Buffalo, N.Y. (WGR 550) – New Buffalo Sabres assistant coach Seth Appert did his final press conference on Tuesday as head coach of the Rochester Americans. Appert was the last coach this offseason to be added to Lindy Ruff’s staff behind the bench in Buffalo.
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"I’m extremely excited to join Lindy’s staff," said Appert during his end-of-season press conference on Tueasday. "I’m really looking forward to the opportunity to learn from a coach like Lindy, who’s one of the winningest coaches in the history of our game. There’s so much experience that I can draw from."
Appert says Ruff and general manager Kevyn Adams started contact shortly after Ruff was hired. Appert was proud of what he did in four years as the head coach of the Amerks, but he also wanted to thank the fans for the way he was treated.
"I absolutely loved coaching here, being an Amerk," Appert said. "I’m so appreciative of the way the people here and the way the fans have treated me, and embraced me as one of their own."
Many of the young players on the Sabres roster have been coached by Appert, but he says having to fill in with the Sabres in three of his four seasons also helps.
"With that, I have a really strong familiarity with their roster, not just with the guys that came through Rochester," Appert noted.
Appert also spent time at training camp with the Sabres over the last several years.
It’s hard to know which is more beneficial, being a head coach in the AHL or an assistant in the NHL. Appert says there are people he leans on, including former Detroit Red Wings head coach and now Tampa Bay Lightning assistant coach Jeff Blashill.
"'Blash' had told me that at some point, he thought that in the next couple of years, I might need to go be an assistant in the NHL if I hadn’t been hired as a head coach in the NHL," he said. "I know that it’s hard to hire someone from the American League to be a head coach in the NHL when they haven’t been there before as a player or a coach."
Appert was right where he wanted to be, and conversations about switching organizations wasn’t an option for him.
"Kevyn and I had a conversation about other jobs last summer, asking, 'What do I want to do? Did I want to go after some of these assistant jobs?' I made it pretty clear to Kevyn that if he wanted to stay and continue on at Rochester, I was excited to stay here and keep the work here going," Appert said.
Appert has only been an assistant coach previously at the University of Denver, but says he's ready for this challenge.
"Going back and being an assistant now after the time I’ve had as a head coach, I’ll be a way better assistant," Appert said. "When I was an assistant and never had been a head coach, I had no clue what George Gwozdecky was going through. I don’t know all the pressure and stress, and the other things pulling at him. You don’t understand that until you’ve sat in that chair. So I’m excited that I can be a better assistant now because of the experience I’ve had as a head coach, understanding what Lindy is going through."
Appert will be coaching the power play with Buffalo. Ruff says he will sit down with Appert to devise the system that Ruff wants coached.
"The talent that resides on the Sabres power play is immense," Appert noted. "They’ve had success and struggled, and talking with Lindy, it’s going to be collaborative. Will I run the meeting? Yes, but behind the scenes, we’re going to work together. I love that Lindy coaches very collaborative."
This season, the Sabres weren’t willing to shoot enough on the power play and their quarterbacks - Rasmus Dahlin and Owen Power - need to get more of that in their games.
"How you succeed on a power play is you have net presence. It allows you to create chaos. If there’s no net presence, you’re at the mercy of trying to score the highlight reel goals that look great, but aren’t consistent and don’t come all the time," Appert explained.
"Net presence establishes a shot mentality and an attack mentality. When you have that, you have the ability to get the penalty kill out of structure."
In the 2021-22 Calder Cup playoffs, Jack Quinn had no goals in 10 games played for Rochester. He had scored 26 goals in 45 regular season games, and teams were all over him.
This season, Jiri Kulich had no goals in five playoff games after scoring 27 in 57 regular season games for the Amerks. Going back to last season, Kulich had one goal in his last 11 playoff games.
Quinn became a better player after what happened to him with Rochester, and Appert thinks it will be much of the same for Kulich.
"Pucks didn’t go into the net for him in this series, some of that due to how great defensively Syracuse was and some of it due to him forcing it a little bit," Appert said of the 2022 first-round pick.
"I think he started the series putting too much pressure on himself, knowing he needed to be better than he was last year for us because he’s more of a go-to guy than he was. Then you struggle in Games 1 and 2, and now you’re gripping it, but that’s part of development.
"For Quinn, that adversity fueled his growth and put Jack Quinn on a mission during the summer to change that. The same will be with Jiri Kulich. He knows these playoffs weren’t his best, he knows what being the go-to guy with a target on you is. Some of that failure is going to fuel his growth over the course of this offseason."
Being a head coach at any level, Appert says he has one philosophy.
"It’s never been to have this master plan. It’s been to be great where you’re at, and try to excel in the role that I’m in" he said. "I’ve always believed if you just try to be great where you’re at and treat people the right way, things will take care of themselves."
The search for a replacement for Appert in Rochester has already begun.
