‘Special teams derailed the Sabres, particularly a penalty kill that plummeted from 12th in the league in 2018-19 to 30th this season. Krueger revealed during a Zoom conference call Friday that his entire coaching staff, including Steve Smith, who coached the penalty-killing unit the past two seasons, will return in 2020-21.’
Archives for June 3, 2020
Sabres’ Victor Olofsson possesses talents to develop into elite NHL scorer
‘When Krueger moved Olofsson back to the top left-wing position, the Swede’s quick transformation stunned Reinhart. Olofsson, for example, started playing more aggressively. In a matter of days, he had made the adjustments necessary to entrench himself on the Sabres’ No. 1 line.’
Another NHL season over with, thank goodness
‘My parents are season-ticket holders, so I have seen both my fair share of great and terrible games. They have not made the playoffs since 2011 when the Atlanta Thrashers were still a team in the league, during which the team’s new ownership took hold, Jack Eichel came to town, and five coaches came and went since my neighbor Lindy Ruff left.’
Sabres forward Jeff Skinner reflects on both personal and team struggles this year
‘“I played with Jack a lot obviously the year prior and then it sort of became kind of a story and he’s obviously one of the best players in the league and he makes players around him better and that’s just what the best players do. I think if you get an opportunity to play with him he makes guys better and for me I think he’s an easy guy to read off and he controls a lot of the pace of the game and he takes up a lot of attention on other teams obviously so which opens up space for guys,” Skinner explained on a zoom call with reporters last week.’
Sabres eye step up by Olofsson, defensemen after season ends
‘Olofsson’s a keeper: It’s hard to find a top-six forward in the seventh round, but Oloffson (No. 181, 2014 NHL Draft) was third among NHL rookies with 42 points (20 goals, 22 assists) in 54 games. He scored four game-winning goals and tied Eichel for the Sabres lead with 11 power-play goals.’
Olofsson impressed teammates with work ethic, adjustments
‘”He actually moved away from us for a game or two,” Reinhart recalled. “And then what shocked me and surprised me and really impressed me was how really quickly he learned, his smarts kind of played out and he realized kind of what he needed to do to be that much more effective, and when he came back, obviously he took off.”‘