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

[Crusader1969]

7 hours ago, Buffalonill said:

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 

 

 

It's over for this year.   Build towards next year.  

[Weave]

5 minutes ago, Crusader1969 said:

It's over for this year.   Build towards next year.  

This is the hurtful truth.  It’s not even Christmas and the best we can hope for is an end of season build towards next season.

[...]

Anyone recall the hesitation by the Sabres over the summer to proclaim this a playoff year? Only when training camp started did KA mention it and he did so begrudgingly. I think internally they penciled in this year as another development year and therefore Meatballs has the entire season to reach certain milestones that have not been shared with the fans.

[...]

2 minutes ago, ... said:

Anyone recall the hesitation by the Sabres over the summer to proclaim this a playoff year? Only when training camp started did KA mention it and he did so begrudgingly. I think internally they penciled in this year as another development year and therefore Meatballs has the entire season to reach certain milestones that have not been shared with the fans.

Forgot to mention that if I were to guess at those milestones I would say they bias heavily toward defending. 

[Thorny]

10 hours 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.

The thing is a solid stretch to end once teams have already counted us out doesn’t mean anything 

[Thorny]

9 hours ago, JoeSchmoe said:

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.

Well said. 

I think I still kinda like DG

[Thorny]

9 hours ago, Believer said:

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.

Maybe the Power and Cozens deals end up a detriment because being paid too soon they struggle under the weight of expectations, but my gut says those deals still end up good, maybe even very good.

i don’t really think the weight they are contributing to, that’s dragging down our sinking ship is the issue, so much as the holes we put in said ship, by choice, that we refuse to fill 

[JohninMinn.]

I think management knows it's not a coaching problem it's a bullying problem. DG stays if we toughen up.

[Thorny]

9 hours 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.

7th? I see them at 19th and we’ve played more games than literally everyone 

[Believer]

5 minutes ago, Thorny said:

i don’t really think the weight they are contributing to, that’s dragging down our sinking ship is the issue, so much as the holes we put in said ship, by choice, that we refuse to fill 

Can agree with this… All the more reason for Pegula to hire a seasoned NHL Exec to guide him.

[GoPuckYourself]

Granato will probably be here at seasons end, they will chalk this season up as youth and injuries imo.

[Thorny]

8 hours ago, LGR4GM said:

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

25th in goals per game actually upon checking just now: so decidedly worse than mediocre 

[Thorny]

3 hours ago, Weave said:

This is the hurtful truth.  It’s not even Christmas and the best we can hope for is an end of season build towards next season.

Absolutely not. Cannot give up on stated goal this early, would be super detrimental. 

1 hour ago, ... said:

Anyone recall the hesitation by the Sabres over the summer to proclaim this a playoff year? Only when training camp started did KA mention it and he did so begrudgingly. I think internally they penciled in this year as another development year and therefore Meatballs has the entire season to reach certain milestones that have not been shared with the fans.

Sabres play in all 82 games

ACHIEVEMENT UNLOCKED: Perfect Attendance (Bronze level)

[Weave]

15 minutes ago, Thorny said:

Absolutely not. Cannot give up on stated goal this early, would be super detrimental. 

Well, I’ve given up.  It’s an overwhelming task given the games in hand and the teams to leapfrog.

Im willing to hand out judgement to those responsible.

[JoeSchmoe]

23 minutes ago, Thorny said:

7th? I see them at 19th and we’ve played more games than literally everyone 

Yeah... I already got called out on that... I was looking at 5 on 5.

[Thorny]

11 minutes ago, JoeSchmoe said:

Yeah... I already got called out on that... I was looking at 5 on 5.

I’m honestly surprised they are as high as 5th at 5 V 5. I assume that doesn’t take into account games played?

Still, points to something @dudaceksaid about fixing the PP carrying a lot of water. Need him to post more 

[SABRES 0311]

45 minutes ago, Thorny said:

Absolutely not. Cannot give up on stated goal this early, would be super detrimental. 

Its more of a realization that the primary goal is less likely to be achieved because the smaller, supporting goals were not achieved. This organization needs to go back a few steps in the plan and restart there. 

Making the playoffs this year’s goal will draw attention away from fixing what was left to fester.

Edited December 7, 2023 by SABRES 0311

[Thorny]

11 minutes ago, SABRES 0311 said:

Its more of a realization that the primary goal is less likely to be achieved because the smaller, supporting goals were not achieved. This organization needs to go back a few steps in the plan and restart there. 

Making the playoffs this year’s goal will draw attention away from fixing what was left to fester.

I just can’t agree. I think this rebuild has gone on so long it has passed beyond the realm of having reasonable, common fixes. It’s essentially a living entity. Any sort of “play the long game” thinking to me is poisonous and represents sliding back down that slope of being ok with inferior expectations. The goal can’t change. Because actively failing, is a step in itself. Because we haven’t yet failed, under KA, have we? Not according the management. We’ve merely developed.

Failing on a goal is better than not having a goal.

The best teacher, failure is. 

[Goldseatsaud]

Stability with Pegula. No firing with his management only if there was sexual relations 

[sabremike]

4 hours ago, Believer said:

Can agree with this… All the more reason for Pegula to hire a seasoned NHL Exec to guide him.

Literally nobody wants to work for the guy because he is a meddling buffoon. That's why we always end up with entry level hires as coaches. His rep is as bad as any owner in league history.

[SABRES 0311]

6 hours ago, Thorny said:

I just can’t agree. I think this rebuild has gone on so long it has passed beyond the realm of having reasonable, common fixes. It’s essentially a living entity. Any sort of “play the long game” thinking to me is poisonous and represents sliding back down that slope of being ok with inferior expectations. The goal can’t change. Because actively failing, is a step in itself. Because we haven’t yet failed, under KA, have we? Not according the management. We’ve merely developed.

Failing on a goal is better than not having a goal.

The best teacher, failure is. 

I’m not saying they should tank or anything like that. I’m saying KA needs to reassess his off season actions. I believe he thought last year’s roster could make the playoffs this year which is why he didn’t make any significant moves. At present the team is not just losing, they seem fragile. 

When I watched the Cozens interview, the kid looked and sounded terrible. Not just because the game just ended but mentally he is drained. Another example is OP looks like he has no idea what he’s doing and is just winging it. Against Detroit I saw a forward skate the puck around the backside of our net. Three Sabres waved their sticks at him and nobody tried taking the body. Joker was one of them. 

This team is broken mentally. We are seeing the beginning of a new losing culture stemming from no structure and no mentorship. If this continues I think we will see another instance where players are traded for picks in order to rebuild again.

Or, KA can stop falling in love with prospects, use them as currency, and bring in some meaningful pieces now to correct the ship. This means going back and doing what should’ve happened last summer. Whether it’s now or later, not all of our high end picks and top six forwards will remain. 

[Slack_in_MA]

9 hours ago, Believer said:

Can agree with this… All the more reason for Pegula to hire a seasoned NHL Exec to guide him.

I wonder about this often, i.e., how the Sabres hockey operation org structure compares to the rest of the league. Is it comparably structured or is it an outlier, and if an outlier, why does TP think he's so much smarter than everyone else in this regard? Is it true he doesn't trust the traditional "hockey guys"?

[inkman]

11 hours ago, ... said:

Anyone recall the hesitation by the Sabres over the summer to proclaim this a playoff year? Only when training camp started did KA mention it and he did so begrudgingly. I think internally they penciled in this year as another development year and therefore Meatballs has the entire season to reach certain milestones that have not been shared with the fans.

Well they are the youngest team in the league 

[oddoublee]

17 hours ago, Porous Five Hole said:

Wait, wasn’t the Nolan thing with Muckler?

no, common misconception since he and muckler had a such a terrible relationship. muckler was fired pre nolan not coming back

[oddoublee]

19 hours 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. 

it is ok to get lucky with a hire. point was - regier knew something was a little off and had to hedge his bets. nolan was, make no mistake, an ***** to work with in the front office. ***** like nolan, or nice guy like granato - means nothing to me personally. at the end of the day, the sabres have to decide, is this the guy that takes them to the next level. i am not personally seeing it. i see a team with no identity.