Official Ralph Krueger named Sabres Head Coach

[steveoath]

Spittin' Chiclets Episode 176

At 48min 40s in an interesting segment on Kreuger from Ryan Whitney. Echoing much of what has been discussed here.

Bisonette playing the role of the sceptic.

 

Edited May 17, 2019 by steveoath

[PerreaultForever]

13 hours ago, LGR4GM said:

I don't know how to feel about Korg. Since he isn't a true retread I like that. He also hasn't coached in the NHL or AHL or NA or Hockey for 4 years so that is something to be concerned about. I'll give him a season. If Botterill doesn't fix the roster it won't matter anyways. 

This is pretty much my feeling as well. All the talk of his motivational skills won't help one bit unless we add more talent and fill some glaring holes in the roster like 2C. No way to assess this team's chances until free agency hits. 

[Ripper]

I think it amusing that Edmonton replaced RK with Dallas Eakins, a successful Marlies coach who supposedly "has a reputation of communicating extremely well with young players".  How did that go?  And apparently Edmonton GM McTavish needed to make a change for his own benefit because he was on the hot seat.  An article linked below from June 2013 also mentions that RK is an intelligent and articulate individual with outside interests who will someday be a success.  Duh, among them as head coach of the Sabres!  ?

https://bleacherreport.com/articles/1666953-edmonton-oilers-firing-ralph-krueger-was-the-right-choice

[WildCard]

 

[MattPie]

On 5/15/2019 at 4:01 PM, darksabre said:

He literally went to Buffalo bars and chatted up random fans about the team. That's... something. 

 

MAYBE HE'S READING THIS RIGHT NOW!

Also, no "Motley Kru"? I'm disappointed with all of you.

[Eleven]

18 hours ago, Thorny said:

But why does he get a pass for fielding a bad team for 3 seasons (or 4) in this scenario?

What's the timeline for Botterill here, field a non-tire fire once, in his fifth year, and he's good to go? The ultimate cake job? Or does that new coach get a couple years too.

I think there's a disconnect.  If he doesn't fix the roster, fire him.  If the problem is Krueger, well, Botterill took a shot in a year when the field wasn't full of great candidates; I'll overlook it.

[North Buffalo]

I disagree, gonna take time to build core up and fill holes thru the draft... this year's draft will be very important and then developing those players.  I think D developing is on right track, O developing players are still lacking imo and I hope this year is heavily weighted in that direction because there appears to be a fair amount of talent to be had.

Signing a good FA should help, but buyer be ware of term and price.

[nfreeman]

17 minutes ago, Eleven said:

I think there's a disconnect.  If he doesn't fix the roster, fire him.  If the problem is Krueger, well, Botterill took a shot in a year when the field wasn't full of great candidates; I'll overlook it.

I think Tippett and MacLellan were both strong candidates.  I guess we'll see how they do with their new teams (assuming Tippett gets hired somewhere).

[Eleven]

32 minutes ago, North Buffalo said:

I disagree, gonna take time to build core up and fill holes thru the draft... this year's draft will be very important and then developing those players.  I think D developing is on right track, O developing players are still lacking imo and I hope this year is heavily weighted in that direction because there appears to be a fair amount of talent to be had.

Signing a good FA should help, but buyer be ware of term and price.

I'm not expecting him to fix it overnight.  Indeed, expectations that things would be fixed overnight have proven detrimental to this team's rebuilding process.

[North Buffalo]

Agree Offensive talent in the system is still lacking not as severely as in the past but this where I need to see improvement this year from GM.  Coaching issue is still show me, no idea on Motley Kru.

[Ducky]

I mentioned Ralph as a candidate over a month ago.

[spndnchz]

1 minute ago, Ducky said:

I mentioned Ralph as a candidate over a month ago.

Did you drink with him? Asking for a friend

[LTS]

I would have loved to have been in whatever bar he walked into and started chatting hockey with him.

I hope those who he chatted up have now realized who they were talking to.

[Doohicksie]

10 hours ago, Ripper said:

https://bleacherreport.com/articles/1666953-edmonton-oilers-firing-ralph-krueger-was-the-right-choice

Yeah, and so was trading Ryan O'Reilly.

[Beer]

This is how I will celebrate every goal, Motley Kru style!  

Edited May 17, 2019 by Beer

[Cheektorado]

18 hours ago, Brawndo said:

https://apnews.com/37cac0988ee243b0a7887fc26fcd7589

Takes from Babcock, Hitchcock and Maurice 

I think this could be needed.....LOL.

 

“In a very short period of time, he was able to build a really powerful culture,” said Winnipeg Jets coach Paul Maurice, who was an assistant under Krueger at the World Cup. “He made absolutely everybody in the room feel a part of it. The equipment guys, the medical guys, the media guys — everybody that was involved with that group had an incredible experience, and that was almost solely driven by Ralph.”

[dudacek]

He’ll find it taxing in his first year,” said Ken Hitchcock, who worked with Krueger on Babcock’s gold medal-winning Canada staff at the 2014 Olympics. “The way you win in the NHL and the way you play defense in the NHL has really changed in the last few years. And he’s going to have to have people help him with those adjustments and recognize what they are because even since he coached the Oilers, things have changed a lot. I think he’ll embrace those adjustments, but there will be adjustments.”

 

Is Hitchcock making a general statement about the game, a comment on what he found with the Oilers, or is he talking about what Housley was doing with the Sabres?

I’d way rather listen to a coach expand on stuff like this than an analyst break down analytics charts. And I usually enjoy a well-written analytics breakdown.

Edited May 17, 2019 by dudacek

[Thorner]

1 minute ago, dudacek said:

He’ll find it taxing in his first year,” said Ken Hitchcock, who worked with Krueger on Babcock’s gold medal-winning Canada staff at the 2014 Olympics. “The way you win in the NHL and the way you play defense in the NHL has really changed in the last few years. And he’s going to have to have people help him with those adjustments and recognize what they are because even since he coached the Oilers, things have changed a lot. I think he’ll embrace those adjustments, but there will be adjustments.”

 

Is Hitchcock making a general statement about the game, a comment on what he found with the Oilers, or is he talking about what Housley was doing with the Sabres?

I'd guess the first two? With a little bit of, "Hey, I'm still a great coach, the game changed on me!" mixed in for face-saving. 

[MODO Hockey]

On 5/15/2019 at 2:25 PM, matter2003 said:

You have no clue what you are talking about.

Explain, since i have no clue and you do.

[Stoner]

I'm slightly uncomfortable with Rutherford advocating for Botterill, then advocating for Krueger to Botterill. A little odd.

[Pimlach]

2 minutes ago, PASabreFan said:

I'm slightly uncomfortable with Rutherford advocating for Botterill, then advocating for Krueger to Botterill. A little odd.

Rutherford has been his mentor for quite awhile.  He likes the work Bots did for him and wants to see him succeed.  

I think this is common in sports, a brotherhood.  The ex-players that coach or run the front office are intertwined in many ways.  

[Radar]

22 minutes ago, PASabreFan said:

I'm slightly uncomfortable with Rutherford advocating for Botterill, then advocating for Krueger to Botterill. A little odd.

PA, you're ,it seems, uncomfortable with anything about the Sabres ownership or management. 

[Derrico]

16 minutes ago, Pimlach said:

Rutherford has been his mentor for quite awhile.  He likes the work Bots did for him and wants to see him succeed.  

I think this is common in sports, a brotherhood.  The ex-players that coach or run the front office are intertwined in many ways.  

Yep.  I don’t see it much different from any professional organization to be honest.  I go to conferences and interact with others in my field for several years now.  We all work for different firms but still provide advice and recommendations to each other from time to time.  I would imagine it’s like that in most industries.

[Pimlach]

59 minutes ago, Derrico said:

Yep.  I don’t see it much different from any professional organization to be honest.  I go to conferences and interact with others in my field for several years now.  We all work for different firms but still provide advice and recommendations to each other from time to time.  I would imagine it’s like that in most industries.

Yup.  Me too.  I saw a competitor at a trade show shortly after we worked on competing proposals for over a year.  My company won.  He came up to me and congratulated me in the most sincere way.  A few months later I  called him to subcontract a part of the work.  

Edited May 18, 2019 by Pimlach

[Ripper]

10 hours ago, LTS said:

I would have loved to have been in whatever bar he walked into and started chatting hockey with him.

I hope those who he chatted up have now realized who they were talking to.

Maybe he would be down

 

10 hours ago, LTS said:

I would have loved to have been in whatever bar he walked into and started chatting hockey with him.

 Maybe he would be down for a summertime SabreSpace meet up