I will make this quick since I am at work and slammed. (Don’t tell my bosses)
1) I dig the hiring. In fact, I view it the same as if the Sabres were able to nail Babcock. I think both Bylsma and Babcock had their obvious positives in terms of playoff runs. While you can say that anyone could win with Crosby/Malkin, you could say the same about winning in Detroit because that franchise has been legit since I was a kid and “the system” may just run fine there no matter who the coach is. Plus, the Pens have been more successful in the last 6 years than the Wings during Bylsma’s time. I think what I like most about Byslma over Babcock is that he’s coached star players at the NHL level. He knows how to deal with them as they are a different breed in terms of expectations and pressure than just your average players or even good ones. Plus, he’s won a cup! The last time a Buffalo sports team had a head coach who won the championship at his previous stop as HC was John Muckler. So, its been a minute.
2) I don’t give a flying shit about International play. Maybe I should, but I’m not gonna hold it against Bylsma for finishing in 4th place last year in the Olympics. Even when the Babcock courting was going down, I didn’t really care that he lead a HOF team to Gold because it was based on just coaching a team for 2 weeks. Lindy Ruff could have gotten them gold probably if he was the head man. International play Vs. NHL play is apples and oranges.
3) I’m not gonna sit here and say that the Sabres are gonna be awesome because they hired Byslma. If you want the truth, I was between ambivalent and just “get a guy” in regards to the coaching search. Maybe having just five Sabres coaches during my fandom (Muckler/Dudley/Ruff/Nolan/Ron) doesn’t exactly give me the knowledge of what works and what doesn’t. System? Motivation? Being nice? Corsi? I don’t fucking know what makes an NHL coach decent. The players and those who pick them are what I think makes an organization more successful.
4) If there’s something I am excited about is that they got THE GUY. Alright, he’s not Babcock in terms of hype, but he’s not some bum who has been out of the league for a decade or was a Darcy Regier stooge. They got a coach who turned down an NHL job last year and that other teams wanted to talk with. For once, the Sabres were able to finally close the deal on someone other teams wanted and weren’t used as a negotiating tactic. If they would have lost Byslma to say NJ…that would have been a huge red flag. It would have brought out questions about maybe there’s something screwy going down at PSE since there is a bit of paper trail of discord at the top during certain times (See: LaFontaine/Battista). Luckily, we avoided that.
5) If anything worries me besides the whole “Anyone could win with Crosby” narrative, its how Marc-Andre Fleury was a disaster under him. This past season, we heard all about how important it was to find a coach who could develop young players. When you pick a goalie that high in the draft, you don’t expect the guy to be that big of a disappointment. I am not saying its ALL Byslma’s fault, but he’s attached to him and if coaching/development is that important, that’s a strike against him.
Final word: Thank God the tank is over. Now we can actually get down to business in trying to win. Hiring Byslma is the first step in that direction.
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