After a few games, we've seen the head coach take a much different approach, and it is risky.
When Ron Rolston was behind the bench, things became a mess and we never really knew what the problem was. Now, with Ted Nolan back...we still don't know.
Nolan said right off the bat that it wasn't fair for the Sabres' youngsters to go up against guys 10 years older than them, which is understandable. You still see teams with a few talented young players, but being the youngest team in the NHL, Buffalo has a lot of guys that could easily be overwhelmed. It's not a fair matchup for them when they are out on the ice.
Matt Moulson said he was embarrassed when he was benched and Rolston didn't think the players were giving it their all.
Now with Nolan, there is another message that he is trying to get across.
“You have to pay attention to details in order to stay in the league,… Nolan said, speaking from the perspective of his playing days. “Some players have the natural ability and they just do it. Guys like Craig and myself, we just had to pay attention to every detail in order to compensate due to the lack of certain skills we had. You look at every coach, they weren’t necessarily the best players in the world but sometimes the hardest working players end up being not bad coaches down the road.…
Nolan came out with some heated comments after the loss last night.
“The gloves are officially off. Now we got to do certain things in order to play. If you don’t, you’re not.…
“They’re not the problem,… Nolan said about the youngsters. “Everybody’s telling me the young guys are the problem. They ain’t here anymore. So we don’t have that excuse anymore. So we have to look at ourselves in the mirror and bring what each and everybody on this team has to bring.…
I like the attitude Nolan is bringing to the team, but we have to hope it works. He needs to get these players thinking and playing the proper way. This season is already a throwaway and it's like they are all starting over with Nolan.
Will Nolan's methods work?
Many are predicting the Sabres are going to make a move within the next few days because of his comments. I wouldn't mind seeing that happen.
As always, thank you for reading!
