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| credit: NHL.com |
The signing of Jack Eichel
indisputably kicked off a new era for the Buffalo Sabres franchise, but the
team made an equally monumental move with the signing of head coach Dan Bylsma.
After all, the former Pittsburgh Penguins coach has just as much to prove this
season as the Sabres' No. 1 draft pick.
Besides the short-lived tenure of Ron
Rolston, Bylsma is the first Sabres head coach not named Nolan or Ruff in two
decades. Bylsma has never missed the playoffs in his coaching career, and, in
his debut season as a head coach, he helped a struggling Penguins team make it
to the playoffs and win the Stanley Cup. While his first season as the Buffalo
Sabres’ head coach isn't yet at the halfway point, there are already some
strong things we can take away from his season so far.
Byslma's coaching approach seems to
be one that's open to allowing additional leadership. In a 5-2 loss to the
Vancouver Canucks earlier this month, Bylsma called a timeout that none of the coaches
participated in. Instead, the timeout was meant for the players to regroup on
their own, with captain Brian Gionta taking charge. The ability to know when to
lead is as important to know as when not to. The Sabres lost the game, but
Bylsma showed faith in his players, and that says a lot about how he
coaches.
Perhaps the biggest thing we've seen
out of Byslma's young team is tenacity. Unlike the Buffalo Sabres of the last
few seasons, Bylsma seems to have instilled a strong determination to win, and
an inability to give up. Last Thursday's 4-3 loss to the Calgary Flames saw the
Sabres battled back twice to tie the game up in the third period. While the
Sabres were unable to recover from Johnny Gaudreau's goal late in the
third period, the team still fought until the last second, looking for the
equalizer. Losses like these have only helped to further cement the spirit of
this young club.
It's not just in loss that we've seen
telltale signs of that tenacity. Last Saturday's 2-1 win against LA an equally
strong effort. After yet another disallowed goal as a result of the Coach'sChallenge, it would have been easy for the Sabres to become discouraged.
Instead, the team walked away with two points, defeating (and outshooting) a
far-more seasoned team. That "never say die" approach was just as
visible Monday against the Detroit Red Wings. Detroit had been on a 13 game
point streak, and looked likely to continue it with less than 5 minutes remaining
in the third period. Instead, a quick pair of goals from Ryan O'Reilly and
Johan Larsson less than a minute apart left the home crowd stunned as Detroit's
point streak came to a sudden, and unexpected, finish.
Unfortunately, inconsistency has also
plagued Bylsma's Buffalo Sabres, particularly in goal scoring. After scoring an
impressive 17 goals in four games at the start of the month, the Sabres have
resumed their struggles to find the back of the net. In their last four
contests, the team has only scored 7 goals. They were shutout in Tuesday's 2-0
loss against the New Jersey Devils. Of course, the team is also currently
without last year's leading goal scorer Tyler Ennis, who has been sidelined
with an upper body injury. The team's young age also seems to be a
factor. With so many new additions to the roster this season, many players
are still discovering how they fit in with the rest of the team, and in
Bylsma’s system.
With a team full of young talent,
expectations are certainly high for this Buffalo Sabres team. After years of
struggle, fans are understandably impatient. Results won’t come overnight, but
for now, the future looks bright for Dan Bylsma and this young Buffalo Sabres
team. Hopefully, he can find the same level of success with them as he once had
with the Pittsburgh Penguins. Time will tell.
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