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| Jason Botterill had to get this right. https://setup.teamxray.com/xsetup/legacy/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=28758 |
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| Author: | williamsones [ Fri Oct 25, 2019 08:48:43 ] |
| Post subject: | Jason Botterill had to get this right. |
Jason Botterill had to get this right. Since being hired as Sabres general manager in May 2017 and taking over what could be correctly called "a rebuild inside a rebuild," he had hired and fired his first coach in Phil Housley. His team had missed the playoffs in consecutive seasons. Fortune had smiled upon him in the acquisition of winger Jeff Skinner from the Carolina Hurricanes, whose no-move clause helped him orchestrate a trade to Buffalo, where he scored 40 goals last season. Fortune had frowned in the trade that sent center Ryan O'Reilly to the St. Louis Blues, with whom he won the Conn Smythe and hoisted the Stanley Cup while Buffalo sifted through spare parts and draft picks. When Botterill and his staff sketched out what they wanted in a candidate, NHL head-coaching experience was the first priority -- something Housley didn't have prior to the Buffalo job. Krueger's head-coaching stint with Edmonton lasted only 48 games in a lockout-truncated season, but he was an associate coach with the Oilers in the two years leading up to it. He was also a consultant for the Carolina Hurricanes while serving as head coach of the Swiss national team. The Sabres liked his quick adjustments behind the bench for international teams and heard rave reviews of his communication style from former players. Botterill inquired about Krueger in 2017 before hiring Housley, but the latter's commitment to Southampton prevented a return to the NHL. This time, it was a different answer. "With Ralph's résumé, I know he had other opportunities. That's what gets us excited that he wanted to come here," Botterill said. "He's a kid from Manitoba who loves the game of hockey and has a passion about being a teacher." The NHL on ESPN+ Catch more than 180 NHL games streaming live this season on ESPN+. Click here for the upcoming schedule and to learn how to subscribe. Okposo says Krueger is the best kind of teacher: one who makes his assignments and his expectations clear. "He's got a concise, demanding but nonconfrontational way about him. It's something that the team has gravitated toward. He's been able to get everybody on the same page very quickly," Okposo said. "It's just honesty. If he doesn't like something, he's going to say it. And if we don't like something, we're going to say it and talk it out. You know where you stand with him. There's no extra talk. There's no needless meetings. There's no wasted time. Everything that we're doing, there's a purpose to it." That includes, for example, not doing anything on the ice some mornings. Krueger is an advocate of fewer morning skates. "I think it's all about energy and understanding the different ways we can gather energy," he said. "Making sure the quality of our execution stays high. What I've found is that if you're practicing with a team that's tired mentally or physically, your execution principles just fall away. "That's probably one of the things that comes out of my experience with the Premier League. Watching the way they gather or use energy on game days. You don't see any pregame warm-ups or activities there at all. We played at 8 or 8:30 at night. It got me thinking, and in speaking with sports scientists, that pregame skates are often an expenditure of energy you don't really need." Eichel supports it. "It helps. With the opportunity not to be on the ice as much, you get more opportunities to recover, spend more time in the weight room," he said. "We've had a lot of man games lost in the last few years to tissue injuries. It's a long season. It wears on you." |
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