The Buffalo Sabres will begin regular season play this Thursday night in Pittsburgh, opening the franchise's 50th season against the Penguins at PPG Paints Arena. After a disappointing second half in 2018-19, there might be a bit more pressure on the Sabres to get off to a good start than in years past.
General manager Jason Botterill made a number of moves over the summer to alter the team's roster and makeup. Perhaps the biggest move of the offseason was the hiring of Ralph Krueger to be Buffalo's next head coach.
Similar to the players on the ice, there may be a bit more pressure on Krueger than there typically would be for a coach in his first season with a new organization. That extra pressure could stem from the fact that Krueger is replacing former Sabres bench boss Phil Housley, whose coaching decisions were sometimes publicly scrutinized.
Thursday's contest against Pittsburgh will be the first National Hockey League game Krueger is coaching in since April 27, 2013, his last game as head coach of the Edmonton Oilers. He's coached international hockey since then, working with Hockey Canada during the 2014 Winter Olympics, and coaching Team Europe in the 2016 World Cup of Hockey.
It will certainly be interesting to see how Krueger's return to coaching plays out, and it could be a big storyline with this Sabres team through the first few months, or even the whole season.
Krueger will be joining Howard Simon and Jeremy White on WGR every Wednesday morning at 8 a.m. this season.
Here is some of what he had to say during his first appearance:
Krueger on meeting the players, working with them, and learning their strengths and weakness:
"As a coach, you never understand or know a player until you coach them, because you don't know what the other coaches have been asking or telling them to do. So, you're watching the tape, and you don't know what the directive is. And now, the directives are clear. The asks, with or without the puck, are very well defined. The players know exactly what we want, and now I can evaluate them, really on a fair basis."
Krueger on who could be the the No. 2 center and how the lineup might look:
"From the outside, people will want to rank our players. But for me, everyone is important. The 13-minute guy that spends five of those minutes killing penalties is every bit as important as the 22-minute guy who plays eight of those minutes on the power play. It's just about getting everybody to buy into their roles, accept their roles, and execute them as best they can. That's really our job as coaches."
Krueger on improving the teams play in the defensive end:
"The game without the puck, I speak about it so much, is really where you see the character of the team, where you see the personality of a group, and that has been a major focus in training camp. Because with the puck, and offensively, we have a lot of exciting skill and talent. It'll be a never-ending teaching process that we have, because there's always improvement on the defensive side. There's also always offensive things we can work on."
Krueger on Buffalo fans:
"I really have a feeling that these fans in Buffalo are really honest. If they feel that that team is giving it's very best on a daily basis, and they're fighting with all their hearts and souls, they will support us, no matter the results. I really think, after spending a few months here now in Buffalo, that we have a very honest environment. We have a very real world here of good people. That's what we need to strive for, that our fans leave this building every night, and watch us play on the road, and are convinced we've given our best. That'll be our motto to begin with, and I'm convinced wins will follow."
You can listen to the entire interview below:
