Columbus Game Aftermath: Did the Sabres Fans save Granato and maybe the Season?

[Pimlach]

Did anyone notice the tone of the Leaves Game post game interviews?  

Start with Granato.  You could see and feel the distance between he and the media.  He looked hurt, pensive to say too much, and maybe he even showed a little chip on his shoulder.  

All the interviewed players mentioned the Columbus game and the "fire Donny" chant.  Dahlin had the most pointed comments.  It is almost as if he, and these younger guys, do not realize that they are a reflection of the coaches.  When they are continually bad it is the coaches that most often pay the price.  

Two things strike me about this:

1.  These young guys are still extremely naïve.  How can this be a surprise to them?  There have already been 4 coaches fired this season, including a recent Cup winner.  

2.  The lack of veteran leadership in Buffalo is, and has been, a really big problem.  Bringing in new vets is not a guaranteed  fix to leadership because they are not invested (Stahl and Hall is a classic example).  

It is now incumbent on the Core to grow up right now and to start providing that leadership.  That means Dahlin, Thompson, and Tuch.  Having elder vets like KO and Zemgus around is not enough.  This team belongs to Dahlin, Thompson, and Tuch.  They need to get on the players that are not working and push them, and they need to set the example for hard work all the time.  The players need to raise their standards themselves.   This coaching staff is not going to do it.  Adams is not going to do it.  The team belongs to the Core that is just entering its prime.  Do they want to be great?  

The Fire Donny chant may be what the team needed.  Interesting is that it took the fans to do it.  I was at the famous "Thank You Sabres" game - which was the opposite message and the start of a really good run for the franchise.  It was like our expansion team of misfits had just turned into a legit NHL club and the fans let them know it. 

It appears we may have come full circle, hopefully heading to the good.  I can only hope. 

It will be interesting to see if the team wakes up and for how long.  What are your thoughts Sabre Spacers? 

 

[Scottysabres]

I agree with much of what you say here. And I sure hope the players have fully digested what the fans chants at that Columbus game means. Because I believe Okposo fully got it. He seemed to understand it wasn't just about the here and now, it's been 12 yrs, he even said it. 

Something had to have been said between Columbus and Toronto. We all know it was. Because the fans are chanting in near unison for someone ro he held accountable, after all, it is the fans who spend their hard earned money, many near the lower income/poverty lvl, to support the team. These players should be ashamed of themselves. Buffalo fan base are get'er done people, even if it means barely surviving in the modern economy, they expect their team to mirror that mindset.

Do the kids understand it? Most from outside the region. I think Tuch, Okposo, ya, I think a conversation was had, a message was sent. I don't believe it was entirely about Granato, I believe they are defensive because fans are now verbally holding them all accountable. Donny's job may be on the line, if the fans continue to shout and chant their displeasure.

So let's see how desperate these young players are to keep Donny around. As of now, I applaud the fans, they are making a huge difference imho.

[GASabresIUFAN]

The Sabres lack the one thing they need the most, consistent goaltending.  Everything else is noise.  KA put Donny in the team in a position to fail and no coach is good enough to overcome such a roster whole.

No motivation and no lineup change will alter the fact that this season is already done from a playoff perspective.  

Edited December 22, 2023 by GASabresIUFAN

[PickaPecaPickles]

How many times have they followed up an embarrassing loss with a big win or vice versa?  Closing out 2023 will show us if it’s talk or walk—Rangers and Bruins, followed by CBJ and Sens. 

[LGR4GM]

Until they win more, I don't give a crap about their tone in interviews. It means nothing right now unless they change.

[Pimlach]

2 minutes ago, LGR4GM said:

Until they win more, I don't give a crap about their tone in interviews. It means nothing right now unless they change.

I agree.  As my last sentence reads, it will be interesting to see if the team wakes up and for how long. 

[shrader]

Did they save his job or does the team just get up for Toronto?

[PASabreFan]

Fear of what or who would follow?

Does this group know how good it has it?

[Goldseatsaud]

14 minutes ago, shrader said:

Did they save his job or does the team just get up for Toronto?

I think they get up for the leafs at home. 

[Weave]

I was really hoping EJ and to a lesser extent Clifton would be the big boy voices that would coerce this team into playing like they need to.  EJ spoke up once, and we haven’t heard it since.  I wonder if it was not well received.

[That Aud Smell]

2 minutes ago, Weave said:

I was really hoping EJ and to a lesser extent Clifton would be the big boy voices that would coerce this team into playing like they need to.  EJ spoke up once, and we haven’t heard it since.  I wonder if it was not well received.

I don't think Erik Johnson is apt to have much clout with this group. Sure he's had big success in his career, including a Cup. But he's new to this scene. His play stinks out loud. Young guys on this team are apt to have some mix of (1) feeling bad for him because he's decrepit (by NHL standards) and (2) thinking to themselves "yadda yadda, old man." 

[CallawaySabres]

It would be nice to actually win two games in a row before we can consider anything being saved at all with this trash season

[Marvin]

Until the team puts out the same kind of play over a stretch, plays a consistent 200' game, stops committing mind-numbing gaffes, and gets back to at least DeLuca 0.500, I will not assume that they have even begun to turn the corner on the season.

What I am hoping for is that the team stays relatively healthy so that they can maybe string together some consistent play.  Maybe they were trying to hard because of all the injuries.

[JohnC]

1 hour ago, GASabresIUFAN said:

The Sabres lack the one thing they need the most, consistent goaltending.  Everything else is noise.  KA put Donny in the team in a position to fail and no coach is good enough to overcome such a roster whole.

No motivation and no lineup change will alter the fact that this season is already done from a playoff perspective.  

I'm not going to disagree with you that our goaltending is not consistently at a high level. That's a roster reality that is not going to change this season. But that isn't the biggest reason why this team has not met our expectations. Last year, mostly when Levi joined the team at the end of the season, this team played at a high level in their playoff push. For nearly a third of a season the team played at a level that upper tier teams play at. And during that end of season push there was a consistently in team play. That's not the case this year. We have beaten upper tier teams such as the Rangers, Boston, Vegas and Colorado. In those games, the team played as if they were Stanley Cup contenders. However, this year, the level of play has been too erratic especially against lesser talented teams, regardless of the caliber of our goalies. That's the main problem. 

Entering this season our roster is better than last year. The younger players should be getting better and the roster has been stable enough where there should be more cohesion. What happened? Who would have been satisfied prior to the season knowing that Detroit, Montreal, Phil, and others, would be ahead of us in the standings at this point? 

The Sabres have some roster flaws. So what! Most teams do. The difference this year has been the level of effort and a fragility that is evident when dealing with adversity. This team has to toughen up both mentally and physically. They have demonstrated that episodically that they can do so. That's not good enough. I disagree with you in your belief that our playoff aspiration already has been squelched. I still believe that there is enough time to turn it around and get back into the playoff race. There's no question that the team has dug itself into a deep hole. The solution is to play harder and do it with greater consistency. A generation of excuse making is long enough. No more excuses!

[RangerDave]

1 hour ago, Scottysabres said:

As of now, I applaud the fans, they are making a huge difference imho.

"As of now..."  How many times have us fans thought, "Oh, man, we've turned the corner now!"  Only to crash back to reality the next game.  Until they win several in a row, and win most of a bunch of games in a stretch, I cannot believe anything has changed based on one game.

[PerreaultForever]

1 hour ago, Pimlach said:

I agree.  As my last sentence reads, it will be interesting to see if the team wakes up and for how long. 

I think what you said at the top was true, and the lack of veteran leadership has been a problem for this team for a long time. It's just not there. The idea of them creating and growing a culture as a group is difficult if not impossible. They need mentors and leaders. 

The problem I have with the quoted sentence above is this isn't the first season this has happened for most of these guys. They can talk about how these boos woke them up but what about last year's boos? The year befores? How many wake up calls do they need and how long until they nod off again? 

Sure, they came out with speed and an aggressive offense against a team with terrible goaltending that decided not to play any defense at all so the result was wonderful. Let's wait and see if they can do the same thing to the Rangers and Bruins before we get too excited. 

[RangerDave]

1 hour ago, Goldseatsaud said:

I think they get up for the leafs at home. 

Of course they do.  With all of the Leaves fans in the arena, it must feel like an away game for them.

 

[Demoted]

Hasn't this been the narrative all season? Each game they win brings on a "Did they turn it around?" Thinking, all the while No, no they didnt.

I am gonna need to see a win streak.

[LGR4GM]

I'll be blunt. Make the playoffs or idc what any of the coaches, the gm, or the players say because quite frankly after 13 years, they can kiss every fans ass with their promises and words and veiled disappointment that the fans aren't super duper excited for the worst nhl franchise of the last decade. 

Either fix it, or f off.

[Taro T]

2 hours ago, Pimlach said:

Did anyone notice the tone of the Leaves Game post game interviews?  

Start with Granato.  You could see and feel the distance between he and the media.  He looked hurt, pensive to say too much, and maybe he even showed a little chip on his shoulder.  

All the interviewed players mentioned the Columbus game and the "fire Donny" chant.  Dahlin had the most pointed comments.  It is almost as if he, and these younger guys, do not realize that they are a reflection of the coaches.  When they are continually bad it is the coaches that most often pay the price.  

Two things strike me about this:

1.  These young guys are still extremely naïve.  How can this be a surprise to them?  There have already been 4 coaches fired this season, including a recent Cup winner.  

2.  The lack of veteran leadership in Buffalo is, and has been, a really big problem.  Bringing in new vets is not a guaranteed  fix to leadership because they are not invested (Stahl and Hall is a classic example).  

It is now incumbent on the Core to grow up right now and to start providing that leadership.  That means Dahlin, Thompson, and Tuch.  Having elder vets like KO and Zemgus around is not enough.  This team belongs to Dahlin, Thompson, and Tuch.  They need to get on the players that are not working and push them, and they need to set the example for hard work all the time.  The players need to raise their standards themselves.   This coaching staff is not going to do it.  Adams is not going to do it.  The team belongs to the Core that is just entering its prime.  Do they want to be great?  

The Fire Donny chant may be what the team needed.  Interesting is that it took the fans to do it.  I was at the famous "Thank You Sabres" game - which was the opposite message and the start of a really good run for the franchise.  It was like our expansion team of misfits had just turned into a legit NHL club and the fans let them know it. 

It appears we may have come full circle, hopefully heading to the good.  I can only hope. 

It will be interesting to see if the team wakes up and for how long.  What are your thoughts Sabre Spacers? 

 

The team finally understands that underperforming (or overperforming too, though we haven't seen that this season) carrys consequences with it.  Did that lightbulb FULLY click on?  Don't know.  We'll know by New Year's Day.  They have 2 more games against top squads which will want to pay them back for beating them in their own barns the last time the Sabres played them and then they'll have 2 games against bottom feeders that they've been know to spit the bit against in a back to back situation.

That's a set up that prior to the BJ's game calls out for a 1-2-1 -ish record the rest of the way.  Go 4-0-0 over that stretch and watch out league, the Sabres are healthy and they're back.  Maybe it's just too much adversity for them to deal with and they end up spitting the bit again losing their favoritest coach.  Leaning towards expecting 2-1-1 or 3-1-0 over that stretch.  Which would be an improvement as they'll almost have to at minimum have only their 2nd 2 game win streak of the season and might even have a 3 or 4 game streak to the good.

Really hoping this'll be something to build on, but don't know that it is.

[PerreaultForever]

13 minutes ago, LGR4GM said:

I'll be blunt. Make the playoffs or idc what any of the coaches, the gm, or the players say because quite frankly after 13 years, they can kiss every fans ass with their promises and words and veiled disappointment that the fans aren't super duper excited for the worst nhl franchise of the last decade. 

Either fix it, or f off.

We actually fully agree on something. 

 

[Sabres Fan in NS]

Words.  Too many words.

It's the same as ... Boys.  Too many boys.

Maybe a fire has been lit.  We shall see in the next 10 games.

The Sabres usually get up for the Leaves.  This was predictable.

There are some veterans around, but they don't seem to be the *right* veterans to get these guys going.

Dahlin, Tage and Tuch need to be the motivational *veterans*.  As has been noted .. it's their team.  They need to be the driving force.

[Weave]

2 hours ago, That Aud Smell said:

I don't think Erik Johnson is apt to have much clout with this group. Sure he's had big success in his career, including a Cup. But he's new to this scene. His play stinks out loud. Young guys on this team are apt to have some mix of (1) feeling bad for him because he's decrepit (by NHL standards) and (2) thinking to themselves "yadda yadda, old man." 

If someone like Owen Power, who would have been a fan of someone like EJ, isn’t looking up to, and paying respect to EJs advice…… I think thats a problem.

One we've seen before.

[LGR4GM]

24 minutes ago, PerreaultForever said:

We actually fully agree on something. 

 

[North Buffalo]

1 hour ago, RangerDave said:

"As of now..."  How many times have us fans thought, "Oh, man, we've turned the corner now!"  Only to crash back to reality the next game.  Until they win several in a row, and win most of a bunch of games in a stretch, I cannot believe anything has changed based on one game.

Yup back in show me mode...