Ralph Krueger returns to as Sabres coach
Ralph Krueger bar-hopped around Buffalo, watching a period of NHL playoff hockey at each spot and talking to Sabres fans along the way.
He had already decided to return to the NHL, and the experience solidified that he wanted to make that comeback as Buffalo’s coach. Krueger changed his mind on coaching again just in time to give the Sabres the experience they desire behind the bench.
“I could just feel the coaching magnet calling me back,” Krueger said Wednesday after being named Sabres coach. “I stayed very close to the game. All the relationships I built over the years are warm. I’ve been in contact with multiple head coaches over these last years. It’s always been my startup site, NHL.com. Watching games and observing the way the league is operating has always been important to me.”
Krueger spent the past five years as chairman of English Premier League soccer club Southampton FC, a different kind of experience he hopes to draw from for his latest challenge. The project-oriented Manitoba native, who played and coached hockey in Europe, talked to Sabres general manager Jason Botterill two summers ago but wasn’t going to leave Southampton until his job there was completed.
With that now in his rearview mirror, Krueger returns to the
NHL, where he coached the Edmonton Oilers in 2013 and spent two seasons as an assistant with them before that. Despite being fired via Skype after just one lockout-shortened season, Krueger said he harbors no hard feelings toward the Oilers but believes this is much more of a win-now situation compared to a full-scale rebuild he dealt with in Edmonton.
“This group is ready to become a contender and to compete with anybody on any given night,” Krueger said. “I’m confident that we can become that kind of a team quite quickly.”
Krueger only has 48 games of NHL head-coaching experience, but Botterill said the team’s brass put a lot of stock into international experience. Krueger coached Switzerland’s national team to Olympic appearances in 2002, 2006 and 2010, took Team Europe on a surprising run at the 2016 World Cup of Hockey, was part of several world championships and served as a consultant under Mike Babcock when Canada won Olympic gold in 2014.