Buffalo Sabres: Ralph Krueger’s impact felt early
By Jasmine Yen
The Buffalo Sabres have had a history of disappointment that they can’t wait to end. Is Ralph Krueger the missing piece of the puzzle?
When the Buffalo Sabres decided to hire Ralph Krueger as their next head coach, the decision turned heads. Hiring a head coach with just 48 games of NHL experience to try and clean up the age-long mess that is the Sabres was completely out-of-the-box thinking.
Krueger spent three seasons with the Edmonton Oilers before going overseas to Europe to coach there. He was the mastermind behind Team Europe in the 2016 World Cup of Hockey but that’s all. However, it doesn’t seem to be bothering Krueger or his new team as they have already accepted him with very open arms
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Kruger spent the offseason meeting up with his players, either in person or on the phone and everyone has been taken away by his passion. He spent a lot of time getting to know his players’ personalities and hockey was a backburner in the conversations. Jimmy Vesey had this to say in a recent interview.
"“I really like the idea I got from him just being a good person, a good leader, not just what he wants to do hockey-wise. I think, to me, that’s important that it’s a good person, that it’s someone who wants well for everyone. I think that’s what Ralph stands for.”"
For the last few seasons, the constant losing took a major toll on many players and two of them have been vocal about it. Ryan O’Reilly said that he “lost the love for the game” after the 2017-2018 season before getting traded to the St. Louis Blues. After the 2018-19 season, Rasmus Ristolainen said that he wasn’t able to “enjoy hockey” because of all the losing.
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The Sabres’ locker room needs a purpose – they need something to play for. Or someone. Krueger’s way of managing this team has injected a sense of purpose among the Buffalo players as they are now realizing that Krueger is a fantastic coach to play for. Most importantly, captain Jack Eichel has become the head coach’s number one fan.
"“I went to meet him for a cup of coffee in Slovakia and we ended up going for dinner for three hours … I was extremely blown away. … He just brings out the best out of people and I could not be more excited to start working with him this year.”"
Having the captain’s approval as a new head coach is key and it’s obvious that Eichel is very excited about the team’s new coach. Eichel is a leader in the locker room and if he supports his coach, his teammates will follow his lead.
Krueger’s big theme with this upcoming season is getting the players connected. He wants them to play as a five-man unit rather than as individuals and he even has a sign on the way to the ice with two swords together that says “stay connected”.
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The 2019-2020 season has not started yet but the buzz around the Sabres is real. Buffalo has an untraditional head coach that the team is dying to play for and Ralph Krueger can very well be the purpose that the Sabres have been chasing for so long. We need to wait for puck drop before seeing anything definitive, but so far, this team seems to be in very good hands.