BillsFan4

Bob McKenzie talking about the Sabres coaching search. I posted this in the Sabres thread but maybe it’s better here. https://www.nbcsports.com/video/buffalo-sabres-fire-ralph-krueger-jack-eichel-out-foreseeable-future?ls=social-vid doesn't inspire me with much hope. An exhaustive search sounds good in theory, but it just makes me think Kevyn Adams has no clue who the top candidates are or who he wants. Most GMs, when hired, already have a short list of coaches they’d hire. They’ve done research over the years to prepare for a GM job. They have connections and hear who the top up & coming coaches are, know who the top veteran coaches are, etc. Adams never did any of that stuff. He wasn’t even working in the NHL until last year. He was running the ******* harborcenter. Well, at least he will be better prepared for his 2nd coaching search, though he may end up getting fired before he gets to put the knowledge he gains this time around into practice.... (joking! sort of) For me, anything but hiring a proven veteran coach says “rebuild”. We’re out of time for experiments and learning on the job. We need someone who’s done it before (IMO). Hiring a veteran coach says “we are going to try and win Now”. How do you sell another inexperienced coach to this locker room? guys like Eichel, Reinhart, Ristolainen etc (if any are still here)? How do you sell more on the job learning? How do the players buy in, again, to another coach who’s never won in the NH, before telling them how to win in the NHL. If they had a veteran core of players I’d feel much differently about hiring an inexperienced coach. But this team needs someone proven who can show them what it takes to win in the NHL. Where else are they going to learn it from?

Leagues are starting back up though and the Sabres don’t have any scouts there (see the article + quote I linked at the bottom). But I agree 100% with you about the pro scouts. I know the Sabres only had a few pro scouts even before all the firings (and shockingly, I don’t think any of their pro scouts were fired even after having horrible luck identifying pro talent (see ROR trade)). Their pro scouting dept. has been an issue for years. I just looked at their staff directory and they don’t even have separate pro and amateur scouts listed anymore. They have 7 scouts to cover the entire ******* globe! 🤦‍♂️ https://www.nhl.com/sabres/team/staff

https://www.nbcsports.com/video/buffalo-sabres-fire-ralph-krueger-jack-eichel-out-foreseeable-future?ls=social-vid Bob McKenzie on the Sabres coaching search. ^ It doesn’t inspire much hope (for me, anyway). Kevyn Adams plans to do an exhaustive search including NHL assistant coaches, AHL coaches, college coaches, junior hockey coaches, etc. which may sound good in theory but for me, it just screams “I have no idea who the top candidates are or who I want”. But he’s probably never put together a list of coaches before. Most GMs and asst. GM’s have a short list of coaches that they think are the top guys and/or meet their criteria. Adams wouldn’t have ever had a reason to put together a list like that and he has no NHL front office experience so he wouldn’t really know who the top candidates are. ugh.

just a reminder that almost none of these people were ever replaced. They just promoted some totally inexperienced people from within to the head amateur & pro jobs.

Does anyone remember that rumor back in 2017 that Mitch Trubisky was the QB the Bills (or Sean McDermott) liked the most? (or something like that, I can’t remember the exact rumor)? edit - just to be clear, I don’t think he was signed for any reason but to improve the backup role. I just thought of that rumor when we signed him is all.

Hopefully they give him a massive contract.

I was just going to say it can most definitely get worse... 😂 and I’m not all that confident it won’t.

This is why it terrifies me to think about this current front office trading Eichel, or any of our core players for draft picks. If they make major trades, I really hope the main pieces coming back to Buffalo are other NHL players or prospects close to NHL ready. Not that I have much faith in their pro scouting dept. but at least NHL players are a known quantity. You’re not relying on a bare bones scouting staff that’s only watched video clips of the players they’re drafting. I can’t help but think of that dumb *** Terry Pegula quote about how you don’t need a big scouting staff because you have technology that allows you to watch video of players frame by frame 🤦‍♂️ https://www.sportsnet.ca/nhl/31-thoughts-no-easy-answers-addressing-sabres-messy-situation/sn-amp/

It does make sense not to saddle a new coach with this horrible season. I really do want to hold out hope that they hire a proven coach. I just have so little faith left that this team does the right thing. My dream hire is Rod Brind’amor but I don’t see any way he actually leaves carolina. Boudreau is definitely next on my list. I think he’d be a great fit and I think the style of hockey he wants to play would fit well for guys like Eichel and Dahlin. I really wanted Laviolette before he went to Washington. He would’ve been a good fit as well. I’d take Gallant in a heart beat too. Or Julien, but he’d be lower on my list than the other I mentioned. I just worry about waiting until the offseason when a bunch more teams will be looking for coaches, and I feel like they’re almost all more desirable than Buffalo at this point. I also wonder if the Pegulas will be willing to pay big money for another coach right now. I still can’t believe they gave Krueger $4 million per year. They still owe him for at least 1 more year too. I just don’t know how excited I can get about another unproven coach. If we had an experienced veteran core of players I’d feel much differently. But we don’t. We need someone who can teach these guys how to win in the NHL.

Yeah they need someone with experience who can teach these guys how to win in the NHL. I don’t see how another inexperienced coach does that, They don’t have experienced players or an experienced front office. As far as Boudreau not being a Stanley cup coach, everyone said the same thing about Barry Trotz, who never made it past the 2nd round before winning the cup with Washington. I think it was more circumstances than Boudreau suddenly forgetting how to coach in the playoffs. He ran into some really good and/or red hot teams. Im preparing myself for another disappointing hire though. I feel like if they wanted one of the veteran coaches available, they probably wouldn’t be naming Don Granato interim coach for the remainder of the season. When Calgary fired their coach they immediately named Darryl Sutter as replacement. We are the only team that needs a coach right now. We have our pick of the litter. If we wait until the offseason we’ll be competing with a bunch more teams.

Bruce Boudreau. And reportedly he’d love to coach here (he also has family in the area and was born right across the border). Record: 2007-08: Hired by Washington after the Caps start 6-14-1 (looks like our record, right?). Their record that season after Boudreau was hired: 37-17-7. 81 pts in 61 games. 2008-09: 108 pts 2009-10: 121 pts 2010-11: 107 pts 2011-12: 25 pts in 22 games then Washington fired him. 2011-12: Hired by Anaheim that same season, and then went 27-23-8 with the Ducks. 62 pts in 58 games. The Ducks were 7-13-4 under Randy Carlyle before Boudreau took over. He then turned the Ducks into a powerhouse the following seasons. 2012-13: 66 pts in 48 games (good for the 3rd best record in the NHL during that lockout-shortened season) 2013-14: 116 pts 2014-15: 109 pts 2015-16: 103 pts - He's then fired by the Ducks after a disappointing first round playoff exit to a red hot team (after never averaging less than 100 pts/season). 2016-17: 106 pts - First season with the Wild. Minnesota had 87 pts the previous season. 2017-18: 101 pts 2018-19: 83 pts 2019-20: 61 pts in 57 games. If Boudreau can’t improve this team nobody can.

I take no joy in his firing. He seemed like a really great guy. But he was in over his head and his press conferences were starting to get embarrassing. He didn’t even know what to say anymore. He has to be a bit relieved. Now I just pray they don’t disappoint me with the new hire, but I know it’s coming. This team absolutely needs a proven, successful veteran NHL coach to teach them how to win more than any other team in the NHL. How can someone with no NHL experience teach you how to win in the NHL? We’re out of time for learning on the job. This is the LAST coach they get the chance to hire with Jack Eichel still a Sabre. That I am sure of. It seems insane to me to gamble on another inexperienced coach.

Best of luck to you Lee!

😂

ROR never said he wanted out or wouldn’t play hard for the Sabres. He said all the losing made him question his love for the game at multiple points during the season and that type of losing minds set had to change. He was 100% right. He also directly said that he did not want to be traded. He was saying that the losing mind set is unacceptable. Said that it even crept into his own game at times and it had to change. Called it out in the press and was immediately shipped out the door by the Pegulas (rumors from Sabres beat writers and Elliott Friedman are they demanded he be traded before the bonus was due). He went to St. Louis, was one of the main reasons they won a Cup and is now their team captain. He has since said that having some veteran leadership around him made all the difference. I never really questioned ROR’s effort on the ice, outside of maybe a few occasional shifts (but the same could be said of almost any player). He was usually the last guy on the ice at practice every day too. I agree with you that the players deserve much of the blame, but I disagree that this all stems from Eichel. He’s been about the only Sabre to consistently perform every season. Eichel wasn’t even in the lineup last night. How was he supposed to motivate the players to play? IMO What should have been done is surround ROR and Eichel with more veteran talent. The Sabres have had some type of organizational philosophy in place from the start of the rebuild that if they made any big trades or moves it had to be for guys 25 or younger (Tim Murray used to say this often). That sounds good in theory, but what did any of these 25yr old players know about winning in the NHL? ROR came from losing in Colorado. Kane & Bogosian came from losing in Winnipeg Eichel gets blamed for not being a good enough leader but who has he ever had to teach him or help him? Besides other young guys that came from losing or washed up veterans at the ends of their career? Eichel had an MVP worthy campaign last season and almost single handedly carrier the whole team the majority of the year. He’s been responsible for something like 60% of the Sabres offense in his career here. No other player in the NHL besides McDavid has carried play for their team more than Eichel. His attitude definitely isn’t the best at times. He doesn’t handle losing the greatest (because he hates to lose) and tends to show his frustrations (poor facial expressions, breaking his stick, etc) but he has improved in that area quite a bit as he’s matured. And he’s still a kid. He just recently turned 24. Who else has even been worthy of the captaincy in Eichel’s time here (since Gionta left)? Maybe ROR? There was a really good article over on the athletic where Tim Graham interviewed a bunch of the Sabres ex captains. It’s a good read if you have an athletic subscription. They sum up a lot of the issues with the Sabres pretty well. Heres some of what they had to say on Eichel and leadership: https://theathletic.com/2426679/2021/03/05/former-sabres-captains-weigh-in-on-teams-woes-a-whole-new-kind-of-unwatchable/ Another captain: They also said it is on coaching to correct this. One mentioned that Krueger looks in over his head and they have no idea what his system is supposed to be. I agree 100% that the core of this team needs to change, and drastically. I also agree that a lot of the blame rests with the players and that we can’t keep cycling through coaches. I think they need to find a good coach and stick with him. Changing philosophies every 2-3 years makes it impossible to build anything. But before we do something drastic like trade our young franchise player that we tanked 2 straight seasons to get, I’d sure like to see what this team looks like with an actual proven successful NHL coach like Bruce Boudreau (who would reportedly love to coach here) and some actual veteran talent around him. The Sabres have yet to hire a proven veteran coach since Dan Bylsma (who wasn’t exactly a top tier coach but still has the best overall record of any Sabres coach since Lindy ruff. No coach since has matched his 81pt season). If the Sabres hire someone like Boudreau, who’s improved + won with every team he’s ever coached and only missed the playoffs once (or twice) in his entire career, and this team still can’t improve then you know 100% it’s the players. Right now, coaching is just as big a question mark as the players, if not bigger. When every single solitary player on the team is underperforming it’s hard not to blame the coaching staff. Who else do you blame for an entire roster underperforming? Housley had no real experience. Krueger had no real experience. We now have a totally inexperienced rookie GM with no prior NHL front office experience who was running a junior hockey program a couple years ago. He has No assistant GMs. 1/2 a scouting staff. Inexperienced rookie heads of pro and amateur scouting. Id like to at least see what an experienced coach can do before this current rookie crew trades away our best players. He also designed + implemented the exact scouting system (in Carolina) the Sabres are now trying to put in place, and he knows how to maximize a small budget. He was actually interested in coming here too. But Like you said, for whatever reason the Pegulas decided not to bring him in. He really would have been the perfect hire (assuming he was empowered to make the changes that needed to be made).

No, I think Tom Brady leaving New England and winning the super bowl in his very first season with another team was a huge blow to Belichick’s ego. I remember reading Reports that Belichick has always felt he was much more responsible for the Pats dynasty than Brady. He felt it was the Patriots system that made Brady so successful and that he could plug in another QB and continue winning. Seeing the opposite happen has to be a blow to his ego. I also think he’s sending the message that losing will not be tolerated in New England and he’s willing to change the way he goes about adding talent to fix it. edit - I do think the bills contributed though, by sweeping the Pats and winning the division away from them.

Oh good lord the season isn’t even half over yet?? 🤢🤮

I heard that the upper body injury Eichel sustained at the beginning of training camp was 2-3 cracked ribs but I can’t find a source for it. This is the closest I can find: https://apnews.com/article/new-york-nhl-ralph-krueger-jack-eichel-coronavirus-pandemic-008ae1601b5d9394fcc16024814a97a0 AP confirms it was a rib injury but doesn’t go into detail. It would make sense why he was struggling If he was playing through a rib injury like that. Rib injuries are super painful. I fractured 3 ribs in a car accident a couple years ago and damn was it painful. It hurt to even breathe. Laughing or coughing was ridiculously painful. I couldn’t imagine having that injury and full grown pro athletes slamming into me.

Really nice deal for Roberts. Sucks to lose him but I’m happy he got a nice payday. He deserved it.

If Boudreau would love to coach in Buffalo it’s the easiest *&$#$&* decision in the world. Boudreau is legitimately one of the best coaches in the NHL. He’s improved every team he’s ever taken over. He just had some bad luck in the playoffs. But he’s a guy that actually knows how to win. If he can’t win with this core of players, then it’s definitely the players, not the coach. But I don’t expect the Pegulas to do it because he swears and is an experienced NHL veteran, which apparently they don’t trust anymore (after never hiring anyone that actually fits that description).

crazy. Worst points percentage in team history. 10 straight losses. No trades. No firings. Nothing, despite there being multiple good, experienced NHL coaches just sitting on the market. I guess Losing is acceptable.

reports (from unverified sources) on Twitter saying he’s likely out 8+ weeks. edit, now verified sources reporting the 8 week thing.

We tried. He wasn’t willing to sign here and since he was a college UFA there was nothing the Sabres could do about it. It still bothers me that he left. I viewed him as our next franchise goalie for years. Thought he would be our Miller replacement. Buffalo had just recently traded for Robin Lehner, so maybe he thought he wouldn’t get a chance to start here? But then he signed in LA, when quick was still viewed as their #1, so that theory seems less likely. Im not a very big fan of that college UFA rule. It doesn’t really seem fair to the team that drafted + helped develop that player. You out 4 years of work into a prospect then he can just walk. And Buffalo tried to sign him his junior year of college too iirc.

I forgot about him! I believe he’s only an RFA too, correct? hmm I wonder if maybe they think about letting Feliciano walk then, if they can’t bring him back on a reasonably cheap deal (meaning a deal they could still justify if he doesn’t end up starting). I know they love the toughness/nastiness he brings to the o line, and the versatility to play C. But I thought he struggled at times last season (though I’m not really a very good judge of o line play).