Adams And Granato Media Availability Wednesday: What Do You Want To hear?

[TRIP65]

18 hours ago, FrenchConnection44 said:

Gotta improve the defense. IMHO, we have 3 solid defenders. I'm okay with Joker as a #5-6. But at the least we need a strong veteran defensive player in free agency to pair with Power. Maybe another to play with Joker. I don't have confidence in Johnson at this point as a # 5-6 - and it may be best he moves on and we pick up a 2nd round comp pick - but who knows. 

Your OK till you got to Johnson. You need him in the Pipeline in case of injuries. If he turns out good then you dump the low hanging fruit.

 

17 hours ago, PerreaultForever said:

It can be, but I think you also have to look at it from the reporter's side. Way back in the 70s and 80s players used to get to be individuals and they used to speak off the cuff, unfiltered and sometimes say dumb things. Easy questions could get good answers that made for good stories in the morning paper. Nowadays it's all stock answers and rehearsed comments and reporters are left with nothing to write about so some of them goad and jab and try to illicit something/anything out of the ordinary. I get how hard that job has now become.

Let's face it, these days ChatGPT could just do both sides. 

Like a Reporter to go up there some day and give the pat Answers and say to Coach or GM, you ask the question I was looking for off that answer!

 

19 hours ago, Pimlach said:

Adams gave a very positive shout out to Bales in his Presser. 

Yeah so did McDermott and then Frazier quit. Now Coach is calling Defense to show how it should be done.   😂

 

On 4/21/2023 at 2:11 PM, Radar said:

Agree. Trolling no but his comment on a wasted season (opportunity) was as I said his statement and opinion framed as a question that almost was so convoluted KA didn't know how to respond. Warrow you would think in his profession (?) could at least be able to articulate better. Well he's talking to the base so to speak but doing it rather poorly at that.

Warrow has been around for awhile. He probably really wanted to ask, Adams, Did you regret NOT getting a Scoring Winger when Tuch got hurt???? Could have used him on the Cozen line after. Adams, had you done that would you NOT be in the playoffs with 2 more PTS?

The Media treads on water cause the TEAM puts out a "LEARNING PLAN" with no timetable and expects everyone just accepts this. Tell you Jim Kelley and Jerry Felzer would not be taking this. Sullivan learned from those guys but a bit brash.

I don't care Warrow asked the question wrong, he doesn't need to hold the GM's hand and guide him to a nice pleasant response.

Warrow wanted to know if the GM thinks if this TEAM should be in the Playoffs next year and if the GM would do what ever it takes, even trading some of his players, to get there.

Legitimate to ASK THIS!

 

19 hours ago, Pimlach said:

There is a big difference announcing you are striving to be "playoff caliber",  putting up signs and showing commitment versus your GM verbally guaranteeing the playoffs next season at his end of the season Presser.   These two things are not the same.  

Ask Adams if his expectations for next year are playoffs and he will say yes.

Ask him how he can guarantee they make the playoffs, or what will he do to guarantee it,  and he will react as he did to Warrow. 

This issue is on the journalist, who was given a reset on the question, only to ask a worse question by editorializing that it was a wasted season.   

I saw the difference between polished, prepared, and professional (Adams) and ill-prepared and awkward (Warrow) on display.  

Why did Adams leave Warrow to think the Goal isn't Playoffs now?

Adams simply had to say every Team is Learning to get better, Sabres are now past teaching skills to young guys to succeed and evaluating. Sabres are now in the Stage to make the Playoffs and building the TEAM to do this internally or Externally if possible. The Core guys are here and almost Signed. Sabres are here to get as many PTS now as possible.

Don't blame the Media, Warrow wasn't the only one asking the question.

Adams should have been CLEARER!

Edited April 23, 2023 by TRIP65

[Sidc3000]

5 hours ago, TRIP65 said:

Why did Adams leave Warrow to think the Goal isn't Playoffs now?

 

Adams should have been CLEARER!

Because Adams doesn’t want to be held accountable if the team doesn’t make the playoffs next season. 

[thewookie1]

1 hour ago, Sidc3000 said:

Because Adams doesn’t want to be held accountable if the team doesn’t make the playoffs next season. 

I agree with the general idea but not the phrasing.

Adams doesn't want to ensure a playoff berth when so many factors could throw a wrench into the plan.

[Taro T]

3 hours ago, thewookie1 said:

I agree with the general idea but not the phrasing.

Adams doesn't want to ensure a playoff berth when so many factors could throw a wrench into the plan.

Close.  The goal this season is doing damage in the playoffs.  It is a secondary goal to consistently being a contending team which will actually win the Stanley Cup (hopefully multiple times) at some point.  Adams is expecting them to be in the playoffs.  But, should they find themselves in a position where they were this season at the trade deadline (for whatever reason), Adams has adamantly said he will not sacrifice the primary goal to insure the secondary goal.  If there is a move that supports both, he'll make it.

On paper it is a good goal and a good plan.  But if the team doesn't make advances on that primary goal, he'll be gone in a season or 2.  So, if the team stagnates because Mittelstadt regresses, Quinn and Peterka have topped out, and Levi starts looking like UPL, and the team still gives up 300 goals even with Levi and a real NHLer paired up with him then Kevyn's seat (and Granato's) could get very warm.  Really don't see much likelihood of that happening.  If they miss because Levi and his backup both got injured and both Dahlin and Samuelsson miss significant portions of time while the kids continued to grow and the conference got back to normal and 98 points is what ends up needed to get into the dance, while people will be extremely frustrated wondering why the team is cursed, doubt Adams is on thin ice.

Personally, expect them to be a playoff team next year, so this'll all be moot.

And to add: IF the team is on the bubble come trade deadline, he isn't going to trade away a piece he sees on his top line for years starting 3 years from now for a piece that will be out the door in July.  And that attitude is why IMHO he refuses to say the playoffs this coming season are the goal.  Because that would sabotage the primary goal at the expense of the secondary goal.

Edited April 23, 2023 by Taro T

[DarthEbriate]

8 hours ago, TRIP65 said:

That is not a rebuild. The Bills are not rebuilding, they are adding replacements for players lost and Depth. The core of players are still there and Allen is their Leader.

The Sabres Core is here and will all be signed long term soon except Levi for 1 or 2 years. What they do from here and 6-7 years is NOT a rebuild anymore. They should be adding to the core to sustain PLAYOFFS and Lord Stanley Cup!

We are NOT in learning mode anymore when your signing long term contracts. Adams should know his team now, the weaknesses, and finding the best solution to get to Playoffs and try to win series. If the team needs new Vets, go get one or two. If it needs more shooting talent, go get another Winger for Cozens, If it needs a Vet Goaltender for Levi to grow, go get him, if we need a 4th defensive man for Power and Joki is the 5th man in then DO IT.

No more Excuses.

It's semantics but every team simultaneously has a core (even the Kraken already have a core; every team has a core once they have had a GM/coach combination for 1 season) and every team is always rebuilding.

I don't know why you're bringing the NFL into it, but they're just as volatile if not moreso than the NHL. A  NFLGM will rebuild 20% of their roster every single year. By the time Josh Allen turns 30 he might have 5-6 players on the entire team that he's played with for more than 6 seasons. And one of those will probably be a kicker.

The excuse if you must have one is that the Sabres core is a bunch of kids. The only other super-young team in the league that made the playoffs is the Devils. Their core has 2 players that contributed significantly this season age 23 and under. Hughes and Mercer. They're great, but they're the only kids. And I'll throw in Schmid the goalie (19 gp) so that the Sabres can add UPL. I won't even add Levi yet. Contrast that with the Sabres: Joker, UPL, Dahlin, Krebs, Muel, Cozens, Quinn, JJP, Power. When this Sabres core spans ages 21-25 instead of 19-23, that's when you'll see a consistent force.

8 hours ago, TRIP65 said:

Only it is Rochester who is making the PLAYOFFS!

If the NHL Atlantic division followed the same format as the AHL North, then the Sabres would have made the playoffs as well.

 

[Flashsabre]

9 hours ago, TRIP65 said:

How old are you 18? It has been that way when the Sabres where good from the 70's to 2007. That is when they didn't say TANK but did it and fell on their faces for years.

12 years running no playoffs and Adams has been over the TOP of these past two full years. This year had he actually made stronger moves we might have got 2 more points and been in Playoffs. That is on him.

Adams said he wants Okoposo and Girg back, so where is the change, Krebs, Middlestat? Maybe you didn't listen to the Press Conference closely. Even the Media was all over Adams. He wouldn't say Playoffs was the main goal.

Not the motto of the Bills. They expect the playoffs and pissed if they miss the SB. Diggs is Livid right now. Said he is wasting his time.

Yes Adams is AFRAID to say PLAYOFFS, teaching winning is over, team is ready. He has his Allen in Dahlin, Power, Levi and Tage. This is TOP LEVEL TALENT

The Bills weren't afraid to throw Allen to the wolves, did that to him year he went to Houston.

Yeah the plan is to learn for 3 years now, we are sustaining AHL learning to make it to Pros and be a Playoff TEAM on Two Clubs. The PIPE LINE is FULL.

Only it is Rochester who is making the PLAYOFF

Yawn, Same ***** temper tantrum as a few others “Wah he didn’t say the exact words in the presser that I wanted to hear.”

If YOU had listened to the press conference carefully you would have heard that winning the Cup is the main goal. 

And the Bills have been a disaster in the playoffs. The fact they have fallen on their face repeatedly and Diggs is fed up with it really doesn’t work in your favour.

Adams laid out his plan. He is not sacrificing long term success for short term gains. People don’t have to agree with it but he is sticking to it.

The biggest problem is that Adams is doing a proper rebuild but it is coming in the midst of a 12 year run of futility. The 12 years are not on him but he is doing it the right way even as fans are upset and impatient.

 

[Pimlach]

9 hours ago, TRIP65 said:

Why did Adams leave Warrow to think the Goal isn't Playoffs now?

Adams simply had to say every Team is Learning to get better, Sabres are now past teaching skills to young guys to succeed and evaluating. Sabres are now in the Stage to make the Playoffs and building the TEAM to do this internally or Externally if possible. The Core guys are here and almost Signed. Sabres are here to get as many PTS now as possible.

Don't blame the Media, Warrow wasn't the only one asking the question.

Adams should have been CLEARER!

Adam’s essentially said that the playoffs are the goal right up front.  Warrow asked for a guarantee.  
 

3 hours ago, Sidc3000 said:

Because Adams doesn’t want to be held accountable if the team doesn’t make the playoffs next season. 

Adams is already being held accountable.  He does not need to guarantee it, he is accountable for the entire hockey product. He is accountable for the coaches, the players, and their final record.  That is true for every GM 

Edited April 23, 2023 by Pimlach

[bunomatic]

I’ll add that the playoffs should always be the goal. Every friggin year. Don’t blow up your plan but instill that goal into the entire franchise that anything but the playoffs is a huge letdown. If you have to do that internally so be it. But the goal must be tooth and claw to get into the dance. We’re past the point of baby steps. Baby steps are for losers. Just get in.

Edited April 23, 2023 by bunomatic

[Doohickie]

4 hours ago, Sidc3000 said:

Because Adams doesn’t want to be held accountable if the team doesn’t make the playoffs next season. 

Because the philosophy of this whole build has been to do the right things and the results will follow.  Part of that is to have the players own their fate.  And if you listen to them the players consider themselves a playoff team going forward.

[Sidc3000]

35 minutes ago, Pimlach said:

Adam’s essentially said that the playoffs are the goal right up front.  Warrow asked for a guarantee.  
 

Adams is already being held accountable.  He does not need to guarantee it, he is accountable for the entire hockey product. He is accountable for the coaches, the players, and their final record.  That is true for every GM 

Yes I know he is held accountable BUT he doesn’t want to promise something he can’t guarantee because he doesn’t know what next year will bring. If they don’t make it again next season, He doesn’t want the reporters to come back and say you said they were making the playoffs. I don’t blame him for deflecting because there is no guarantee for this team to make the playoffs next season 

[Thorny]

21 hours ago, Pimlach said:

There is a big difference announcing you are striving to be "playoff caliber",  putting up signs and showing commitment versus your GM verbally guaranteeing the playoffs next season at his end of the season Presser.   These two things are not the same.  

Ask Adams if his expectations for next year are playoffs and he will say yes.

Ask him how he can guarantee they make the playoffs, or what will he do to guarantee it,  and he will react as he did to Warrow. 

This issue is on the journalist, who was given a reset on the question, only to ask a worse question by editorializing that it was a wasted season.   

I saw the difference between polished, prepared, and professional (Adams) and ill-prepared and awkward (Warrow) on display.  

I wouldn’t mind someone asking Adams if the playoffs are the expectation next season, tbh. Just to see if he’d say what you said he’d say

I’m not actually sure what he’d say. Unless it was asked in the conference and I missed it 

[Thorny]

4 hours ago, Taro T said:

Close.  The goal this season is doing damage in the playoffs.  It is a secondary goal to consistently being a contending team which will actually win the Stanley Cup (hopefully multiple times) at some point.  Adams is expecting them to be in the playoffs.  But, should they find themselves in a position where they were this season at the trade deadline (for whatever reason), Adams has adamantly said he will not sacrifice the primary goal to insure the secondary goal.  If there is a move that supports both, he'll make it.

On paper it is a good goal and a good plan.  But if the team doesn't make advances on that primary goal, he'll be gone in a season or 2.  So, if the team stagnates because Mittelstadt regresses, Quinn and Peterka have topped out, and Levi starts looking like UPL, and the team still gives up 300 goals even with Levi and a real NHLer paired up with him then Kevyn's seat (and Granato's) could get very warm.  Really don't see much likelihood of that happening.  If they miss because Levi and his backup both got injured and both Dahlin and Samuelsson miss significant portions of time while the kids continued to grow and the conference got back to normal and 98 points is what ends up needed to get into the dance, while people will be extremely frustrated wondering why the team is cursed, doubt Adams is on thin ice.

Personally, expect them to be a playoff team next year, so this'll all be moot.

And to add: IF the team is on the bubble come trade deadline, he isn't going to trade away a piece he sees on his top line for years starting 3 years from now for a piece that will be out the door in July.  And that attitude is why IMHO he refuses to say the playoffs this coming season are the goal.  Because that would sabotage the primary goal at the expense of the secondary goal.

Failing to make the playoffs next year is also something that could sabotage the long term primary goal, just saying (or, semantically, be revelatory of the primary goal being in some level of jeopardy). Dealing Savoie for a rental could absolutely derail something, too.  But the idea that potential inaction can’t *also* affect the LT would be mistaken. Next year there should absolutely be more “opportunity cost” thinking at the deadline if we need help 

An over abundance of anything is an issue. Whether that’s an over-abundance of caution in protecting a future that isn’t guaranteed, or an over-abundance of RHD on the roster leading to a situation where we devalued Montour to the point of losing a guy who had a season comparable to Dahlin 

Like, to your point, maybe Adams doesn’t trade the guy he sees on the top line “in 3 years” at next year’s deadline. Ok, so hypothetically, let’s say we miss. And we can defend that because of his priorities, right? But where does it end? What about the following year? Does Adams still hold on to the guy arriving in 2/3 years? Cause I don’t see how the guy is even employed when that day comes if he takes that tact the next 2 deadlines and we fail to make the playoffs. 

The ends justifies the means logic will have to factor in at some point as the clock is ticking, no matter how much we like what he’s done. This coming season we need to make the playoffs. No, I’m not firing Adams if I had the choice and we miss. But miss again the following year, yes, he shouldn’t be GM anymore, come on now. That’s 2 years from firing imo. It shows that even though he’s constructed a lot, done a lot well, the most important aspect of his work as GM is still to come, and the degree of difficulty is hard, and time sensitive: 2 more years will come fast 

Edited April 23, 2023 by Thorny

[PerreaultForever]

12 hours ago, TRIP65 said:

How old are you 18? It has been that way when the Sabres where good from the 70's to 2007. That is when they didn't say TANK but did it and fell on their faces for years.

12 years running no playoffs and Adams has been over the TOP of these past two full years. This year had he actually made stronger moves we might have got 2 more points and been in Playoffs. That is on him.

Adams said he wants Okoposo and Girg back, so where is the change, Krebs, Middlestat? Maybe you didn't listen to the Press Conference closely. Even the Media was all over Adams. He wouldn't say Playoffs was the main goal.

Not the motto of the Bills. They expect the playoffs and pissed if they miss the SB. Diggs is Livid right now. Said he is wasting his time.

Yes Adams is AFRAID to say PLAYOFFS, teaching winning is over, team is ready. He has his Allen in Dahlin, Power, Levi and Tage. This is TOP LEVEL TALENT

The Bills weren't afraid to throw Allen to the wolves, did that to him year he went to Houston.

Yeah the plan is to learn for 3 years now, we are sustaining AHL learning to make it to Pros and be a Playoff TEAM on Two Clubs. The PIPE LINE is FULL.

Only it is Rochester who is making the PLAYOFFS!

Not really disagreeing. To the first bolded sentence, that is my main point of contention. Everybody knows what this team needs and what the weak spots are. He could have tried a little more to fill them. Also, the holes are still there (although all hope in Levi may (maybe) fill one). Will he fill them? Doesn't sound like it. 

Girgs and Okposo back? So, basically the same team with Levi is the plan. Wonderful. Just wonderful (full on sarcasm there to make the point explicit)

idk if he is "afraid" to say playoffs, but not saying that making the playoffs next year is the goal is a slap in the face for fans and makes the approach way too slow. Team is ready. Guys like Cozens want to be there. We keep this up and any number of them might lose their love for hockey and no longer want to be here. 

Yes, Rochester made the playoffs. I don't watch them, but what I'm reading makes it sound like they are not building a team there that can play in the playoffs which means that the Sabres won't be a team that can play in the playoffs if they ever make it. I mean you're all watching it. Anyone think this Sabres team would hold up to playoff hockey? I don't think so. Not as it is. 

It was a disappointing presser. 

[PASabreFan]

So this is gonna be all summer, eh?

[Taro T]

57 minutes ago, Thorny said:

Failing to make the playoffs next year is also something that could sabotage the long term primary goal, just saying (or, semantically, be revelatory of the primary goal being in some level of jeopardy). Dealing Savoie for a rental could absolutely derail something, too.  But the idea that potential inaction can’t *also* affect the LT would be mistaken. Next year there should absolutely be more “opportunity cost” thinking at the deadline if we need help 

An over abundance of anything is an issue. Whether that’s an over-abundance of caution in protecting a future that isn’t guaranteed, or an over-abundance of RHD on the roster leading to a situation where we devalued Montour to the point of losing a guy who had a season comparable to Dahlin 

Like, to your point, maybe Adams doesn’t trade the guy he sees on the top line “in 3 years” at next year’s deadline. Ok, so hypothetically, let’s say we miss. And we can defend that because of his priorities, right? But where does it end? What about the following year? Does Adams still hold on to the guy arriving in 2/3 years? Cause I don’t see how the guy is even employed when that day comes if he takes that tact the next 2 deadlines and we fail to make the playoffs. 

The ends justifies the means logic will have to factor in at some point as the clock is ticking, no matter how much we like what he’s done. This coming season we need to make the playoffs. No, I’m not firing Adams if I had the choice and we miss. But miss again the following year, yes, he shouldn’t be GM anymore, come on now. That’s 2 years from firing imo. It shows that even though he’s constructed a lot, done a lot well, the most important aspect of his work as GM is still to come, and the degree of difficulty is hard, and time sensitive: 2 more years will come fast 

 Already addressed the bolded in the post you quoted.

And from the rest of your post, we seem to be pretty much on the same page.

[Pimlach]

1 hour ago, Thorny said:

I wouldn’t mind someone asking Adams if the playoffs are the expectation next season, tbh. Just to see if he’d say what you said he’d say

I’m not actually sure what he’d say. Unless it was asked in the conference and I missed it 

Listen closely to the first two question and his answers and you will have it.   

First question: The "universal theme" from players is they expect to get in (to playoffs) ...  as the leader of this, should that be the expectation going forward?  

Answer: Yeah, it is exciting to see the players raise expectations .... <not gonna type the whole response> ...

He ended  with "no one external to the team wants it more than those internal to the team".  

Second question:  What is going to make you better?  

He responded to that as well.  Players improving, age, strength, and addressing areas that they need to improve on such defense in front of the goalies, special teams, etc.  

[Thorny]

13 minutes ago, Pimlach said:

Listen closely to the first two question and his answers and you will have it.   

First question: The "universal theme" from players is they expect to get in (to playoffs) ...  as the leader of this, should that be the expectation going forward?  

Answer: Yeah, it is exciting to see the players raise expectations .... <not gonna type the whole response> ...

He ended  with "no one external to the team wants it more than those internal to the team".  

Second question:  What is going to make you better?  

He responded to that as well.  Players improving, age, strength, and addressing areas that they need to improve on such defense in front of the goalies, special teams, etc.  

So, it was:

“Should that (playoffs) be the expectation moving forward?” 

”Yeah.” (then some other stuff)

? 

If so, that does indeed answer my question then, thanks. I wouldn’t expect a more significant sound byte than that 

Edited April 23, 2023 by Thorny

[K-9]

10 hours ago, Sidc3000 said:

Because Adams doesn’t want to be held accountable if the team doesn’t make the playoffs next season. 

Adams and Co. will be held responsible, regardless. Doesn’t matter what the pearl clutching media and fan base ask or don’t ask.

[kas23]

3 hours ago, Thorny said:

I wouldn’t mind someone asking Adams if the playoffs are the expectation next season, tbh. Just to see if he’d say what you said he’d say

I’m not actually sure what he’d say. Unless it was asked in the conference and I missed it 

This was asked, but in the most obnoxiously subservient way that it took away from the substance of the actual question. It seems like our local journalists are more focused on hearing their opinions voiced rather than getting KA’s opinion. Wawrow wanted to know if KA could “guarantee” playoffs next year and KA got offended by that word and the whole question collapsed. He then asked KA if this past season was “a lost opportunity [to make the playoffs]” and this set KA off again. Nothing was directly answered. 

[Thorny]

5 minutes ago, kas23 said:

This was asked, but in the most obnoxiously subservient way that it took away from the substance of the actual question. It seems like our local journalists are more focused on hearing their opinions voiced rather than getting KA’s opinion. Wawrow wanted to know if KA could “guarantee” playoffs next year and KA got offended by that word and the whole question collapsed. He then asked KA if this past season was “a lost opportunity [to make the playoffs]” and this set KA off again. Nothing was directly answered. 

Ya expecting some sort of guarantee would be absurd 

[Flashsabre]

2 hours ago, Pimlach said:

Listen closely to the first two question and his answers and you will have it.   

First question: The "universal theme" from players is they expect to get in (to playoffs) ...  as the leader of this, should that be the expectation going forward?  

Answer: Yeah, it is exciting to see the players raise expectations .... <not gonna type the whole response> ...

He ended  with "no one external to the team wants it more than those internal to the team".  

Second question:  What is going to make you better?  

He responded to that as well.  Players improving, age, strength, and addressing areas that they need to improve on such defense in front of the goalies, special teams, etc.  

Stop posting facts from the PC. It’s going to ruin a lot of narratives being pushed on here.😀

[Pimlach]

3 hours ago, Flashsabre said:

Stop posting facts from the PC. It’s going to ruin a lot of narratives being pushed on here.😀

In the first two questions from the Presser he said everything I wanted to hear.   This team is going to go for it.  How he gets there is up to him.  He has to sign players, set the roster, deal with other GMs, and have another good draft.   He knows what's expected and he wants it.  

Edited April 24, 2023 by Pimlach

[TRIP65]

On 4/23/2023 at 7:34 AM, Sidc3000 said:

Because Adams doesn’t want to be held accountable if the team doesn’t make the playoffs next season. 

BINGO

[TRIP65]

On 4/23/2023 at 10:47 AM, Flashsabre said:

f YOU had listened to the press conference carefully you would have heard that winning the Cup is the main goal. 

Your the person all over the place. Tout the CUP but the Sabres made no real trade that would deliver The Cup. So it is NOT the Main Goal cause they haven't been to the Playoffs in 12 years now, every other GM said the same thing. Actions matter more!

Sabres had a REAL shot, GM failed to help "YOUNG" TEAM

As far as the Bills go, They have won Playoff games, Got Bounce AFC Championship by a Team who is one of the Best the past 5 years. Lost to the same TEAM Divisional round by a FLUKE 13 secs and a Coin Flip. Last year The Bill and Buffalo had a Series of Life threatening Events they dealt with. Also were out Starting DT, DE and Two Starting Safeties.

Your the Donkey for even bringing that up, Totally CLASSLESS!

Edited April 26, 2023 by TRIP65

[SwampD]

On 4/23/2023 at 3:11 PM, PASabreFan said:

So this is gonna be all summer, eh?

Dude,… I'm out until September. I miss DeLuca.

… and Ghost.