Buffalo, N.Y. (WGR 550) – With the announcement on Wednesday that Audacy will continue its partnership with the Buffalo Bills and the Buffalo Sabres, that means you will still hear all of the games from both teams, as well as the head coaches in Sean McDermott and Don Granato on WGR Sports Radio 550.
Granato joined the "Howard and Jeremy Show" on Wednesday following the multi-year radio broadcast contract extension announcement.
The one thing that impressed me from the start with the Sabres head coach is he’s up front with the media and the fans. If he doesn’t feel he can answer a question, he won’t, but more often than not, he will.
“I feel it’s an obligation, and I feel that it’s the right thing," Granato said with Jeremy White and Sal Capaccio. "There’s a lot that goes on behind the scenes, a lot that happens, and the more that we can share with the fans, the better.”
Granato has lost most of his veteran leadership with players leaving. Kyle Okposo is a key leader, and then responsibility is going to fall on the likes of Dylan Cozens, Casey Mittelstadt and Rasmus Dahlin. Granato knows he’ll be coaching a young group, and he likes knowing that.
“It’s going to be more fun," Granato said. "The NHL is challenging anywhere, and as you climb up and move towards Stanley Cups, it’s going to become more and more challenging. So you have to learn to embrace it. You have to learn to love it.
“I’m excited that it’s a young group, because if you look at characteristics of young guys, it's passion, it's energy. And every moment matters.”
Last season, we saw Granato take a young line of Mittelstadt, Tage Thompson and Rasmus Asplund and expose them to any and all important situations in a game. That's an example of how Granato defines growth.
“I wouldn’t be inclined to protect a guy just because he’s young," he explained. "I think exposing them is a big part of learning and developing, and if you can select how you expose them and maybe limit some exposure sometimes or support them through exposing them, that’s the best way to develop.”
In today’s game, some players will let what people say on social media almost destroy them, especially if the comments are negative. There are some players that were on this team in the past five years that would read Twitter in between periods to see what fans and media were saying about them.
“There’s a lot of white noise. It’s hard to sort through it," Granato said. "I think it can hit them emotionally, so you have to sort through the white noise and make sure you self-reflect. These days, we don’t put our phone down very often, so it’s cutting through that and making sure that they’re able to focus on what got them here. That’s their true passion for playing.”
With training camp opening for rookies on Wednesday, Sept. 15 and for the rest of the team a week later on Wednesday, Sept. 22, Granato has been going through preparations and evaluations.
“Your mind doesn’t shut off very well," he said. "You stay up late, you get up early and you might get up a couple of times in-between to write down a few notes.”
Granato said the coaches will get together in the near future, and that will include Dan Girardi. Girardi was an assistant for Granato last year when he took over for Steve Smith, but he went back over to the player development side of things this year. Despite that, Granato says the former NHL veteran defenseman will be part of things going forward.
“Danny will be a part of the coaching staff as much as he can," he said. "He had some obligations that pulled him away a little bit.”
2021 first overall pick Owen Power had an intense desire to go back to the University of Michigan for one more season to fight for a National Championship and have a normal school year. Granato said he has spoken to Power and is on board with his decision.
“I’m excited for him to go back for his sophomore year. I do agree, and think that decision is a great decision," Granato said of the defenseman.
“You go into your freshman year and you have no hindsight for size, strength and speed. You’re just getting acclimated to that next level, which is a big jump. Now he has all that hindsight, and he can target areas from last year where he wants to be better. So I think it’s a crucial time of year for his development, based on the fact that he has all this hindsight going in.”
Going back to Dahlin, he was such a better player under Granato's tutelage. A lot of what made Dahlin the No. 1 overall pick in 2018 started to flow out in his play as the season wound down.
“The biggest part of development ,and it was painful for him, is learning discretion. It’s, ‘Can I do this? Can I get away with this? Will I get in trouble trying this?’ Until you’re allowed to do that, it’s hard for the player to gauge," Granato said of the 21-year-old defenseman. "If you’re on them for every mistake they make, then they become very conservative and they’ll never come close to reaching a peak. So that was my approach with him last year, and it’ll be similar this year.”
Going forward into his first full training camp and season as head coach of the Sabres, Granato has a motto for his team:
“You’ve got to compete hard and play with passion. If we learn to that on a regular basis, the wins will fall into place. That’s the best way to develop.”
In addition to rookie camp opening on Sept. 15, the annual Sabres Prospects Challenge will also take place with the first game on Friday, Sept. 17.
You can listen to Granato's entire interview during the "Howard and Jeremy Show" below:
