Reprinted with permission from hockeybuzz.com
Buffalo Sabres head coach Ted Nolan has brought out the extremes in everybody during his various stints as head coach probably none moreso than over the course of the last season and a half. This season in Buffalo where fans seemed to have lost their minds (see Arizona vs. Buffalo, March 26, 2015,) he's done it again and those with a negative view of Nolan far outweigh those on the positive side.
Of the nasty generalizations thrown his way this season are things like, "He's ruining the tank by winning!" "He sucks because they're losing!" "They're not losing correctly!" "He's a trap coach!" "He's being too hard on his players!" "He's too soft on HIS players!" "He can't develop players!"
And on.
Jon Vogl of the Buffalo News had an interesting piece today concerning the two coaches of the worst two teams in the league, Nolan and Arizona's Dave Tippett. In a season where they've combined for 106 losses in 149 games, there really isn't much to play or coach for except, teaching and evaluating.
Tippett is in his sixth season as head coach of the Arizona Coyotes and it's been an abysmal season. “It’s just miserable,” Tippett said to Vogl. “Miserable. You never want to be in this situation.
“We all know the situation that we’re in, but we expect guys to show up and put the work in, be dedicated to playing like a team,” he continued. “Right now it’s about trying to push players and evaluate players. … Are you part of the solution moving forward or are you part of the problem?”
Which is something we've been hearing from Nolan dating back to last season.
In the push/evaluation department, there are a few youngins who've been pushed by Nolan to the point where there's been a "Soccer-mom" cry for mercy. I'm not sure if it's for the players sake or to try and further discredit what Nolan, but I do know one thing, pleas like that should have left with the Darcy Regier "sense of entitlement-era," an era that kept the Sabres languishing in mediocrity for many years.
Three prominent rookies have been disciplined time and again by Nolan's "tough love," all to the dismay of those who have thought he's been too hard on them.
The first one is defenseman, Nikita Zadorov. His path has been marked by outright laziness beginning with training camp, numerous benchings, including the Traverse City Prospects Tournament, and general steep peeks and valleys befitting that of a 19 yr. old rookie playing against professionals in the NHL. He's been a work in progress and if he doesn't get it together, he won't see the NHL on a full-time basis in Buffalo next season. He'll either be riding the bus for Rochester or playing for another team.
Next up is 22 yr. old rookie forward, Johan Larsson.
Larsson looked average or less in his early call-ups and was promptly sent back to Rochester because of it. During that time Nolan bluntly said that his play wasn't good enough. Larsson, whined and went back to the Amerks and continued to play the style of game he was capable of which had many Sabres' fans beginning to invoke the name of Jody Gage. When the trade deadline hit, so did a premium opportunity for Larsson to stick. He played well, moved up the depth chart and now finds himself on the top-line. Although he's not a top-line player, he's been averaging over 20 minutes a game with the feeling that he's earned whatever he's gotten.
The case of Mikhail Grigorenko has been a mess from the moment he signed his entry-level contract in 2012. It's been well chronicled, but beginning this season, the last of his entry-level contract, this looked to be a make-or-break season.
Grigorenko came into camp in the best shape of his career, but took a strong hit when he was sent to Rochester to begin the season. With the Amerks he played well and started developing some consistency to his game. But during his call-ups, he faltered and he was sent back down.
The calls for Nolan being too hard on Grigorenko or putting him in a position to fail while skating bottom-six minutes were loud, but they stayed the course.
With players moved at the deadline and injuries mounting, Grigorenko got another opportunity, in a bottom-six role. He had a breakthrough game on the third line in Nashville and even though he didn't score, he was engaged in a way he never been before which earned him a promotion to the second line.
Grigorenko is still inconsistent at the NHL-level, but he seems to be on his way to breaking through. Some will say that it's in spite of Nolan and his ways, Grigorenko, via Vogl, sees it differently.
“Teddy [Nolan], he thinks being hard on me is only going to help me,” Girgorenko said. “Since I’ve been back, I’ve probably been playing the best I’ve played this year. I guess it works, so I’m glad he was hard on me.”
“He’s a really honest guy. Even if you agree or disagree with what he says, it’s still exactly what he thinks. He’s the head coach, and my goal is to come in here and prove him wrong and show him that I can play here.”
It's not just those three either.
Defenseman Rasmus Ristolainen has really begun to hit his stride in the latter part of the season after struggling through inconsistencies in the first half. He scored his seventh goal of the season last night and is looking at a possible double-digit goal output. Zemgus Girgensons was on a 20 goal/20assist pace in his sophomore season before being felled by injury. Tyler Ennis has maintained his career numbers despite moving up to the top line and facing a higher level of competition on a nightly basis.
Maybe we're finally witnessing a transition from "silky-mitts" mediocrity to a foundation built with hands that are calloused. And whether Nolan is here or not next season, he has set a tone that says, "No mama's boys allowed."
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Sometimes I wonder where peoples heads are at. And to be fair, sometimes when I look back on what I wrote, I'm left to wonder where my head was at.
I'd like to present the following stats:
10 games, 3 goals, 6 assists
82 games, 20g, 29a
48 games, 15g, 19a
47 games, 10g, 21a
80 games, 21g, 22a
72 games, 19g, 23a
Such are the stats for forward Tyler Ennis.
The first line was from his first taste of the NHL in 2009-10 while the second was his rookie season of 2010-11.
He suffered an injury in 2011-12 where he played in only 48 games and the 2012-13 season was shortened by the lockout. Projected out over an 82-game schedule, Ennis would have a line of 25g, 32a and 19g, 36a respectively for those two seasons.
Last season the Buffalo Sabres' 1.83 goals per game was the lowest per-game average since the 1952-53 Chicago Blackhawks. As a top-six forward on that low-scoring team Ennis represented 14% of that goal total. This season the team has scored 132 team goals with Ennis' 19 tallies representing 14% once again and he's done it in a top-line role having moved from center to right wing back in November.
Yet he still gets no respect.
"[Grigorenko's] trying to excell the same way that Tyler Ennis does," wrote a commenter. "Skate around loosely in the defensive zone avoiding any contact. Then hope that someone feeds you a cherry pass when you're on offense, right in front of the net, that you can tap in and be the hero."
Ennis didn't play at Colorado so this comment was on the heels of the Arizona game where Ennis held his spot in the d-zone before quickly joining the rush creating a 2-on-1 then scoring a sweet goal. Late in the 2nd period of that game he was also sent crashing into the endwall after being upended going hard to the net.
.
I don't mind people thinking that he's not a true top-line player or stating a relative truism that he is small and can be moved off the puck easily when engaged in a one-on-one board battle. But Jimmeny Christmas, a cherry picker?
And as much as it bothers me that his name comes up in trade proposals, he's on a 30th place team and GM Tim Murray was dead on when he said that nearly everyone can be traded.
But the reality is that not every player on team sucks and there comes a time in the rebuilding process where the "re" portion of the equation needs to be removed. As the team builds, good young players are needed take the heat off of the younger ones. Talented players like Ennis who've already lined up a multitude of 20-goal seasons by the age of 25 while showing continual improvement moving up the depth chart should be looked upon as a building block, not a passenger or trade-fodder.
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