or next, then he isn't that great a coach. He has done a great job with guys like Jost, Tnt, Skinner, and Dahlin, but we are still not a playoff team and we should be.  Letdowns, as we had against Calgary and LA, are no longer acceptable.  

 

[Taro T]

2 hours ago, Flashsabre said:

Two guys that want more icetime😀 Ask Asplund his thoughts on the coach right now.

Good point.  

On the flipside & supporting @dudacek's post, Okposo also is on record in the Athletic extolling Granato's (& Adams) virtues.

[Two or less]

46 minutes ago, GASabresIUFAN said:

I hate to agree with @Buffalonill, but if DG doesn't get this team to the playoffs this year or next, then he isn't that great a coach. He has done a great job with guys like Jost, Tnt, Skinner, and Dahlin, but we are still not a playoff team and we should be.  Letdowns, as we had against Calgary and LA, are no longer acceptable.  

 

 

How quickly people forget pre-Granato days.

It depends how far they miss out by. If they finish this season with 88 points and they finish next season with like 95 points but 4 points out i doubt they would fire him. A lot depends on roster still. They can run it back with UPL/Comrie and a defense that allows a ton of high quality chances and the fall guy will be him? Not finding better talent, getting a better goalie? Maybe replacing Marty Wilford as defensive coach?

Don't think Adams would panic.

[Thorny]

55 minutes ago, GASabresIUFAN said:

I hate to agree with @Buffalonill, but if DG doesn't get this team to the playoffs this year or next, then he isn't that great a coach. He has done a great job with guys like Jost, Tnt, Skinner, and Dahlin, but we are still not a playoff team and we should be.  Letdowns, as we had against Calgary and LA, are no longer acceptable.  

 

Ouch? Lol 

[JohnC]

2 minutes ago, Two or less said:

 

How quickly people forget pre-Granato days.

It depends how far they miss out by. If they finish this season with 88 points and they finish next season with like 95 points but 4 points out i doubt they would fire him. A lot depends on roster still. They can run it back with UPL/Comrie and a defense that allows a ton of high quality chances and the fall guy will be him? Not finding better talent, getting a better goalie? Maybe replacing Marty Wilford as defensive coach?

Don't think Adams would panic.

Few people have forgotten the pre-Granato days. Mention the name Krueger and you will immediately get a deluge of scathing comments. There is no question that Granato is one of the best developmental coaches for young players. That's step one as a Sabre coach. The next step in evaluating him is his ability to coach a team that becomes a serious cup contending team. The Sabres are not close to being at that stage yet. When he gets the Sabres to that next level then I will argue on his behalf that he is one of the best coaches in the league. I'm definitely a fan of DG. When it comes to the discussion that @dudacekhas proposed, I'm not going there yet. 

[dudacek]

27 minutes ago, Taro T said:

Good point.  

On the flipside & supporting @dudacek's post, Okposo also is on record in the Athletic extolling Granato's (& Adams) virtues.

My post was an actual question, though and one I’m not sure has been answered: can anyone recall a Sabre saying that about his coach?
Nolan was a good response, he was beloved by his players.

But it was Comrie’s actual choice of wording that inspired this thread: “Donny is the best coach in the National Hockey League.”

I’ve heard players say things like “we love playing for xxx” or “xxx was the best coach I ever played for”.

But neither of those things is the same as a current player saying what Comrie said about his current coach - particularly unsolicited; Comrie wasn’t being asked about his coach when he gave that reply. And to be honest his current position on the roster is not much different than Asplund’s.

I’m less interested in discussing whether he’s right, than I am in the fact that he said it at all.

Doesn’t appear to have struck others the same way it struck me, but I found it unusual.

Edited February 17, 2023 by dudacek

[Marvin]

I still maintain that the best strategic and tactical coach in the NHL is Lindy Ruff.

[Thorny]

So much harder to isolate who the good coaches are relative to a league like the NFL, with its rigid, game-calling based structure relative to the NHL’s free-flowing, much less structured form of competition. Even the NBA has more set plays. At more points within an MLB game, even, I would argue coaching comes into hyper focus: all eyes being on each pitching change decision, multiple times a game, swing points that alter the outcome in a way that’s much easier to analyze after the fact. 

Ive always underrated coaching in the NHL because I’m not sure I have a good grasp of what a good coach is, does, and how to necessarily go about measuring it. I don’t think they have as much tactical input as other sports, but they definitely have impact. 

Perhaps this lends a bit of credence to the idea a guy named Donny MeatBalls is best coach in the national league. Perhaps, if I’m not totally mistaken that there’s less direct tactical influence (of course they still influence play style which is huge, but other sports do that too obviously and a good coach picks the play style that’s APPARENT based on the skills of his players), where an nhl coach has the most impact is, (maybe?) the instilling of confidence and motivation and fostering and environment that actively harnesses the best his players can give. 

I was going to scoff at the notion but, there’s something there. two things I find interesting branching off this: 

- if what those players are saying is true - the results will simply bear out: when the talent level increases Coach would continue to get the optimal output from the unit and we’d be winning a lot of games 

- it supports the idea I’ve been alluding to that, flashes though we’ve seen, our *overall*, 2-way talent level isn’t quite there yet. 

Cause I don’t think it can be both. Donny can’t be the best hockey coach in the known universe if our roster is “damn good” and the result is we are an ~mid pack team, like we are. That would not jive 

[dudacek]

There seems to be something of a consensus around here that Donnie is a very good coach at developing young talent, coupled with questions about whether he has the tactical bench coach ability or the old-school philosophy necessary to get them over the hump.

I am skeptical of the ability of this board – myself included - to thoughtfully break down his pluses and minuses on a tactical level. That said, I think it would be negligent to not credit the immense leap taken by the Sabres offence over the past 100 games at least partially to his game-planning, as well as the lack of corresponding improvement on team defence.

 

 

Edited February 17, 2023 by dudacek

[Taro T]

8 minutes ago, dudacek said:

There seems to be something of a consensus around here that Donnie is a very good coach at developing young talent, coupled with questions about whether he has the tactical bench coach ability or the old-school philosophy necessary to get them over the hump.

I am skeptical of the ability of this board – myself included - to thoughtfully break down his pluses and minuses on a tactical level. That said, I think it would be negligent to not credit the immense leap taken by the Sabres offence over the past 100 games at least partially to his game-planning, as well as the lack of corresponding improvement on team defence.

 

 

The thing that's tough to evaluate is, the team has generally improved its defensive play as the season has gone on though that improvement has come in fits & starts.  The wings have played better along rhe boards after we got out of October/ early November.  The D has, in 2023 on occasion boxed people out.  It pretty much didn't do that in 2022 this season.  But, the 2nd goal scored by the Ducks, the Sabres most physical defender didn't do anything to remove the screen from in front of Comrie.

We don't get to see them work in practice, nor are we in the meeting rooms when the concepts & game plans are discussed and reinforced.  So, though we see what they're doing we don't know what they were supposed to be doing.

We also still don't see Granato match lines much.  Will he when we're beyond development as a co-goal?  (Development is no longer the only goal.)  Hope he will, but until he does, we're just guessing.

The other thing that makes it tough to evaluate is the goaltending still leaves much to be desired.  How much better will the D seem when we get to watch a quality NHL starter?

The thing that is troubling is, the PP us a serious 1 trick pony and teams have figured that trick out.  Can he & his coaches get the PP clicking again?

Am cautiously optimistic that Granato is the real deal.  At a minimum, he IS an NHL caliber HC and will likely find another HCing job when the time eventually comes for him to move on.  That hasn't been the case since Ruff left.  And that in itself is reason for optimism.