Krueger is positively the right man in Buffalo
Downtrodden team benefiting from boost of confidence
It’s game day in Buffalo, but you wouldn’t know it based on how Ralph Krueger is spending it.
The head coach of the Sabres is not on the ice for the morning skate. Nor is he in the dressing room going over video of that night’s opponent. Instead, he’s busy giving a tour of the arena to a Swiss reporter and a camera crew. Moments later, he’s being interviewed by a newspaper reporter from Germany followed by another from Canada.
They all want to talk to the hottest coach of the hottest team in the NHL. And Krueger, who has waited six years for his comeback opportunity since being fired by the Edmonton Oilers, is more than happy to oblige — in between stops to say hello to members of the visiting team that day.
“I’m all over the place,” said the affable 60-year-old from Winnipeg, who spends his summers living in the same Swiss town as San Jose Sharks centre Joe Thornton. “We just had our third hug of the day. I love him.”
Welcome to the International Ralph Krueger Road Show.
The constant media requests are not why Krueger decided to do away with morning skates this year. But with an Nhl-best 8-1-1 record heading into Thursday night’s game, the decision seems to be working. Every decision he’s made so far seems to be working.
It’s only three weeks into the season, but Krueger’s impact has been instantaneous. It’s not that the Sabres are winning. It’s how they’re winning.
The team is playing looser, more relaxed and confident than it had been under previous coaches such as Phil Housley and Dan Bylsma. There’s no quit to their game. No one is slumping their shoulders or blaming the hockey gods for their mistakes. It’s early and the losses are sure to come, but the team is already forming an identity that seems to mirror Krueger’s bottomless well of positivity and enthusiasm for the game.
The players like their coach. More than that, they trust him.
“He’s way different than any other coach I’ve had,” said veteran forward Kyle Okposo, who is on his third coach in four years. “His ability to communicate is better than anybody I’ve seen in coaching. He’s demanding and firm, yet non-confrontational. It’s unlike anybody I’ve ever seen.” What exactly is different?
“It’s his delivery. It’s his message. It’s the energy he brings to the rink everyday,” said Sabres captain Jack Eichel. “He’s just such a positive person. When you’re around that enough, for one, he makes you want to play better for him. And he does a really good job of bringing out the best in you.”
Positivity is something that has been in short supply with the Sabres. We bemoan the length of time it has taken for Edmonton to rebuild and get its act together, but at least the Oilers made the playoffs in 2017 and went on to win a round. For Buffalo, it’s been eight years of pain.
The team finished last overall in three of those years and ranked in the bottom five in two others.
That atmosphere of frustration is what Krueger walked into when he accepted the Sabres job this summer. He had other offers. There was further interest in soccer’s English Premier League, where he had spent the last five years working as the chairman of Southampton Football Club, and there was the opportunity to accept a role as president of an NHL team. But the lure of returning behind the bench proved too strong.
“I kind of had crazy options,” said Krueger. “It was really weird. This quickly crystallized. Going into a small market, an underdog, interested me a lot.”
This is Krueger’s second stint in the NHL. His last one ended after just 48 games. But he said getting fired by the Oilers — over Skype, no less — in the lockoutshortened 2012-13 season after going 19-22-7 didn’t motivate his decision to come back to show what he could do.
“People say, ‘Oh, do you want to prove something to them?’ That’s never played a factor at all in making a decision to come back to the NHL ... This just felt right for me,” he said.
So far, it feels right for the players, too. It didn’t take long for Krueger to get them on the same page, believing in one another and of a system that demands them to simply outwork and outskate their opponent.
Now comes the challenge: making sure this system lasts longer than just a couple of weeks.