Buffalo Sabres coach Ralph Krueger has tested positive for the coronavirus and is entering the league’s COVID-19 protocol.
It’s the latest setback for a team that has had its games postponed at least through Monday. The team has four players on the COVID-19 list, including star winger Taylor Hall.
Two other teams — the Devils and Wild — have also paused their season due to COVID-19 issues. New Jersey has a whopping 17 players on the COVID-19 list.
The last time the Sabres played was back-to-back games against the Devils on Jan. 30 and 31.
Krueger, 61, is in his second season behind the Sabres bench. Buffalo has posted a 4-4-2 mark and is currently sixth in the East Division.
Since the season began Jan. 13, 22 games have been postponed and around 90 players have appeared on the league’s COVID-19 protocol-related absence list.
On Thursday, the league announced stricter arena protocols to battle the spread of the virus — including removing the glass behind the benches to increase air flow.
Sabres hire Ralph Krueger as coach
Ralph Krueger is returning to North America to coach the Buffalo Sabres in a bid to turn around the once-proud franchise in the midst of an eight-year playoff drought.
A person familiar with the decision told The Associated Press that the Sabres have hired Krueger as coach. The person spoke to the AP on Tuesday night on condition of anonymity because the team has not announced the hiring. Canada’s SportsNet.ca first reported the move.
The 59-year-old Krueger previously coached the Edmonton Oilers during the NHL’s lockout-shortened season in 2012-13. He was fired by the team via Skype after the youth-laden Oilers finished 19-22-7.
Krueger has vast coaching experience, including overseeing Switzerland’s national team to Winter Games appearances in 2002, 2006 and 2010.
He returns to the NHL after spending the past five years as chairman of soccer’s Southampton F.C. of the English Premier League. Krueger was born in Winnipeg, Manitoba, and played hockey professionally in Germany from 1979 to ’91.
Krueger replaces Phil Housley , who was fired after just two seasons, including this past year when Buffalo won just 16 of its final 57 games following a 10-game winning streak in November.
In finishing 13th in the Eastern Conference standings, the Sabres joined the 2016-17 Philadelphia Flyers in becoming the second of 50 NHL teams to miss the playoffs in the same season they won at least 10 straight games.
The Sabres playoff drought stands as the NHL’s longest active streak.
The hiring came as Sabres general manager Jason Botterill returned to Buffalo for a number of scouting meetings this week. He had been in Slovakia working as a management member of Canada’s national team competing at the World Championships.
Krueger’s experience includes coaching Team Europe to second at the 2016 World Cup of Hockey. He also served as a special adviser to Canada’s national team when it won gold at the 2014 Sochi Games.
He’s known for being an innovator in hockey strategies, developing young talent and a motivator. In 2014, he also authored a book, which was published in German and titled, “Teamlife — Beyond Setbacks to Success.”
Krueger’s hiring allows Botterill to turn his attention to the Sabres’ next most pressing offseason need, and that’s making a bid to re-sign forward Jeff Skinner before he enters the free-agent market on July 1.
Skinner was acquired in a trade with Carolina in August, and scored a career-best and team-leading 40 goals in 82 games last season.
Though Skinner and the Sabres have engaged in contract talks since January, the team elected to put off further discussions until completing its coaching search. In clearing out his locker in April, Skinner did not rule out re-signing with the Sabres while adding he also didn’t want to rush into making his decision.
Krueger becomes the team’s fifth coach since Lindy Ruff was fired in February 2013. None of Ruff’s replacements have lasted beyond two seasons.
The Sabres are in the midst of their worst stretch in franchise history. They’ve finished last in the standings in three of the past six seasons and haven’t won a playoff round since 2007, when they lost to Ottawa in the Eastern Conference final.
Krueger inherits a team that lacks chemistry and has struggled to build on a foundation of several talented youngsters, including captain Jack Eichel and defenseman Rasmus Dahlin, the first player selected in the draft last year.
The latest shake-up comes two years into Botterill’s tenure as a first-time general manager, and after his decision to hire Housley proved to be a bust.
Though Botterill said the blame for Buffalo’s collapse deserved to be shared among players and himself, he added it became evident the team was not responding to Housley.
“Unfortunately, the message wasn’t getting through,” Botterill said when he fired the coach a day after the Sabres closed their season.
Secondary scoring has been an issue, with Skinner, Eichel and Sam Reinhart accounting for 90 of Buffalo’s 226 goals last season. The Sabres also committed far too many familiar defensive lapses for a team coached by a Hall of Fame defenseman.
Housley’s largest failure was an inability to have the Sabres adapt to playing the creative, high-tempo style that relied on defensemen in jumping into the rush.
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