Due to the fact that their series of losses hit 12 games, Buffalo Sabers fired coach Ralph Krueger on Wednesday.
The Sabers have the lowest points in the NHL at 16. They are eighth in the Eastern Division, six points behind the Devils, who have two games in hand.
New Jersey defeated Buffalo 3-2 on Tuesday night. Buffalo’s winless series coincides with the third worst in the team’s history and is the longest since Buffao lost a team 14 record in the middle of the 2014-15 season.
Krueger, 61, was in his second season with Buffalo. Last season, the team improved slightly with a mark of 30-31-8, but still finished in sixth place.
This season, star Jack Eichel lost significant time with an injury, Jeff Skinner’s wing, at a high price, was a major disappointment and even the acquisition of great free agents, Taylor Hall, did not live up to the hype .
Buffalo is on track to break the NHL record because he missed the playoffs in 10 consecutive seasons.
Since Eichel joined the league in 2015-16, he will now skate under the fourth coach and third general manager.
Krueger’s only previous NHL experience was coaching the Edmonton Oilers for 48 games in the 2012-13 season, when they were 19-22-7. Prior to that, he was the coach of the Swiss national team. After his internship with the Oilers, he moved to football and held various positions at the front office with English Premier League teams.