Sabres to hire Ralph Krueger as HC

Per Bob McKenzie.

:shrug

What's your reaction to that? I'm curious.

Krueger is a quality human, but this seems weird to me from the outside.

Indifferent would be the word for me. Most fans are not happy with it. They read that he was involved in running an English football club and assume he's a "soccer coach." The knowledgeable fans know this is not true.

We've been failing so bad that it's hard to be optimistic about any hire at this point. They've tried the retread "safe pick" in Dan Bylsma and failed. They tried the up and coming assistant in Phil Housley and failed there too. This is easily the most out of the box hire in franchise history, maybe Buffalo sports history.

I think the thing that worries me the most is having not been around the NHL for about 5 years now. I do like that he's learned a lot about analytics and sports science while at Southampton FC. I also like that he's fairly respected as a coach and relates to players. His background is truly fascinating.

It's a bold move by Jason Botterill. It may be his last here if things do not go well. We still need a better roster. That's not secret. He's got his work cut out for him. I hope it works.

Cool. Kreuger has had some loose ties with the Canes so I'm a little familiar with the level of respect he has at least as a front office presence. I also follow English football, so I can appreciate just how great a job he did at Southampton. It's not easy implementing an innovative vision of how to run a development program in an environment as stodgy as English Association Football, yet he's widely admired in the UK as well. Bottom line ... he's a quality guy, I just don't know about returning to the bench after so long away. I'd have pegged him as an executive hire to help Botterill firm up the front office ... not a coach.

Best of luck, though.

jeffbear said:

Cool. Kreuger has had some loose ties with the Canes so I'm a little familiar with the level of respect he has at least as a front office presence. I also follow English football, so I can appreciate just how great a job he did at Southampton. It's not easy implementing an innovative vision of how to run a development program in an environment as stodgy as English Association Football, yet he's widely admired in the UK as well. Bottom line ... he's a quality guy, I just don't know about returning to the bench after so long away. I'd have pegged him as an executive hire to help Botterill firm up the front office ... not a coach.

Best of luck, though.

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I could definitely see that happening if Botterill gets canned.

Sabrenator said:

I could definitely see that happening if Botterill gets canned.

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Sure ... it might be a long term hedge. That would make some sense in the grand scheme of things. I do think Krueger could be really, really good in a John Davidson sort of role for someone.