26CornerBlitz Posted May 7, 2013 Posted May 7, 2013 http://www.cbc.ca/sports/hockey/nhl/story/2013/05/07/sp-nhl-buffalo-sabres-ron-rolston-coach.html Yipee!!!
Buftex Posted May 7, 2013 Posted May 7, 2013 (edited) If you take Rolston's job in Buffalo this past season, out of context of everything else that went on with the team, he didn't do a bad job. I will be curious to see the "real Rolston" come out, now that the job is his. Listening to this past season, if nothing else, he didn't seem afraid to call his team out when the effort wasn't there. This is Lindy & Darcy's roster, I will be curious to see what Rolston does with it. I got the impression he wasn't thrilled with some of the "vetran leadership" on the team he inheritted. I am willing to give the guy a shot, we have no other choice, I suppose, other than just not watching any more. All that said, I can't say that it is a super exciting move by the Sabres. I am more down on them bringnig Darcy back than I am giving Rolston a full-time shot. Darcy is getting, yet another, do-over...in my opinion, he hasn't really earned it. The franchise, under his direction has gotten progressively worse as time has worn on. Also, this is the first tarnishing of the Pegula ownership for me. It doesn't tell me that the teams "sole reason for existence is to win a Stanley Cup" or conjure up images of "hockey heaven"...it is just more of the same...a half-hearted attempt at "change". No "swinging for the fence", nothing to invigorate a base of, lets face it, what have been really great, patient, fans. As with the Bills, I love this team, but I feel like both franchises owe their fans more. I don't want to be too critical, because, who knows, maybe their will be a massive roster shake-up that will give us Stanley Cup fever again... but the move to Rolston, with his connection to Rochester, suggest, at least to me, this is going to be the slow paced re-build that guys like Vanek don't really want a part of. Edited May 7, 2013 by Buftex
zevo Posted May 7, 2013 Posted May 7, 2013 So what the hell is his contract status? Is he lame duck? Does anyone else find it extremely annoying that rolston sounds exactly like regier when listening to him....my pet peeve
Buftex Posted May 7, 2013 Posted May 7, 2013 So what the hell is his contract status? Is he lame duck? Does anyone else find it extremely annoying that rolston sounds exactly like regier when listening to him....my pet peeve Well, the "interim" tag was taken off of his head coaching title. so I would assume he has a new, multi-year contract. Funny, your comment about him sounding like Darcy...I had GR on at work, and they kept saying that they had Rolston coming up for an interview...I got pulled away, and came back, and, I thought they were interviewing Rolston...he kept saying "Ron did a good job" or "Ron earned this opportunity"...for a minute, I thoght Rolston was talking about himself third person, and it was kind of creeping me out..I never imagined him being that kind of guy...then, I realized it was Darcy, who, you are right, sounds just like Rolston... once I realized I was really creeped out!
26CornerBlitz Posted May 7, 2013 Author Posted May 7, 2013 Not exactly shocking that DR would opt for a safe, non-threatening choice. Who better than an inexperienced coach who has complete allegiance to DR since he hired him in the first place. RR is a completely uninspired choice for HC.
dhg Posted May 7, 2013 Posted May 7, 2013 The Sabres are making the Bills look like a model franchise
eball Posted May 7, 2013 Posted May 7, 2013 I gave up paying attention to the Sabres once they were officially eliminated. Are we supposed to like this move?
Buftex Posted May 7, 2013 Posted May 7, 2013 Not exactly shocking that DR would opt for a safe, non-threatening choice. Who better than an inexperienced coach who has complete allegiance to DR since he hired him in the first place. RR is a completely uninspired choice for HC. I mostly agree here, but Rolston isn't really inexperienced. There may be no other guy available who has more experience with the players in the Sabres system, given his HC position with the Americans. That said, not a super exciting move, I agree.
26CornerBlitz Posted May 7, 2013 Author Posted May 7, 2013 I mostly agree here, but Rolston isn't really inexperienced. There may be no other guy available who has more experience with the players in the Sabres system, given his HC position with the Americans. That said, not a super exciting move, I agree. Inexperienced on the NHL level to clarify what I meant.
zevo Posted May 7, 2013 Posted May 7, 2013 I value Paul hamiltons assessment of rolston....he says if the plan is a youth movement which it entirely looks like it is...then rolston is a good choice cuz he is a teacher....I would expect miller and vanek to be moved and the sabres to stockpile picks and young talent.....there is nothing exciting about rolston in my opinion...he is monotone and emotionless but what do I know....exciting to me would have Patrick Roy
QCity Posted May 7, 2013 Posted May 7, 2013 Hey, at least you can't accuse them of picking a fan favorite just to sell seats...
Bufcomments Posted May 7, 2013 Posted May 7, 2013 Wait...we have a hockey team?? when did this happen?? Seriously do they think this guy is better than Lindy?? Hope they are right. But to me it was a talent issue and not coaching.
Helpmenow Posted May 7, 2013 Posted May 7, 2013 The low get lower. The ownership with darcy and his brother are killing all us good fans. I don't even care anymore about the sabres. How sad have they become. Who is gonna be interested in season? Not exactly shocking that DR would opt for a safe, non-threatening choice. Who better than an inexperienced coach who has complete allegiance to DR since he hired him in the first place. RR is a completely uninspired choice for HC. . Unimpressed with pegula and darcy vision here
zow2 Posted May 7, 2013 Posted May 7, 2013 Well, that is an uninspired choice to say the least. I guess the Sabres can at least point out to up and coming coaches and say "hey, we promote from within and mean it!" I don't like the hire, but i will say that Rolston appears to be a no-nonsense guy without much sense of humor. He benched underperforming rookies and vets in a blink and played the backup goalie, thereby giving Enroth some confidence. I still think they needed more of a presence behind the bench though.
Kelly the Dog Posted May 7, 2013 Posted May 7, 2013 I'm underwhelmed by the choice and announcement and news conference, although I do think that under the crappy circumstances, Rolston did a much less than crappy job, and as good as he probably could have done overall. "Much less than crappy" is not really what you want out of your HC though. Like most, I would have preferred if Darcy was gone, and we would be going in a new direction. I did get the feeling though, from the press conference, and the way Darcy answered the question, that "multi-year" meant perhaps "two", or maybe three. I didn't at all get the sense it was a long term commitment, and I doubt very much that it needs to be. After one year, a whole year, with training camp and his own assistants, and practices, etc., we should be able to get a much better read on Rolston and whether he is going to be a solid NHL HC. It's totally up in the air right now.
eball Posted May 7, 2013 Posted May 7, 2013 Oooh...inspiring. Good god, I hope the Bills are moving in the right direction.
26CornerBlitz Posted May 7, 2013 Author Posted May 7, 2013 Oooh...inspiring. Good god, I hope the Bills are moving in the right direction. Buffalo Sports "Purgatory" sucks!
Buftex Posted May 7, 2013 Posted May 7, 2013 Wait...we have a hockey team?? when did this happen?? Seriously do they think this guy is better than Lindy?? Hope they are right. But to me it was a talent issue and not coaching. I am a big Lindy Ruff fan, but I do think it was time for a change in that area. Not blaming it all on Lindy, but something had to give. The team was playing about as bad as they possibly could have under Ruff. I am not inspired by the Rolston choice, but if they win, I will love it....as will everyone here. Under pretty trying circumstances, the guy did come in and coach this team to a record 4 games above .500. Also, listening to him over the course of his tenure as interim, I really get the feeling that he has some pretty strong opinions of some of the vetrans who are already in place...I suspect we are going to see a younger roster next year...the "core vets" that Lindy had just were not rising to challanges that a long hockey season presents. A few years ago, Lindy started to lose me a little when he seemed to start wallowing in excuses...that attitude seemed to trickle down to his players. It just seemed every time they had to win a game that could really put them on solid footging to go forward, they came up small, time and time again, under Ruff. And, it started to become acceptable. I blame Darcy for a lot of this too. I am not abondoning ship on the Sabres, as un-exciting as the prospect of Darcy returning to the helm is. I don't dislike Rolston, and his knowledge of the roster in Rochester may end up being a huge plus for this team. His perspective on players seems different that Ruffs. If Grigorenko is going to be a "franchise player", I am thinking that Rolston gives him a better chance of reaching that potential than Ruff would have. Rolston does sound a bit more analytical than what we had grown accustomed to with Lindy Ruff. This team needed a new approach...Rolston just might be it. If nothing else, this will be a very telling off-season.
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