Don Granato is like any other coach in professional sports. He freely acknowledges leading the Buffalo Sabres can be all consuming, especially in season. Texts and emails probably go unanswered far more than Granato would like.
One texter who pops on Granato's phone always grabs the coach's attention: Bills coach Sean McDermott.
"When I do see him text – which is fairly frequent in my opinion, based on his intense schedule – it's pretty darn nice," Granato said after practice Friday in KeyBank Center. "And it was from the first moment I took the job, through the offseason, through trade deadlines, through whatever. He sends a text and it's pretty special, knowing how intense his schedule is and knowing he's in the middle of the season, to get a text from him."
The relationship has grown to the point that McDermott was Granato's guest during the pregame hours before Thursday's game against St. Louis. Granato came on to the bench for the warmup, which head coaches normally don't do, and stood chatting with McDermott as they watched the players go through their pregame paces.
Don Granato was one of three assistant coaches named to Team USA's staff Thursday for the II…
"That was a lot of fun having having Coach around," Granato said. "We were talking about just the different nuances in the game and how hockey players act and react and prepare. I was obviously picking his brain a lot and asking him a lot of questions on how they do things and the details as well."
It's been common for coaches and front office staff between the Bills and Sabres to build bonds since Terry and Kim Pegula purchased the Bills in 2014, three years after they came to town to own the hockey team. Kevyn Adams has spoken several times during his two years as the Sabres' general manager about advice he's received from Bills counterpart Brandon Beane, and it's known that McDermott reached out in the past to previous Sabres coaches Phil Housley and Ralph Krueger.
McDermott spent much of his time in the locker room area Thursday interacting with Sabres players and coaches, and Granato asked him to speak to the team in the immediate minutes before they took the ice for the game.
"When he first got in the building, he said, 'I'm not sure if I want to do that at this point,' " Granato said. "But after he went around and met the guys and saw what we do for a couple hours, he's a natural, obviously. He deals with teams and a competitive environment every single day. And I thought it was awesome to have him and to have him speak after walking around getting a real good feel for some of our personalities and personnel and how we operate. I thought our players were very, very inspired by the real short talk by him. He has such a great presence to him."
As captured by the Sabres on social media, McDermott said he felt a connection between the culture change he forged with the Bills and what Granato has been doing with the Sabres.
"It's been awesome to be able to watch you guys and I see what's going on here. It reminds me of 2017 when I got to Buffalo to work with the Bills," McDermott said. "We totally changed the culture and that's what's going on here. I saw some of you guys playing soccer in the hallway. That's how a team comes together. That's a how a team loves one another and I would just challenge you guys tonight, man. Love one another by the way you play."
The message was clear: respect the process. 👏#LetsGoBuffalo pic.twitter.com/4BFG9BgB6t
— Buffalo Sabres (@BuffaloSabres) April 15, 2022
"It was really interesting because one of the first things he said was 'I don't know anything about hockey' and he got a chuckle out of us, but it didn't matter that he didn't know anything about hockey," said Sabres winger Alex Tuch. "You can see the way he carried himself. I understand why the Bills have the success they do, not only because of the talent, but out of how much he demands from them as an individual and how much he demands to respect and love each individual teammate that you're playing with."
Tuch said the players have noticed some mannerisms that were similar between McDermott and Granato.
"Both are really intelligent hockey and football guys, both really know their sport really well, but they know people too," Tuch said. "They know how to get the best out of their athletes and they know how to be successful. That's something that we're trying to push towards is to have similar success to the Bills and you see what this city does when you go out there and you work and you have success. So we're excited for the future."
The Sabres’ 6-2 loss to the St. Louis Blues was the product of missed opportunities and a few crucial mistakes against a Stanley Cup contender, but this game will be remembered as Power’s first in Buffalo.
Granato has used McDermott's catch phrase, "The Process," with the media on some occasions this season. Has it made it to the dressing room?
"He's talked about it a little bit in that way," Tuch said. "He doesn't call it 'The Process' like McDermott does, but he definitely talks about building for the future and what we have in this locker room, how special it is. So everyone is really excited to be a part of it."
"We watch (the Bills) as professional athletes and a professional team and we see the precedent they've set, the standard they've set and that's been very motivating for our group and myself personally," Granato said. "To be able to have that relationship with him is definitely exciting and beneficial for me. I feel that it's helped us and helped me do what I do. It's really neat."
