ESPN REPORT: The Buffalo Sabres Head Coach is being fired due to…
On Wednesday, the Buffalo Sabres fired head coach Ralph Krueger after their losing run reached 12 games.
With 16, the Sabres own the fewest points in the NHL. With two games remaining, they trail the Devils by a whopping six points in seventh place in the East Division.
Buffalo was defeated 3-2 by New Jersey on Tuesday night. Buffalo’s winless run is the longest since the team dropped a record 14 games in a row halfway through the 2014–15 season, and it ties the third worst in team history.
Buffalo is quickly approaching the record of 10 consecutive seasons without making the playoffs held by the NHL.
The 61-year-old Krueger was in his second year at Buffalo. Although the squad ended sixth last season, they saw a minor improvement with a 30-31-8 record.
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Star forward Jack Eichel has missed a lot of time due to injury this season, expensive winger Jeff Skinner has been a huge letdown, and even the highly anticipated free agent addition Taylor Hall hasn’t lived up to the expectations. In the offseason, the team also acquired veteran center Eric Staal from Minnesota.
With 2.07 goals per game and 36 goals in 5-on-5 play, the squad is worst in the NHL, and the acquisitions haven’t even begun to scratch the surface.
Eichel will be skating under his third general manager and fourth coach since entering the league in 2015–16.
The Edmonton Oilers, who finished 19-22-7 in 48 games during the 2012–13 season, were Krueger’s sole prior NHL experience. He has coached the Swiss national team prior to it. He switched to soccer after his time with the Oilers and worked in a variety of front-office capacities for English Premier League teams.
Assistant Don Granato will take over as coach in the interim, according to Sabres first-year general manager Kevyn Adams, who also announced that a comprehensive search will start right away for a permanent replacement.
In the 56 games that this truncated season with all-division play has to offer, Krueger is the third NHL coach to be fired. He is the first outside of the North Division after Calgary hired two-time Stanley Cup winner Darryl Sutter to replace Geoff Ward and Montreal fired Claude Julien.
Adams had previously decided against taking over as bench boss because it would interfere with his managing responsibilities in the run-up to the NHL trade deadline next month.
