WGR: Okposo is impressed with Ralph Krueger

[Buffaloed]

Sabres' Okposo is impressed with Ralph Krueger
Am I the only one that gets nervous reading these platitudes about Krueger?

“Just a phenomenal guy, I just went to dinner with him and a couple of the other guys and we may have talked hockey for 15-20 minutes out of two hours and we were picking his brain about his life and his experiences, but he’s just a really personable guy, genuine and an interesting guy. I’ve talked to a few guys that played for him in Edmonton and they had nothing but great things to say about him and how he treated them and just how he was as a person first and foremost and then as a coach second, so I think that speaks volumes of his character.”

Kyle likes the new players, says he has to be better and so do his teammates.

Okposo talks about the system:
“It’s simplifying, I mentioned to Ralph that I wanted to get back to using my instincts more as opposed to thinking and I think for a hockey player, that’s really important. Players will tell you they’re at their best when they’re not thinking out there.”

I guess that means Sobotka will never get any better.

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[Club]

Good guy Ralph.

 

[DolanPlsGoSabres]

I guess that means Sobotka will never get any better.

Do we want him to get amazingly better? Just get good enough to not be a liability, then have some stupid GM sign him to some dumb contract to screw over their cap. Just don't get good enough so we start talking about signing him long term.

 

[Baccus]

Do we want him to get amazingly better? Just get good enough to not be a liability, then have some stupid GM sign him to some dumb contract to screw over their cap. Just don't get good enough so we start talking about signing him long term.

Frankly I hope he's so bad during preseason nobody has to suffer through watching him in Buffalo during the regular season.

Jettison him out of town to a bench/bus in Rochester or loan him out somewhere. He's already got an entire section booked in his name on the next rocket to the sun....

I'm just worried the next Krueger interview will have him talking about how Sobotka is in the "best condition of his career" and we'll have to churn through excuses for another season.

 

[HaNotsri]

Everyone wants to be friends in the beginninglet’s see when we’re 10 games into the season.

 

[Deleted member 27798]

I wonder who the other players were that were with them at dinner?

 

[Montag DP]

Everybody loved being friends with Housley too. Can we just start the season already?

 

[Dreakon13]

It'd be more interesting if Okposo thought Ralph Krueger was a piece of shit. Now that'd be a story that gets me through this final stretch of offseason.

 

[jc17]

Yeah this doesn't reveal anything good. Not a suprise Krueger is a nice guy.

Still trying to figure out what "thinking less" on the ice looks like for okposo.

I’ve talked to a few guys that played for him in Edmonton and they had nothing but great things to say about him and how he treated them and just how he was as a person first and foremost and then as a coach second, so I think that speaks volumes of his character...I wasn’t happy with the way things ended, I wasn’t happy with Phil getting fired...Call it a fluke, call it what you want, but when we started the year the way we did last year, the bones are in here...

None of this is reassuring. It points to a pretty big disconnect between the players and knowing what it will take to actually win

 

[Aladyyn]

I hope I'm just as impressed when the team hits the ice.

 

[Jacob582]

One of the worst headlines of an article ever.

I didn't read the article, so no comment on the rest.

 

[debaser66]

I am not worried.
I am still enthralled in endorphines
Since Housley is gone.

 

[old kummelweck]

Is there a bigger elephant in the locker room than Kyle Okposo?

 

[MrMaster]

Rumors have it that he went without his glasses that day and met with Freddy instead of Ralph.

 

[Montag DP]

Okposo talks about the system:
“It’s simplifying, I mentioned to Ralph that I wanted to get back to using my instincts more as opposed to thinking and I think for a hockey player, that’s really important. Players will tell you they’re at their best when they’re not thinking out there.”

He couldn't even stick to his new strategy for more than 1 word.

 

[Dingo44]

Great to hear the players - especially a vet like Okposo - have such good things to say. It's definitely in line with what we've been hearing from guys who have played for Ralph in the past.

Very excited to see what they can do with a great coach.

 

[slip]

Am I the only one that gets nervous reading these platitudes about Krueger?.

What else are they gonna say? 80% of the roster wasn't even in the NHL the last time Kreuger coached a team.

 

[dasaybz]

Sabres' Okposo is impressed with Ralph Krueger
Am I the only one that gets nervous reading these platitudes about Krueger?


I guess that means Sobotka will never get any better.

Would you feel better if they said he was a scumbag and hated babies?

 

[Sabre the Win]

Players were high on Housley as well.

It's time to show and prove rather than have myself gather false hopes on feel good stories.

The joy of hockey has actually been crushed from my soul, the suffering of this rebuild has been worse than I could of imagined and I was all for the tear down rebuild.

Please just win Buffalo.

 

[Jim Bob]

Yeah this doesn't reveal anything good. Not a suprise Krueger is a nice guy.

Still trying to figure out what "thinking less" on the ice looks like for okposo.

None of this is reassuring. It points to a pretty big disconnect between the players and knowing what it will take to actually win

Generally, this means that the players want a system that is easier to play within and that they can just play reflexively and not think about everything.

Thinking about what the next play needs to be or what they are responsible for makes the team slower because it adds in reaction time that doesn't help anything.

 

[Buffaloed]

Would you feel better if they said he was a ******* and hated babies?

That not enough. He has to drown kittens too.

 

[flashsabre]

This will be a very telling season.

Krueger has a history of getting players to buy in and play above the sum of their parts. If that doesn't happen here then there are huge problems with the makeup of the players on this roster.

For all us long suffering fans lets just hope that Krueger gets these guys playing for one another and we see positive steps from the kids and that there is definitely light at the end of the tunnel.

Another brutal year and a new path for a rebuild will probably break me.

 

[dasaybz]

That not enough. He has to drown kittens too.

“Just a phenomenal guy, I just went to dinner with him and a couple of the other guys and we may have talked hockey for 15-20 minutes out of two hours and we were picking his brain about drowning kittens and his experiences with screaming at babies, but he’s just a really personable guy, genuine and an interesting guy. I’ve talked to a few guys that played for him in Edmonton and they had nothing but great things to say about him and how he treated them and just how he was as a person that hated puppies first and foremost and then as a dirtbag second, so I think that speaks volumes of his character.”

 

[TehDoak]

Oh No, Ralph signed up Okposo as his downstream to sell Essential Oils to all his friends.

It's a shame really.

 

[Dahlin 2 Eichel]

This actually makes me some what happy. I can’t remember how many times I said to the wife/tv “just let them play ****in hockey!!” the last two/three seasons.