RK hands down the worst coach in Sabres history

[GASabresIUFAN]

The facts keep piling up, but RK, aka Rasputin, is the worst coach in Sabres history.  He nearly destroyed the franchise.

Today’s article about Dahlin is another illustration of how poor a coach he is. https://buffalonews.com/sports/sabres/confident-again-sabres-rasmus-dahlin-thriving-under-interim-coach-don-granato/article_a192bbde-97b1-11eb-ad7d-af46be9fa625.html

The ball and chain he placed on Dahlin and our other mobile D is in excusable.  Just look at the new Dahlin possession numbers in the article and it will make you puke when you realize that this could have been Dahlin all season had Rasputin had a clue.

The offense in general from 1.19 EV goals to over 2.5 in the last six.  This improvement without Eichel.

Ron Ralston was nominated as a rival, but he went 15-11-5 after replacing Lindy while the tank began in earnest.  RK was given a mediocre team which the GM added talent to and he destroyed the team.  The offense output of nearly every forward and every offensive D was destroyed under RK’s system.   

Maybe I’m just venting but RK is now my most despised person in Sabres history.  

[LabattBlue]

On 4/8/2021 at 9:32 AM, GASabresIUFAN said:

The facts keep piling up, but RK, aka Rasputin, is the worst coach in Sabres history.  He nearly destroyed the franchise.

Today’s article about Dahlin is another illustration of how poor a coach he is. https://buffalonews.com/sports/sabres/confident-again-sabres-rasmus-dahlin-thriving-under-interim-coach-don-granato/article_a192bbde-97b1-11eb-ad7d-af46be9fa625.html

The ball and chain he placed on Dahlin and our other mobile D is in excusable.  Just look at the new Dahlin possession numbers in the article and it will make you puke when you realize that this could have been Dahlin all season had Rasputin had a clue.

The offense in general from 1.19 EV goals to over 2.5 in the last six.  This improvement without Eichel.

Ron Ralston was nominated as a rival, but he went 15-11-5 after replacing Lindy while the tank began in earnest.  RK was given a mediocre team which the GM added talent to and he destroyed the team.  The offense output of nearly every forward and every offensive D was destroyed under RK’s system.   

Maybe I’m just venting but RK is now my most despised person in Sabres history.  

Blame the dopes that hired him.  Of course no one outside of the inner circle know who pushed for Ralphie...Pegula’s or Botts?

Edited April 9, 2021 by LabattBlue

[Stoner]

Unless the Pegulas step away and there's a real hockey department here next fall, (insert name of next coach) will soon be the new WOAT, replacing Nolan, Bylsma, Housley and Ralph.

This is getting old.

Are we still not waiting for Rutherford and Karmanos?

[Lanny]

Botterill and Krueger had some sort of history didn't they? Maybe dating back to Botterill in High School?

[bob_sauve28]

If he had better goaltending he would still be the coach and the Sabres would still be in the running for a playoff spot. 

[dudacek]

Just now, Lanny said:

Botterill and Krueger had some sort of history didn't they? Maybe dating back to Botterill in High School?

Botterill's dad taught Krueger in school, but Botterill did not know him.

Krueger was recommended to Botterill by Jimmy Rutherford, who had a relationship with him from his Carolina days.

[Stoner]

3 minutes ago, bob_sauve28 said:

If he had better goaltending he would still be the coach and the Sabres would still be in the running for a playoff spot. 

Or if he had players who didn't quit on their coach.

[Scottysabres]

Just now, PASabreFan said:

Or if he had players who didn't quit on their coach.

Or if he had a fridge of cup yogurts behind the bench (he strikes me as a yogurt guy).

[Stoner]

5 minutes ago, Scottysabres said:

Or if he had a fridge of cup yogurts behind the bench (he strikes me as a yogurt guy).

They were sitting on front of him.

[bob_sauve28]

29 minutes ago, PASabreFan said:

Or if he had players who didn't quit on their coach.

The way i see it is, they played strong first periods under RK and then one of the goalies would let a softie in and the whole team fell apart after that. 

[Zamboni]

Um .... ooook. Everyone has an opinion I guess 😂 
Out of all the coaches, I liked Rolston the least. Didn’t care for his coaching ability. 

[Stoner]

THEY ALL SUCK!!!!!

Make it stop.

[inkman]

53 minutes ago, dudacek said:

Botterill's dad taught Krueger in school, but Botterill did not know him.

Krueger was recommended to Botterill by Jimmy Rutherford, who had a relationship with him from his Carolina days.

This sounds like I want as little to do with Jim Rutherford as possible. 

[JohnC]

1 hour ago, GASabresIUFAN said:

The facts keep piling up, but RK, aka Rasputin, is the worst coach in Sabres history.  He nearly destroyed the franchise.

Today’s article about Dahlin is another illustration of how poor a coach he is. https://buffalonews.com/sports/sabres/confident-again-sabres-rasmus-dahlin-thriving-under-interim-coach-don-granato/article_a192bbde-97b1-11eb-ad7d-af46be9fa625.html

The ball and chain he placed on Dahlin and our other mobile D is in excusable.  Just look at the new Dahlin possession numbers in the article and it will make you puke when you realize that this could have been Dahlin all season had Rasputin had a clue.

The offense in general from 1.19 EV goals to over 2.5 in the last six.  This improvement without Eichel.

Ron Ralston was nominated as a rival, but he went 15-11-5 after replacing Lindy while the tank began in earnest.  RK was given a mediocre team which the GM added talent to and he destroyed the team.  The offense output of nearly every forward and every offensive D was destroyed under RK’s system.   

Maybe I’m just venting but RK is now my most despised person in Sabres history.  

The biggest damage that Krueger did is stifle the development of our young players and the talents of the more veteran players. Okposo is an example of a veteran who was useless under Krueger but is now a revitalized player who has some utility. Without question he has limitations but it is fair to say that he is a demonstrably better player under the current coach compared to the former coach. Montour is another player who is revitalized. You cited Dahlin and how he is now liberated to from the shackles of the strongly held restrictive tenets of the fired coach. Johiharju is another young player that was regressing under Krueger and quickly restored his game under Granato.

The former coach was a success in Europe coaching a Swiss team that couldn't match the talents of the the more talented teams they opposed. In that situation it made sense to play a defensive and a tightly played game against a more potent opponent. That restrictive philosophy didn't translate to the more open game of NHL game. 

Krueger is a multifaceted person who was an interesting hire. It was a gamble that didn't work. It set back this franchise. Now it will take additional time to recover in order to become a serious franchise. When you add miles to the trip the road to respectability takes longer. That's exasperating and such a shame. 

[GASabresIUFAN]

1 minute ago, JohnC said:

The biggest damage that Krueger did is stifle the development of our young players and the talents of the more veteran players. Okposo is an example of a veteran who was useless under Krueger but is now a revitalized player who has some utility. Without question he has limitations but it is fair to say that he is a demonstrably better player under the current coach compared to the former coach. Montour is another player who is revitalized. You cited Dahlin and how he is now liberated to from the shackles of the strongly held restrictive tenets of the fired coach. Johiharju is another young player that was regressing under Krueger and quickly restored his game under Granato.

The former coach was a success in Europe coaching a Swiss team that couldn't match the talents of the the more talented teams they opposed. In that situation it made sense to play a defensive and a tightly played game against a more potent opponent. That restrictive philosophy didn't translate to the more open game of NHL game. 

Krueger is a multifaceted person who was an interesting hire. It was a gamble that didn't work. It set back this franchise. Now it will take additional time to recover in order to become a serious franchise. When you add miles to the trip the road to respectability takes longer. That's exasperating and such a shame. 

A man with RK's alleged intelligence should have known that.  Barry Trotz is a D first coach yet understands that he needs to let him offensive talent play to their best advantage.  

[JohnC]

1 minute ago, GASabresIUFAN said:

A man with RK's alleged intelligence should have known that.  Barry Trotz is a D first coach yet understands that he needs to let him offensive talent play to their best advantage.  

It's ironic that someone who has such a sophisticated world view was rigidly ideological with his hockey philosophy. He undermined himself. 

[Kruppstahl]

In all fairness, anyone studying this question has to, in my opinion, agree to the following.

It is beyond refute that Ralph Krueger (like many pro coaches) knows how to go about coaching hockey in exactly ONE WAY.  He has his ideas on how it should be done, and that's what he sticks to.

When it became quite clear his way did not and would not work, rather that completely revamp things and try technique 2, and then 3, and then 4 until he found success, he continued to pound that square peg into the round hole over and over again.

In the meantime, he continued to spew his self-help-book-crap at all the press conferences and *say* the right things.

Never never *did* the right things.

He is an absolutely HORRIBLE coach.

And by the way, Pegulas, don't go looking for NHL coaches from journeyman international hockey ranks, please! 

That which works in the Swiss league does not work in the NHL.  It's a completely different game over here played with much greater talent and at a much greater pace.

I've been saying it for a few months now, but Krueger was a worse coach than Ron Rolston and his gardening gloves, and that says A LOT! 

 

 

 

[GASabresIUFAN]

6 minutes ago, Kruppstahl said:

In all fairness, anyone studying this question has to, in my opinion, agree to the following.

It is beyond refute that Ralph Krueger (like many pro coaches) knows how to go about coaching hockey in exactly ONE WAY.  He has his ideas on how it should be done, and that's what he sticks to.

When it became quite clear his way did not and would not work, rather that completely revamp things and try technique 2, and then 3, and then 4 until he found success, he continued to pound that square peg into the round hole over and over again.

In the meantime, he continued to spew his self-help-book-crap at all the press conferences and *say* the right things.

Never never *did* the right things.

He is an absolutely HORRIBLE coach.

And by the way, Pegulas, don't go looking for NHL coaches from journeyman international hockey ranks, please! 

That which works in the Swiss league does not work in the NHL.  It's a completely different game over here played with much greater talent and at a much greater pace.

I've been saying it for a few months now, but Krueger was a worse coach than Ron Rolston and his gardening gloves, and that says A LOT! 

 

 

 

That's what made Lindy Ruff successful here.  In his first run to the Cup with Hasek, Lindy played a D first counterpunching style that utilized his players.  In the Briere/Drury era, Lindy allowed his offense to dominate with a 4 line attack and allowed the D to activate because he had McKee, Tallinder and Lydman to pickup the defensive side of things.  

Honestly this is almost the style we should have now.  

[Kristian]

2 hours ago, LabattBlue said:

Blame the dopes that hired him.  Of course no out outside of the inner circle know who pushed for Ralphie...Pegula’s or Botts?

Doesn’t matter who it was, the Pegula’s hired Botterill who was pretty much the Ralph Krueger of GM’s, so the responsibility falls squarely on Terry & Kim.

[JohnC]

One player that I look back on that was wasted on a costly one year contract was Hall. It's probable that he isn't what he was in the early stages of his career. Because of his inability to finish he wasn't going to be the goal scorer that we would have liked him to be. But when watching him it is evident that he is one of the faster skaters in the league and that he also is a good passer. He is more of a set up and assist man than a scorer. An argument could be made that he was a good pickup but like so many other players his talents were squandered. He is a wasted player and wasted contract that could have been better utilized. When you constantly shoot yourself self in the foot you are not going to do well in the race. 

[Carmel Corn]

Worst coach in Sabres' history hired by the worst GM in the team's history.   

[Doohicksie]

1 hour ago, JohnC said:

It's ironic that someone who has such a sophisticated world view was rigidly ideological with his hockey philosophy. He undermined himself. 

He's arrogant, plain & simple.  He thinks he knows better than those around him, that only his experience is valid.  That's arrogance.

[Doohicksie]

1 hour ago, Kruppstahl said:

In the meantime, he continued to spew his self-help-book-crap at all the press conferences and *say* the right things.

Some of my first posts about him expressed my reservations for his self-help speak.  My hope was that while my 50-something-year-old cynical self saw through it, maybe the players took it at face value and would be motivated by him.  It didn't matter what I thought if the players played well under him.  We now know that eventually they saw through his BS too.

[Gatorman0519]

Ralph was beyond terrible. The numbers back it up. 

[Thorner]

2 hours ago, inkman said:

This sounds like I want as little to do with Jim Rutherford as possible. 

The decision to give Krueger a try was IMO still a less egregious decision than it was to keep Krueger on for as long as we did. I'd allow Rutherford that error in judgment and welcome him with open arms as, relative to Pegula being the ultimate string-puller, I reckon it'd still be a very useful upgrade.