The Buffalo Sabres announced on Saturday morning that head coach Don Granato will be unable to coach the team in their game against the Columbus Blue Jackets, due to an illness.
Seth Appert, the head coach of their AHL affiliate, the Rochester Americans, will assume Granato’s responsibilities behind the bench.
As of Dec. 30, the Sabres are 14-18-4 with 32 points, seventh in the Eastern Conference’s Atlantic Division. Forward Casey Mittlestadt leads the team in points with 30 (nine goals and 21 assists), followed by defender and 2018 No. 1 overall pick Rasmus Dahlin, who has 10 goals and 19 assists for 29 points.
Granato is in his third full season as head coach after taking over with 28 games to go in the 2020-21 campaign. The Sabres have yet to make the playoffs under Granato’s tenure. During the 2022-23 season, the Sabres finished 42-33-7 with 91 points, one point shy of the second wild card spot in the Eastern Conference.
Granato, a native of Downers Grove, Ill., served as an assistant with the Sabres for one-and-a-half seasons before taking over the bench duties. Before that, he spent two seasons with the Chicago Blackhawks as an assistant, and one season with the St. Louis Blues as an assistant.
Granato has experience at multiple levels, head coaching teams in the AHL, the ECHL and the USHL. He won the ECHL’s Kelly Cup in 1999-2000 with the Peoria Riverman.
The Sabres host the Blue Jackets on Saturday at 5 p.m. EST, then fly to Canada’s national capital to face the Ottawa Senators on Sunday at 6 p.m. EST. They start the 2024 portion of their schedule next Thursday when they take on the Montreal Canadiens.
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