Buffalo, N.Y. (WGR 550) – With Don Granato not coaching on Saturday and likely Sunday in Ottawa against the Senators due to illness, Rochester Americans head coach Seth Appert is taking over behind the Buffalo Sabres bench.
“He hasn’t been feeling well in the last 48 hours, and it took a turn for the worse last night," said Sabres general manager Kevyn Adams while taking questions before Saturday’s game. "When I talked with him this morning, right away he did not sound good. The most important thing was making sure he was OK, and taking care of him. Doctors got involved, and they just wanted to make sure that with some of his history, to be smart. It was just best to shut him down today."
The last time Granato wasn’t healthy enough to coach a game, they got the news around 4 p.m. EST, prompting Adams to step in behind the bench that night. Many teams will just use one of the assistant coaches to coach.
"I talked to 'Donny' about it first, but my entire intention of how to handle this was, 'How do we put ourselves in the best position to win a hockey game, and be least disruptive to the team?,'" Adams said.
"You can move roles around with assistant coaches, and I have confidence in each one of them. But as soon as you move one to a different spot, then someone else is going to pick up and it has a trickle down effect. We have Rochester close by, and Seth has a lot of experience. Seth just steps into that role.
"You're also preparing video pre-scout after the game to get ready for Ottawa, so I just wanted to keep it as seamless as possible."
Adams was also asked about the heat that Granato has been taking from fans and media with the way his team has been playing. There’s been a tidal wave of reaction wanting Granato fired as head coach.
"I understand the position we’re in and our record. We haven’t performed well enough, so all of expect us to be playing at a higher level, and I believe we will be," Adams said. "I understand that people are going to be frustrated with me, frustrated with the coaching staff, but in terms of my belief in Don Granato, I have a lot of faith in him. I have a lot of trust in him, and I think he’s done a lot of great things in his time as head coach here. Now we’re all going to keep pushing ourselves to be better.
"With assistant coaches, I’ve been there. They all work extremely hard, and they’re frustrated with where we’re at. There’s a lot of extra meetings going on, so we’re not where we need to be. But I truly believe in this group, and I believe we will come out the other side better for it."
