Prediction Time: Will DG be fired during the season? If so, when?

[nfreeman]

It gives me no pleasure to say it, but I think it happens on 12/31 or 1/1.  The wheels are falling off.

[TheAud]

I voted ‘no’. But ideally he’d be fired today. 

[GASabresIUFAN]

TP is doing his Golisano.  He just extended DG, he isn’t going to pay him not to coach.  The excuse for not making a change is the youth and injuries.  Assuming they get healthy and the team doesn’t improve, then there may be changes this off-season.  Even then, I think the odds of changes in the DG/KA partnership are small.

[Pimlach]

16 minutes ago, nfreeman said:

It gives me no pleasure to say it, but I think it happens on 12/31 or 1/1.  The wheels are falling off.

I don't think so Rico. 

TP does not want to pay people not to work anymore. 

If he does get fired we probably get the Matty Ellis of interim coaches.  The fear is the team wakes up, plays good under Ellis, and then they re-sign Ellis.    Does anybody want that? 

Finish the season. Draft at about 3OA, put another prospect in the collection and hire the next desperate victim.  

[Buffalonill]

Granato Should be fired now before it's too late All they're doing is digging a bigger hole.

They need to make the playoffs this year 

 

 

Edited December 6, 2023 by Buffalonill

[Sabres Fan in NS]

4 minutes ago, GASabresIUFAN said:

TP is doing his Golisano.  He just extended DG, he isn’t going to pay him not to coach.  The excuse for not making a change is the youth and injuries.  Assuming they get healthy and the team doesn’t improve, then there may be changes this off-season.  Even then, I think the odds of changes in the DG/KA partnership are small.

Not directed at you as others have mentioned this too.  Why do you say this?  It has happened many times that coaches and GMs were fired mid-contract and Mr. Pegula had no issues paying them when they were not doing their jobs anymore.

*****

To the poll questions ...

No. 

And not until after the season ends - I actually do not think he will be fired atoll.

[nfreeman]

15 minutes ago, Pimlach said:

I don't think so Rico. 

TP does not want to pay people not to work anymore. 

If he does get fired we probably get the Matty Ellis of interim coaches.  The fear is the team wakes up, plays good under Ellis, and then they re-sign Ellis.    Does anybody want that? 

Finish the season. Draft at about 3OA, put another prospect in the collection and hire the next desperate victim.  

I'm sure TP doesn't want to do this -- no one does -- but DG has 2 more seasons on his contract after this season at less than $2MM per year.  That is a pittance relative to the huge dollars TP has committed to the players.  YMMV, of course, but I don't think the cash will be the issue.

OTOH, what may save DG is TP's hunger for stability and to avoid the embarrassment of being wrong on yet another HC.

Still, the team looks utterly lost and unable to find its way back, and is regularly getting booed off the ice at home.  I just don't think that can continue indefinitely, or that TP will object to KA making a move.

We'll see.

[WhenWillItEnd66]

Definitely not happening. Break up the happy management family??? Good luck!! Empty seats and all the booing is not going to help although you would think it should.

[JoeSchmoe]

1. The team doesn't have goaltending because KA thought a rookie with 7 NHL games under his belt could carry the team.

2. KA brought in two trainwrecks on D, that because they're new, and because they're vets, DG will be forced to play them until the season is lost.

3. Instead of using cap room to get legit 3rd and 4th liners he brought back KO and ZG for their "leadership".

4. The best F on the team has been injured, along with their best sophomore F.

The team sucking is a 90-10 KA-DG problem.

[Believer]

Will be surprised if DG is canned in season… Think he and KA get another year at least…

Unlike Dahlin who established his Sabre bona fides before he got his big contract… TP made the same mistake with KA and DG he made with Cozens, Samuelson and Power… He bet the Come Line based on flash performance last season… Granted, dice are still tumbling down the table… but the back wall is dead ahead… Will take a multi year Playoff run to avoid crapping out.

Think our billionaire owner needs a seasoned NHL Hockey Operations Executive to guide him.

[Doohickie]

1 hour ago, nfreeman said:

It gives me no pleasure to say it, but I think it happens on 12/31 or 1/1.  The wheels are falling off.

To me if this losing streak gets to 6, they either have to accept it's another lost year or they need a radical change RIGHT NOW to try to salvage the season.  A 6-game losing streak would match the streak Granato started his tenure with, but then the trend was upward.  That's not the case now.  Six just seems to be the number in my mind.

[Doohickie]

1 hour ago, nfreeman said:

OTOH, what may save DG is TP's hunger for stability and to avoid the embarrassment of being wrong on yet another HC.

I think it's easy enough to say DG was the coach the team needed two and a half years ago, but that he's brought the team as far as he could.  I honestly would just pick up a former NHL HC (Gallant, Boudreau, I don't care) if I could get one on an interim basis, then see what shakes loose at the end of the season.  If no one wants to coach with the interim tag, bring on the Matty Ellis show.

Until this season started I felt firmly that the team was moving in the right direction.  It suddenly feels like it's all gone.

1 hour ago, nfreeman said:

regularly getting booed off the ice at home. 

That goes back to the game when Tuch said the boos motivated them.  It makes it very easy for the fans to express their displeasure while simultaneously trying to urge them to do better.

[inkman]

It took a what…10 game losing streak for Krueger to get fired.  Probably will take something like that.  It’s seems feasible with this group of Insta boys.  

[pi2000]

If they get everyone back and continue sleepwalking through the first 10min of every single ***** game... then yeah it's possible.

[xzy89c1]

DG is not an NHL caliber coach. Zero adjustments game to game. We insist on leavingthe zone when our dman down deep get puck while forwards take off to neutral zone. It is making our d look worse than they really are. how many giveaways last night and icings were result of long passes not connecting. 

The only guys with any pushback on team are KRebs, Dylan C, Thompson and Dahlin. that is Adams issue. We are soft as marshmallows. Instead of Okposo, girgensons and jost, we needed guys that are physical and hold the team accountable for their play.

Not sure if anyone is mentioning it but Power and Samuelson have taken step backs this year. Not being held accountable for poor play. Part of it is our lack of organization in own zone/coaching other part is they are not playing positionally sound hockey

[pastajoe]

The problem isn’t Granato as much as it is Adams. The roster he’s been given is inadequate to compete and that’s on Adams for not acquiring a veteran goalie, a top 4 D, and competitive bottom 6 forwards. Instead he resigned Okposo, Girgs, and Jost, and signed Clifton and E Johnson.

[LGR4GM]

43 minutes ago, JoeSchmoe said:

Sabres are 7th in team goals for. Pretty good.

Sabres are near the bottom of all the goals against metrics. Pin it on Granato all you want, but the 💩 goalies and two new D were all trash last year too. What do you expect? Remember, the team was good when old man Anderson played net. With capable goaltending, we don't have to suck.

The Sabres are 18th in goals for. Pretty mediocre. They are 5th worst in goals against. 

[Doohickie]

27 minutes ago, JoeSchmoe said:

The team sucking is a 90-10 KA-DG problem.

While this may be true, if KA feels like he's on the hot seat, firing DG may buy him some time.  Bringing in a new (but experienced) HC would probably give the team a bounce that would buy him time to the end of the season.

38 minutes ago, inkman said:

It took a what…10 game losing streak for Krueger to get fired.  Probably will take something like that.  It’s seems feasible with this group of Insta boys.  

12, actually, but who's counting? 👀

[JoeSchmoe]

7 minutes ago, LGR4GM said:

The Sabres are 18th in goals for. Pretty mediocre. They are 5th worst in goals against. 

Shoot... Thanks. I had it on 5 on 5.

[oddoublee]

for me, this takes me back to the late 90's when Regier had to make a choice at what direction his young franchise was going to go. He purposefully insulted Nolan with a one year deal - and proceeded to hire Ruff. He knew Nolan did his job motivating the young team into becoming NHL players - but he was not going to finish it and make them legit contenders. 

And no - Nolan did not sleep with Hasek's wife or show up to rink drunk. That is all BS. 

Regardless - this may be a similar situation. Does KA have the nuts to see it is time for a new voice to guide these young chickens...

[GASabresIUFAN]

Just now, oddoublee said:

for me, this takes me back to the late 90's when Regier had to make a choice at what direction his young franchise was going to go. He purposefully insulted Nolan with a one year deal - and proceeded to hire Ruff. He knew Nolan did his job motivating the young team into becoming NHL players - but he was not going to finish it and make them legit contenders. 

And no - Nolan did not sleep with Hasek's wife or show up to rink drunk. That is all BS. 

Regardless - this may be a similar situation. Does KA have the nuts to see it is time for a new voice to guide these young chickens...

The difference is KA gave DG a long-term deal.  Oops!

[PerreaultForever]

2 hours ago, pastajoe said:

The problem isn’t Granato as much as it is Adams. The roster he’s been given is inadequate to compete and that’s on Adams for not acquiring a veteran goalie, a top 4 D, and competitive bottom 6 forwards. Instead he resigned Okposo, Girgs, and Jost, and signed Clifton and E Johnson.

The problem is all of them, and most of all TP. 

[PerreaultForever]

5 minutes ago, oddoublee said:

for me, this takes me back to the late 90's when Regier had to make a choice at what direction his young franchise was going to go. He purposefully insulted Nolan with a one year deal - and proceeded to hire Ruff. He knew Nolan did his job motivating the young team into becoming NHL players - but he was not going to finish it and make them legit contenders. 

And no - Nolan did not sleep with Hasek's wife or show up to rink drunk. That is all BS. 

Regardless - this may be a similar situation. Does KA have the nuts to see it is time for a new voice to guide these young chickens...

Yes, the "drunken Indian" thing was all racist BS but you're missing one important aspect. Nolan had a contentious and argumentative relationship with his GM and Regier wasn't sure if he'd be able to work with Nolan on Nolan's terms so he offered him the one year deal as a trial for that. Nolan's pride made him refuse it. 

Regier got lucky with Ruff. Ruff had been a decent assistant and he had Sabres roots, but there was no way to know if he'd be a good head coach or not. He could just as easily have been like Housley. 

[Buffalonill]

Don't worry buffalo went to plan B when they lost out on kane

eric robinson will save the season 

[Porous Five Hole]

1 hour ago, PerreaultForever said:

Yes, the "drunken Indian" thing was all racist BS but you're missing one important aspect. Nolan had a contentious and argumentative relationship with his GM and Regier wasn't sure if he'd be able to work with Nolan on Nolan's terms so he offered him the one year deal as a trial for that. Nolan's pride made him refuse it. 

Regier got lucky with Ruff. Ruff had been a decent assistant and he had Sabres roots, but there was no way to know if he'd be a good head coach or not. He could just as easily have been like Housley. 

Wait, wasn’t the Nolan thing with Muckler?