Phil Housley out as Sabres head coach

BUFFALO, N.Y. — The Buffalo Sabres fired coach Phil Housley on Sunday following two underperforming seasons and after the team extended its franchise-worst playoff drought to an eighth consecutive year.

The team made the move a day after the Sabres closed their season with a 7-1 win at Detroit. Buffalo finished 13th in the Eastern Conference standings and joined the 2016-17 Philadelphia Flyers in becoming the second of 50 NHL teams to miss the playoffs in the same season in which they won at least 10 straight games.

The 55-year-old Housley is a Hall of Fame defenceman who spent his first eight NHL seasons playing in Buffalo but failed to restore any semblance of success to a franchise that hasn’t won a playoff round since reaching the East finals in 2007.

Housley’s firing comes after the Sabres endured a lengthy collapse over the final four months of the season.

They went 2-7-1 in their final 10 games and were 16-33-8 since enjoying a franchise-record-matching 10-game winning streak that ended in late November.

Overall, Housley finished with a 58-84-22 record in Buffalo.

He told reporters Saturday that he expected to return next season.

The Sabres’ victory at Detroit ended a 0-12-2 road skid, which matched the second-longest in franchise history. And Buffalo closed the season with back-to-back wins.

But Housley’s fate was essentially sealed during a 0-6-1 skid in early March during which Buffalo was shut out in three consecutive games.

The slump began a little over a week after general manager Jason Botterill backed Housley by saying the team had made progress and added: “There’s not going to be a coaching change.”

Botterill was scheduled to speak to reporters later Sunday.

Now the Sabres are embarking on a search to hire their fifth coach in six years since Lindy Ruff was fired amid the lockout-shortened 2012-13 season.

Housley replaced Dan Bylsma, who was fired along with general manager Tim Murray in April 2016, after Sabres owner Terry Pegula complained the team lacked discipline, structure and communication.

from Canoe http://bit.ly/2UnJqiK