Despite the image of a free-spending Terry Pegula, the Buffalo Sabres organization has always put a premium on building from within through internal player development. And they continued with that philosophy recently with the July-hiring of Ron Rolston for the Rochester Americans head coaching slot and the August promotion of player development coach Kevyn Adams to assistant coach with the Buffalo Sabres.
"There's no NHL salary cap on scouting budgets and player development budgets, I plan on increasing our...scouting budgets" --Sabres Owner Terry Pegula, Feb. 22, 2011
Although those two coach's don't represent an increase in resources devoted to scouting (although it's been mentioned that more scouts are on the way,) they do represent a commitment to player development on a minor league and rookie level within the organization and both are noted for their work in that area.
Darcy Regier and Co. have done very well in the last 14 years when it came to their draft picks making it in the NHL. In fact a couple of years back, the Sabres had the most draft picks playing in the NHL.
Recognizing that, Terry Pegula and his right-hand man, Ted Black, are really focusing on the developmental aspect of the team right now as the team moves from the "honeymoon-phase" into the nuts-and-bolts of a long-term marriage.
With Director of Amateur Scouting Kevin Devine and his merry band of scouts scouring the CHL for prospects, the pipeline seems to be getting stronger by the year. In fact, two of the last three back-to-back-to-back AHL Rookies of the Year (Tyler Ennis and Luke Adam) are a direct by-product of their scouting. That group also scouted Tyler Myers, the 2010 NHL Rookie of the Year.
Former Portland Pirates Head Coach Kevin Dineen was a huge part of that success in the AHL as well as a big reason that the Sabres received strong contributions last season from forwards Ennis and Nathan Gerbe and young d-men Marc-Andre Gragnani and Mike Weber.
With Dineen now in Florida as the Panthers new head coach (well deserved, I might add,) the Sabres continued to focus on the development aspect of the above formula by hiring Ron Rolston as head coach of their AHL affiliate Rochester Americans.
Ron who?
Exactly.
In a typical Regierian move, the Sabres brought in someone that no one outside of management had ever thought of, or in this case, even heard of. Rolston's only connection to the NHL is his last name. The same last name that belongs to his brother Brian, a veteran winger.
So, what kind of credentials does Ron Rolston have to be a coach at the pro level in the AHL?
No pro experience at all. His resume' has him as assistant coach at the collegiate level to begin his career, then the last seven years as the head coach of the US Hockey National Team Development Program.
But...Notice that word--"development."
And that's what the Sabres were looking for when they hired him. He will teach. If you need more of an indication as to what role Rolston will play, Ted Black even called him the "first professor at the University of Sabres."
It seems like a very good fit. Rolston turned down an offer by Western Michigan to serve as head coach and is thrilled to be a part of an organization that he sees as having a "clear vision on where they want to go, and philosophy they have for players at every level."
Rolston will be looked upon to bring his NTDP success (all seven of his teams made it to the championship game) to the Amerks and will also be expected to continue the success that Dineen had with the youngsters.
Regier put it this way, ""I personally believe you have to be in the forefront of whatever business you're in," he said. "In our case we have, for a number of reasons, strived to find advantages outside of conventional wisdom. ... I recognized that when we first decided to come back to Rochester. The reference to university was largely about doing things differently, taking more responsibility for the players' development and also demand the player take more responsibility for his own development.
"When we started to look at the model and started to look at potential coaches who could fill that, Ron to me was right at the forefront. He was our first choice."
Some of the players Rolston helped develope--Patrick Kane (Chicago,) James Van Riemsdyk (Philadelphia,) Phil Kessel (Toronto,) Cam Fowler (Anaheim) and Kevin Shattenkirk (St. Louis.)
"Development" was also a major theme as the Sabres recently announced that their Assistant Coach vacancy will be filled by player development coach, Kevyn Adams.
Adams spent a year and a half in his former position and will take over for Brian McCutcheon, a long-serving coach in the Sabres organization, who's contract was not renewed.
Much has been said about Adams and his work with the likes of Nathan Gerbe and Tyler Ennis, with Gerbe talking about how much Adams had to do with his "spin-o-rama" goal versus Philadelphia late last season.
Drew Stafford had a tremendous, breakout season last year scoring 31 goals in 62 games and soon re-signed for four-years, $16M. In an article by Bucky Gleason about Adams' hiring, Stafford's name was mentioned right along side of Gerbe as being a huge benefactor of Adams' coaching.
Another example of Adams work was with Paul Gaustad.
Gaustad had a 59.8% faceoff percentage last season, good for #3 in the entire league. The year before it was at 54.9% and the year before that 52.7%.
Adams was on WGR's Howard Simon Shown this morning talking with Jeremy White when they got to talking about his work with the players--players that Lindy Ruff "assigned" to him--and Adams briefly talked about Gaustad (6:20 mark.) When mentioning "Goose" he talked about their approach using video and the tweaks that were made, "little things," he said..."maybe even a little thing like how [he] may go into a faceoff...something you wouldn't notice, but even where his hand position is, the detail."
In short, Adams helped Nathan Gerbe build the confidence to erase a horrible first-half, helped Drew Stafford reach 30 goals at a half-a-goal/game clip, and helped Paul Gaustad get to third in the league in faceoff percentage.
Player development.
Terry Pegula and Co. are being brandished in the media for their big-city, big-dollar free agent signings last month, but behind the scenes their doing subtle things that will focus upon long-term, home-grown player development.
From Kevin Devine and his scouts to Ron Rolston to Kevyn Adams, a player picked by the Buffalo Sabres should have quality coaches at every level to help them grow professionally and they will be afforded every opportunity to develop their pro-game to the fullest.
Which is good for both the player and the organization.
USA Hockey Ron Rolston resignation:
http://www.usahockey.com/USANTDP/default.aspx?id=305944&DetailedNews=yes
Kevyn Adams promotion:
http://sabres.nhl.com/club/news.htm?id=585706
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