The Buffalo Sabres GM Tim Murray spoke with reporters Thursday evening on the state of the team. What he said was inspiring, provided he can back it all up.
Fans of the Buffalo Sabres: General Manager Tim Murray feels your pain.
Speaking with the media prior to Buffalo’s 2-1 OT loss to the New York Rangers Thursday evening, GMTM provided fans with a great deal of insight as to what he thought of his team, his coaching staff, and how he wants the journey to end.
The good news: GMTM is not afraid to say a lot of the things that the fans of the Sabres are thinking, or have shared via social media.
The bad news (sort of): Murray now has to deliver on the implications of his words pretty quickly, before the fanbase turns on him and calls BS.
Let’s look at some of what GMTM had to say, shall we? (All quotations are courtesy of The Buffalo News)
Regarding the 5-2 loss in Montreal following the All-Star break:
". . . the Montreal game was unacceptable. I don’t put that on the coaches whatsoever. I met with Brian and I stared down players before practice too. I went and met with the coaches. I said to Dan, “They’ll be ready for you to talk at center ice” and I knew he would have his thing with them. So I said to him, ‘Get their attention.’"
In all honesty, the word “unacceptable” doesn’t do that game justice. The Sabres were coming off the All-Star break and had a chance to close the month of January on a high note; instead, they got absolutely pasted by the Canadiens. It is nice to know that GMTM showed up at practice the next day to give players the death glare, because as Adam put it earlier this week, an effort like that is entirely the fault of the players on the ice.
Since then, the Sabres have played more respectable hockey – nothing wrong with a 2-1 loss in OT to the Rangers and a 4-0 blanking of the Ottawa Senators. Murray has repeatedly said that he believes in the players that he has assembled on this roster, but the Sabres have given away too many periods to opponents this season. If stinkers like Tuesday’s loss in Montreal occur a few more times, Murray might not stop at simply staring players down.
On his relationship with coach Dan Bylsma:
"That’s a rollercoaster, to be honest with you. Some days I go in there and say, ‘What are you doing?’ Other days I go in and say, ‘Good job tonight, really good.’ But it’s hard for me to say good job a lot. It’s just my nature. We can win 4-1 and I’ll find something to needle the coaches about. Yes, they can enjoy it. They’re coaches. But they’re not high-fiving because I’ll be like, ‘What about this? Work on this.’"
How interesting is it to hear GMTM describe his relationship with the coaching staff, particulary Bylsma, as a “rollercoaster”? That’s probably not the word Bylsma was hoping to hear; unless you hear that term being used to describe what was ultimately a successful season, you’re probably on edge having your relationship with your boss described in such a way. It’s neither a condemnation nor an endorsement . . . which sort of makes it more of a condemnation, now doesn’t it?
If the month of January was any indication of how the Buffalo Sabres are going to play, and the team plays .500 hockey or better in the 2017 portion of the schedule, Bylsma has nothing to fear. But if this team cannot climb out of the bottom 10 in the NHL, should we be expecting yet another head coaching change in the 716?
On the rebuild:
"Look, this part is clear to me. We can all be better. Players, management and coaches. We’re not happy where we are. We’re trying to be better and we have been in certain areas. But when you go to the bottom, you can’t snap your fingers and learn how to win. This is a process and we’re sticking with it. You have to."
It’s pretty clear that GMTM was hoping that the Buffalo Sabres would be better than they are right now, and that he expects more growth from this team, pretty quickly. Still, I wonder if he realizes that it’s mostly his fault that this team isn’t playoff-ready. Even when healthy his top 6 was weak, his bottom 6 even weaker, and his defense, a shambles. There are times when I don’t know how good GMTM is at honestly assessing his roster – does he really feel that good about this team that he still hasn’t figured out whether he will be a buyer or a seller at the trade deadline? It’s pretty clear to everyone else that this Sabres team might be an improvement over last year’s squad, but is still not close enough to making the playoffs to be classified as a “buyer.”
At any rate, the Buffalo Sabres have proven him right on a few counts, at least temporarily. The team has rebounded from an unacceptable effort fresh off the All-Star break, and has played better since the calendar flipped to 2017. Tim Murray seems pretty quick to call his players and coaches out on their disappointing efforts, but it remains to be seen whether or not he can admit to some of the mistakes he has made and address those issues, as well.