Well so far that plan has gone down in flames and crashed into the side of a mountain that they can't seem to climb.
They have a league worst -29 goal differential over 15 games and have only scored a grand total of 19 goals for the whole season.
With a record of 3-10-2 they sit at the very bottom of the NHL with a sad looking 8 points to their names. On the positive side though they are only one point behind the Columbus Blue Jackets in the standings so with some luck and possibly scoring a goal or two they could move up one position in the standings. Imagine the elation they would feel but just moving up one spot. How sad.
With Ted Nolan returning to a familiar spot behind the bench of the Sabres, one would think that they would see some sort of change in the play style or goal scoring ways by now. I don't think that he is a bad coach and that he had some upside to returning to the organization to lift them up. I guess I was wrong a bit. But I still think he is a good coach. He just isn't getting the response he wants and he should be let go. I know it is only 15 games into the season and their golden prize at the end of the year this season is a better shot at drafting Connor McDavid 1st overall in next years draft, but with the poor production and lack of response that it appears he is getting from his players, he should move along and let someone else have a shot at being head coach. I don't like the "blame the coach" thought and I don't think it is his fault alone in how this season has gone so far, but coaches are sadly always the fall guy when these types of situations come about.
The players I feel are more to blame when the teams don't perform than the coaching staff is. They are the ones who are out there actually playing in the games and trying to score the goals and win. The coach is there to guide them, not hold their hand and lead them everywhere.
Possibly a trade to shake up the room a bit or a new coach to guide the way is the thing that needs to happen.
With players like Ennis, Hodgson, Moulson, Georges, Myers and Enroth on the roster, there is no way this team should be as bad as it has been. They all know how to play and what it takes to win, but yet they are not doing their jobs and producing the points they need to win.
The teams top scorer is Drew Stafford with only 8 points (3 G 5 A) and behind him is Tyler Ennis with 7 points. Not enough production to get the job done.
Jonas Enroth has a record of 1-6-1 with a 3.34 GAA and a .904 SV% in that time frame. He has faced 293 shots so far and let in 27 goals this season. But he isn't the only goalie who has been playing for the Sabres this season.
Michal Neuvirth is right on the heels of Enroth and has played in 7 games so far this season with a record of 2-4-1 and a GAA of 2.66 and a SV% of .929. Better numbers than Enroth in a shorter time frame but he has faced almost as many shots this year. So far in his 7 games he has faced 266 shots and let in 19 of those.
Either player could be a starting goalie and both have the ability to do so, but neither have taken the role and ran with it. One of them needs to do that.
Between the coaching staff, the skaters and the goalies this team needs a change and to turn things around. They need a spark to ignite them. I don't know what is going to change in this organization but I do know that something is going to change and probably sooner rather than later. Be it the coach or a player trade something is going to happen. Then look for a small resurgence for the team but not enough to be significant.
I expect to see the Buffalo Sabres later this year having their logo held up by the SportsCenter crew saying that they have won the 1st overall pick in the 2015 draft. Connor McDavid is a pretty good prize for being a terrible team but he isn't the guy who is going to fix everything. He will need some time to adjust and learn the pro game and develop. But I can see him and Sam Reinhart working together and bringing this team back up in a few years.
That being said, the Sabres are not the best team this year, but in a few years they could be a threat in the Eastern Conference (to possibly make the playoffs) with the talent they accumulate from drafts.
That's all for now, and thanks for reading.
Remember to support your local minor league teams and players.
Like, Share, Comment and Follow if you enjoyed reading this.
Until next time.
I wrote a big long post, but it somehow got deleted when I clicked to publish it, I think it's because my account wasn't logged in.
ReplyDeleteAnyhow, long story short.
I caught the first period of last nights game in the truck, listening to the Buffalo feed. In one period of play they mentioned getting Connor McDavid at least three times, if you can trust the announcers, it almost seems like they're betting on that horse already.
As for the coaching thing, when I coached futsal at the college, I learned quickly that you need to treat each player differently as you get to know them. You can't treat a workhorse defenceman the same way you treat your star forward, they won't respond the same way. I don't think that Nolan is solely to blame for this, if the players won't listen to him it's at least half their fault, but him and his staff need to find a way to address that. If it's a player or two that refuse to listen, and they're a player the others look up to, it can make the whole team sour on the coaching staff. If that's the case for the Sabres, it might simply be a case of getting through to those guys so that the rest fall in line.
If he has lost the whole team and they don't trust the coaching though... There has to be changes made, at that point I don't think it would be possible to turn a team around. Unless this is a movie which has a happy ending.
Great post, keep it up!
Very good point. I forgot to mention that if it was just a couple players who are, for lack of a better term, poisoning the dressing room for the coach then it makes it very difficult for Nolan to do his job. They would need to address that quickly and efficiently in some form.
ReplyDeleteIf the announcers are already talking about getting McDavid though, they have already written off the season and are just along for the ride which is a shame.
Thanks for your input Conrad. Very much appreciated. It's exactly what I'm looking for.