Granato taking the right approach with the Buffalo Sabres
By Sion Fawkes
The Buffalo Sabres find themselves in unfamiliar territory in late January, but it won’t change head coach Don Granato’s approach.
With 53 points, the Buffalo Sabres are in the thick of the early playoff race as we dive into the final week of January. This is a territory they haven’t been in for quite some time and for the league’s youngest hockey team, it further means they’re better than advertised.
Few envisioned the Sabres to be in this position, and while things can change at the drop of a hat, Granato’s approach gives the Blue and Gold a chance to prevent a collapse from occurring. Young teams in any professional sport can get caught up in the hype, but for Granato, it’s all about taking things one game at a time and paying zero attention to what the competition up to unless they are playing against that competition.
As it stands, the Sabres are just three points outside both wild card spots, with the Pittsburgh Penguins and Washington Capitals ahead of them. But again, don’t relay this information to Granato: He simply doesn’t care.
Don Granato and the Buffalo Sabres not worried about place in standings
Nor should Granato be worried. The more one worries about what’s going on around them at this stage in the season, the higher the likelihood they are of trending south as opposed to north. The focus needs to be on one task and one task only, and that’s winning hockey games. Here are some words of wisdom:
"“The focus has to be on us winning the next day. The moment we change that I think you’re in trouble. Just stay in the moment. Win the next game. … There’s only one we have the control and that’s tonight here in St. Louis. We will never not keep the simplicity of that.” – Don Granato via Buffalo News."
I think that in life, many care too much about what the other person is doing instead of focusing on bettering themselves. As a result, we fall short of our own expectations. The same thing can go in professional sports, and Granato’s take on the matter should give us all a wakeup call.
Focus on and worry about what we can control, and in the Sabres case, that’s winning hockey games. They can’t control what the Capitals, the Penguins, the Florida Panthers (52 points), the New York Islanders (51 points), or the Detroit Red Wings (48 points) do, unless they are playing against those teams.
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But they can focus on getting another two points every time they skate onto the ice. And even if they don’t get those two points, they’ve shown time and again this season it isn’t the end of the world, or their playoff hopes. If Granato can keep the Sabres practicing what he’s preaching, they’re going to win some games as we dive deeper into the season’s second half.
Article Source: Observations: Sabres start strong, hold off Blues for fourth straight win by Mike Harrington
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