BUFFALO, N.Y. — The Buffalo Sabres are looking for a new head coach and when general manager Kevyn Adams spoke on Tuesday, he said he has a definite idea of what he wants in the new coach and the one thing he wants is NHL experience. That seems like it would eliminate Michael Peca, Seth Appert and David Carle.
Carle is the head coach at Denver University where he’s won two NCAA championships and one Gold Medal at the World Junior Championship with Team USA.
I think if Rod Brind’Amour became available from the Carolina Hurricanes, I think he’s definitely the guy. Brind’Amour and Adams won the Stanley Cup together as players with the Hurricanes. In six seasons with the Canes, Brind’Amour is 278-129-44 which is a .665 points percentage. His teams have made the playoffs all six years and with15, 8, 14, 11 and 15 games, they have gone deep into the playoffs in the first five seasons.
Craig Berube took over the St. Louis Blues when they were in last place overall in the NHL and by the time the 2018-19 season was over, they were Stanley Cup Champions. In six years with the Blues, Berube was 206-132-44. He also coached the Philadelphia Flyers for two seasons and went 75-58-28.
After being fired, Lindy Ruff coached the Dallas Stars for four years and the New Jersey Devils for four years.
Adams was angry as he spoke and I think was truthful in what he laid out. He wants the team to get to the next level and he thinks he needs to see more compete in everything they do. He also answered WGRZ’s Adam Benigni this way,
“We are craving accountability and structure and I think the team is ready for that and with the next coach we get, it’ll be at the top of the list for me.”
Adams didn’t seem like he wanted to fire Granato during the season and he didn’t. He wanted to let it play out, but recently he just came to the conclusion that it had to happen.
He also was very clear that this was his decision.
He also wasn’t a big fan of a narrative Granato had been pressing for two seasons about the players having trouble handling different pressures. Adams got very angry when answering this one from Benigni,
“You don’t get to the National Hockey League without handling pressure, that is the most ridiculous thing that I could ever hear someone say that guys can’t handle pressure, that’s what you do for a living, it’s how you get here, so that’s nonsense.”
We’ve talked about that so many times on “Sports Talk Live” and I felt Granato was just giving his players outs with this. Other young players in the NHL have pressure and they seem just fine with it.
The players went to bat for Granato when during the 9-4 loss to the Columbus Blue Jackets, the fans started chanting, “Fire Donnie.” Rasmus Dahlin was beside himself saying that the fans need to blame the players. The fact that Granato got fired lies with the players and they have nobody to blame but themselves.
This team needs to be held to a higher standard. Players can’t be making the same mistakes over and over again and keep playing. In the last half of this season, Granato did start taking ice-time away from some underachieving players, but it was too late.
It wasn’t that Granato’s system wouldn’t work because when the players did what he asked them to do, they played well. It was the fact that his players hardly ever played the system correctly and Granato had no answers. Sometimes you just have to realize that they’re not getting it and you need to devise something that would fit them better. That never happened.
Adams will address the players on Wednesday and he’s going to tell them that the time is now. There’ll be a clear message to them that they must be challenged.