Post-Game Talk: Devils win 3-2 in regulation over Sabres (I'm not kidding)

[Guttersniped]

Bad coaches are murder on team morale, he had to go. Firing Hynes and replacing him with Nas was a good move and getting Kruger out of the locker room was also a good move.

I’m not defending Krueger, and the Sabres can fire him for a spark or because they think he sucks or whatever, but he’s been there for less than two years and he’s their third coach since 2016. That’s not a good trend and it’s different than firing Hynes after five years.

Teams shouldn’t cycle through coaches just because they’re a bad team and the GMs need a severed head to show unhappy fans (or owners). The Oilers are a famous example of this with 5 coaches between 2010-2015 (including the just fired Krueger).

If you’re going through that many coaches it’s probably not just the coaching and you’re in danger of ruining players by killing any stability with systems or a style of play or even a sense that the organization respects the coaches.

Shero was the opposite, he stuck with Hynes too long out of loyalty. He probably should fired him at least after 2018-19 and definitely shouldn’t have been so wishy-washy about it in 2019-20.

 

[Poppy Whoa Sonnet]

I’m not defending Krueger, and the Sabres can fire him for a spark or because they think he sucks, but he’s been there for less than two years and he’s their third coach since 2016. That’s not a good trend and it’s different than firing Hynes after five years.

Teams shouldn’t cycle through coaches just because they’re a bad team and the GMs need a severed head to show unhappy fans (or owners). The Oilers are a famous example of this with 5 coaches between 2010-2015 (including the just fired Krueger).

If you’re going through that many coaches it’s probably not just the coaching and you’re in danger of ruining players by killing any stability with systems or a style of play or even a sense that the organization respects the coaches.

Shero was the opposite, he stuck with Hynes too long out of loyalty. He probably should fired him at least after 2018-19 and definitely shouldn’t have been so wishy-washy about it in 2019-20.

I think it was overdue but yes the rot in Buffalo starts from the top. Blowing things up appears to be inevitable at this point. Maybe they will hire Torts this offseason as a bit of a hail mary before completely dismantling everything.

 

[Bleedred]

I’m not defending Krueger, and the Sabres can fire him for a spark or because they think he sucks or whatever, but he’s been there for less than two years and he’s their third coach since 2016. That’s not a good trend and it’s different than firing Hynes after five years.

Teams shouldn’t cycle through coaches just because they’re a bad team and the GMs need a severed head to show unhappy fans (or owners). The Oilers are a famous example of this with 5 coaches between 2010-2015 (including the just fired Krueger).

If you’re going through that many coaches it’s probably not just the coaching and you’re in danger of ruining players by killing any stability with systems or a style of play or even a sense that the organization respects the coaches.

Shero was the opposite, he stuck with Hynes too long out of loyalty. He probably should fired him at least after 2018-19 and definitely shouldn’t have been so wishy-washy about it in 2019-20.

The Sabres have also went through a lot of GM’s since the Regier/Ruff split back in 2013 or so.

They had that weird LaFontaine departure shortly after his hire (he was president of hockey ops though, not GM) and then they had Tim Murray there for 3 years, then Jason Botterill only lasted 3 years there. Now they got Kevyn Adams. I actually thought they’d maybe hire Shero last summer, but they went for another nobody that’s never been a GM before.

It was easy to see Krueger wouldn’t last long, since there’s a whole new GM there from the one that hired him.

 

[Guttersniped]

The Sabres have also went through a lot of GM’s since the Regier/Ruff split back in 2013 or so.

They had that weird LaFontaine departure shortly after his hire (he was president of hockey ops though, not GM) and then they had Tim Murray there for 3 years, then Jason Botterill only lasted 3 years there. Now they got Kevyn Adams. I actually thought they’d maybe hire Shero last summer, but they went for another nobody that’s never been a GM before.

It was easy to see Krueger wouldn’t last long, since there’s a whole new GM there from the one that hired him.

I’m not saying “oh, no, not Ralph Krueger!”, he was weird hire and the team looks like it will be winless forever. However coaches, and as you are pointing out GMs as well, can’t keep getting fired or the players start getting harmed by the lack of stability, there ends up being no real leadership and no one who can potentially get hired for the same job elsewhere will take that job there. I guess it was now or the off-season if they completely lost faith in the dude they just hired in the 2019 off-season.

 

[AfroThunder396]

The Sabres have also went through a lot of GM’s since the Regier/Ruff split back in 2013 or so.

They had that weird LaFontaine departure shortly after his hire (he was president of hockey ops though, not GM) and then they had Tim Murray there for 3 years, then Jason Botterill only lasted 3 years there. Now they got Kevyn Adams. I actually thought they’d maybe hire Shero last summer, but they went for another nobody that’s never been a GM before.

It was easy to see Krueger wouldn’t last long, since there’s a whole new GM there from the one that hired him.

They installed a Yes Man who would do whatever they told him to do. The Pegulas and their ego are ruining the franchise.

They did the same thing with the Bills from 2015-2017 but quickly realized the stakes are a lot higher in the NFL than in the NHL. If your NHL team sucks no one cares outside of your city, but if your NFL team sucks it's a national embarrassment. They realized they don't know football and brought in someone who does to run their team for them, and got rewarded with a Super Bowl contender. They still think they know hockey, though, and are going to keep micromanaging. Nothing will change until they take their hands off the wheel.

 

[Jersey Fan 12]

In about 15 games we'll see if Foote can add anything to that line. Seems like he'd be a perfect fit.

It seems to me that Nolan Foote is still down the pecking order behind guys like Merkley, Boqvist and even Brett Seney.

As a 20-year-old who missed most of last season due to injury it seems better for both the Devils and his long-term future that he continues playing in the AHL with players like Clarke and the rest of the guys developing their games.

It's no accident that the players like Sharangovich, Maltsev, Bastian and others have all had success this season while some of the younger players who did not have that experience have struggled.

 

[Whaddagoal]

Game of inches. Hall took it on the chin so it was only a nasty gash.

Nico took one square on the nose and smashed it.
If it didn't wreck his sinuses he most likely would be back pretty soon but his luck he needed surgery.

It definitely is, but remember Jeremy Roenick about getting a slapshot to the chin... many many years back, in one of his last few seasons with Philly, IIRC..

His jaw was busted and he needed basically a new set of teeth on one whole side of his mouth....wired shut jaw, etc. Nico's injury is like a whole serious of badluck that NJ seems to fall into these days. Hope he'll be the same player (no breathing issues, etc. etc.).... when he is back...

 

[hidek91]

I’m not defending Krueger, and the Sabres can fire him for a spark or because they think he sucks or whatever, but he’s been there for less than two years and he’s their third coach since 2016. That’s not a good trend and it’s different than firing Hynes after five years.

Teams shouldn’t cycle through coaches just because they’re a bad team and the GMs need a severed head to show unhappy fans (or owners). The Oilers are a famous example of this with 5 coaches between 2010-2015 (including the just fired Krueger).

If you’re going through that many coaches it’s probably not just the coaching and you’re in danger of ruining players by killing any stability with systems or a style of play or even a sense that the organization respects the coaches.

Shero was the opposite, he stuck with Hynes too long out of loyalty. He probably should fired him at least after 2018-19 and definitely shouldn’t have been so wishy-washy about it in 2019-20.

I'm not going to dig into the names, however I think (and the fans of those teams share this sentiment) the problem isn't that Sabres and Oilers in the years you have mentioned were firing those coaches, the problem is that they were hiring absolutely wrong coaches. As soon as Oilers moved to MacLellan, the problem has disappeared. Tippett also seems to be working well for them. Of course, I'm aware that roster has also vastly improved and it probably improved the results as well.