NHL: The Buffalo Sabres have fired head coach Ralph Krueger and assistant coach Steve Smith. Assistant coach Don Granato will take over head coaching duties on an interim basis.
“It felt right that it needed to be done now,” Adams said Wednesday. “I think we could talk about … could have been done before. For me, this is about results that haven’t been good enough and I look and evaluate everything and I was trying to take a real, honest, fair evaluation, understanding the adversity and the situation our team was in, taking it all into account … I do believe every crisis is an opportunity for positive chance and this is a chance for us to move forward and to begin to get this thing pointed in the right direction.”
Assistant coach Steve Smith was also let go by the team. Matt Ellis and Dan Girardi were named assistant coaches.
Lance Lysowski: GM Kevyn Adams said that he is looking to hire an assistant GM now.
- Elliotte Friedman: The Sabres have permission to speak with former Penguins assistant Peter Karmanos. Karmanos and Adams have a long history.
- Lance Lysowski: Sources say Karmanos is the top candidate for the assistant GM role.
Pierre LeBrun: Krueger had another year on his contract at $3.75 million. He’s still owed that by the team.
Pierre LeBrun: The Sabres are also still paying Jason Botterill, Randy Sexton and Steve Greeley until June 30th, 2022. (Unless they are hired by another team)
Mike Harrington: “I understand $$ were involved but GMKA & Pegulas gave Krueger every single chance. They wanted this to work. I would have fired him 8 games ago after double shutout loss to Philly. Certainly should have done it after last road trip. He got at least four games too many. ”
Lance Lysowski: “Matt Ellis and Dan Girardi are childhood friends. Neither one has NHL coaching experience. Ellis has been working with the Sabres’ taxi squad this season. A lot of people in this organization who don’t have much experience in their respective roles.”
Jeff Marek: “As I look around the Sabres organization the one thing that immediately pops to mind is – who has any experience in their position? I’m not trying to be snarky or take a cheap shot at a tough time, I think this is a legitimate issue.”
Brian Lawton: “I am told the @BuffaloSabres are not looking to make any additions to their hockey operations management. A new coach and see what happens from there. They have had some poor luck all year with injuries and COVID.”
Bill Hoppe: “I’ll say this again, the Sabres had a terrific option in Chris Taylor to be their head coach someday. They fired him.”
The Buffalo Sabres, who just fired Ralph Krueger, are the worst team in the league. Their underlying numbers are poor, but what’s really done them in is their league-worst finishing and bottom four goaltending. #LetsGoBuffalo pic.twitter.com/FrMuwW7bjy
— JFresh (@JFreshHockey) March 17, 2021