Breaking: Sabres finally hire new head coach

It took awhile, but the Buffalo Sabres finally found their man. After dismissing general manager Tim Murray and head coach Dan Bylsma following another dreadful regular season, team owner Terry Pegula took his time in finding the right candidate to become the team’s new general manager. Eventually Jason Botterill was hired, who in turn took his time in hiring the team’s new head coach. 

Finally, after weeks of rumors and speculation, the Buffalo Sabres have announced that they’ve hired former NHL superstar and Buffalo Sabres legend Phil Housley as the 18th head coach in team history. Housley received the position after four stellar seasons as an assistant coach with the Nashville Predators under head coach Peter Laviolette.

Housley joins a franchise that is at a crossroads in its development. With enticing young talent like Jack Eichel, Sam Reinhart and Rasmus Ristolainen on the team’s roster and strong veteran players like Ryan O’Reilly, Kyle Okposo and Tyler Ennis leading the way, the sky is the limit for the Sabres. For some reason, however, the sum of the parts in Buffalo have not added up the past two seasons. 

Sabres fans hope that with a new voice behind the bench and some new direction from team management, that the Sabres can finally right the ship and get back to being a competitive team in the NHL’s Eastern Conference.