The Hockey Writers on Buffalo's Free Agency Pickups (Trigger warning: Gibson talk.)

[Thorny]

22 hours ago, Randall Flagg said:

They did collapse hard enough that a 9-3-1 run wasn't enough to save a team that was safely in a playoff spot at the end of February. They nearly resurrected the corpse, but they became the corpse first by going 1-9-2. Mind bogglingly bad 

Agree and good point. It was such a weird final stretch for me because they absolutely remained mathematically in it, meaningful games or whatever, but it somehow imo didn’t FEEL like it because of that dastardly stretch right before the good finish. It’s like they quickly played themselves to “almost out of it”, but commendably fought to hold that “there’s still a chance” line right to the end. I don’t believe it was ever mathematically anything close to likely at any point again after that initial swoon 

[Taro T]

23 hours ago, Randall Flagg said:

They did collapse hard enough that a 9-3-1 run wasn't enough to save a team that was safely in a playoff spot at the end of February. They nearly resurrected the corpse, but they became the corpse first by going 1-9-2. Mind bogglingly bad 

How are you defining "safely?"  Don't believe they were ever in a spot where they could lose a single game and not worry about being back on the wrong side of the the line.  If they never had a cushion, just how "safe" was their spot?

Btw, as @LGR4GM keeps pointing out, it was 2-8-2, not 1-9-2.  (The horrible Anderson backed loss to Filly came in January, not March 4.  That day they beat the Bolts.)

[Randall Flagg]

37 minutes ago, Taro T said:

How are you defining "safely?"  Don't believe they were ever in a spot where they could lose a single game and not worry about being back on the wrong side of the the line.  If they never had a cushion, just how "safe" was their spot?

Btw, as @LGR4GM keeps pointing out, it was 2-8-2, not 1-9-2.  (The horrible Anderson backed loss to Filly came in January, not March 4.  That day they beat the Bolts.)

"safely" should have been "definitively" - they owned the spot outright AND had games in hand

[Marvin]

18 minutes ago, Randall Flagg said:

"safely" should have been "definitively" - they owned the spot outright AND had games in hand

I was afraid that they had too many games in hand.  I thought the schedule was too dense for adequate rest.  But that is just me.

Having said that, said tailspin due to the injuries came at a really bad time.  Does being more aggressive on trading for defence help that team?  Maybe, but it is too late now.

[PASabreFan]

Lgr: He's won at every level over a 20-year career.

Lgr: Outside of the NCAA and at the NHL level YET, Granato has won.

Lindy: That's a joooke

[Taro T]

14 minutes ago, PASabreFan said:

Lgr: He's won at every level over a 20-year career.

Lgr: Outside of the NCAA and at the NHL level YET, Granato has won.

Lindy: That's a joooke

In that single NCAA season that he was his brother's associate coach, they finished 2nd in the Big Ten and lost the championship game in Double OT, so they just missed out on making the NCAA Tourney.

Not positive that'd be considered "losing."  But, no, they were not champions if that's how "winning" is defined.

[PASabreFan]

4 hours ago, Taro T said:

In that single NCAA season that he was his brother's associate coach, they finished 2nd in the Big Ten and lost the championship game in Double OT, so they just missed out on making the NCAA Tourney.

Not positive that'd be considered "losing."  But, no, they were not champions if that's how "winning" is defined.

It doesn't matter. We're in the weeds. LGR claimed that Don has won at every level in hockey. My retort was incredulous for the obvious reason. Unless one is prepared to argue that Don has won at the NHL level, there's nothing to see here except PA Can't Be Right About Anything.

[Pimlach]

On 7/12/2023 at 6:05 PM, PASabreFan said:

It doesn't matter. We're in the weeds. LGR claimed that Don has won at every level in hockey. My retort was incredulous for the obvious reason. Unless one is prepared to argue that Don has won at the NHL level, there's nothing to see here except PA Can't Be Right About Anything.

Don G has earned his shot in the NHL, no?  
 

After two full season as HC he has improved a team that is on an owner enforced slow rebuild.   If you, as the owner, chose to be “efficient and economical” then you cannot be in hurry.  I sense that  you and many others here, including me, want to see more progress and faster progress. Year 3 will tell us a lot. 
 

Granato is simply playing the  hand that Adam’s and Pegula deal him.  He has the respect of yhe players and many are playing the best hockey they have ever played.  

 

[PASabreFan]

1 hour ago, Pimlach said:

Don G has earned his shot in the NHL, no?  
 

After two full season as HC he has improved a team that is on an owner enforced slow rebuild.   If you, as the owner, chose to be “efficient and economical” then you cannot be in hurry.  I sense that  you and many others here, including me, want to see more progress and faster progress. Year 3 will tell us a lot. 
 

Granato is simply playing the  hand that Adam’s and Pegula deal him.  He has the respect of yhe players and many are playing the best hockey they have ever played.  

 

Your problem is you're too reasonable. It's probably why you and Dodo never go to bed mad.

You should consider yelling DONNY'S A WINNER!

He might be. Let's see. As to whether he deserved a shot, I kind of doubt he gets the job anywhere but Buffalo.

[dudacek]

27 minutes ago, PASabreFan said:

I kind of doubt he gets the job anywhere but Buffalo.

The previous 5 Buffalo head coaches haven’t returned to those heights after being fired. Neither have the previous 3 GMs.

 

Edited July 14, 2023 by dudacek

[Porous Five Hole]

3 hours ago, PASabreFan said:

Your problem is you're too reasonable. It's probably why you and Dodo never go to bed mad.

You should consider yelling DONNY'S A WINNER!

He might be. Let's see. As to whether he deserved a shot, I kind of doubt he gets the job anywhere but Buffalo.

While I might be inclined to agree Meatballs was a cheap and easy hire, I am wondering who you would have preferred over the 21-22 off-season that would have also selected Buffalo? It wasn’t an attractive job back then.

https://www.ranker.com/list/nhl-coaches-fired-2021/pedro-cerrano

From this list, only Maurice is interesting to me and he was clearly taking a year off. 
The Sabres made strides last year. To me, Donny should get some credit for that and some runway to do it again.  
 

I am sure you’ll hate the concept of a runway and I agree “let’s see” in 2023. 

[PASabreFan]

7 hours ago, Porous Five Hole said:

While I might be inclined to agree Meatballs was a cheap and easy hire, I am wondering who you would have preferred over the 21-22 off-season that would have also selected Buffalo? It wasn’t an attractive job back then.

https://www.ranker.com/list/nhl-coaches-fired-2021/pedro-cerrano

From this list, only Maurice is interesting to me and he was clearly taking a year off. 
The Sabres made strides last year. To me, Donny should get some credit for that and some runway to do it again.  
 

I am sure you’ll hate the concept of a runway and I agree “let’s see” in 2023. 

I've never been swayed by the "who's out there who's better" argument.

[ddaryl]

DONNY'S A WINNER!!!!

[PASabreFan]

I'm kind of intrigued by DG in a playoff series. Needing a win would he really wait until the 55 second mark to goal the pulley? And if he'd do it the way every coach since Pat McDougal (1921, Saskatoon Trappers*) has done it, what explains his philosophy as Sabres coach to date?

*Very possibly made up

[Thorny]

19 hours ago, dudacek said:

The previous 5 Buffalo head coaches haven’t returned to those heights after being fired. Neither have the previous 3 GMs.

 

Pretty interesting.

Not sure about Granato yet, but I bet Adams bucks that trend once he eventually moves on. There’s definitely the perception thus far he’s succeeded where at least the previous 2 have failed 

[Taro T]

49 minutes ago, Thorny said:

Pretty interesting.

Not sure about Granato yet, but I bet Adams bucks that trend once he eventually moves on. There’s definitely the perception thus far he’s succeeded where at least the previous 2 have failed 

Adams also gets along with a LOT of people around the league.  Being known (or at minimum believed) to be both good at your job AND a good person who's easy to get along with tend to make it pretty easy to find another job when the time comes to look for another one.

And if the Sabres make the playoffs under Granato would be very surprised if he doesn't land another HCing job when it's time for him to look for another one too.

[That Aud Smell]

On 7/12/2023 at 1:19 PM, PASabreFan said:

Lgr: He's won at every level over a 20-year career.

Lgr: Outside of the NCAA and at the NHL level YET, Granato has won.

Lindy: That's a joooke

On 7/12/2023 at 1:36 PM, Taro T said:

In that single NCAA season that he was his brother's associate coach, they finished 2nd in the Big Ten and lost the championship game in Double OT, so they just missed out on making the NCAA Tourney.

On 7/13/2023 at 7:19 PM, Pimlach said:

Don G has earned his shot in the NHL, no?  

On 7/13/2023 at 9:23 PM, dudacek said:

The previous 5 Buffalo head coaches haven’t returned to those heights after being fired. Neither have the previous 3 GMs.

On 7/11/2023 at 11:16 AM, LGR4GM said:

USHL: Won the Clark Cup in 1996

ECHL: Won the Kelly Cup in 2000

AHL: Won Coach of the Year in 2001

USDP: Won 2 gold medals at U18 tourney 2014 and 2015

NCAA: was only there 1 year and you are right didn't win at that level any big awards

NHL: Guess we shall have to wait and see. 

Outside of the NCAA and at the NHL level YET, Granato has won. But hey, you go right ahead and call him a "kiddie coach" just make sure you add the asterisk after that says *I don't like him because it isn't what I would have done and it isn't based on any merits or ability*

I saw this clip and it prompted me to think of this debate.

Can Granato do this, or do something like it?

 

[Marvin]

On 7/14/2023 at 11:00 AM, PASabreFan said:

I'm kind of intrigued by DG in a playoff series. Needing a win would he really wait until the 55 second mark to goal the pulley? And if he'd do it the way every coach since Pat McDougal (1921, Saskatoon Trappers*) has done it, what explains his philosophy as Sabres coach to date?

*Very possibly made up

If the question is who was the first person to pull a goaltender, I know that the first time that it was tried in the NHL was the Boston Bruins' coach pulling Cecil "Tiny" Thompson, I believe in the 1927-8 season.

[SwampD]

On 7/21/2023 at 7:32 PM, That Aud Smell said:

I saw this clip and it prompted me to think of this debate.

Can Granato do this, or do something like it?

 

 Does anyone know if they ended up winning that game?

I remember someone posted a Bruce Boudreau speech one time, and it was great, but I looked up the final score and Washington didn't score another goal and got shut out in the game. 😂

Edited July 24, 2023 by SwampD

[That Aud Smell]

14 minutes ago, SwampD said:

 Does anyone know if they ended up winning that game?

I remember someone posted a Bruce Boudreau speech one time, and it was great, but I looked up the final score and Washington didn't score another goal and got shut out in the game. 😂

That point is more than fair. And it reminds that I meant to ask: Is this something that a coach needs to be able to do?